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Wednesday, May 22

Hall School blood drive to honor school nurses
7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. “Fifth graders at Portland’s Hall Elementary School are working with the American Red Cross on a blood drive to honor school nurses.  The drive will take place on May 22 from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the gym  of Hall School, 23 Orono Road.  To find out more and to sign up, call 1-800-RED CROSS or visit www.redcrossblood.org. Val Vassar’s and Rebecca Norling’s fifth grade classes at Hall learned about the function of blood in the body and the need for blood donations, especially to meet a shortage of O-negative blood.  Fifth graders went to every classroom in the school to teach students about the importance of blood.  They gave each student two invitations for friends or family members to donate blood. The fifth graders also made posters to publicize the blood drive, and they are making daily announcements over the school intercom. Their goal is to collect more than 50 pints, the amount of blood donated during Hall’s first drive a year ago.”
‘The Retrofitting Movement’ by MEREDA
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. “The Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA) will host ‘The Retrofitting Movement: Repositioning Underutilized Commercial Real Estate’ will take place on Wednesday, May 22 at the Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland, with a social hour to follow. Admission is $95 and pre-registration is required. MEREDA members are offered a $20 discount and, this year, students and municipal officials and employees are offered free admission with pre-registration. The conference is sponsored by Blais Civil Engineers, Libby Hill, Mainebiz, Pierce Atwood, EnviroVantage, Building Envelope Specialists, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, SMRT and Sevee & Maher Engineers. Conversation around the cutting-edge concept of retrofitting and creative re-use planning at the annual spring conference, scheduled for May 22 in Portland. “MEREDA will welcome to Maine a leading expert on the topic of retrofitting, Ellen Dunham-Jones, and will host a panel of local experts. Additionally, MEREDA will recognize the six most noteworthy and significant Maine commercial development projects from the previous year at the conference. Dunham-Jones is a leading authority on suburban redevelopment.  She has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Design Magazine, Urban Land, Planning, Architectural Record, TEDx and other venues. Co-author of Retrofitting Suburbia, Dunham-Jones will share case studies of underperforming asphalt properties that have been redesigned and redeveloped into vital centers of community. Her presentation will focus on adaptive reuse of vacant buildings, environmental repair, revising zoning codes and public works standards and providing easements for future connectivity and adaptability. Local experts who will participate on the panel include Sarah Schindler of the University of Maine School of Law, Denis Lachman of Lachman Architects & Planners, Tex Haeuser of the City of South Portland, Vanessa Farr of the Town of Yarmouth and Craig Gorris of The Maine Mall. Each have been involved in the retrofitting movement and will support Dunham-Jones’ presentation by addressing some of the practical challenges and opportunities with respect to retrofitting in Maine communities.” For more information and to register, visit www.mereda.org.
MOFGA Farm Training Project workshops
5 p.m. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s Farm Training Project workshops begin on May 22! These workshops, organized by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, are designed for and targeted to participants in MOFGA’s Apprenticeship Program but are free and open to anyone who is interested. The first workshops this season are titled “Starting with the Soil: Sustainable Soil Management.” They take place on Wednesday, May 22, at 5 p.m. at Six River Farm in Bowdoinham and on Thursday, May 23, at  5 p.m. at Village Farm in Freedom. “Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and at  www.mofga.org.”
