Bangor

United Way campaign kickoff

United Way of Eastern Maine’s annual campaign kicks off in September with community events in Bangor and Ellsworth.

On Wednesday, Sept. 6, at Bass Park in Bangor, some 1,000 people are expected to celebrate with an “A Day At the Races” rally thanks to a partnership with Bangor Raceway.

The rally will start at 11:45 a.m. and run until 1 p.m. Hannaford provides a free lunch for attendees and there will be lots of fun for all. The public is welcome to attend.

In Ellsworth, the public is invited to enjoy a “Comedy Night” featuring comedian Chris Quimby 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Darling’s will host the event at its brand-new Darling’s Ellsworth Automall at 16 Kingsland Crossing, at the top of the hill on Route 3 heading toward Bar Harbor. Darling’s will provide food and beverages.

Darling’s has donated a brand-new 2006 Nissan Sentra to support United Way. One lucky donor who gives $5 a week or more to the 2006 campaign will drive the new car home.

Donors contributing $3 and $2 a week or more will have their names placed in a drawing for 500 gallons of R.H. Foster Energy heating oil and a $1,000 L.L. Bean gift certificate, respectively.

Those who plan to attend either event who have not registered through their workplace are encouraged to call United Way at 941-2800. More details about the prizes and the events are available at www.unitedwayem.org

United Way of Eastern Maine leads collaborative community initiatives and funds 65 health and human service programs at partner agencies in Hancock, Penobscot, Hancock, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington counties.

United Way also sponsors 2-1-1, the one place to call to get connected to health and human services, and Volunteer Maine, an online service that matches volunteers with opportunities in their area.

Raise your voice

Members of the Bangor Community chorus invite the public to share the holiday season with them by participating in the chorus’s annual holiday concert. Rehearsals for the event begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the First United Methodist Church, 703 Essex St. For more information, call Carolyn Mc-Kinnon at 945-6752.

Sharing the harvest

The Bangor-Brewer Christian Women’s Club will hold a How Did Your Garden Grow? luncheon noon-2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Spectacular Event Center, 395 Griffin Road. If you have batches of zucchini bread, muffins, cakes, jellies and relishes, the club has a perfect outlet – donate the bounty to a bake and produce sale to benefit Stonecroft Ministries.

Marion Syverson will speak on “Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places.” Kaiye Anderson will provide music.

For reservations, complimentary child care and cancellations, call Alcinda at 989-5796, or Beth at 949-0691.

Assertiveness training

A free eight-session assertiveness training will be held 9 a.m.-noon starting Wednesday, Sept. 13, at Women, Work & Community. Participants will learn to meet challenges at work and in personal life by developing effective skills and practice techniques that allow directness, openness and honesty while respecting the rights of others. Participants also will learn to handle barriers of fear and anger that block appropriate communication.

Registration is required and space is limited. Call 262-7842 or (800) 442-2092 to obtain more information.

Child care class

The Penquis CAP Resource Development Center is offering 18 hours of training in Caring for the Abuse-Affected Child and Family 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, and Friday, Sept. 22, at Penquis CAP, 262 Harlow St.

The session raises awareness of issues that affect children in families and will focus on child abuse, substance abuse and domestic abuse. When completed, the course offers 1.8 CEUs. In order to meet training hour requirements, participants will be given a two-hour activity to be completed between sessions.

There is no charge for the training. Registration is required and lunch is provided. To register, call 973-3533.

Dog ownership day

The Penobscot Valley Kennel Club and the American Kennel Club will sponsor AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Day 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, in Paul Bunyan Park, in front of the Bangor Civic Center, Main Street.

Activities at the free event for dog enthusiasts are:

. AKC Meet the Breeds.

. Canine Good Citizen testing. How well-mannered is your dog? Take a 10-step test for AKC CGC certification, $5 per dog.

. Microchip implant clinic, $25.

. Informative demonstrations.

For more information, call Bonnie Raymond at 843-5222.

