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Alton

Country music competitions

The Down East Country Music Association Inc. will offer its Northeast Division Competitions at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 13, at Happy Acres Bottle Club, off Interstate 95 Exit 199.

Categories include country, gospel, bluegrass, folk.

For information or an entry form, contact Jackie, 793-8884; or Jim and Donna, 924-7111.

Spectator admission for members of the association is $5; for nonmembers, $6. Food concessions will be available.

Bangor

Cemetery tour

A tour of the Old Irish Section of Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Ohio Street will be the program for the next meeting of the Penobscot County Genealogy Society at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 12, rain date July 19. John Frawley will give the tour.

Meet in the parking lot of the office and car pool to the old section. All are welcome.

Community theater auditions

Bangor Community Theatre will hold auditions for its upcoming show, “Labours of Love: A New Musical Revue,” book by H. Libby.

Auditions will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, July 11, and 2-5 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at Columbia Street Baptist Church, Columbia Street, Bangor.

Callbacks will take place 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 16.

Be prepared to sing a song that shows your vocal range. A short dance segment will be part of the audition.

Rehearsals begin Wednesday, Aug. 13.

Heather Libby will direct the show and Kevin Bate will be the musical director.

The show will be held Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20-21, at Peakes Auditorium, Bangor High School; and Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 25-28, at The Grand in Ellsworth.

Those interested in sponsoring the show may call Nancy Dymond at 570-3222 for information.

Gardens open to public

Roger and Sally Lycette will open their gardens to the public 1-6 p.m. Friday, July 11, in memory of their friend Ernie Griswold, who recently passed away.

Those who wish may make a donation to help the Griswold family with expenses at the gardens, at 1348 Ohio St., Bangor, seven-tenths of a mile out from Griffin Road.

Support group for parents

At the G.E.A.R. Support Group meeting 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, at Wings for Children and Families Inc. office, 900 Hammond St., a special event will be held.

Penobscot Partners for Children and Families, a Community Collaborative, will host a tea and a focused discussion with parents about creating an avenue for parent voices in planning for services for children in the community and the state.

To make sure enough refreshments will be on hand, those who wish to attend should RSVP to Cindy at Wings, 800-823-2988.

For information, call Helen Jones, regional parent support coordinator for Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Washington counties, at 800-264-9224 or 564-3361, or e-mail Gearregion3@verizon.net.

G.E.A.R. is a parent-to-parent network of information and support for parents of children with special needs.

Reading fun at library

This year’s annual Summer Reading program with an international flavor, is in full swing at the Bangor Public Library. “Around the World in 49 Days” continues to let participants travel the globe right at the library.

Mondays are craft days at the Bangor Library, and at 10 a.m. July 14, an Asian craft will be featured.

Preschoolers are invited to meet Gail Lane of the Penobscot County Extension office at 2 p.m. Monday, July 14, for a program on Foods of Maine – stories, crafts and snacks from healthy Maine-grown foods.

The Asian theme continues when Sayoko Mori presents “A Girl of Japan” at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 15. Mori will tell of her childhood in the “land of the rising sun.”

Children age 24 months and younger are invited to Mother Goose time at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, July 16, for 20 minutes of stories, rhymes and music in the Story Room.

Experience Totally Asia, a program for 2- to 5-year-olds and mom, dad or caregiver, at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 16. Stories, games, songs and rhymes from a different continent each week let the children travel the world.

The Asian Children’s Festival at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 17, lets youngsters experience chopsticks, karate, fried rice, calligraphy, origami, lanterns, fans, masks and tae kwando. The festival’s finale will be an Asian Dragon Dance.

Gunjan Gilbert presents Tandoor Downeast at 10 a.m. Friday, July 18. Gilbert loves to introduce Asian culture through delicious Indian foods.

Pick up Summer Reading Program schedules at the library.

A free music concert is presented at 7 p.m. each Wednesday in July at the library.

Art museum director

The University of Maine Museum of Art recently welcomed George Kinghorn as its new director. Kinghorn comes to the museum from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Fla., where he most recently served as deputy director and chief curator.

Kinghorn’s vision for UMMA includes extensive community outreach and collaborations with UM faculty and students. Through informal lunchtime lectures, diverse exhibits and educational programming for those of all ages, he hopes to build the museum’s audience and visibility statewide.

“Museums should be open, warm and accessible environments for people to come in an engage in a dialogue about visual art,” Kinghorn said. “The idea of museums being stuffy places – I don’t really [support] that notion. Museums really have to be lively centers of activity that bring people together.”

Kinghorn’s arrival in Maine coincides with the five-year anniversary celebration of the museum’s move to Harlow Street in downtown Bangor.

Personnel changes at City Hall

New city employees are:

Parks and Recreation Department: Debbie Gendreau, superintendent of recreation. Hired for the summer season are Benjamin Chapman, Daniel Hatch, Nicholas Dunn, Marcus Dunham, Benjamin Rapapport. Caroline Cox, Abby Whitten, Brian Wardwell, Sara Lammert, Blake Stevens, Micael Arell, Nathan Lavoie, Stacy Allen, Sarah Roper, Andrew Sawyer, Courtney Chase, Megan Pratt, Eliza Garland, Mary Worster, Andrew Mead, Benjamin White, Matthew Petrie, Joseph Combs, Caroline Cole, Benjamin Maloney, Rachel Alley, Matthew Rice, Matthew Gould, Lynn McDonald, Jayson Parent, Zachary Redmond and Kyle Vandestine.

