UM Culturefest ’07 offers global perspective

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The title, Culturefest, is more than self-explanatory; it is educational and profoundly meaningful to those who participate and those who attend.

Culturefest ’07, during which 450 University of Maine students and visiting scholars have the opportunity to familiarize you with the lifestyle and character of their homelands, is an opportunity not to be missed.

Culturefest ’07 is 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, in the UMaine Field House, and is free and open to the public although participants do charge a small fee for the food they prepare for you.

Karen Boucias, director of the Office of International Programs and National Student Exchange, said that people who attend Culturefest will enjoy learning abut the culture, food and traditions of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, among other countries, and enjoy sampling food of Venezuela, China, Ukraine, Nepal and Saudi Arabia as well.

Among the performers will be those representing the countries of Argentina, India, Brazil, Vietnam and China, Boucias added.

Thousands of visitors have attended this special event, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, and it’s a safe bet that they have sincerely appreciated the opportunity Culturefest offers them to become more globally-aware individuals.

For more information about Culturefest, call 581-2905 or visit www.umaine.edu/international; click on The University of Maine International Programs; then click News at the top of that page and scroll down and click on UMaine International Students to Showcase Homeland Traditions at Culturefest ’07.

One of this area’s most popular October fundraisers, United Cerebral Palsy of Northeastern Maine’s Pumpkins in the Park, is offering something new this year.

The 5th annual Pumpkins in the Park, for children and families, is 3:30-7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Bangor Auditorium. Admission is $2.

This special Halloween party features decorated jack-o’-lanterns, hayrides, bounce houses, face painting and trick-or-treating.

New this year, reports Tish Pendergast of UCP, “is that we are opening, from noon to 3 p.m., just for people who would like to take a Pumpkin-Patch Tour; particularly the elderly or people in nursing homes” who, she explained, might find getting around the auditorium a bit easier when it is not overly crowded with lots of scampering little ones.

For more information, call 941-2952.

Maine People’s Alliance celebrates its 25th anniversary during its Rising Tide Awards Dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Union Street Brick Church in Bangor, reports Adam Goode.

Admission is $15 but, Goode wrote, “reduced-priced tickets for those interested” are also available.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the fair-trade practices organization, Global Exchange, and co-founder of Code Pink, a “women-run, women-led peace organization,” is the keynote speaker.

The event also will honor Rep. Jackie Norton of Bangor, the Maine State Nurses Association, MPA activist Ashley Zook and Ken Morgan of the AFL-CIO.

Tickets can be purchased by calling Anne Washburn, 797-0967, or online at http://www.mainepeoplesalliance.org/getinvolved/penobscot/Bangordinner.html.

Jonathan Falk, director of Peace through Interamerican Community Action in Bangor, invites you to Pan Full of Salsa, beginning with a salsa dance class at 7 p.m. and the dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, in the gymnasium of Blue Hill Consolidated School.

The recommended admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students.

The event, featuring Latin dance instructor Silvana Cuello and Flash in the Pans steel drum band of Blue Hill, benefits the US-El Salvador Sister Cities Committee, “a grass-roots organization of U.S. citizens and residents who have ongoing partnerships with small, rural communities in El Salvador,” Falk explained.

One of our Maine Troop Greeters has a birthday coming up and cards from friends, new and old, would be most welcome.

Former East Millinocket resident Charlotte Moscone of Bangor will be 90 on Wednesday, Oct. 31.

Birthday greetings for this lovely lady can be sent to P.O. Box 1327, c/o Antworth, Bangor 04402.

For Katahdin Valley Health Center, headquartered in Patten, Gaile Nicholson reports it has “an ample supply of flu vaccine” for patients who use its clinics “in Millinocket, Patten, Island Falls and Houlton.”

Immunizations for high-risk patients will begin the end of October, while all other KVHC patients will receive immunizations in November and December, Nicholson explained.

High-risk patients are those with chronic asthma, heart, lung or kidney disease; pregnant women; people 50 and older; and children 6 months to 5 years old.

High-risk patients can call KVHC, toll-free, at 866-366-5842 to schedule an appointment.

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