Castine

Geologic evolution of the coast of Maine

Roger Hooke is a research professor at the department of earth sciences and Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine.

He will present an illustrated talk followed by a walk, weather permitting, at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Wilson Museum. His topic will be “The Geologic Evolution of the Coast of Maine with Special Focus on Castine.”

The geologic history of the coast of Maine begins some 500 million years ago when a large chunk of Africa broke loose and began to “drift” across an ocean called Iapetus that separated Africa from North America. (Iapetus was the father of Atlantis in Greek mythology.) This piece of continental crust, called Avalonia, acquired a mantle of volcanic detritus, now called the Castine volcanics, during the early part of its journey.

Beneath the Iapetus Ocean, the ocean floor was gradually subducted under the proto-North American continent (called Laurentia), thus drawing Avalonia closer and closer to Laurentia until the two collided, about 415 million years ago.

During this collision, granites were intruded into Avalonia at depths of a few miles. In the subsequent 400 million years, erosion has stripped away these miles of rock, leaving the granites exposed at the surface in many places. The hills we see around us are underlain by slightly more resistant rock types that did not erode quite as fast as the rocks in the valleys.

During the last 1.8 million years glaciers have advanced over Maine many times. The latest such advance culminated about 28,000 years ago. The weight of the ice depressed the crust so much that when the ice withdrew, the sea flooded coastal Maine.

In the Penobscot lowland it reached all the way to Medway. Glacial till deposited by the ice and marine clays during the incursion of the sea are the primary surface materials in coastal Maine.

Eddington

Tree Farm Field Day

The Maine Tree Farm Committee will hold the 2006 Tree Farm Field Day on Saturday, Aug. 26, at Timberdoodle Tree Farm in East Eddington. Timberdoodle Tree Farm is owned and operated by Malcolm and Dorothy Coulter, 2006 Maine Tree Farmers of the Year.

Those interested in land management are invited to Timberdoodle Tree Farm to see pre-commercial harvests, thinning, examples for enhancing property for wildlife, demonstrations for grafting wild apple trees, vernal pools, a portable sawmill in operation and more.

For information, registration or lunch reservations, call Maine Tree Foundation at 621-9872 or e-mail mtf@gwi.net. Lunch is $10 per person. Coffee and doughnuts are available at no charge.

Kenduskeag

Old Home Day

Kenduskeag will hold Old Home Day on Saturday, Sept. 9. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. starting from Northeast Log Homes on the Ames Road.

Events of the day begin at 11 a.m. at Cole Memorial Ball Field on the Levant Road. Activities include family relay races, a pie-eating contest, face painting, bounce house, farm animals, pet show, talent show, entertainment, cotton candy, doughboys, snow cones and more. To obtain more information, call Tina at 944-1114 or Lori, 884-8358.

Milford

Community Day

The Milford Fire and Rescue Department and the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department will be the hosts for the town’s first Community Day 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Municipal Building on Davenport Street.

The event will be a collaboration of many area organizations to provide safety information to families from the Old Town area. The public is welcome to attend.

Some of the agencies that will be represented include Eastern Agency on Aging, Maine State Troopers, Old Town Fire Department, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Pine Tree Snowmobile Club and the American Red Cross.

Activities will include a bounce house, balloons, games and activities for children and emergency vehicle demonstrations. Smokey Bear, Sparky the Fire Dog and Andy the Armadillo from Texas Roadhouse will be on hand also.

There will be a raffle to benefit area burn charities, with many prizes donated from area merchants and individuals. Raffle items include movie passes, toys, books, clothing and gift cards. Raffle tickets are $1 each.

Food vendors will be on site selling doughboys and Italian sausage. All other activities will be available at no charge.

Families are encouraged to attend to celebrate the last Saturday before the children return to school. The Milford Fire and Rescue Department extend thanks to the community for support in planning the event, and look forward to sharing a fun and informative day with the public.

