Two Carmel youths, 13-year-old Rikki Babcock and 17-year-old Jesse Chamberlain, have been invited to participate in the equestrian-riding British Exchange Program. It runs Aug. 1-10 in England, so they are raising money for this grand adventure.

She and he will stay at the Millfield School “and have two riding lessons a day with a world-renowned riding instructor,” explained Rikki’s mother, Heather Babcock, “and, at the end of their stay, will compete in a riding event against other teens from all over the world.”

And while there are other New England riders participating in this program, the Carmel teens are the only Maine representatives.

Rikki has been riding since she was an infant, and Jessie began riding at 10 but both now plan a career in horsemanship, “and look forward to learning” a great deal from this experience, Heather Babcock wrote.

The equestrians are conducting several fundraisers to help offset the $2,700 cost for each to make the trip, and any support anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

If you can help make this dream experience come true, call Heather Babcock, 949-6653, or write her at 1318 Main Road, Carmel, 04419.

Judging from invitations extended by Kathryn Mekelburg, you can enjoy a busy day Down East if you attend these two events.

First, Mekelburg invites potential new members to attend the St. Croix Valley International Garden Club meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, at Cedar Lane Nursery at the junction of Routes 191 and 214 in Meddybemps.

“Joanne McCoubrey will display her plants and discuss why she became a nursery owner,” Mekelburg wrote.

She also invites you to attend a meeting of the St. Croix International Quilters Guild at 6:30 that evening at Methodist Homes Recreation Center on Palmer Street in Calais.

Attendees will learn from Jen Lacasse how to make Prairie Points.

For information about either of these meetings or organizations, call Mekelburg at 454-0654.

Here’s a reminder from Bethany Porter of the American Cancer Society in Topsham that young cancer patients, and their families, are invited to attend Camp Rainbow, June 15-21, at the Bangor Y’s Camp Jordan on Branch Lake in Ellsworth.

This free, weeklong experience is for children, age 4 through high school, who are affected by cancer.

For information and an application, call the ACS at 800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

Sandi Blanchette of Bucksport Community Theatre reminds people that auditions for “The Sound of Music,” are 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, May 21-22, at Bucksport Performing Arts Center, 100 Miles Lane.

“I’d especially love to have adults” audition, Blanchette wrote, “but all ages are welcome. It is community theater!”

Rehearsals will be at 7 p.m. weeknights, with no weekend commitments except for show days, she wrote.

The program will be presented July 27 and Aug. 1-3.

For more information, call Blanchette at 667-0188.

Event Chair Dorothy Alling says the Senior College sixth annual Festival of Arts Gala Weekend, May 22-25, begins with an opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast.

The event is open to the public.

For more information and a complete schedule of events featuring works of area artists, visit www.belfastseniorcollege.org. Click on Special Events and Field Trips. Or call 338-9033.

Cindy Thompson of the Ellsworth Public Library reports it will host “two programs to help those who want to incorporate green building practices into a new home or remodeling project.”

The first program, “Energy-Efficient and Green Building,” with Peter Courand and Bob Sewall of Quantum Builders and Quantum Insulators LLC of Camden, is 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at the library.

The second program is “Biomass Heating: Advantages and Costs of Wood and Wood Pellets,” with Paul Carey, owner of North Winds Stove & Fireplace, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at the library.

The events are free and more information is available by calling the library at 667-6363.

Meggan Dwyer invites you to a Marine Environmental Research Institute Ocean Environment lecture, “Where the Whales Are,” featuring representatives of Allied Whale, at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. Senior researcher Dr. Sean Todd and Marine Studies chair Steve Katona will appear at the event.

The event begins with a reception at 6 p.m. and the lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at MERI, 55 Main St., Blue Hill.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; javerill@bangordailynews.net; 990-8288.