Vintage Maine Images website event
5 p.m. “Maine Historical Society is pleased to announce the redesign and launch of Vintage Maine Images website. We look forward to celebrating this milestone with you and introducing our business partner initiative.” 5 p.m. Arrival, Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres. 5:15 p.m. Remarks by Portland Mayor Michael  Brennan, MHS Executive Director Stephen Bromage. 5:30 p.m. “Vintage Maine Images and Your Business” presentation by MHS Image Services Coordinator Dani Fazio with Gretchen Roy, Szanton Company. 5:45 p.m. to  7 p.m. Refreshments, Music by Ms. H., Vintage Photo Booth, View the exhibit Vintage Maine Images: A Website Comes to Life. Cocktails by Maine Mead Works, Local beer by Shipyard Brewery, Hors d’oeuvres by Dandelion Catering. Host Committee: Evan Carroll & Sasha Salzberg, BILD Architecture; Edwige Charlot, Creative Portland; Tony Cox, Casco Bay Frames & Gallery; Nancy Montgomery & Jack Vreeland, Montgomery Design; Patrick Roche, Think Tank Coworking; Gretchen Roy, The Szanton Company/Saco Falls Management; Nancy Trottier, Portland Regional Chamber.”  Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress St., Portland. http://www.mainehistory.org
Westin Portland Harborview proposal
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Rockbridge Capital representatives have unveiled plans on the Westin Portland Harborview proposal for purchase of a portion of Congress Square Plaza for development of an event facility. The public is invited to a meeting of the Congress Square Redesign Study Group, Portland City Council Chambers. This will be an opportunity for the CSRSG to review the revised proposal and send their comments and recommendations to the Housing and Community Development Committee and City Council. http://www.ci.portland.me.us
Screening of ‘Welcome to Lee Maine‘
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. At One Longfellow Square, Portland (doors open at 5:30 p.m.), coordinated by Maine Military and Community Network, Portland Chapter. Cost: Free (Donations recommended). “ A film screening of ‘Welcome to Lee Maine.’  On June 23, 2007 his mother’s birthday, Joel House was killed by an IED while on patrol in Taji, Iraq. He was 22. On November 30, 2007 Blair Emery was killed by an IED while on patrol in Baghdad, Iraq. Blair was 24. Both soldiers were from Lee, Maine. ‘Welcome to Lee Maine’ is a film about a small close-knit community in rural Maine; (pop 845) that must deal with devastating news that it has become the smallest community in America to lose two sons in the Iraq War. Lee, Maine is a town with strong Christian, patriotic and traditional values that struggles to overcome the shared heartbreak. While many have very different views of the war, they are united in their support of the families and each other in their loss. The evening will feature a panel of Cumberland County veterans immediately following the screening — giving the public a rare opportunity to hear firsthand from the veterans themselves about their experiences serving and their lives here at home. The panel will include Veterans of Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, Vietnam, and WWII, plus family members, and Veteran service providers. ... The Maine Military and Community Network (MMCN) seeks to provide a bridge between military members, their families, and the communities in which they live and work. The network is a collaborative effort between Portland area agencies including: Preble Street Resource Center, Pinetree Legal, The Portland Vet Center, University of Southern Maine, Career Services, and many others.  Clifford Trott, PhD, the local MMCN chapter coordinator, serves as the Team Leader at the Portland Vet Center, a center providing readjustment counseling and services to Veterans and their families.” http://www.portlandmaine.gov/
‘Maine’s Financial Time Bomb’
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The Maine Heritage Policy Center presents “Maine’s Financial Time Bomb” with Stephen A. Moses, president, Center for Long-Term Care Reform. “Did you know that the Pine Tree State has one of the oldest average populations in the United States? Did you know that Maine also has one of the most generous Medicaid-funded long-term care programs in the nation? Are you aware that people with hundreds of thousands of dollars in wealth routinely qualify for that public assistance program, i.e. welfare? Meanwhile, Maine faces serious budget problems and struggles to finance basic government programs (education, public safety, and funding for roads). So, how are your finances? Are you struggling financially? Should you — the Maine taxpayer — have to foot the long-term care bill for wealthy Mainers and other recent New England transplants? It’s time for us to take our medicine and come to terms with reality.” 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, Schooners Seafood & Steakhouse, 5 South Main St., Brewer; noon to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, May 23, DiMillo’s On the Water, 25 Long Wharf, Portland. For additional information, please contact Kate Clark  by phone at 321-2550 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
South Portland Historical Society
6:30 p.m. Annual Meeting of the South Portland Historical Society, 6:30 p.m., at the South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road. Guest lecturer, Bud Warren will present a lecture: “Tide Mills in and around South Portland.” “Warren is a maritime historian and one of the founding members of the Tide Mill Institute. He will help us learn what a tide mill was, how they worked, and he will explore with us the tidal mills around this area, such as were found at Mill Creek and Long Creek.” Admission to the lecture is free for current members of the South Portland Historical Society; non-members may attend with a $10 donation. FMI, call the Society at 767-7299.  South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road, South Portland. May 22. 6:30 p.m. Free for current members of South Portland Historical Society; $10 donation for non-members.   www.sphistory.org
Raised Bed Gardening
7 p.m. “Please join us on May 22  at 7 p.m. with guest speaker Richard Brzozowski from the University of Maine to learn more about Raised Bed Gardening. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. This is offered by the members of Highland Lake Grange No. 87. The Grange Hall is located at the corner of Route 302 and Hardy Road, Westbrook. The last gardening presentation for this year will be with Kate McCarty and will cover Food Preservation please feel free to join us for that on Sept. 25. Questions please contact David at 854-5753 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .”
