Bangor

Annual ‘Poets-Speak’

In honor of National Poetry Month, the Bangor Public Library’s annual “Poets-Speak” will be held 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, April 11.

Hosted by Maine poet Kathleen Ellis, “Poets-Speak” has become the largest free poetry event in eastern Maine. It will feature some 22 readings by well-known and emerging poets, translators and speakers of Mandarin and Shona.

Participating poets are Tony Brinkley, Linda Buckmaster, Troy Casa, Burt Hatlen, Leonore Hildebrandt, Annaliese Jakimides, Gary Lawless, Carl Little, Lee Sharkey, Patricia Sithole, Candice Stover and Kathleen Ellis.

There will be literature, magazine and book exhibits and sales, as well as music and a reception. For more information, call Ellis at 581-3858.

Books2Eat

Loving a book so much you want to gobble it up is an experience everyone should have. That’s what Books2Eat is all about.

This one-of-a-kind celebration of reading put on by Eastern Maine Community College’s Friends of the Library challenges the community – from elementary pupils to chefs – to exercise culinary creativity by cooking up a totally edible creation based on the title of a favorite book.

Spicing it up a notch is the competition factor with several categories of entry, including pupils under 12, students over 12, professional chefs and everyone else in addition to a special Stephen King title category open to everyone.

Books2Eat will take place 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, in EMCC’s Rangeley Hall. For information or an entry form, call Karen Reilly at 974-4606.

Show for Howard Foundation

The Howard Foundation will hold its spring fling fund-raiser for the Howard Foundation Scholarship Fund. The show at 8 a.m. Friday, April 6, at the Bangor Motor Inn features the First Timers, female impersonators Lady Danielle, Miss Caddy DeVille and special guest Dame Sheena. Afterward there will be dancing until 11 p.m.

Admission is $20, and there will be a cash bar.

Named for Charlie Howard, a young gay man who was killed in downtown Bangor, the foundation is a nonprofit organization raising money for scholarships with the goal of educating those who will teach that hate is wrong.

‘Cowboy in Caracas’

PICA presents “Cowboy in Caracas: One North American’s Life in Venezuela,” a talk by Charles Hardy, at 7 p.m. Friday, April 13, at the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, 170 Park St.

A former priest turned journalist, Hardy has lived in Venezuela for eight years, where he has been a witness to history. This includes the discontent that brought Venezuelan Hugo Chavez Frias to power, the U.S.-orchestrated coup that briefly toppled him and the peaceful, democratic revolution that returned him to the presidency.

Hardy’s memoir, “Cowboy in Caracas,” has just been published by Curbstone Press and is receiving positive reviews.

Adoption, foster care

The Bangor office of the Department of Health and Human Services will conduct a public informational meeting about adoption and foster care at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 9. To obtain meeting location and to participate, call A Family For ME at (877) 505-0545.

Those considering adoption or foster care through the Maine Department of Health and Human Services are encouraged to attend the open, no obligation meeting.

Camera club

The Eastern Maine Camera Club will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 5, at the Parks and Recreation Building, 647 Main St. Guest speakers will be Helen Longest-Saccone and Marty Saccone of Lubec, editors and publishers of The Nature Photographer magazine. Their topic will be “Spirit Place: Our Place in the Universe.” The public is invited to attend. For more information, call 942-9469.

Snakes, Too Much Fun!

Those who are curious enough to turn over a log or rock on the forest floor to see what they can find are invited to a slithering good time at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at the Maine Discovery Museum. Bob Mason, Oregon State University zoologist, will share his knowledge of herpetology and the reproductive biology of snakes.

Mason, the recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Young Investigator Award, will show photos of his work with red-sided garter snakes in Manitoba, Canada, which has one of the world’s largest concentrations of snakes. Mason will offer a first hand look at the study of snakes, including precise measuring and making discoveries.

Mason is the subject of a popular children’s book, “The Snake Scientist,” published by Houghton Mifflin. The book is part of the Scientists in the Field series aimed at 9- to 12- year-olds.

The program is recommended for children ages 7 and up, and is free with paid museum admission of $6.50. Members and children under 1 year old are admitted free.

Mason’s visit is sponsored in part by the University of Maine and the College of the Atlantic.

