SOUTH PORTLAND

Land Trust invites residents to help Earth Day cleanup

The South Portland Land Trust invites area residents, businesses and organizations to participate in its Earth Day observance from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday by helping to clean up parks, beaches, shorelines and trails around the town.

Since 1999, the annual event has invited community members to select their own clean-up locations, rally their own memberships and then contact the SPLT to share logistical details.

Participating organizations and businesses can find out more details and preregister to participate via emailing sopolandtrust@gmail.com or call Richard Rottkov at 799-5686.

The main registration booth will open at 8:30 a.m. at Mill Creek Park off Broadway. Participants can sign in, obtain instructions and receive bags and gloves at Mill Creek Park, along Cottage Road across from Hannaford.

Participants are reminded to wear durable footwear and gloves and bring hand tools to pick up trash. Young children should be accompanied by an adult. This will be a rain or shine event.

SOUTH WATERBORO

Time Riders to perform at Historical Society benefit

The band Time Riders will perform from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday at the Waterboro Grange Hall at 31 West Road.

Proceeds will benefit the Waterborough Historical Society.

Tickets are $15 per person, BYOB, no one under 21 admitted. Set-up and snacks will be available. Tickets can be purchased at Woodsome’s Feeds & Needs and Woody’s Sports Grille.

For more details, call 247-5926.

FALMOUTH

UMaine Extension offers crowd cooking safety class

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Cumberland County will offer its “Cooking for Crowds Food Safety Training for Occasional Volunteer Cooks” class from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday at the University of Maine Regional Learning Center, 75 Clearwater Drive, Suite 104.

UMaine Extension educator Kathy Savoie will head the workshop, which will offer up-to-date information on how to handle, transport, store and prepare foods safely for large group functions such as soup kitchens, church suppers, food pantries and fundraisers.

This class meets the Good Shepherd Food-Bank food safety training requirements. Cost is $15 per person and scholarships are available.

To register or for more details, call Lois Elwell at 781-6099 or (800) 287-1471.

ELLSWORTH

Babysitting safety training course offered in two parts

Sign-ups will be accepted through Friday for a Babysitter Lessons and Safety Training course, to be offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 3.

This course is designed for students ages 12-16 and will be done in two parts, take home pre-work and in-class training provided by American Heart Association certified CPR and first aid Instructors.

Class fee is $40. To sign up, call Michelle at 664-5588 or Stacie at 664-5348 or sbrown@mainehospital.org.

BATH/HARPSWELL

Audubon plans field trip, dinner and silent auction

Merrymeeting Audubon plans a field trip to Whiskeag Creek in Bath and will sell tickets for its upcoming Annual Dinner & Silent Auction with Nat Wheelwright.

The field trip to Whiskeag Creek will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday, meeting at Sewall Woods on Whiskeag Road and continuing to Thorne Head.

The targets for this trip include Canada geese, black ducks, mallards, blue and green-winged teal, common mergansers and early arriving songbirds.

The hike is free and open to the public. For more details, call Ted Allen at 729-8661.

Also, tickets for the annual silent auction and dinner, set for 6 to 9 p.m. April 22 at St. Charles Borromeo Church meeting hall in Bath, are on sale for $20 per person.

The event is open to the public, with reservations required.

Send checks, made out to Merrymeeting Audubon, to: Tulle Frazer, 271 Harpswell Neck Road, Harpswell, ME 04079. For more details, call 725-8942. Reservations must be received by Tuesday.

LEWISTON

Easter bake sale to aid center paying for mammograms

The Central Maine Medical Center Woman’s Hospital Association will hold a “Baking For Bennett” Easter bake dale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the Central Maine Medical Center main lobby at 60 High St.

All proceeds and donations will be used to pay for screening mammograms at the Sam and Jennie Bennett Breast Care Center for patients who have inadequate or no insurance coverage.

KENNEBUNKPORT

Library’s kids program to create spring Zen gardens

Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library will offer the final installment of its spring kids garden program Wednesdays through April 16 from 3 to 4 p.m. at 18 Maine St. Children, ages 8 and older, are invited to come and create their own Zen garden with sand, sea shells, crystals and miniatures.