Thursday, May 23

Casco Bay High project about Malaga Island
11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Sophomores at Casco Bay High School in Portland will present their research and original historical fiction about Malaga Island in Phippsburg, formerly the site of a mixed race fishing community.  A century ago, state officials evicted residents from the island and sent several to the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded.” Talbot Lecture Hall, Luther Bonney, University of Southern
Maine’s Portland campus. “This project is the culmination of students’ year-long investigation of the question, ‘How do we identify and treat the other?’  Experts who will respond to the work include the archeologist who led a dig on Malaga Island and a representative from the Maine State Museum, which currently has an exhibit about the island.”
Author Gail Rowe in Cumberland
2 p.m. “Gail Rowe will be at the Prince Memorial Library in Cumberland for the Meet the Author series at 2 p.m. to talk about her book, ‘The Roots of a Family — Life in Rural Maine.’ Take a step back in time with the author as she describes the lives of her parents during the great Depression and World War II. Her maternal grandparents raised sixteen children in a four-room house without the benefit of electricity or indoor plumbing, while her paternal grandparents had a small dairy and market garden. Rich with historical details, this ‘remarkable tale captures a lost way of life in rural Maine … strikingly candid.’”
Screening of short films by Walter Ungerer
7 p.m. “On Thursday, May 23, St. Lawrence Arts will present a program of his recent short films including his latest work ‘Mauvais Garçon/Bad Boy’ involving a conversation with Portland artist Lisa Dombek, fine art photographer Dianna Rust, and Walter Ungerer himself. There will be a Q & A at the conclusion of the program. Walter Ungerer is a longtime filmmaker and artist of international reputation, beginning with the underground film scene in NYC in the early 1960s, continuing through to the 21st century in Maine. Ungerer’s works have been shown at festivals and competitions throughout the world including Florence, Tours, Athens, Hong Kong, Houston, Tate, UK and MoMA, N.Y. Two of Ungerer’s films with recent success on the international festival circuit are ‘Parva Sed Apta Mihi’ (Factory Art, Berlin, Germany Alchemy Festival, Scotland; Experimental Film Festival, Oregon) and ‘Green Eye’ (Atlanta Film Festival). They will be on the program.”
‘Images of Johnny Appleseed’
7 p.m. Maine Historical Society. “Images of Johnny Appleseed: Saint or Buffoon? Speaker: Russell Powell. John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, is among America’s most widely misunderstood folk heroes. Chapman (1774-1845) is widely credited with spreading the apple gene in America. But while schoolchildren everywhere learn some variation of Appleseed’s story, it is usually inflated by myth. It seems as if we cannot decide whether to revere Chapman or ridicule him, and many depictions do both. ... Powell discusses Chapman and his legacy at length in his new book about apple growing in the United States, ‘America’s Apple’ (2012, Brook Hollow Press).” https://www.mainehistory.org

Friday, May 24

Young Athletes Festival
9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Special Olympics Maine will offer its first annual Young Athletes Festival for children ages 2 ½ to 8 who have Intellectual Disabilities or Autism. The Festival will take place at the Frank H. Harrison Middle School In Yarmouth and will be conducted by Special Olympics Maine and the eighth grade students from the school. Young Athletes is an introduction to the sports offered by Special Olympics, for young children with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism. Participants will learn about catching, balance, striking, kicking, jumping, throwing and more. The students at Frank H. Harrison Middle school will run the children through a variety of fun stations throughout the event. The children will also have a chance to enjoy parachute time, bubbles, face painting, a snack and more. Each participating child will also receive a T-shirt and a medal at the end. The best part about the Festival … it is free! And you can bring similar aged siblings or class mates along also.”
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum
10 a.m. The 2013 season of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum, Route 26, New Gloucester, will open on May 24, at 10 a.m. The museum is open Mondays through Saturdays (closed Sundays), 10-4:30 through Oct. 14. Tours. Exhibits. Special events. Museum shop 926-4597. www.shaker.lib.me.us.
