Lions’ blood drive

The Gray-New Gloucester Lions are sponsoring a blood drive from 1-6 p.m., Monday, May 16, at the Newbegin Community Center, 22 Main St., Gray. Donors can enter to win $100 worth of fuel from Fielding’s Oil Company.

Appointments are highly recommended; call Dean Neal at 926-4723 or the Red Cross donor line 1-800-733-2767, or go to redcrossblood.org and enter zip code 04039.

Candidates forum

Four certified candidates are competing for two open seats on the New Gloucester Board of Selectmen. They are Lenora Conger, Steven Libby, Nichole Stevens and Kathleen Potter. A televised candidates forum, open to the public, will be held Tuesday, May 31 at 7 p.m., at the New Gloucester Meetinghouse, 389 Intervale Road. Tamilyn Wayboer will serve as the moderator.

Citizens are encouraged to send questions to be asked by the moderator by email to ngcabletv@gmail.com before noon Monday, May 23. The format also will include an opportunity for audience members to ask questions.

The forum will be telecast live on local access cable Channel 3 and will be rebroadcast on June 3-5 and June 10-12, at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Also, the program will be available as video-on-demand at www.newgloucester.com.

SAD 15 forums

The SAD 15 school board is proposing a $6.95 million bond package to the voters of Gray and New Gloucester. There are two questions – one that focuses on upgrades to schools and one that targets athletic fields and grounds. The package will be discussed at a community forum scheduled for Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. in the Gray-New Gloucester High School cafeteria, 10 Libby Hill Road, Gray.

A budget forum is scheduled for Thursday, May 26, in the high school cafeteria. Voter registration begins at 6 p.m., and the forum starts at 6:30 p.m. The subsequent budget validation vote will take place on Tuesday, June 14, at respective voting centers in each town.

American music festival

Tickets are on sale for The Maine Festival of American Music, hosted by the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. All of the concerts take place in the Shaker’s 1794 Meeting House, a superb venue for vocal and instrumental performances. The 11th anniversary of The Maine Festival of American Music: Its Roots and Traditions is set for Wednesday, June 22, through Saturday, June 25.

The Portland String Quartet and soprano Luette Saul will perform works spanning three centuries at “Shaking Complacency,” Wednesday, June 22, at 7 p.m.

Composer Kevin Siegfried will lead the Portsmouth Singers in a program of Shaker music at “In the Valley of Love and Delight,” Thursday, June 23, at 7 p.m.

A Master Class performance, Friday, June 24, from 3-5 p.m., is the culmination of a workshop day of amateur quartets being coached by the Portland String Quartet. This is a free performance.

On Friday, June 24, at 7 p.m., singers led by Chris Moore of 317 Main Community Music Center will perform original modern folk songs inspired by 19th century Shaker music at “Rekindling the Spirit of Shaker Music.”

Franco-American fiddler Don Roy, joined by pianist/step dancer Cindy Roy and bassist Jay Young, will perform a variety of mid-19th century folk and fiddle music at “Whirling Coat Tails,” Saturday, June 25, from 1:30-3:30 p.m.

The Portland String Quartet will complement works by Mozart and Mendelssohn with those of American composers William Grant Still and Norman Dello Joio at “The Simplicity and Majesty of Song,” Saturday, June 25, at 7 p.m.

Ticket prices are $20 for adults. Students 21 or under are admitted free with a reservation. See www.maineshakers.com to purchase tickets and for more concert details, or call 926-4597.

Spring Cleanup Week

The New Gloucester Transfer Station, 264 Bald Hill Road, is hosting its annual Spring Cleanup Week, Tuesday, May 17, from 9 a.m.–7 p.m.; Thursday, May 19, from 9 a.m.–7 p.m.; Friday, May 20, from 9 a.m.–2 p.m.; and Saturday, May 21, from 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

Spring Cleanup Week allows New Gloucester residents to bring bulky waste items to the transfer station at no charge. A bulky waste sticker is not necessary.

Author talk

Marilyn Seguin, author of “Hidden History of the Sebago Lakes Region,” will speak about her book at 7 p.m., at the Thursday, May 26, meeting of the New Gloucester Historical Society. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the Meetinghouse, 389 Intervale Road, New Gloucester. Refreshments will be served.

Reinhard Frohlich, who moved from Germany to the United States in 1969, enjoys looking over fact sheets chronicling the history of New Gloucester at a special exhibit at the History Barn. He moved to Maine two years ago and resides with his son, Karl, and daughter-in-law, Karen, and their two children, on Cobbs Bridge Road.