Orland

Challenge grant

Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust has received a $100,000 challenge grant from an anonymous donor this summer to help with the campaign to protect the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands.

The land trust purchased the 4,200-acre property in June 2005 using gifts from local families and a $1 million zero-interest loan. The trust must repay the loan and raise additional funds for stewardship costs before the campaign ends in June 2007.

The $100,000 challenge grant has already brought in one $25,000 gift, said Marcia Sly, campaign coordinator. Out of the $2.86 million fundraising goal, “This brings the balance to be raised to just under $460,000,” Sly said.

The challenge grant was made in hopes of offering a one to one match for any new Wildlands donors – essentially allowing donors to double gifts to the trust.

The trust kicked off the public phase of its campaign in June, with an appeal that gives donors opportunities to sponsor parcels of land, acre by acre.

Doubling the size of the donations through the challenge is, according to Sly, “a welcome boost at this point in the fundraising. The last dollars in a major campaign can be the hardest to raise.”

The property had been logged and roads developed for a subdivision when the land trust stepped in to purchase it last summer. With the help of more than 50 active volunteers, the trust is managing the property for wildlife habitat and low-impact recreation. This summer, the wildlands are open on weekends to vehicles and during the week to visitors on foot, bicycle or horseback.

Those interested in making a gift to the wildlands campaign and taking advantage of the challenge grant may call Marcia Sly at 469-7190 or e-mail greatpond@midmaine.com. Information on the campaign or on visiting the wildlands may be found at www.greatpondtrust.org.

Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust

Nearly 100 members and interested others attended Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust’s annual meeting in July at Alamoosook Lakeside Inn, where they elected a new slate of board members and officers.

Dr. David Gross of Bucksport and Hampden took over the presidency of the group from Kent Price, who stepped down after six years on the board. Son of the trust founder Stuart M. Gross, he recently retired back to Maine after 32 years at the University of Oklahoma. Gross’ family has owned property in Orland and Bucksport for generations. Currently, he teaches at University of Maine.

Stepping up to vice president is Olga Lange, art director at Wooden Boat Magazine and a graphic designer who has created maps, exhibits, newsletters and other materials for the trust. Lange and husband Brian Keegstra live in Brooksville and manage a woodlot in Orland.

Newly elected treasurer Curran Murphy of Bucksport is the proprietor of Bucksport Properties LLC, developing what was the old Ming’s Restaurant building on Main Street. Murphy and wife Janet Baron Murphy together started a kayak rental business this summer. Murphy has an MBA from Suffolk University and previously worked as a commercial mortgage lender and broker in Massachusetts and as a private real estate investor in Florida.

Newly elected to the board of directors were Bill Cohen of Brooklin, communications and public affairs manager at the Bucksport Paper Mill; Jane Crosen of Penobscot, a mapmaker and editor who helped design the wildlands map and the Great Pond Mountain map adorning the trust tees; Paul Hansen of Verona Island, active in the Bucksport Chamber and a broker with RE/MAX Advantage; Jeanne Russell of Verona Island, owner of Island Flowers and a lifelong area resident; Mitchell Baum, a nature photographer residing in Brooklin; and Bob Clukey, a Phillips Lake resident instrumental in Lucerne-in-Maine’s donation of a conservation easement to the trust in 2005.

Members Holly Taylor-Lash and Gina Bushong were re-elected to three-year terms. Taylor-Lash, a former trust president, manages an organic blueberry farm on Orland’s Front Ridge with husband Tom and twins Alex and Eric.

Bushong is the proprietor of Alamoosook Lakeside Inn and active in regional ecotourism efforts. Both were instrumental in securing protection of the wildlands property.

The board thanks retiring officers and board members: Kent Price, John Chapin Sr., Heidi Williams, Brian Barker, Alvion Kimball and Anna Emery.

Members enjoyed a presentation on the wildlands property and an interim report on the wildlands natural resource inventory with Dr. Alison Dibble and ecologist Cathy Rees.