All supplies will be provided by the instructor.

The garden classes will be taught by Shelley Wigglesworth, a certified Maine master gardener and award- winning newspaper columnist from Kennebunk,

There is no cost for this program although preregistration is required. There will be a maximum of 12 children per session. For more details or to sign up, call the Junior Room at 967-2778.

YORK

Library events will include poetry, book talk, art show

York Public Library, 15 Long Sands Road, will offer the following events this week:

A poetry evening, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Bring poems to share. Readings occur in round table format and are facilitated by Priscilla Cookson.

Also on Tuesday, at 7 p.m., author K.D. Mason will talk about his most recent book, “Evil Intentions,” the fifth in his popular Jack Beale mystery series. He will answer questions and sign copies of his books.

The 13th Annual Student Art Show reception will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, featuring a variety of art from acrylic paintings to charcoal drawings, photography, sculpture and multimedia masterpieces, all created by York students from kindergarten through high school. The show will be displayed throughout the library until April 30.

TOPSHAM

Library’s Poetry Festival to include competition winners

April is National Poetry Month and Topsham Public Library will host its annual Poetry Festival at 2 p.m. Saturday at 25 Foreside Road. This year’s line-up will include Longfellow Days founder Maryli Tiemann and Pushcart Prize nominees David Sloan and Steve Gibbon,

Topsham Public Library’s Joy of the Pen competition winners Linda Aldrich, Regina Schaare and Bruce Spang, and published poets Pam Smith and Rachel Flynn also will read excerpts of their work.

All programs are free and open to the public. For more details, call 725-1727 or go to www.topshamlibrary.org.

PORTLAND

Tate House Museum tour to visit 17th-century homes

The Tate House Museum is sponsoring a special trip on April 19 to visit four 17th-century homes.

The group will leave by bus and travel to northeastern Massachusetts for a day of exploring colonial homes that are not normally open to the public. The houses included are the Parson Capen House (1683), the Dickenson-Pillsbury-Witham House (1693-1700), the Swett-Ilsley House (1676) and the Peter Toppan House (1694).

The cost for the tour is $60. Departure, by bus, is promptly at 8 a.m. with a return time of 5 p.m.

For details or to reserve your spot, call Betty Janus at 774-6177 or email info@tatehouse.org.

Sky LASE System at planetarium for wide range of laser shows

The full dome Sky LASE System returns to the Southworth Planetarium this month, offering a full range of laser star shows from Friday through April 27.

Shows this week are Laser Mania at 6 p.m. and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” at 7 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday, shows are Laser Orion at 1 p.m.; Laser Persues and Andromeda, followed by Laser Pop at 3 p.m., Laser Beatles at 6 p.m. and Laser Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” at 7 p.m.

Sunday shows are Laser Persues and Andromeda, followed by Laser Magic at 1 p.m. and Laser Orion, followed by Laseropooplis at 3 p.m. Admission is $5.50 per person plus $1 for 3-D glasses.

Library schedules four computer training workshops

The Portland Public Library will offer four workshops for computer beginners who have completed Basic Computer Training I and would like to learn the next steps in computer basics.

Basic Computer Training II will be held on Tuesdays, April 15 and 29 and May 13 and 27, from 3 to 4:15 p.m. The workshops are free but registration is required.

Basic Computer Training II includes explaining the basic functions of emailing, learning how to copy and paste, getting photos/files from an external device, finding photos/files in the computer and attaching photos/files to an email.

This course is offered in English but a French-speaking volunteer will be present to help translate for French-speaking students.

There is limited space available for each of these trainings and participants must register in advance at the Library’s Public Computing desk or by calling 871-1700 ext. 708.

RANGELEY

Willhelm Reich Museum to host sky program Monday

The Wilhelm Reich Museum will host a sky program at dusk Monday at the conference center on Dodge Pond Road.

Attendees will view planets, stars and the moon using telescopes and binoculars, as well as picking out constellations with the naked eye.

Participants should dress warm and bring binoculars, lawn chairs or a blanket.

The program will be canceled if the sky is overcast.

The sky program has been created for all ages as part of the museum’s Natural Science Program and is free of charge. For more details, call 864-3443.