‘Do Your Divorce Right’ authors at PPL
noon. “Justice Andrew Horton and Justice David Kennedy to speak about their book “Do Your Divorce Right” at the Portland Public Library’s Local Author Series, Friday, May 24 at noon in Meeting Room No. 5. “This book is written for people who aren’t lawyers and who are thinking about going to family court, who are already involved with a family law case, or who have a family member or friend involved in a pending or active family law case. As judges, the authors have presided over more than 10,000 trials or other courtroom events in family law cases. Divorce is one of the most significant life changing experiences a person will ever live through. However, it is a process, not an event. The process goes on long after the legal aspects of the divorce are complete. The process operates on at least four levels — legal, emotional, financial, spiritual. This book attempts to address all of these levels in an interrelated manner.”  
Slides of two-week visit in Israel/Palestine
7 p.m. “Five New England Episcopal activists, members of the 800-strong women’s organization The Outreach Committee of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, will make a talk/slide presentation of their two-week visit in Israel/Palestine earlier this year. Their trip was sponsored by Sabeel, the Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in East Jerusalem. Topics to be covered include home demolitions, refugee camps, the separation wall, the spirit of the Palestinian people, Kairos Palestine, Rabbis for Human Rights and interfaith nonviolent direct action. Wishcamper Center, 42-44 Bedford St., room 133, University of Southern Maine, Portland campus. Sponsored by a coalition of peace and justice and religious organizations. Q/A session will follow the talk. Palestinian olive oil will be on sale. FMI: 239-8060; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .”
Kierkegaard’s 200th birthday
7 p.m. “This May 24-26, St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Portland will be celebrating Soren Kierkegaard’s 200th birthday and exploring his philosophies. The centerpiece of the weekend will be ‘Seducer/Philosopher/Pietist: Reflections on the life and thought of Kierkegaard,’ a presentation by Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. Among the panelists are Jeremiah Conway, USM Philosophy Professor and author of the recent book The Alchemy of Teaching.  The presentation will be followed by lunch and a panel conversation. All events, including lunch, are free of charge. For a complete schedule of events or list of speakers, call 774-8740, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or go to www.saintansgar.org. Happy 200th Birthday, Kierkegaard! (free film; presentation and panel discussion; lunch; worship with Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, guest preacher). Friday, May 24 at 7 p.m. — ‘The Seventh Seal,’ the Kierkegaard-influenced film by Ingmar Bergman, with free popcorn! Saturday, May 25 at 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Presentation by Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, followed by complimentary lunch and panel discussion. Sunday, May 26 at 10 a.m. Worship with Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, guest preacher. St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, 515 Woodford Street, Portland (corner of Woodford Street and Brighton Avenue). Cost:  All events are free. RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 774-8740. (RSVP appreciated but not required.)”

Saturday, May 25

Limington Extension Yard Sales
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Limington Extension Yard Sales on Saturday, May 25 and every dry Saturday in June, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.,  476 Sand Pond Road, Limington. Shower gel 25 cents, jeans $2.  Hundreds of 25 cent items. Benefits BEHS scholarships.  FMI 692-2989.
Friends of the Maine Wildlife Park plant sale
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. “It must be spring, because it’s time for the Friends of the Maine Wildlife Park annual and extremely popular annual plant sale on Saturday, May 25 through Memorial Day Monday, May 27. The Friends volunteer group helps out the wildlife park in so many ways; this year’s fundraising is specifically for a new and more spacious Canada lynx exhibit. Learn more about the Friends’ ongoing projects and enjoy great bargains on spring plants, including annual and perennial flowers, vegetables & floral baskets grown in their own greenhouses! There are hundreds of geraniums this year — so make a point to stop at the park first when you get ready to plant your Memorial Day baskets!” The Maine Wildlife Park has over 30 species of native wildlife on display, plus wildlife gardens, nature trails, a fish hatchery and other interactive exhibits and displays. The park is open daily from April 13 through Nov. 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; visitors must leave the premises by 6 p.m. www.wildlifeparkfriends.org
Creator Expo at Casco Bay High
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sam Pierce, a senior at Casco Bay High School in Portland, is hosting a Creator Expo on May 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the school, located at 196 Allen Avenue.  The event is free and open to the public. Sam is seeking people who explore the possibilities of what they can dream up and build using their minds and tools, and the minds and tools of their friends.  They could be garage inventors, sculptors, artists, engineers, chefs, scientists, crafters, artists or others who don’t fit into any category.  The expo aims to bring together families and individuals to celebrate the Do-It-Yourself mindset and showcase all kinds of incredible projects. For additional information, questions or a desire to participate in this event, please contact Sam Pierce at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Guided Nature Hikes in New Gloucester
10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Guided Nature Hikes through the fields and woods of Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Route 26, New Gloucester, will be available at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Highlights include Loon’s Point on Sabbathday Lake, Aurelia’s Cascade, Old Grandfather and the Old County Road. Fees: $5, adults; $2, children; under 6, free. 926-4597. www.shaker.lib.me.us.   
