The eternal music of Elvis Presley will be played at the next Mid-Week Music concerts on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. The shows are held at the Kennebunkport Historical Society’s Town House School at 135 North St.

In their second annual Elvis show, Dana Pearson, Mark Gunter, and Ron Breton will cover the iconic rocker from his explosive early days in the 1950s (“A Big Hunk o’ Love”) through his often underappreciated ’60s catalogue (“Big Boss Man”), and into his final years in the ‘70s (“Burning Love”). Dancing is predicted.

Tickets are $15 for Kennebunkport Historical Society members and $18 for nonmembers, and may be purchased at the door or at kporths.com/buy-tickets. The evening show is BYOB (21 and older only).

For more information, email info@kporths.com or call 967-2751.

All Souls’ Walk scheduled for Oct. 29

The Brick Store Museum will once again make spirits come alive for one afternoon for its 19th annual All Souls’ Walk on Saturday, Oct. 29. The Halloween event features continuous tours through Hope Cemetery beginning at noon, with the last tour departing at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person, children younger than 12 are admitted free.

The narrated historical walks begin at the Brick Store Museum, 117 Main St., Kennebunk, and cover a half-mile loop through Kennebunk’s Hope Cemetery, lasting approximately 75 minutes. Costumed interpreters portray the historical figures, and share their stories of love, loss, and fate. Not too spooky, it’s a perfect activity for the whole family. Participants visit more than a dozen gravesites and learn local history through the often tragic tales of residents from bygone eras.

Tours conclude back at the museum, where guests are invited to enjoy the event’s Fall Arts Fair and view the museum’s new exhibitions. This signature event is sponsored by Biddeford Savings Bank. The museum recognizes Hope Cemetery for once again hosting the All Souls’ Walk this year. In addition to the in-person tour, the museum will offer a smartphone tour in which visitors can watch videos of all of the actors while touring the cemetery at their leisure.

Advanced reservations are encouraged, though there will be walk-in spots available (first-come, first served). Tickets can be reserved in advance at the Brick Store Museum, or online at www.brickstoremuseum.org. Few standby tickets may be available on the day of the event. In the event of inclement weather, a rain date will be announced.

Seacoast Garden Club prepares for winter

Seacoast Garden Club of Kennebunkport is revving up for the 2022-23 season. Founded nearly 40 years ago by eight local women, there are currently more than 90 members from Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Arundel, Biddeford and Wells. Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month, from October to May, at the Community House, 8 Temple St., Kennebunkport, starting with coffee and refreshments at 9:30, then followed by the business meeting and program.

For the Nov. 14 meeting, the club invites area residents who are interested in joining Seacoast Garden Club to attend, meet other members, and also attend the Native Seed Talk program that will be presented by Ginger Laurits of the Wild Seed Projects.

Laurits is a master gardener and volunteer at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm where she coordinates and maintains the native plant garden with other volunteers. She will talk about the Laudholm native plant gardens, why native plants are important to include in our landscapes, plants that work well in Maine perennial gardens and where to buy native plants.

Other programs scheduled for 2022-23 include a video/discussion about Beatrix Farrand, a female landscape architect in early 20th century America; Edible Landscaping by horticulturist Aaron Parker; and Dispelling Common Garden Myths by Jamie Colen, director of Fuller Gardens in North Hampton, New Hampshire.

Seacoast Garden Club helps build friendships but it is not strictly social. Its members offer volunteer service to the communities where its members live. They also support the Conservation Pledge stated on the inside cover of the club’s yearbook, which reads:, “I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of the planet Earth and promise to promote education as we may become caretakers of our air, water, forests, land and wildlife.”

Throughout the year, the Seacoast Garden Club maintains a busy agenda. During the summer, members plant and tend local beds at the monument in Kennebunkport’s Dock Square, Community House, Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library, Kennebunkport post office and the Oaks Neck peninsula overlooking the ocean at the intersection of Gooch’s and Middle Beaches. They also maintain gardens in Kennebunk, including town hall and the Faerie Garden and Touch and Sniff garden at Kennebunk Free Library. Additionally, several members plant and maintain window boxes at The Center (formerly known as The Senior Center) in Kennebunk.

Each December club members make and decorate boxwood Christmas trees and every May they create floral baskets, all of which are then distributed to local health facilities, homebound residents and libraries. The club’s most successful fundraiser is the annual Plant and Pie Sale, held every May over Memorial Day weekend.

