Tong “Edward” Wu, a John Bapst Memorial High School junior who recently won first place in the 2020 Penobscot County Bar Association (PCBA) Law Day Contest for his artwork commemorating the women’s rights movement, has donated his $500 cash prize to Partners for Peace -- a Maine organization focused on assisting members of the community affected by domestic abuse.

The Dover-Foxcroft Shiretown Homecoming Committee announces the cancellation of the 2020 celebration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The health risk and uncertainty from the pandemic has led the committee to cancel the parade and fireworks scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 1. 

The Thompson Free Library in will offer curbside pickup service for books, movies and other library materials beginning on Wednesday, June 3. Pickup hours will be Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday morning pickups can be arranged by appointment.

The Center Theatre announced that its community theater group, the Slightly Off-Center Players, will be holding open auditions for their summer production of “Born in a Small Town,” a new play written and directed by Bobby Keniston. The auditions, which will take place on June 13-14 from 1-4 p.m. at the Center Theatre, 20 East Main Street.

The Thompson Free Library will host Susan Pinette, professor of modern languages and literatures and director of Franco American programs at the University of Maine, live via Zoom at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 28. This online presentation is part of an ongoing Bicentennial series sponsored by a Maine Bicentennial Community Grant.

The Center Theatre has begun selling theater concessions online for curbside pickup. Pickup is available on Friday and Saturday nights between 6 and 7 p.m. and all orders must be placed in advance online at CenterTheatre.org.

Voices from HOME, a community-based oral history project coordinated by the Thompson Free Library, will host a live storytelling event on the theme “Together” at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 22. This event is free and open to the public, and will be held online via Zoom.

Shopping from home just got more fun! Pine Tree Hospice’s “Bid It To Win It” Facebook auction will have you on the edge of your seats. We will auction heirloom-quality works created by staff, volunteers and others close to the organization, people you know, for a very special fundraising event for Pine Tree Hospice.  Needlework, mixed media, photography, stained glass, woodwork and more will be posted on Pine Tree Hospice’s Facebook page beginning on Monday, May 18.

The Center Theatre announced that it will be giving one side of the marquee over to congratulatory messages to Foxcroft Academy graduating seniors starting on Sunday, June 21. One hour slots can be reserved from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday the 21st through Friday the 26th.

The Heart of Maine Community Stories is an online platform for collecting and sharing stories about life in the Heart of Maine region. This community-based project is a collaboration between Hartland Public Library, Newport Cultural Center, Pittsfield Public Library and Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft.

The Center Theatre will be holding an online murder mystery party at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. The party, set in the 1920s, centers around a death in prohibition Chicago and is called “Murder, Mayhem, and Moonshine.”

The Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft will remain closed through May due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are beginning the planning process to reopen in June,” said TFL Director Greta Schroeder, who will provide more information as it becomes available.

Citing the state plan to restart the economy and their own desire to ensure the well-being of all festival participants, the Center Theatre and Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce announced that the 2020 Maine Whoopie Pie Festival will be postponed until Saturday, Oct. 3.

The Center Theatre has announced that it will be hosting a live online performance of Bobby Keniston's comedic play “Waiting to be Probed: A Love Story” at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 2.

As part of the Keep In Touch Campaign, the Center Theatre is launching a service to send custom video messages via email or Facebook messenger. The videos, which can be requested for a $10 donation at centertheatre.org, can be sent to a friend, family member or even to yourself and can be to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or just to try to keep in touch while we're all keeping our distance.

Like many other venues of its kind, the Center Theatre in Dover-Foxcroft is closed these days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some theater officials are still at work, but instead of showing movies and hosting live events they hope to collaborate with the local performing arts community in a unique effort to boost the spirits of local residents while still generating some income to support the nonprofit enterprise.

Applications are now open for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW) Visiting Artist Program, which brings artists to the remote wilderness of Maine for two weeks of solitude. The program provides artists with the opportunity to immerse themselves in a remote, rustic wilderness, to interpret and share their experiences through their medium.

At a University of Maine commencement years ago, a good friend, Al, received his Ph.D. and was “hooded” by my husband, his adviser. When Al’s name was called he made his way painfully across the stage on crutches, losing his mortarboard on the way. The entire audience let out a spontaneous “Oh.” Al received the loudest applause of the afternoon.