Bangor

Kiwanis guest speaker

University of Maine System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude will be the featured speaker at 7 a.m. Thursday, July 31, at a meeting of the Bangor Breakfast Kiwanis at Geaghan’s Restaurant in Bangor. Pattenaude will talk about the impact of Maine’s public universities on the state and on his recently introduced Agenda for Action.

Paint Bangor Day

The Bangor Art Society invites artists of all ages and experience to take part in its first annual Paint Bangor Day by painting their favorite Bangor scene on Saturday, July 26, and submitting it for a silent auction that evening.

Registration for the one-day event is set for 8-10 a.m. Saturday at The Bennett Gallery, 34 Central St., next to Lippincott Books.

Artists will have until 3:30 p.m. to complete their paintings and bring finished work to Bennett Gallery for a silent auction and reception, 5-7 p.m.

Fifty percent of the auction price will go to the artist and 50 percent to the Bangor Art Society, to help fund programs throughout the year.

First-, second- and third-place prizes will be awarded to the paintings receiving the most votes from the auction attendees. For more information, call Kristborg Whitney at 942-3868, e-mail Kristborg@aol.com, or Leigh Butler at 990-5783, e-mail leighbutler@midmaine.com.

Trip to see ‘Show Boat’

The St. Joseph Hospital Auxiliary invites the community to take a trip to the Massachusetts North Shore Music Theatre’s presentation of “Show Boat.” The trip is organized by trip and travel planner Nancy Ziegenbein.

The day trip includes Cyr luxury motor coach transportation, a southern-themed lunch at the Wenham Tea House, inner circle seats at the “in the round” North Shore Music Theatre and a buffet meal on the way home.

The trip will take place on Saturday, Sept. 27. The motor coach will leave Bangor at 7 a.m. Boarding along I-95 and I-295 south of Bangor is available. The bus is expected to return to Bangor by 11 p.m. The cost of travel, lunch, dinner and show tickets is $169 a person.

Last year’s trip sold out quickly, organizers said. Early reservations are advised. The reservation deadline is Monday, Aug. 11. To obtain information or make reservations, call Nancy Ziegenbein, 947-7965.

A special offer will be available to those who have never been St. Joseph Hospital Auxiliary members. For those in that category who go on the trip, a special one-year membership to the auxiliary will be included in the trip fee.

“Show Boat” is a critically acclaimed Broadway production revived on Broadway in 1994. The unforgettable score includes “Only Make Believe,” “Ol’ Man River” and “Can’t Help Loving Dat Man,” scored by Jerome Kern.

The auxiliary hosts several fundraising activities throughout the year and oversees the operation of Helen’s gift shop located in the hospital’s Broadway lobby. Proceeds received from auxiliary efforts benefit St. Joseph Hospital.

‘Armchair trip’ to Africa

The summer reading program at the Bangor Public Library has been traveling “Around the World in 49 Days.” On Monday, July 28, participants begin a journey to Africa.

Mondays are craft days, and at 10 a.m. July 28 an African craft will be featured.

Meet Gail Lane of the Penobscot County Extension Office at 2 p.m. Monday, July 28, for the program, Foods of Maine. It offers stories, crafts and snacks made from healthy Maine-grown foods.

A Girl from Nigeria, with Elizabeth Ogbonna, will be presented at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 29. Dr. Ogbonna grew up in Nigeria, the most populous of the African nations, and will tell what it was like to grow up and go to school in Nigeria.

Children age 24 months and younger are invited to Mother Goose Time at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, July 30, for 20 minutes of stories, rhymes, music and bounces in the Story Room.

Experience Totally Africa is a program for 2- to 5-year-old children and mom, dad or caregiver. Stories, games, songs and rhymes from a different continent each week let participants travel the world.

For You Are a Kenyan Child with Kelly Cunnane will be presented at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 31. Cunnane, a former Peace Corps teacher, has written about her Kenyan experience and will share her story. Her book will be available for purchase and signing, and refreshments will be served.

The finale of African Week at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 1, at the library, features treats from Africa.

Documentary film on Jerusalem children

The film “Promises” will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 30, at Penobscot Theatre’s Bangor Opera House, Main Street. The show is free.

“Promises” is a documentary film about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis as seen through the eyes of seven children in Jerusalem. With the candor of youth, the children share their perceptions of themselves, their presumed enemies and their views of the future. Though the children live only 20 minutes apart, they exist in completely separate worlds; the physical, historical and emotional obstacles between them run deep.

“Promises” explores the nature of these boundaries and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors. The seven children featured in the film offer a refreshing, human and sometimes humorous portrait of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

A discussion will be held after the film and refreshments will be available. The film is sponsored by the Eastern Maine Chapter of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, with support from River City Cinema.

Art museum events

These events and workshops are scheduled at the University of Maine Museum of Art, 40 Harlow St.:

. Exploring Watercolor Painting with Philip Frey, 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Aug. 2 and 9. $65 members, $75 others.

. Drawing Workshop for beginners with Ed Nadeau, 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2 and 9. $65 members, $75 others.

. Art @ Noon, noon-1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 4, Sept. 8, Nov. 3 and Dec. 1. Informal gallery talk highlighting UMMA’s current exhibitions and permanent collection. Free.

. Digital Photography Workshop, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 and 20. $65 members, $75 others.

. Art Factory, a family day, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. An art making event. Participate in various art projects. Take the results home and give them as holiday gifts. Supplies and instruction provided. Free.

