Bangor

Children’s programs for Black History Month

In partnership with the Bangor Public Library Children’s Division, the Greater Bangor Area NAACP will present a series of guest reader programs featuring books with African-American and Afro-Caribbean themes in celebration of Black History Month. The programs will be held in the Story Room at the library. The schedule is:

. 2-2:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, “The Story of Lightening and Thunder” by Ashley Bryan; “Crocodile and Hen: A Bakongo Folktale” by Joan M. Lexau, with pictures by Doug Cushman. Art activity. For children of prekindergarten age through grade three.

. 2-2:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, “When Marian Sang” by Pam Munoz Ryan, with pictures by Brian Sleznick; “Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa” by Veronica Chambers, illustrated by Julie Maren. Music and dance activity. For children in kindergarten to grade four.

. 2-2:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, “Selections from Powerful Words: More than 200 Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans” by Wade Hudson, illustrated by Sean Qualls; “Through My Eyes” by Ruby Bridges. Art activity. For children in grade four and up.

. 4-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, “I Have A News: Rhymes from the Caribbean” collected and illustrated by Walter Jekyll and Jacqueline Mair; and selections from “I Love the World” by Alma Flor Ada, Violet J. Harric and Lee Bennett Hopkins. African drumming. For children in grades two to six.

For information, call 947-4625.

New children’s book

Lynn Plourde will sign copies of her new children’s book, “At One: In a Place Called Maine,” at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Maine Discovery Museum.

Plourde, of Winthrop, sees this book as her love letter to the state of Maine, celebrating its inspirational beauty from the wilds of Baxter State Park to the crashing waves of the Atlantic.

All of the scenes featured in “At One” were inspired by Plourde’s experiences, including twin fawns who visited her backyard, a hike up Katahdin, cross-country skiing by moonlight and an encounter with a bear while camping.

Plourde is the author of more than a dozen books for children, including “Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud,” “Snow Day,” “Teacher Appreciation Day,” “The First Feud: Between the Mount and the Sea,” and “Mother, May I?” Her books have won numerous regional and national awards.

“At One” is illustrated by Leslie Mansmann of North Yarmouth, who used a painting style that features gouache, an opaque watercolor that allows for more vibrant, bold colors and cleaner lines than those in traditional watercolors.

For information, contact the museum at 262-7200.

Painting with coffee

Artist Michael Vermette will be the presenter at the Bangor Art Society meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Bangor Public Library.

He will demonstrate his unique wash technique on paper and lead a workshop using only coffee to paint the image. Those who wish to participate are encouraged to bring a photo or sketch from which to paint an image.

Vermette’s demonstration will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. All are welcome.

Vermette holds a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Maine College of Art. He is a Maine public school art teacher, and has worked for 21 years with the Maine Indian Education. He heads the art ministry at Abundant Life Church and has been painting with coffee for a few years.

The Bangor Art Society meets at 6 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Bangor Public Library.

Cooking for a Crowd

Cooking for a Crowd is a two-day workshop sponsored by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Organizations and community groups are invited to participate since many volunteers prepare food for fundraising events.

The workshop will take place 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, (snow date Feb. 26) and March 3 (snow date March 4). The workshop will cover food safety concerns – planning and purchasing, storing food supplies, preparing and cooking the food, transporting food, storing and serving cooked food and how to handle leftovers.

There’s a lot to learn about safe food preparation and handling. If you don’t do it for a living, you may be unaware of all the special techniques.

For information or to preregister for the workshop, call the Bangor Extension office at 942-7396 or 800-287-1485.

Early language development

The Penquis Child Care Resource Development Center will offer the training session, “Early Language Development,” 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 4 and 11, at Penquis, 262 Harlow St. The cost is $15.

The class will cover developmental milestone and “red flag,” strategies for encouraging children’s language development, what a speech pathologist does and how to make a referral for services.

The presenter is MaryBeth Richards, program director at the Warren Center for Communication and Learning.

Call in advance to ensure that space is available. For information or to register, call 973-3533 or 888-917-1100.

‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’

Heather Cook Lindsay of Bangor wrote an original short story that has been published in the newly released “Chicken Soup for the Soul Love Stories: Stories of First Dates, Soul Mates and Everlasting Love,” the latest book for the best-selling “Chicken Soup for Soul” series.

