Family Farmyard  

Pineland Farms is inviting the public to a day full of family fun from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 18. Activities include hand milking a cow, collecting chicken eggs and brushing a bunny. Live tractor demonstrations are from 11:30 a.m. to noon and 12:30-1 p.m., and farm yoga will be held 11-11:20 a.m., 11:30-11:50 a.m. and noon-12:20 p.m. Attendees can also help build the new Fairy Village, plant a sunflower, take a horse-drawn wagon ride and get their faces painted.

For tickets, priced at $6 in advance, $8 day of, go to the Events page at shop.pineland.org. The rain date is May 19. Visitors can park on campus and take a trolley bus from the Market or park down on the farm. For more information, contact the education department at 650-3031 or education@pinelandfarms.org.

Community forum

The New Gloucester Candidate/Referendum Issues Committee is partnering with the Maine League of Women Voters to bring the community a Board of Selectmen Candidate Forum along with a conversation about town charters on Wednesday, May 15.

Four candidates running for two Board of Selectmen seats have been invited to participate in the forum: Peter Bragdon, George Colby, Tammy Donovan and Stephen Hathorne. Also on the June 11 ballot, voters will be asked if a town charter commission should be formed. 

If you have questions for candidates for Board of Selectmen or questions about a town charter for charter panelists,  submit your questions by email to newgloucesterquestions@gmail.com.

Members of the public are encouraged to attend this informative meeting from 6:30-9 p.m. May 15 at the Meetinghouse, 389 Intervale Road. 

Historical talk

Megan Theriault of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission will present  New Gloucester Historical Society’s May program at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at the Meetinghouse, 389 Intervale Road.

The title of the talk is “The 1798 Tax of New Gloucester,” an extremely rare book filled with minutiae about town life. The program is free and open to the public with refreshments served.

Spring cleanup week

The New Gloucester Transfer Station, 264 Bald Hill Road, is hosting its annual Spring Cleanup Week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, and Thursday, May 16; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, May 17; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 18. 

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

Stumps, leaves, pine needles, large drums or closed metal containers are not accepted at anytime. All types of oil, including clean waste oil, are accepted year round.

School budget public vote

All eligible voters in Gray and New Gloucester may attend the SAD 15 Town Meeting/budget validation public vote. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 23, at the GNG High School cafeteria. Voter registration begins at 6 p.m., and the meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

Jazz clarinetist and virtuoso whistler Brad Terry, left, and guitarist Peter
Herman delight a standing room only crowd during a special Village Coffeehouse
performance April 20.