Bangor

‘Guys and Dolls’

Penobscot Theatre Company will perform “Guys and Dolls” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 7, 8 and 9, in downtown Bangor’s Pickering Square.

The production features Arthur Morison as Nathan Detroit, Hans-Stefan Ducharme as Sky Masterson, Ben Layman as Nicely Nicely Johnson, Brianne Beck as Miss Adelaide and Rebecca Bailey as Sarah Brown.

Featured in the production are Todd Martin, Brad Esham, Christie Robinson and the 21 campers in Penobscot Theatre’s Musical Theatre Camp. Each camper comes to the theater from local communities.

The musical director is Colin Graebert. Theatrical director is Nathan Halvorson.

Reserved premium seating for “Guys and Dolls” is $10 or bring your own lawn chairs to the performance.

For tickets and information, call the box office at 942-3333 or visit www.PenobscotTheatre.org.

Brewer

‘In the Mood’

Are you “In the Mood” for some Broadway showstoppers that embody the Big Band sound?

The Brewer Hometown Band will strike that very theme at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 31, at the Brewer Auditorium – indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather.

The “boys and girls” in the band will give the audience tunes by Glen Miller, Benny Goodman and much more – even a musical trip to New Orleans. The concerts are free, but donations are accepted.

Carmel

Teddy Bear Picnic

The Simpson Memorial Library in Carmel will hold a Teddy Bear Picnic for children ages 3-5 on Saturday, Aug. 9.

Jan Zimmermann, entertainer, will delight children with music and stories beginning at 11 a.m. The picnic will begin at noon.

Children from the Carmel, Etna and Dixmont area are invited to attend. Parents must call ahead to 848-7145 to reserve a spot for their child or children.

Holden

Classes at Fields Pond

These programs and classes will be offered at Fields Pond Audubon Center, 216 Fields Pond Road:

. Identifying Maine Mushrooms; An Introductory Class on Wild Mushrooms, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3. Leader is Greg Marley of Mushrooms for Health. $40 Audubon members, $45 others. Advance registration required; call 989-2591. Identifying Maine Mushrooms is a lecture and field class packed into one fun day of learning. The class will head to the kitchen for cooking and tasting some mushroom samples. Marley will weave in information about medicinal mushrooms, cooking tips, collection basics and ethics, and more.

. Enormous Insects, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, with Jim Dill. $3 a person. Parents and children come to the nature center and enjoy seeing live insects. Dill’s specimens are enormous and interesting.

. Children’s Drawing Class for ages 4-10, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, with teacher Carolyn Wallace-Zani. $10 Audubon members, $12 others (one adult and one child). The class will introduce children to nature drawing by recognizing basic shapes as the building blocks to creating artistic forms found in nature. Adults are encouraged to participate. Bring favorite art supplies.

. Art Lessons for Adults, 11 a.m.-noon and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, with teacher Carolyn Wallace-Zani, $10 per lesson Audubon members, $12 others. Learn drawing techniques to capture the essence of the local fauna and flora. Bring a regular school pencil, sketch pad, eraser and your enthusiasm for drawing and nature.

. Meadow Wildflowers and Butterflies Program for children ages 8-10, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11. $40 per child. Walk the fields of the nature center in search of wildflowers and butterflies to identify. Make a plant press and butterfly mobile to take home.

For information, call 989-2591.

Old Town

Vegetable growing program

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Penobscot County will hold their final summer program, “I Never Saw a Purple Carrot,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Rogers Farm in Old Town. The program is free, open to the public, and held rain or shine.

The program will include a chance to see some of the newer vegetable varieties that are recent All-America Selections winners, as well as a variety of other vegetables.

Gleason Gray, extension educator, will talk about vegetable growing methods and problems during a walking tour of the demonstration garden.

Bruce Watt, extension plant pathologist, will talk about some of the more common vegetable disease problems and answer questions. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions and to look at any sample problems participants bring in.

The demonstration garden includes both AAS vegetable winners and flower winners.

Dan Birt and Dusty Cramp will show the vegetable plantings they have maintained this year. Susan Payne and other master gardeners will be available to show the AAS flower winners.

Many of the master gardeners who develop the demonstration garden will be at their plots to explain the plantings and the significance of their designs.

For information, call Gleason Gray at 942-7396 or e-mail ggray@umext.maine.edu.

Orono

Classic field guides

University of Maine Cooperative Extension has published 2008 editions of “Conifers of Maine” and “Biodiversity in the Forests of Maine. ”

“Conifers of Maine,” the late Fay Hyland’s classic field guide, was first published in 1946. This edition has been updated by his former student, colleague and friend, Christopher Campbell, director of the Fay Hyland Botanical Garden and professor of plant systematics.

Hyland had a teaching and research career at the University of Maine that spanned 60 years. During his long study of Maine’s woody plants, he collected seeds and seedlings from throughout Maine and established them in the botanical garden that carries his name.

Campbell said, “When I was a graduate student in the early 1970s, I became friends with professor Hyland. He was an accomplished botanist, enjoyable to talk with, and he routinely made soup from his vegetable garden and shared the soup with others. I routinely enjoyed the soup and learned a lot in many conversations with Fay.”

Built around a traditional identification key, “Conifers of Maine” includes detailed illustrations for each species. These drawings were prepared under Hyland’s supervision as well as that of A.D. Nutting, former director of the UM School of Forestry, and Howard L. Mendall, former leader of UM’s Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit.

First published in 1999, “Biodiversity in the Forests of Maine” was the result of several years of collaborative effort among members of the Maine Forest Biodiversity Project – nearly 100 forestland owners and managers, environmentalists, sporting and property rights advocates, government agencies and the scientific community.

Designed for foresters, biologists, loggers, forestland owners and managers, educators, and land-use planners, the manual focuses on the influences of forest management practices on biological diversity. It also adds a set of broad, landscape-level recommendations that are absent from most previous guidelines.

The 2008 edition of this landmark publication has been produced in response to continuing demand.

“Although research into forest biodiversity is ongoing, this manual remains a singularly effective and practical reference and field guide,” said Catherine Elliott, associate extension professor and editor of both editions.

To order copies of these field guides, visit www.extension.umaine.edu and click Publications, or call 581-3792.

Areawide

Child care information

Parents needing child care in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties can turn to the Penquis Child Care Resource Development Center for help in locating child care. This free service is available to all families regardless of income, and is accessed by phone or through the Internet.

The online search tool is available at www.penquis.org/rdc. For a basic search, enter the city, ZIP code, type of care sought and age of the child. A list of child care providers that match the criteria will be displayed. An advanced search also is available to locate a provider who meets more specific needs of families and-or children.

Parents also may call the Penquis Child Care Resource Development Center at 888-917-1100 or visit 262 Harlow St. in Bangor. Staff is available to help families find child care using information supplied by parents.