Similarly, the Ridge View Community School that runs a school pantry program in Dexter has gone from serving 40-50 families a week to 110 and the nearby Dover-Foxcroft Area Food Cupboard has gone from serving 85 households to 140, plus an additional 10 deliveries to home-bound community members.

Whom do you and other members of your group believe deserves to be your community’s 2020 Spirit of America Foundation Tribute honoree for their help to your organization and/or other causes?

Rita Page, secretary of the Kiwanis Club of Dover-Foxcroft, was overwhelmed when she learned that Shaw's in Dover-Foxcroft was going to donate several boxes with 500 new reusable bags to its backpack program. Pat Hinkley, president of the club, was on hand with Page to gratefully receive those bags from Tina Desimone, Shaw’s customer service manager. T

Any other spring, Lary Funeral Home would be busy organizing graveside services for people who died during the winter and couldn’t be buried in the frozen earth. Now, the dead rest in tombs, and mourning rituals have to wait as the pandemic upends life across Piscataquis County, which on Sunday became the last Maine county to confirm a case of the coronavirus.

The SeDoMoCha School recently received a $7,350 grant from the Maine Community Foundation to rebuild a nature trail. In the 1970s Dorothy Warren built this trail for students to learn about nature.

When employees at Northern Light Health locations in the county arrived on Friday, April 17 they were greeted with signs featuring messages of encouragement amidst the coronavirus pandemic such as “heros work here” and “you are champions.” The healthcare workers soon learned the gratitude messages had been posted during the early morning hours by Makayla Goodrich, 12 of Monson.

Two local long-term care facilities now have the opportunity to connect residents and their families who have been restricted from visiting due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Thanks to a gift from The Commons, the Hibbard Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center and Hilltop Manor have new iPad 4 tablets to help residents see and talk to family using Zoom or other technology platforms.

Piscataquis County may not be at the epicenter of Maine’s battle against the COVID-19  pandemic -- as of Sunday there is only one positive test among its 16,800 residents. That’s not to say the impact of the coronavirus stops at the county line, including the food insecurity that comes with rapidly expanding unemployment around the state.

All 16 of the state’s counties have confirmed cases with the first case confirmed in Piscataquis County on Sunday. It was last Maine county to report a case.

Harry Oakes started life as a shy, small town kid, growing up in the 1870s and 80s in the Piscataquis County towns of Sangerville and, later, Dover-Foxcroft, the third of five children. His life ended in 1943, as one of the wealthiest men in North America, and as the victim of a mysterious, violent murder that remains unsolved.

Gov. Janet Mills said on Friday that her administration was devising a plan to gradually reopen Maine’s economy, though she reiterated that stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus in Maine was the key to allowing business activities to resume.

The club’s Prevent Child Abuse America Chairman Minnie McCormick thought spinning pinwheels might brighten some spirits so she decided to take the old ones and put them on her lawn in Dover-Foxcroft.

The proposed RSU 68 budget for the 2020-21 academic year is up slightly to a figure of $11,970,877, as presented by Superintendent Stacy Shorey during an April 14 school board meeting at the SeDoMoCha School streamed live on Youtube. The $11.97 million figure represents an increase of 1.58 percent from the current year’s budget of $11,784,238.

That effort received a boost this month as The Commons was one of five historic Maine buildings -- two in Dover-Foxcroft --  to receive a Northeast Heritage Economy Program grant to continue the restoration of the 138-year-old edifice.

The U.S. Census Bureau would like to remind parents and families who are staying at home amid the COVID-19 crisis to remember that the 2020 Census is here, and it is important to count their children.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is offering Maine farmers a chance to connect online from 7-8 p.m. on Fridays to ask questions, get answers and share information.

Pine Tree Hospice’s volunteers make up a large group of women and men in Piscataquis, Penobscot, and Somerset counties, giving 4,399 hours of their time last year. They come from every walk of life and bring with them life experiences that make them perfect matches for the many clients with life-limiting illnesses.

Take a moment to think of the things, activities and people who bring meaning to your life. Got them? Chances are that one or more of them have been threatened or lost during this pandemic.