Lindsay’s story, “From Paw to Hand,” is about her best friend, her cat, who helps her through an illness. Her story was selected from thousands of other potential stories to be included in the book.

The book includes stories of long-lost love rekindled in the twilight of life, young love discovered, love that truly lasts forever and everlasting love between friends, parents and children, and pets and pet owners.

The “Chicken Soup for the Soul” was first published in 1993 and quickly rose to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Eddington

Historical society

The Eddington Historical Society will meet at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, at F.A. Wood Municipal Building. Note the new start time for the meeting. For information, call Richard Bowden at 989-5792.

Hampden

Need for hand-knitted scarves

Laura Cushing, a former resident of Hampden, a Hampden Academy graduate and a senior director for the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho, wants to make winter a bit more cozy for the athletes who will participate in a special invitational event this month.

Cushing has put out a call for hand-knitted blue-and-white scarves – one for each of the 500 Special Olympians from four U.S. states and 10 foreign countries. Volunteers throughout Idaho are donating time, yarn and expertise.

Cushing has spent the last 25 years of her career involved with events including the Boulder Creek Festival, Special Olympics in North Carolina and Alaska, the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Super Bowl XXX, presidential meetings in Denver and the Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas. She also worked on a cruise ship assisting doctors and nurses who brought aid to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Cushing is the daughter of Andre and Jane Cushing of Hermon.

Holden

3-D art workshop

Join Grace Bartlett in a fun and creative workshop at the Fields Pond Audubon Center. Participants will create 3-D organic forms from basket reed and handmade paper. No experience is necessary.

The process is low-tech using pencils, scissors and a hot-glue gun. Bartlett will lead the workshop step by step from sketching the shape on paper to forming the reed framework and stretching the paper over it. All necessary supplies for creating 3-D art will be provided.

Snacks and beverages are available or bring your own treat.

The 3-D art workshop will be held noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at Fields Pond Audubon Center. The cost is $18 members, $22 others. Advance registration is required. Call 989-2591 or e-mail htwining@maineaudubon.org.

Family Walk in Nature

A Family Walk in Nature will take place 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden. The cost is $4 one child, $6 two children and $7 three children. Parents walk free. No registration is necessary.

Bring the family to explore nature on the grounds of Fields Pond Center. A creative indoor project will be offered after the walk.

Levant

New book by Chisholm

“Round Bales,” the newest book by Levant author John Chisholm, is for sale at the Levant Heritage Library, Union Street.

The appealing collection of essays on Maine farming life is poignant, often humorous and always true. The cost is $15, with proceeds donated to the library. Also available for sale are the author’s other books, “The Considerate Jackass” and “Frost Heaves – A Year of Farming in Levant ME.” All three books are available by calling Jeanne Krause at 884-7764.

Newburgh

Benefit dinner and auctions

Janice Ann Rines of Newburgh is a remarkable, caring and compassionate woman who has helped many patients at Cancer Care of Maine for eight years as a patient service representative. She has been an advocate for countless people, many of whom call daily for her assistance, only to find that she is out ill with lung cancer.

Rines, who with her husband, Dennis, has two children and two grandchildren, has been active in many fundraising events to help cancer patients in need of assistance. She worked at Wickes Lumber and Eastern Maine Medical Center, before coming to Cancer Care of Maine in 2000.

Rines will have to have surgery in addition to her current treatment and radiation, and she has been unable to work since November.

Friends and co-workers are planning a benefit dinner and silent and live auctions at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Newburgh School on Route 9. Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m., and the auctions will follow.

Organizers are seeking donations of all kinds – food, auction items and gift certificates – to help defray transportation, lodging and medical expenses.

To make a donation or to volunteer, call Hilari Simmons, 949-4063; Karen Marsters, 478-5578; Elizabeth Rines Dean, 944-5766; or Deanna Thurston, 852-1337.

Orono

Chinese Lunar New Year

Women of the World will meet at noon Monday, Feb. 11, at the Church of Universal Fellowship, Main Street, to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. Traditional Chinese items will be on display.

WOW is a group of international women, including Americans, who gather once a month for an ethnic lunch and a cultural program featuring the country theme. WOW is a great place to meet women from around the world, learn about new cultures and discover new cuisine. Lunch for women and children over 10 is $4; children 6-10, $2; children under 6, no cost to attend with their mothers. RSVP is not required.

