EVENTS – Step Back in Time: Historic Walking Tour of South China Village

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Site of original F. W. Hawes and the Spearin’s Store

The China Historical Society invites the community to explore the rich history of downtown South China during a special walking tour this Sunday, June 22nd, at 5:00 p.m. Participants will meet in the South China Community Church parking lot, located across from the old South China Library, for an engaging journey through the village’s past.

Local historians Barbara Poulin, Neil Farrington, and Joann Austin – all longtime South China residents – will serve as guides, sharing fascinating stories about the historic places that once defined downtown South China during their childhoods and earlier eras. The Historical Society will provide handouts containing valuable historical information about South China Village, offering attendees a lasting reference of the area’s heritage.

The tour, lasting approximately one hour, will feature an open discussion format where participants are encouraged to ask questions and share their own memories of the community. All are welcome to attend this free event. Those interested can find more information and sign up through the Facebook event posted on the China Historical Society’s Facebook page. Come discover the stories that shaped South China Village and connect with fellow community members who share a passion for local history!

Hawes, Woods, Carl’s, and Reeds Stores, now apartments

Dowes Diner – moved to new Route 3, now Greg’s Diner

EVENTS: Summer blood and platelet donations vital to avoid blood supply impact

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Receive $15 Amazon.com Gift Card by email, also entered to win $7K gift card for blood donation in June

Disasters like hurricanes and severe summer weather can disrupt blood drives for several days and impact the momentum of a growing blood supply. Help the American Red Cross plan for the unexpected by making an appointment to give blood or platelets.

Even when hospitals are fully stocked with blood products, sudden events can cause a rapid drop in the availability of lifesaving transfusions. The Red Cross asks people to continue making and keeping donation appointments a part of their June plans.

Blood has a shelf life of 42 days, which means ongoing donations are key to ensure medical needs are met. Type O blood donors and those giving platelets are especially needed as the summer season continues.

Upcoming blood donation opportunities will take place in Waterville on Friday, June 20, from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., at O’Brien’s Event Center, 375 Main St., and in Augusta, on Monday, June 23, 11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Augusta Elks, 397 Civic Center Drive, P.O. Box 2206.

EVENTS: Maine residents invited to free Alzheimer’s conference

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The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) will host a free Alzheimer’s & Caregiving Educational Conference, in Portland, on Wednesday, June 11, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Portland Regency Hotel & Spa (20 Milk Street). The free conference is open to everyone and will allow participants to learn from experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, brain health, caregiving, and aging. Register by visiting www.alzfdn.org/tour. Advance registration is highly recommended.

“Knowledge is a useful and powerful tool that can help make any situation easier to navigate, especially something as challenging as caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., AFA’s President & CEO. “Connecting families with useful, practical information and support that can help them now and be better prepared for the future is what this conference is all about. Whether Alzheimer’s is affecting your family, you are a caregiver or just want to learn more about brain health, we invite you to join us on June 11.”

Sessions during the AFA conference will include: Alzheimer’s Disease: What’s Good for the Body is Good for the Brain; Breaking Barriers: Creating Better Care and More Choices for Families with Dementia; Building Community Supports for Caregivers; and Safeguarding Your Home After a Dementia Diagnosis

Free, confidential memory screenings will be conducted throughout the day.

For more information or to register for the June 11 conference in Portland, visit www.alzfdn.org/tour. Those who cannot participate in the conference or have immediate questions about Alzheimer’s disease can connect with licensed social workers seven days a week through AFA’s National Toll-Free Helpline by calling 866-232-8484, texting 646-586-5283, or web chatting at www.alzfdn.org by clicking the blue and white chat icon in the right-hand corner of the page. The web chat and text message features are available in more than 90 languages.

EVENTS: Lincoln County Dems to meet May 22

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The Lincoln County Democratic Committee (LCDC) will host Alison Smith, Board Member of League of Women Voters of Maine at its next meeting on Thursday, May 22, at 7 p.m. Smith will be presenting on the Requiring Voter Photo ID and Changing Absentee Ballot and Dropbox Rules Initiative. The hybrid meeting will be held in person at the Newcastle Fire Station, 86 River Rd., or via Zoom.

