Garden clubs presenting Standard Flower Show

Penobscot District director and Brewer Garden Club president Carol Smith reminds people attending the Bangor Garden Show, April 3-6, at the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center, that “the seven garden clubs in Penobscot District of The Garden Club Federation of Maine” will be presenting a Standard Flower Show.

This year’s show schedule, “created by National Garden Club Master Flower Show Judge Sandra Blake Leonard of Bangor,” Smith wrote, is “The Sound of Music.”

This show conforms “to standards established by National Garden Clubs Inc.,” Smith explained, adding that the show’s “purpose is to educate garden club members and the viewing public; to stimulate interest in horticulture and floral design; to provide an outlet for creative expression and to convey to the community the objectives of NGC.”

Visitors to the 2008 Bangor Garden Show should plan to view the entries from the garden clubs of the Penobscot District including Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Orrington, Milo, Sebasticook and Veazie, in addition to viewing the professional arrangements contributed by Johnson Florist of Bangor and Hampden Floral.

The show opens with Preview Night at 6 tonight. Advance tickets for couples are $52 and can be obtained by calling the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center box office at 990-4444.

The 2008 Bangor Garden Show is 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, April 4, and Saturday April 5; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, April 6.

General admission is $10 for adults and free for children under 12 accompanied by an adult. Senior admission is $7 Friday afternoon and Sunday; $10 at other times.

With many, many sales and other activities taking place the first weekend of April, Jackie Nicholson wants “early bird” shoppers to know that the Hancock Woman’s Club annual Indoor Garage Sale begins at 8 a.m. and runs through 1 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at the Hancock Grammar School.

At this sale you will also be able to purchase coffee, pastries and sandwiches, and all proceeds will benefit the club’s community service projects and scholarships.

The opportunity to view local figure skating talent up close and personal is yours when you attend Skate Around the World at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at Alfond Arena on the University of Maine campus in Orono.

Directed by Tanya Quigley, tickets are $5 at the door for this annual event that “will showcase skaters of all levels and ages, with some special surprises for the audience,” wrote Valerie Carter of the host Skating Club of Maine, Penobscot Region.

“Skaters will perform to music from a variety of countries around the globe,” Carter wrote of the skaters who “have been honing basic skills through advance figure skating at Bangor Sawyer Arena.”

For information about the show, or the club, call Quigley at 683-2178.

Maine Music Teachers Association president Patricia Stowell reports you have two “opportunities to hear music of American composers performed by area students, teachers and faculty,” at “Discovering American Music.”

The first concert is 4 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in Kominsky Hall at Husson College in Bangor, and the second concert is 5 p.m. Sunday, April 6, in Minsky Hall on the University of Maine campus in Orono.

With each program “offering different music,” Stowell wrote, you really might want to attend both concerts to enjoy “wonderful works of Copland, Gershwin, Persichetti, Barber, Amy Beach and Maine’s own composer Glenn Jenks and more.”

For information about this program, or the MMTA, call Stowell at 945-4499 or e-mail stowell@roadrunner.com.

Friends of the Calais Free Library are hosting a Collections and Hobbies Show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at the Downeast Heritage Museum in Calais.

Ann Carter reports the event will feature everything from the creative quilts of members of the St. Croix Quilters Guild to “a complete collection of every style of Maine license plates ever issued,” buttons, stamps, bottles, historical memorabilia and even items of interest to fans of “Anne of Green Gables” and “Star Wars.”

Light refreshments will be available as you stroll through the museum to view an array of items.

Proceeds benefit programs and needs of the library. For information, call the library at 454-2758.

Dr. Everett Parker reports the Shirley Community Church 12th annual Maple Syrup Brunch is 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at Shirley town hall.

The show features Charlie Baker’s Sugar Shack syrup, and admission is by donation.

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