Effective Monday, June 1, the Diocese of Portland is allowing Maine churches to hold public Masses with restrictions and safeguards in place.

The Thompson Free Library in will offer curbside pickup service for books, movies and other library materials beginning on Wednesday, June 3. Pickup hours will be Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday morning pickups can be arranged by appointment.

Scheduled for the final day of school, Wednesday June 10 and starting at 1 p.m., the parade of vehicles will travel through the SAD 4 campus with appropriate waving, balloons, decorated vehicles, horn-blowing and yelling. Teachers and staff will line the edges of the driveway in what Boomsma hopes becomes a “huge event” that marks the official end of the school year and the start of summer.

The Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) is very excited to announce that it will be collaborating with Widdershins Farm LLC this summer. Widdershins is a local farm in Dover-Foxcroft offering a wide variety of services and products and includes a creamery and farm store that is open seven days a week. The farm specializes in sustainable agriculture and caring for their livestock in the most natural way possible

The Center Theatre announced that its community theater group, the Slightly Off-Center Players, will be holding open auditions for their summer production of “Born in a Small Town,” a new play written and directed by Bobby Keniston. The auditions, which will take place on June 13-14 from 1-4 p.m. at the Center Theatre, 20 East Main Street.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the previously scheduled Relay For Life live events across Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire through June have suspended their live events, and many now are participating on Sunday, June 7 in a virtual online experience called Hope From Home. Participants should register for their local event at http://RelayForLife.org and then on June 7 join the activities at https://bit.ly/RelayHopeFromHome.

After two months of being unable to hold live support group meetings because of the COVID-19 distancing policies, NAMI Piscataquis County will reconvene via Zoom on the first Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m.

Therefore, we found it fitting and proper to remember. On behalf of Post #29 Chadbourne-Merrill American Legion we would like to offer a few words of remembrance in honor of those who have loved so deeply as to give their all for the cause of freedom and everything it entails. At this important and solemn time, we remember the hard-earned liberty gained through the sacrifice of so many on our behalf, a grateful nation.

Upcoming events around the region.

Annis, born on the Cape, is a business-savvy guy who owned and operated restaurants in the Boston area for 30 years before his intense desire to travel sent him across the country for a stint, eventually returning to Boston, where he would meet the love of his life. Several years ago, and two children later, the couple moved to Dresden, motivated by a pursuit for a simpler life for their daughters. While in Dresden, they began a search for their slice of heaven; a family farm, which eventually landed them in Dover-Foxcroft, and Maison de Chevre (translated as goat house) was born.

The Thompson Free Library will host Susan Pinette, professor of modern languages and literatures and director of Franco American programs at the University of Maine, live via Zoom at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 28. This online presentation is part of an ongoing Bicentennial series sponsored by a Maine Bicentennial Community Grant.

The Center Theatre has begun selling theater concessions online for curbside pickup. Pickup is available on Friday and Saturday nights between 6 and 7 p.m. and all orders must be placed in advance online at CenterTheatre.org.

Voices from HOME, a community-based oral history project coordinated by the Thompson Free Library, will host a live storytelling event on the theme “Together” at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 22. This event is free and open to the public, and will be held online via Zoom.

Shopping from home just got more fun! Pine Tree Hospice’s “Bid It To Win It” Facebook auction will have you on the edge of your seats. We will auction heirloom-quality works created by staff, volunteers and others close to the organization, people you know, for a very special fundraising event for Pine Tree Hospice.  Needlework, mixed media, photography, stained glass, woodwork and more will be posted on Pine Tree Hospice’s Facebook page beginning on Monday, May 18.

If you are a caregiver of people younger than 22 years of age who are experiencing an emotional or behavioral disorder, NAMI Maine is offering the National Alliance on Mental Illness signature course, NAMI Basics, that you might find helpful.  The course will be delivered online, via Zoom, free of charge.  Classes begin Thursday, May 28 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and run for six consecutive weeks.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry will offer two free webinars Thursday, May 21, in support of National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Invasive plant biologist Nancy Olmstead will teach “Invasive Plant Ecology and Identification” from 9–10 a.m. and “Invasive Plant Management” from noon–1 p.m.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is launching a food preservation webinar series at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26. The weekly series continues through Oct. 27. 

Join the Piscatquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.  on Wednesday, June 3 to learn about invasive plant ecology, impacts, identification and management with presenter Nancy Olmstead, invasive plant biologist from the Maine Natural Areas Program in the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.