Alison has been a League member since the 1980s, and it was through the LWVME that she first got involved in Clean Elections. She was one of 1,100 Mainers who volunteered to collect signatures in 1995 to put the question on the ballot and has worked on Clean Elections in either a volunteer or professional capacity ever since.

All Lincoln County Democrats and unenrolled progressives are welcome to attend the meeting. LCDC voting members will automatically receive the Zoom log on information and reminders by email. Those interested in becoming a voting member must be a registered Democrat in Lincoln County and make their interest known by indicating so at the in-person meeting, on the meeting registration form at https://lincolncountydemocrats.com/meet, or by emailing info@lincolncountydemocrats.com.

Pre-registration for the meeting is required for non-voting members who want to receive Zoom log on and/or phone-in details. Register before noon the day of the meeting to ensure access. However, LCDC will do its best to accommodate last-minute registrations.

More information about LCDC, its meetings, and other activities can be found at https://lincolncountydemocrats.com. Questions can be emailed to info@lincolncountydemocrats.com.

ShineOnCass hosts annual baby shower

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Goat yoga instructors Shawna Lachance, left, and Chelsey Oliver are assisted by Holly Lachance, Quinn Easler, and a newborn baby goat at the ShineOnCass Animal Baby Shower & PJ Party. (contributed photo)

More than 100 children dressed in pajamas came to Hart-to-Hart Farm & Education Center, in Albion, on Sunday, May 4, to welcome newborn farm animals (also in jammies), give back to their community, and honor the legacy of Cassidy Charette at the annual ShineOnCass Animal Baby Shower & PJ Party.

The event featured hands-on educational sessions, including teaching kids how to milk a cow, fetch eggs from chickens, card lamb’s wool, and stretch out at goat yoga. Children were able to hold the newborn babies, learn how to care for them, and experience a working, organic farm.

Hart-to-Hart Farm is a family-owned and operated organic dairy farm that offers a variety of summer educational programs for children, adults and families. The event is held each year in memory of Cassidy Charette, an Oakland teen who died in a hayride accident in 2014. Cassidy, known for her kindness as an active community volunteer, was also passionate about caring for animals as a long-time summer camper at Hart-to-Hart Farm.

Families attending the event donated money and a truckload of food and pet items gifted to Humane Society Waterville Area in honor of Cassidy, who was also a shelter volunteer.

For information about Hart-to-Hart Farm & Education Center, visit hart2hartfarm.org. To learn more about the ShineOnCass Foundation, visit shineoncass.org.

EVENTS: Vassalboro Methodist Church to hold yard and plant sale

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A yard and plant sale will be held at the Vassalboro United Methodist Church, at 614 Main Street, on Saturday, June 7. Two antique church pews like the ones pictured here will be among the items for sale. (contributed photo)

The Vassalboro United Methodist Church (VUMC) is holding a “Yard and Plants Sale” on Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., on the same day as the Vassalboro town-wide yard sales. Good quality items of all kinds will be available, including two church pews removed from the sanctuary earlier this year. The antique pews were moved in 1988 from the old East Vassalboro Methodist Church, on Bog Road, to the VUMC Methodist church, at 614 Main Street.

There will be indoor and outdoor/garden plants for sale as well as some gardening items and more! Donations of perennials and annuals for the plant sale would be appreciated, as would yard sale items except no clothing is needed. PLEASE do not drop off anything at the VUMC without pre-arranging by calling (207) 873-5564 or email info.vumc@gmail.com. Lunches including a grilled hot dog, chips and a drink will be available for as long as supplies last for a suggested donation of $5.

Guided tours of the church sanctuary will also be available, which holds many historic items from the 19th century North and East Vassalboro churches – including the pews in use and seven stained glass windows. This is also an opportunity to see the newly installed VUMC lift/elevator.

Follow this and other services and events on the Vassalboro United Methodist Church Facebook page.

EVENTS: Oakland Legion Memorial Day parade

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This year’s Memorial Day Parade will be on Monday, May 26, starting at noon.

Before the parade there will be a service held at Lakeview Cemetery At 11 a.m., to honor and remember those veterans who have passed.

For his many years of service Dana Wrigley has been chosen as your Grand Marshal. Also, many organizations will be in attendance. The Kora Temple Riders and Clowns, Military Vehicles, Oakland Middle School Band, antique cars and trucks, along with many others.

