Marsh River Theatre to begin its 11th season

Founder George Wildey wrote me this week that the 11th season of Marsh River Theatre is about to begin.

Marsh River Theatre, on Route 139 in Brooks, is located in the former Union Hall, which was built in the early 1900s by Brooks residents and local fraternal organizations.

The building was purchased by New England School of Communications in 1995 and donated to Friends of Marsh River Theatre in 1998.

Wildey wrote the Friends have arranged a schedule that includes two plays, acts “returning by popular demand,” music and comedy. He also noted performance times are later “to accommodate those traveling a distance.”

The season schedule is as follows: “Oliver,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 22; Saturday June 23; Friday, June 29; and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 30. No Warning, 7 p.m. Saturday, July 14; Maine-ly Harmony, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 21; Erica Brown & the Bluegrass Connection, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28; Dale Hustus & Chris Quimby, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4; Kids on Broadway, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10, and Saturday, Aug. 11; Tree by Leaf, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18; “Steel Magnolias,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, Saturday, Aug. 25, and Friday, Aug. 31, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1; and Marsh River Singers, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, and Saturday, Sept. 8.

Show and season tickets are available by calling the box office at 722-4110.

Ann Carter reports the annual Field Day for the St. Croix Valley Amateur Radio Club begins with preliminary setup at 4 p.m. Friday, June 22, and final preparations and operation from 2 p.m. Saturday, June 23, through 2 p.m. Sunday June 24, at the Alexander School field and parking area.

Carter wrote, “Visitors are most welcome to come and see amateur radio being put to the test for emergency preparedness communications.”

Unlicensed “hams” will have opportunities “to make radio contacts under the supervision of a club member,” and “other hams, who aren’t members of the club,” are also “most welcome to operate when there is radio availability.”

With members from the United States and Canada, the hams “will be operating round the clock from a portable station at the Alexander School field, using the station call sign, WW1IE. Other ham operators can “talk-in” on a frequency of 147.33 MHz, she wrote.

Carter also wants to get this word out to area youths about becoming a “ham.”

“We are especially anxious to interest young people,” she wrote of those under 18, “in trying their hand at sending a contact message. Not only does the club get points in the national American Radio Relay League Field Day contest, we need to introduce young people to the field of amateur radio in order to keep this important, national communication resource active and useful.”

For more information about this event, or about becoming a ham radio operator, call 427-3058.

Several people have asked me whether I knew if or when the Y-Players might be staging their 2007 production again, and now I can tell you that I do.

Both Y-Players director Pam Martin and Old Town Museum publicity chairman Barbara Conners contacted me to let you know the Y-Players will appear at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at the Museum on Main Street in Old Town.

“Pam Martin has, again, produced a wonderful combination of song and dance with her troupe of merry senior citizens,” Conners wrote.

Martin wrote the troupe is in the process of performing at 12 area nursing homes, and while those performances aren’t open to the public, the coming museum performance certainly is.

“Loads of people have said they had missed our show when we were at the Y,” Martin wrote, so now you have a chance to see what you missed, including the multiple appearances of 95-year-old Anna Wareing.

“We are performing to help support the restoration of the Old Town Museum,” Martin explained. “We do this every year.”

No admission fee is charged, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Martin wrote that the troupe gets great satisfaction from taking its show on the road, especially to the nursing homes.

“The rewards are plentiful,” she wrote of seeing so many smiling faces, having residents sing along with them, and seeing the gleam in their eyes, “just grateful there is someone there to touch their hands, speak directly to them, mention their names and bring back old memories.”

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.