For more information about these and other UMMA events, or to register for workshops, call 561-3350 or visit www.umma.umaine.edu.

Chamber music concert

A Summer Evening Musicale with Kneisel Hall musicians, will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, July 28, at All Souls Church 10 Broadway. The program will consist of the chamber music of Brahms and Schubert. The event is sponsored by the Arlan A. Baillie Steinway Performance Series, Congregation Beth Israel and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. The concert is free. A reception will be held afterward.

Come to our Cabaret concert

The Bangor Community Chorus and its conductor, Joshua Schmersal, invite the public to its Come to our Cabaret concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at First Baptist Church, 56 Center St. Colin Graebert will serve as accompanist for the chorus.

A spaghetti supper will be served 5-7 p.m., followed by the concert. The cost of admission is $10.

Grant to PICA

Haymarket People’s Fund, a public foundation for social change in New England since 1974, has announced its 2008 grant awards.

Haymarket is an anti-racist, multi-cultural foundation that supports grassroots organizations addressing the root causes of injustice. The fund also organizes to increase sustainable community philanthropy throughout the region.

Each June, Haymarket awards grants to local organizations throughout New England’s neighborhoods and communities. This money is strategically allocated by a volunteer grant-making panel of community organizers across the region who are actively involved in working for change in their own communities.

This funding cycle, Haymarket People’s Fund has awarded $652,480 in sustaining, emergency, media justice and donor-advised grants.

With contributions of hundreds of people, Haymarket was able to fund groups in Maine, including Peace Through InterAmerican Community Action in Bangor. PICA has been a member-based organization for more than 20 years, working for global, economic, and political systems that are grounded with ties to the popular movement in El Salvador.

Carmel

A special birthday

A special birthday party has been set for a woman in Carmel who is hoping that lots of people will turn out, with presents to benefit area schoolchildren, not herself.

Jamie Kinghorn will mark her 25th birthday with a party 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Carmel Grange on Route 2.

Debbie Kinghorn said that her daughter has a variety of disabilities and has a therapy dog to watch for seizures. But her daughter can print her name, “and she’s very sociable,” Kinghorn said.

Jamie loves balloons and Faith Hill music and the “Home Alone” movies, and especially summer sessions at Pine Tree Camp in Rome and Camp CaPella.

Debbie Kinghorn has contacted school officials in Hermon, Carmel, Levant, Bangor and Etna-Dixmont to make sure they would welcome school supplies to begin the new year.

She has made a list of items she would like to distribute to the schools on behalf of Jamie to mark her birthday: colored pencils, pens, markers, folders with pockets, colored index cards, notebooks, crayons, book bags, sticky notes, small wire baskets, pencil boxes, special pencils with holiday or birthday themes, stickers for teachers to award, paste sticks and rulers.

“All schools are more than happy to take anything we can get them,” Kinghorn said. “It would help the teachers a great deal.”

For information, contact Debbie Kinghorn at 848-5998.

Castine

Museum programs

These activities are scheduled at the Wilson Museum in Castine:

. Civil War Encampment, 2-5 p.m. Thursday, July 24, with Michael Celli, regimental surgeon, 20th Maine Infantry Volunteers re-enactors.

. “Civil War Medicine and the Aftermath of the Battle at Gettysburg,” lecture by Michael Celli, regimental surgeon, 20th Maine Infantry Volunteers re-enactors, 3 p.m. Thursday, July 24.

. 18th Century Encampment with the Davis family, 2-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27.

. “African Masks and Art Used as Communication Tools,” lecture by Oscar Mokeme, director of The Museum of African Culture, 3 p.m. Thursday, July 31.

. Exhibit opening reception, 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2., “Friends of Elizabeth O’Malley: Sketches and Paintings.”

. Fireside Cooking at the Perkins House, 2-5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, Sunday, Aug. 10 and Wednesday, Aug. 13.

. Basic Gravestone Conservation workshop with Jonathan Appell, independent gravestone conservator, all day, Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Castine Cemetery. Sponsored by the Castine Cemetery Association and the Wilson Museum.

Hermon

Dixieland band concert

Six Basin Street, an all-women Dixieland band, will give a concert at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 27, at Ecotat Gardens, Route 2 and Annis Road. Park in area on Annis Road. Bring a lawn chair. Rain date is Aug. 10. For information, call 848-5946.

Orrington

Benefit entertainment

Entertainment by The Beecher Boys and Girls Hillbilly Band and Cloggers will be presented 6:30-8 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the East Orrington Congregational Church. Suggested donation is $5 per person or $8 per family. The event will benefit Bruce Thibodeau who is undergoing treatment for cancer. Light refreshments will be served after the show, with time for fellowship.

Penobscot County

Fall bulb sale

Maine’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts are an extraordinary resource for Maine communities. The Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District focuses attention on conserving land, water and related resources; develops programs to solve natural resource problems; enlists and coordinates help from public and private sources that can contribute to accomplishing the district’s mission; and educates the public in the preservation of natural resources.

The Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District is taking orders for the fall bulb sale. The agency is offering tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, irises, lilies and more. Orders must be received by Friday, Aug. 8.

For information on the bulb sale or district programs, call 990-3676 or visit the Web site at www.penobscotswcd.org.

The budget for the operation of the Penobscot Conservation District is established locally based on local priorities. The budget is a blend of grants from state and federal sources, as well as contributions from public and private sources.