Sons of American Legion will be hosting their traditional BBQ starting at the end of the parade with burgers, hot dogs, beans and more at the Legion Hall.

The parade will be lining up At the Messalonskee Middle School. All participants are expected to arrive and line up beginning at 11 a.m. At noon it will proceed down Pleasant Street, continuing onto Main Street, from there to Memorial Hall for a ceremony and ending up at the Oakland Post Office. This will be one of the best parades in the area!

If your organization, class or group are interested in participating please contact Bonnie Audet at the Legion Hall and leave a message (207)-465-2446.

EVENTS: Author Ron Currie to offer public reading

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Please join us in the beautiful fourth-floor reading room at the Waterville Public Library at 1p.m., on Saturday, May 17, to hear Author Ron Currie, Jr., read from his fifth book, published in March 2025: The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne.

“Literary thrillers just don’t come any better than Ron Currie’s The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne. It’s profoundly serious and terrifying in equal measure.” ~ Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Somebody’s Fool.

At the event, the Waterville Public Library will give away two copies of the book, and books will be available for purchase from Oliver & Friends Bookshop.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, please call 207.872.5433 or email librarian@watervillelibrary.org. The Waterville Public Library and Waterville Creates present this event.

EVENTS: Benton Alewife Festival to be celebrated on May 17, 2025

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The annual Benton Alewife Festival will be back again this year on Saturday, May 17, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., at the Riverfront Park, to celebrate the return of the alewives to the Sebasticook river. The alewife, also known as river herring, is one of many anadromous (migrating) fish that make their way over ninety miles from the ocean to find its habitat in the Sebasticook lake.

The first year of the festival was in 2012, but its origins were sparked by the removal of the dam in Winslow in 2008, and the first alewife harvest was in 2009. Along with the installation of a fish elevator at the Benton dam, the alewives were able to thrive and complete their life cycle by making it to Sebasticook lake. And thrive they did!

Thanks to these fish passage efforts, the alewife runs are steadily growing, with a record breaking 6.5 million fish counted at the Benton Falls dam in 2024. Along with the return of the fish, the eagles, ospreys and other wildlife that rely on these fish have also returned. It is not uncommon for people to report seeing “dozens of eagles” along the river below the Benton dam.

When the first harvests began, the town decided to have a festival to celebrate this landmark achievement. Now in its 13th year, the festival is held at the Benton Riverfront park, next to the town office. The festival will feature a number of free, family friendly activities including demonstrations, guided trail walks, tours of the dam, children’s activities, arts & craft projects, face painting and games, as well as food and live music. The highlight of the event is the tours of the dam, which can be reached by walking trail or free shuttle from the parking lot at the Benton Town Office.

Exhibitors include: Maine Rivers, L.C. Bates Museum, Arnold Expedition Historical Society, Kennebec-Messalonskee Trails, Sebasticook Regional Land Trust, Benton Historical Society, St. Joseph Nature Sanctuary, a local beekeeper, a wood carver, and Forest Rangers from the Maine Forest Service. This event will take place rain or shine!

EVENTS: ShineOnCass animal baby shower & PJ party

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Cassidy Charette

Children dressed in their pajamas will welcome baby lambs, goats, calves and other newborn animals also wearing pajamas, on Sunday, May 4, at the ShineOnCass Animal Baby Shower & PJ Party at Hart-to-Hart Farm & Education Center, in Albion. The annual free event for children features educational stations that include learning how to milk a cow, fetching eggs from the chicken coop, spinning lamb’s wool, and participating in goat yoga. Children will be able to hold, and have photos taken with the newborn baby animals.

Hart-to-Hart Farm & Education Center is a family-owned and operated organic dairy farm that offers spring and summer day camp educational programs for children. The ShineOnCass Animal Baby Shower is held each year in honor of Cassidy Charette, an Oakland teen who died in a hayride accident in 2014, who was a longtime summer camper at Hart-to-Hart Farm.

Families attending the free event are asked to bring food and pet items to donate to Humane Society Waterville Area in memory of Cassidy, who was also a shelter volunteer.

There will be two sessions offered: 10 to 11:30 a.m., and 12:30 to 2 p.m., with limited capacity of 80 children per session. Pre-registration is required at shineoncass.org or hart2hartfarm.org. For more information, email shineoncass@gmail.com