For information, call Mireille Le Gal at 581-3423.

WOW is sponsored by the Office of International Programs and National Student Exchange at the University of Maine.

Currier and Ives exhibit

The University of Maine Page Farm and Home Museum is extending its Currier and Ives exhibit through March.

The exhibit, on loan from Clark Thompson of Bangor, features a number of original lithographs from 1855 to 1891.

The lithography shop of Currier & Ives produced more than 10,000 prints, including more than 600 trotting horse prints, 30 to 40 of them Maine horses.

Lithography involves grinding a piece of limestone flat and smooth then drawing a mirror image on the stone with a special grease pencil. After the image is completed, the stone is etched with a solution of aqua fortis, leaving the greased areas in slight relief. Water is used to wet the stone and greased ink is rolled onto the raised areas. The greased ink is repelled by the moisture on the stone and clings to the original grease pencil lines. The stone is then placed in a press and used as a printing block to impart black on white images to paper.

“We are very pleased to invite members of the community to come and take a look at the Currier and Ives trotting horse prints, all of which have connection to Maine,” said Patricia Henner, director of the Page Farm and Home Museum.

The museum, on the Orono campus, is free to visit and is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Information is available at 581-4100 or www.umaine.edu/pagefarm.

Talk on Brownie Schrumpf

The life and work of Maine’s original doyenne of domestic arts, Brownie Schrumpf, will be celebrated in “If Maine Had a Queen,” 2:30-4:40 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, in the dining room at Dirigo Pines, Alumni Drive. The featured speaker is Karen Tolstrup, author of a book about the cook, to be published in March by Northeast Folklore.

Tolstrup, who holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Maine, conducted research with the assistance of Schrumpf’s family and the extensive collection of personal and professional papers she and her husband left to UMaine’s Fogler Library.

Tolstrup’s illustrated presentation will include Brownie’s early years on a Readfield farm.

Participants are invited to share their memories of Brownie, a beloved local figure and author of a cooking column in the Bangor Daily News.

The program is one of a series of free public forums sponsored by the Dr. Edith Marion Patch Center for Entomology, the Environment and Education. For information about this program, the series or the Patch Center, call Mary Bird at 866-2578.

Talk on farming as income

Ever wonder what it would take to support yourself through small-scale farming? Gain insight and encouragement from the presentation “Farming as an Income Possibility,” set for noon Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Page Farm and Home Museum, University of Maine.

The program, part of the Brown Bag Lunch series, is offered by Susan Watson, who works with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service helping small-scale and beginner farmers develop markets for their products.

Watson owns and manages a 26-acre diversified central Maine farm that includes forested land and rolling hills. She has a flock of sheep and is a fiber artist focused on creating hooked rugs and hand-dyed and felted apparel. Her work, using old traditional methods, produces one-of-a-kind pieces that are considered functional art.

Last year, Watson helped organize the Newport Farmers and Artisans Market, where she markets specialty meats and products from her farm.

Participants are encouraged to bring lunches. Beverages and light desserts will be provided.

The Brown Bag Lunch series is offered by the Page Farm and Home Museum with support of Pat’s Pizza of Orono and Griffin and Jordan, Attorneys at Law.

For information about this program or about the series, call the museum at 581-4100.

Orrington

Benefit lunch and supper

Benefit meals will be held Sunday, Feb. 10, at Center Drive School to aid a local family who lost their home in a fire. Meals will be served noon-3 p.m. and 4- 7 p.m. The cost is $5, $3 children under 12, $15 family.

The event also will include a raffle for a lobster dinner for 10 people. Raffle tickets are $5 each, no need to be present to win. The winner will receive 10 live lobsters from Cap Morrill’s, two quarts of coleslaw and one dozen rolls from The Gott Family Tradition Bakery, a lobster theme cake by Dr. Peter C. Cummings of Hancock Dental in Ellsworth, a floral bouquet from Bangor Floral, and a lobster-themed basket filled with tableware donated by Simply Jules Accessories of Orrington.

Tickets will be on sale at the meal and at local businesses in Orrington and Brewer. For information on where to purchase tickets, call Amy Dube at 631-6880 or Julie Casburn at 852-9515. Call Center Drive School at 825-3697 for information on the needs of the family or to help with the meals.