Bangor

Vendor applications for American Folk Festival

Organizers of the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront have announced that applications are being accepted for vendors at the 2007 event scheduled for Aug. 24-26.

The annual celebration of traditional music, song and dance attracts more than 100,000 people to Bangor’s waterfront parks each August, and offers local vendors the opportunity to showcase their products to a large audience.

Applications are being accepted in three categories:

. The Folk Arts Marketplace, which features traditionally made handcrafts, and includes basketry, jewelry, leather products, woodcarving, hooked rugs and more.

. Food vendors, who provide a wide diversity of products -from lobster rolls to Greek gyros – for festival-goers to enjoy on site.

. The new Taste of Maine tent, which will offer a vending opportunity for Maine producers of packaged food products. Organizers expect that vendors will offer a variety of products including jams and jellies, maple syrup, dip mixes, smoked meats, cheese and more.

The Taste of Maine tent will provide an additional opportunity for festival-goers to take home a quality Maine product, and will be an outlet for many of Maine’s high-quality food producers.

Applications need to be returned to the Folk Festival office in February, and the date varies by category. Those wanting to receive application materials should call the festival office at 992-2630 or visit www.americanfolkfestival.com, which has the application materials available for download.

Homebuyer course

MaineStream Finance is offering a free 12-hour certified training course that helps potential homebuyers make prudent home purchasing decisions. The class will be held 5:30-8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Feb. 12-15, at Penquis CAP, 262 Harlow St.

The course is conducted by a qualified trainer and discusses the roles of various professionals involved in the home buying process, such as attorneys, realtors, lenders, insurance agents and home inspectors. Components of the course are budget and debt management counseling and credit counseling.

There is no cost, but registration is required. Call MaineStream Finance at 974-2424 or (800) 215-4942 for more information or registration.

Literacy tutor training

Literacy Volunteers of Bangor is offering Basic Literacy Tutor Training for volunteers interested in helping adults improve their reading skills. In eastern Maine, one in three people reads at a fifth-grade level or never learned to read.

Tutoring an adult in reading only takes a few hours each week, but the positive effects for that adult last a lifetime.

The next tutor training series is 9 a.m.-noon Wednesdays, Jan. 31, Feb. 7, 14 and 28, and March 7, at United Technologies Center, 200 Hogan Road. Those interested must call LV-Bangor at 947-8451 to register.

Course materials are $25. Scholarships are available for those who can’t afford the fee.

Those interested in improving their reading may contact LV-Bangor at 947-8451 for more information.

Waterfront park meetings

The city of Bangor is seeking public comment on a proposed plan for a waterfront park in the currently undeveloped green space that the city owns between the railroad tracks and the Penobscot River.

Public meetings are scheduled noon-1:30 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, in city hall council chambers. Presenters will be city officials and Pam Shadley, a principal of Shadley Associates, the landscape architectural firm that prepared the plan.

Adoption information

Maine Adoption Placement Service invites the public to an informational meeting 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, at the MAPS office, 181 State St. Participants will learn the basics of the adoption process. MAPS staff will provide an overview of the different types of programs available, including domestic and international. For more information, call Melissa Huston at 941-9500, or visit www.mapsadopt.org.

Castine

Bagaduce Winters Way Back When

The Bagaduce Watershed Association will offer an afternoon of informal sharing of stories of life along the Bagaduce River in winter at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14, at Emerson Hall.

Community members who have lived in the Bagaduce watershed for one or more generations in Brooksville, Castine, Blue Hill, Sedgwick and Penobscot will share stories about what they saw or heard, or what their parents, uncles, aunts or grandparents saw or heard way back when.

The public is invited to share or listen to favorite wintertime memories about growing up, going to school, hunting, ice skating, having a close call, getting through the hardest winter ever, or any other stories, facts, legends or whoppers from the past. Attendees are encouraged to bring old photos.

Refreshments will be served, and admission is free. The Bagaduce Watershed Association also may be able to help with carpooling for those who would like to save gas or need an extra arm navigating a walk. For information, call the Wilson Museum at 326-9247, or Katherine Turok at the Bagaduce Watershed Association, 326-0966.

Etna

Benefit dinner

A benefit spaghetti dinner for the Hathaway family, who suffered a tragedy Dec. 30, will be held 5-6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at the Etna-Dixmont School. Donations will be accepted at the door. Snow date is Jan. 14.

A silent auction also will be held. To donate an item or for more information, call Val at 852-2408 or Rose at 234-2260.

Hermon

Program on repotting, mounting orchids

The Eastern Maine Orchid Society will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at Greencare, 1779 Hammond St.

A program on repotting and mounting orchids will be given by Mary Lou Hoskins. Bring your orchids, potting media will be provided by the society. Pots and mounts will be available for purchase, and refreshments will be served. Experience Greencare’s new corn furnace.

Old Town

Rabies clinic

The city of Old Town, in conjunction with Timberland Animal Hospital, will hold a rabies vaccination clinic 11 a.m.-noon Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Old Town Fire Station, Middle Street. The fee per vaccination is $10.

Animals must be at least 6 months old and be on a leash or in a carrier. The Old Town clerk will be on hand to provide 2007 licenses.

Clinic proceeds will benefit the Animal Orphanage in Old Town. For more information, call Roberta Fowler at 827-2658.

Orono

New sign for new library

Orono began its third century as a town this year with the unveiling of the sign that identifies the location of the new Orono Public Library. The ceremony took place Wednesday in an event that included the burning of the mortgage that will put an end to a 100-year curse, which began when the town of Orono said NO to Andrew Carnegie’s gift of a new library in 1906.

The property for the new library, located on Pine Street, was purchased by the Orono Public Library Foundation in 2003. Building preparation began several weeks ago when Sargent Corp. razed one of the two buildings on the grounds and NEWSME Waste Removal hauled away the debris. The work was done as a donation to the new library effort.

To date, corporate and private donors have contributed $878,000 during the quiet phase of the $2 million campaign. The unveiling of the sign officially launched the public phase of the library fundraising campaign. This is an opportunity for those who value the importance of having a freestanding, vibrant public library to contribute to the campaign.

Used book and bake sale

Mark your calendars for the Friends of the Orono Public Library used book and bake sale 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at the library. The sale will feature books for all ages, baked goods and a lunch of homemade soups and breads.

Donations of books for the sale will be accepted at the library through Jan. 31. The library will gladly accept all kinds of books and audio-visual items in usable condition. Reader’s Digest Condensed books, outdated computer manuals or incomplete and very old encyclopedia sets will not be accepted. Call 866-5060 for more information.

Rabies clinic

The city of Orono, in conjunction with Timberland Animal Hospital, will hold a rabies vaccination clinic 1-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Orono Fire Station, Main Street. The fee is $10 per vaccination.

Animals to be vaccinated must be at least 6 months old and be on a leash or in a carrier. The Orono clerk will be on hand to provide 2007 licenses for residents who have not yet acquired them.

Proceeds from the clinic will benefit the Animal Orphanage in Old Town. For information, call Roberta Fowler at 827-2658.