Area dance devotees will have two opportunities to see the University of Maine’s fourth annual International Dance Festival this year. That’s because of the festival’s growth as well as the renovation of the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono.

The free festival features more than 100 dancers, technical staff members and coordinators representing 20 countries. It will be presented at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, in Peakes Auditorium at Bangor High School.

Karen Boucias, director of the UM Office of International Programs and National Student Exchange, reports the event “has grown in size and sophistication” and that “right away, the festival highlights the importance that music, singing and dancing have in many cultures.”

“The students are very talented,” Boucias wrote, “and they’re not music majors but engineering, computer science, forestry and business majors.

“With today’s technology, I like to think that the families of our students will have the opportunity to see their children perform, creating more links between the University of Maine and the world.”

She added the students have been practicing for this performance on “weekends since the beginning of the semester.”

The festival is organized by the International Student Association; cosponsored by the OIP; and receives financial support from the Office of Student Affairs, student government and the Cultural Affairs-Distinguished Lecture Series.

Among the performers will be students from Korea, Mongolia, Latin America, Europe, South Asia and the U.S.

Free transportation for UM students will be provided, with buses leaving at 5:45 and 6:30 p.m. the day of the performance from behind the Memorial Union on the Orono campus. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, and carpooling is encouraged.

More information about the event may be obtained by calling 581-2905.

Pete Loiselle was the guest speaker Wednesday for Hancock County Lose and Win program participants in Deer Isle-Stonington, and today Ellsworth-area participants will “take a break and play beach ball-volleyball at the YMCA,” reports Iris Simon.

Through Feb. 16, Simon wrote, participants in the weight loss-healthy lifestyle program have collectively lost 1,278.95 pounds, equivalent to two 7-foot-tall male grizzly bears, Simon wrote.

The Tons of Fun team was the recent dual winner for the most weight lost and accumulating the most minutes of physical activity, followed by The Night Moods and The String Beans.

A complete schedule of events, and information about the program, which is based on the book “The Town that Lost a Ton,” is available by calling Health-Link at 667-2474 or visiting www.mainehospital.org.

Training for Literacy Volunteers of Bangor begins Wednesday, and Executive Director Mary Marin Lyon would like prospective volunteers to call her at 947-8451 by Monday to register and receive more information.

Spring volunteers are being asked “to join our efforts at improving the literacy levels in our communities … by “helping immigrants learn our language, customs and culture,” she explained.

“Sometimes, these English language tutors become conversation partners. Sometimes they are ‘cultural brokers’ and assist the immigrants in understanding their new surroundings. Other times, these tutors help [immigrants] improve their reading of English. Always, the cultural exchanges are fascinating,” she said.

“This is a great way of experiencing a ‘global village’ while never leaving the Bangor area.”

The cost for materials is $25, and the 18-hour training is 6-9 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at United Technologies Center, Hogan Road, Bangor.

The Bangor chapter of AARP will meet at noon Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Elks Lodge meeting room, 108 Odlin Road.

AARP is open to anyone 50 and older. All attendees “should bring a bag lunch,” Lewis Bayley said of the meeting, which will feature a speaker from Brookings-Smith Funeral Homes.

For information, call Bayley at 947-0608.

My heartfelt condolences are extended to the family of Shirley Averill MacDonald of Bangor, who died unexpectedly last week at the age of 49.

In her youth, Shirley was an outstanding scholar-athlete in whom her family took great pride, and it was my pleasure to be able to write about her many accomplishments when I first joined the NEWS sports staff in 1979 and Shirley was in college.

As an adult, Shirley continued to demonstrate that commendable scholar-athlete commitment and dedication as her family’s anchor, and as a coach and mentor for youngsters following in her footsteps.

To say that Shirley will be missed is an understatement, but her devotion to those she loved and for whom she cared will be her legacy.

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