Fort Knox

Great Easter Egg Hunt

The seventh annual Great Easter Egg Hunt will take place at noon Saturday, April 7, on the grounds of historic Fort Knox in Prospect. Rain date is noon Sunday, April 8. More than 4,000 toy- and candy-filled eggs will be hidden throughout the grounds.

Event organizers will develop several “hunt zones,” which will be based on children’s ages. Some hidden eggs will have a code entitling the finder to a special prize.

The annual fundraising event sponsored by the Friends of Fort Knox supports the organization’s ongoing mission of preservation and educational activities.

Admission to the hunt is $3 per person. To obtain additional information about the event or to volunteer, call the Friends’ office at 469-6553.

The annual park day cleanup project will be held 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 14, at the fort. The event, held in cooperation with the Civil War Preservation Trust, will take place at numerous historic sites throughout the country. Volunteers receive a park day T-shirt and are asked to bring their own rakes and work gloves.

These events mark the beginning of what should be a very busy season at Fort Knox, due to the opening of the much-awaited Penobscot Narrows Observatory in May. It is expected that the Maine Department of Transportation will issue a statement soon giving the exact opening date.

For more information on Penobscot Narrows Observatory and Fort Knox admission fees, visit www.fortknox.maineguide.com.

Fort Knox is a State Historic Site, owned and operated by the Maine Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands.

Hermon

River City Harmonizers Guest Night

Women who love to sing, like to have fun and enjoy the thrill of blending their voices in harmony are invited to join the River City Harmonizers at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12.

The ladies’ barbershop chorus is celebrating its move to the new Morgan Hill Event Center on Route 2 in Hermon by holding a guest night. Knowing how to read music is not a requirement, but carrying a tune is. Most members of the chorus have developed their musical talents while singing with the group.

Together since 1991, the River City Harmonizers, under the direction of Mary Gaudreau, are a group of women with a wide variety of backgrounds and vocal experience, but the common denominator is their love for singing.

They sing upbeat old favorites, ballads, love songs, spirituals and patriotic selections, all in four-part harmony.

Members of the Harmonizers have joined for different reasons, but stay for the music, fun and friendship. They have found that singing relieves stress, gives a gentle upper body workout and keeps the mind sharp.

The River City Harmonizers meet 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursdays for rehearsals. April 12 will be the first in a series of three guest nights.

Orono

Civil War play for children

A play about the Civil War – by kids, for kids – will be performed at the town library.

“A Portal in a Closet” was written and will be performed by the children’s troupe Just Solve Acts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 7, at Orono Public Library.

It is a play about a group of kids who travel through time to the days of the Civil War and meet some famous figures working to abolish slavery.

The play is suitable for children in kindergarten through grade five.

Afterward, the children will learn how to make a Freedom Quilt. The children’s troupe is an outgrowth of Destination Imagination.

Help Organize Peace Earthwide Festival

This year’s HOPE – Help Organize Peace Earthwide – Festival will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at the University of Maine’s Memorial Gym Field House.

Featured performers will be Kim and Reggie Harris. This folk, gospel and jazz duo from upstate New York has performed at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution. They recently released the CD “Get on Board! Underground Railroad and Civil Rights Freedom Songs.”

There will be a variety of educational, craft and activity tables for children provided by the Maine Discovery Museum, Hudson Museum, Windover Arts Center and others. For fitness fans there will a 5K Fun Run at 11 a.m. Delicious, mostly organic food will be for sale.

“Each spring the HOPE Festival renews the hope we all have for a peaceful and sustainable future,” organizers said.

Helen Nearing was the featured speaker at the first HOPE Festival 11 years ago. Earth Day was organized more than 30 years ago to raise awareness about the need to take care of the earth. The HOPE Festival was expanded to raise awareness about the many organizations working to take care of the earth and each other.

More than 70 organizations, working in their own ways for a better world, will share information and sell buttons, T-shirts and other products, and encourage involvement.

The festival is free because many volunteers, including the performers, donate time, energy and talent. Volunteers are still needed, especially to put up flyers and set up noon-6 p.m. Friday, April 22; and to clean up 4-6 p.m. Saturday, April 23. To obtain more information or to help, call 942-9343.