Kierkegaard’s 200th birthday luncheon
10:30 a.m. “This May 24-26, St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Portland will be celebrating Soren Kierkegaard’s 200th birthday and exploring his philosophies. The centerpiece of the weekend will be ‘Seducer/Philosopher/Pietist: Reflections on the life and thought of Kierkegaard,’ a presentation by Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. Saturday, May 25 at 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Presentation by Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, followed by complimentary lunch and panel discussion.”
Rich Woodall at Coast City Comics
1 p.m. to 6 p.m. “Rich Woodall, the artist for the Phantom Variant cover of IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 22, will be in the store for an exclusive signing event! We are the only store in Maine that carries these extremely limited covers, so this is a unique opportunity to have one of these special covers signed by the artist! Rich modeled the TMNT No. 22 Phantom Variant off of Todd McFarlane’s cover art for Hulk No. 340! It’s a great cover, and we’re really excited to host Rich for this event!” Coast City Comics. http://coastcitycomics.com
March Against Monsanto
2 p.m. “Tens of thousands of activists around the world will March Against Monsanto. Events are planned to occur simultaneously at 2 p.m. Eastern in 47 U.S. states, six continents, at least 41 countries, and over 338 participating cities.” In Portland, the rally and march will take place in Monument Square. “Prior to the march, co-sponsoring members of ARRT! (Artist Rapid Response Team- a project of the Union of Maine Visual Artists), the Green Initiatives Education Fund, Food and Water Watch, and MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association) will be meeting in Deering Oaks Park from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the Farmers’ Market to make signs and banners while educating the public about GMO. The rally will begin at 2 p.m. and end around 3:30 p.m.” Visit www.greeninitiativeseducation.org, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 766-6448.
‘I’m your neighbor’ reading event
3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The City of Portland says “I’m your neighbor” with a city-wide read of “New Arrival” literature; kick-off event Saturday, May 25 in Rines Auditorium, Portland Public Library. “In the midst of a national conversation about immigration and assimilation, the refugee resettlement city of Portland, Maine, is debating, not policy or safety, but which book to read first. ‘I’m Your Neighbor, Portland,’ a collaboration between Portland Public Library and Curious City, will kick off at the Main Library on Monument Square on May 25. The year-long, city-wide read and series of public events is designed to promote a sense of community among the diverse people who make the port city their home, featuring nine books for children and adults that are set in Maine’s ‘new arrival’ communities. The characters and subjects of these books made Maine their home in the last several decades and helped transform Portland into a vibrantly multiracial and multicultural community.”
Civil War talk by MacIsaac at the Fifth Maine
7 p.m. Kim MacIsaac, Fifth Maine Regiment Museum Curator, Fifth Maine Regiment Museum, 45 Seashore Ave.,  Peaks Island. $5 per person. “The Civil War exacted an enormous loss of life and property on Americans, both North and South. How did those on the battlefields and at home cope with the war and its aftermath? What was the emotional toll paid by civilians and soldiers? Fifth Maine curator, Kim MacIsaac, looks at how the soldiers and their families dealt with death and loss on the battlefield and at home both during and after the war. The Fifth Maine Regiment Museum is a nonprofit museum and cultural center housed in the 1888 Fifth Maine Regiment Memorial Hall.  Its mission is the preservation of Civil War and local history.  To that end the museum offers a wide variety of lectures, concerts, tours, youth education programs, and community activities.  Membership is open to the public.” Call 766-3330 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .