On Monday, Jan. 21 the United Bikers of Maine, Piscataquis County presented Heather Sylvia, of PAWS in Milo, with a check for $850 at the Bear’s Den in Dover-Foxcroft.

The honorees are Caleb Leighton, kindergarten; Dahlia Stone, grade 1; Jameson Kennedy, grade 2;  Khloey Merrill, grade 3; Jack Gallagher, grade 4; Noah Bury, elementary unified arts; Kaycie Bishop, grade 5; Grayson Bruyette, grade 6; Eli Lane, grade 7; Karson Tibbetts, grade 8; and  Jacob Johnson, middle school unified arts.

Virginia Macomber of Sebec served as an orientation team leader at Susquehanna University.

There’s a new brewpub coming to the area this spring. Threshers Brewing Company, based in Searsmont, plans to open a pub in the vacant building across the street from the Greenville Junction Post Office.

Citing a desire to step away from running a retail establishment, the owners of the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville have announced plans to sell their business.

Upcoming area blood drives will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31 at the Grace Bible Church, 40 Douty Hill Road in Sangerville; 1-5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6 at Dexter Regional High School, 12 Abbott Hill Road; and 1-5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 at the Milo Town Hall, 6 Pleasant St.

While recently going through family photos I found the one taken the day my father left for the Army in World War II. Dad, his parents, and siblings lined up on the lawn. Their body language and faces told how sad they were. Right in the center was the family dog, Mauser. Mauser had his head toward his worried-looking people and his rear solidly facing the camera. It looked as if he wanted to stop my Dad from leaving.

The Maine Highlands Sled Dog Club will host a two-day sled dog race on Saturday, Jan. 25 and Sunday, Jan. 26 as part of Brownville’s annual 11th Dog Days of Winter celebration. Teams will leave Railroad Avenue in Brownville Junction at 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, travel up to the KI Road along the converted rail bed and then return along the same trail.

It is a stark reality that on average, working households in Maine have just $2,500 in retirement account savings. As the current AARP volunteer state president, a Portland Maine resident and a former small business owner, I am very interested in changing this situation.

Before I-phones, about the only time fellow deer hunters communicated with one another was during the 12 o’clock lunch break or back at camp after legal shooting hours. Not so today. We text each other during the day at agreed times. It might go like this: “On south side of bog. Good sign.” Or “Just jumped a buck. Headed northwest, toward you.”