Public Works Department: Hired for the season are John Pritchette and Jacob Lansky.

Bangor International Airport: Scott Tash, financial manager; Erika Kennedy, Allegiant service agent; John Huhn, Allegiant service agent; Larry Taylor, ramp attendant; and Mark Guay, ramp attendant.

BAT: Norman Grant Sr., transit driver.

Retirements: David Bickford and Jack Williams have retired from the Bangor Fire Department.

Painting donated

David Shorette of Old Town donated a picture of the old covered bridge spanning Kenduskeag Stream, located behind the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building on Harlow Street. The picture hangs on the third-floor wall by the elevator in City Hall.

Mayflower Society

The Maine Society of Mayflower Descendants, founded in 1901, will hold its summer meeting, led by Gov. Robert R. Dow, on Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Ramada Inn on Odlin Road.

Registration starts at 10 a.m., luncheon at noon. Reservations must be received by Friday, July 25, sent to Virginia Link, 17 Mildred Street, South Portland, ME 04106. Cost of the luncheon is $18 for baked stuffed chicken breast, broiled haddock or London broil.

Make check payable to the Maine Mayflower Society. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Requirement for membership in the Maine Society of Mayflower Descendants is proof of descent from any passenger on the Mayflower, which arrived in Plymouth, Mass., in November 1620.

For information, call 721-9528 or visit the Web site at http://memayflower.googlepages.com

Bradley

Leonard’s Mills

Summer at Leonard’s Mills will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 12-13.

Step back in time to the 1790s as the museum’s colonial village comes alive. Spinning, candle making, woodworking, trapping, blacksmithing and many more traditional activities will be demonstrated.

Sample bean-hole beans, take an old-fashioned horse-drawn wagon ride and participate in hands-on activities.

Admission to most events at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum is $5, $2 children ages 2 to 12, free to members. Plenty of free parking is available. For information, call 581-2871 or visit www.leonardsmills.com.

Eddington

Pies on the Lawn sale

Pies on the lawn?

Absolutely. It’s a great fundraiser planned for 4:30-6 p.m. Fridays, July 11-Aug. 7, at North Brewer-Eddington United Methodist Church, 31 Main Road.

Homemade pies will be sold for $8. Even better, special orders will be taken for the following week’s sale. For information, call 989-4715.

Hampden

Garden Tour

The Hampden Garden Club will sponsor a Garden Tour 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, July 19. The tour, which begins at Harmony Hall on Kennebec Road, will feature seven unique gardens. Advance tickets are $10, $12 day of the tour. For tickets and information, call 862-3467 or 862-5953. Proceeds benefit club programs.

Hermon

Garden tea party

Ecotat Gardens in Hermon will hold its seventh annual garden tea party 2-4 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at the gardens, Route 2 and Annis Road.

Tea sandwiches, English scones with clotted creme and preserves, three sweets ending with a double chocolate truffle, and of course, freshly brewed tea, will be served by ladies wearing garden finery including white gloves and hats.

Clayton Hardy will play the dulcimer at the event as guests enjoy the food and the garden setting.

Chapel Hill Floral of Bangor has donated a centerpiece that will go home with one of the ticket holders.

Tickets are $15 each and are available by calling 848-3603 or 848-5946.

Orland

Hiking with Heinrich

Join Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust on a 3.5-mile, moderately strenuous hike on one of the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands’ newer trails 1-4 p.m. Sunday, July 13.

Meet at the South Gate at 1 p.m. and carpool to the intersection of Flag Hill Road and Hillside Trail.

Participants will hike up Hillside Trail, then up to the top of Oak Hill, with fine views of Great Pond Mountain, Hothole Valley and beyond. The group will return by way of the East Ridge Path back to Flag Hill Road and down to the starting place.

The walk should take about three hours, with a 400-foot elevation gain.

Bernd Heinrich, the famed raven expert and amazing ecologist, will be along to provide insights about the ecology of the forests.

Bring sun protection, bug protection – deer flies could be a nuisance, water, snacks and binoculars if you have them. Space is limited, preregister at 469-7190 or cdomina@midmaine.com.

Conservation trust’s annual meeting

Author Bernd Heinrich will be the guest speaker at Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust’s annual meeting Sunday, July 13, at Alamoosook Lakeside Inn.

Partake in a dessert potluck at 6:30 p.m., vote for new board members and hear a brief Wildlands update. Then enjoy a talk by Heinrich, author of many best-selling books about nature, mainly about the birds and animals, trees and flowers of the Maine woods.

Among his best-known works are “Bumblebee Economics,” “The Mind of the Raven,” “The Geese of Beaver Bog” and “A Year in the Maine Woods.”

Of his beautifully-crafted books, the New York Times observed: “These passionate observations of a place ‘where the subtle matters and the spectacular detracts’ superbly mix memoir and science.”

RSVP required for this event: call 469-7190 or e-mail cdomina@midmaine.com.