“We welcome residents who are interested in any of our garden club activities,” said club president Claire Julian in an email. “The Nov. 14 open meeting is a convenient and easy way for women to find out more about what and who we are.”

For more information, contact membership chairwomen Diane Israelson (disrisn@yahoo.com) or Susan Joakim (susanjoakim@gmail.com).

Fire of 1947 is subject of panel discussion

The Brick Store Museum will present a virtual panel discussion including forest, fire and history professionals on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m., to focus on the 75th anniversary of the Fire of 1947 and its legacy.

The Fire of ’47 was a collection of over 200 fires that burned in Maine from Oct. 13 through Oct. 27 in 1947. Together, the fires consumed a quarter of a million acres of forest, and wiped out nine entire towns, making it one of the worst natural disasters in state history. The fires burned from Bar Harbor (which was almost completely destroyed) to Kennebunkport and Goose Rocks Beach. It became known as “The Year Maine Burned.”

The panel discussion “The Legacy of the ’47 Fire,” will be presented via Zoom. Tickets for the presentation are $5 per person. The panel includes Kent Nelson, forest ranger specialist with the Maine Forest Service; Captain Nathan Howe, Kennebunk Fire Rescue; local historian Christopher Spofford; and recordings of oral histories from the Brick Store Museum’s Fire of 1947 collection.

The museum is offering an accompanying take-out dinner as part of its Take Out Learning Dinners, catered by For the Love of Food & Drink in Wells. Visit www.brickstoremuseum.org to order tickets and dinners (the menu will be posted).

“Wildfire Loose: The Week Maine Burned,” by Maine historian Joyce Butler, will be on sale in the Brick Store Museum’s shop at 117 Main St., Kennebunk. For more information, visit www.brickstoremuseum.org or call 207-985-4802.

Sip and assist Maine industry

Mornings in Paris has created a new roasted coffee to support the fight to preserve Maine’s lobstering heritage.

Owner Paul Humphrey, in an Oct. new release, said the new coffee roasted onsite in Kennebunk “is a full, strong and bold taste suitable for those long days out hauling in lobster traps — or someone just looking to aid the cause.”

Mornings in Paris will donate $4 from every pound sold to #savemainelobstermen and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Maine lobstermen and the National Marine Fisheries Service are battling over new regulations designed to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, which also limits where and how lobstermen can fish in federal waters.

“Lobstering is the backbone of our coastal economies. We support the effort to preserve Maine’s lobstering heritage. What would Maine look like without it?” said Humphrey, who owns and operates cafes in Lower Village Kennebunk and Ogunquit, in the email. “We believe all of us Maine residents have skin in the game with this issue, and we want to do our bit to support the cause.”

The coffee is available by the pound, ground or whole bean. The coffee is just one roast in a charity series designed to highlight and support local nonprofits.

For more information, visit morningsinparis.com or savemainelobstermen.org. Those interested in stock for wholesale may contact paul@morningsinparis.com.

Museum offers Tomten class

A new class, taught by Beth Crowe, will be offered at the Brick Store Museum. Crowe is an original storyteller that blends her stories with traditional fiber arts. The class will combine legends and Tomtens. A Tomten are a part of Scandinavian folklore. They are a sort of gnome who live on the farm and look after the children and animals. The Tomtens participants will create are handmade dolls. They represent the simplest form of doll making. Participants will make a wool doll from recycled materials while exploring the history of the various little folk of the season.

The class will meet once a week, 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays, starting Nov. 22. The cost is $150 for a four-week session, $140 for museum members. Maximum size of the class will be 12 students.

For more information or to register,  email museum educator Mary Delehanty at mdelehanty@brickstoremuseum.org.

Arundel Historical Society seeks oldest resident

The Arundel Historical Society wants to begin a new tradition for the town of Arundel and the society needs help in identifying Arundel’s oldest resident. The tradition would be the presentation of the Arundel Heritage Cane to its oldest resident.

Years ago, when Arundel was a part of Kennebunkport, the Boston Post presented a cane to a person who was deemed the oldest resident of Kennebunkport. Today, Arundel is its own municipality and the society would like to create a new tradition.

The society seeks nominations of an oldest Arundel resident from people in Arundel and/or surrounding communities as birth records are apparently not readily available. Those with a credible nomination can contact the historical society at 283-9699.

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