Surrounded by a crowd of friends and colleagues, Randy Cross soaked in the praise for a career well spent at a ceremony held in the town of Waldo. The state’s bear management and monitoring program will never be the same.

On Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at The Commons at Central Hall, “Unraveling Negative Thoughts for a Brighter Future” will be examined through video presentation followed by discussion.

On Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. Siesta Sanctuary of Harmony will be bringing live parrots to the Abbott Memorial Library and presenting a free program on the care and welfare of these amazing birds.

After much consideration, Wilson saw an option he believed to be the most logical. The town of Guilford would retain the C.H. Lightbody Medical Building, relocate the municipal offices there and provide the existing town office space on School Street to the fire/EMS service already housed there. Wilson made the recommendation and the select board endorsed the decision.

The Maine Bicentennial Commission (Maine200) recently awarded the first round of Bicentennial Community Grants. Out of 44 applications from organizations and municipalities across the state, the commission chose a total of 30 grant recipients: 21 large grants and nine small grants at varying amounts. Among those are a Bicentennial Birthday Bash in Rockland, theatrical productions in Portland and Dover-Foxcroft, as well as conferences, educational curriculum, art exhibits, lecture series and more, spanning several Maine counties.

Two poets and two musicians will come together to celebrate Maine’s natural world through poetry and music from 2:30-3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Dexter Universalist Church (next Bud’s Shop ‘n Save). This special poetry and strings program will feature poets Kristen Lindquist and Paul Corrigan reading their work, with musicians Susan Ramsey on violin and guitar and Ruth Fogg on cello. Admission is free with donations accepted.

There are, apparently, still plenty of classic outdoorsmen who track huge bucks for miles before catching up with them, shooting them and then dragging them back to the truck. Today’s query is not for those hardy hunters, who surely have very little spare time on their hands when they head out into the woods for a day of hunting.

Two corporate foundation grants have catapulted the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation’s campaign for a waterfront park in downtown Greenville over the $100,000 mark. Grants totaling $10,000 from both Machias Savings Bank and the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund now bring the campaign total to $111,000 on the way toward the $250,000 fundraising goal.

The Commons at Central Hall will be hosting the “Alexander Technique & Workshop” with Ruth Rootberg from Nov. 22-24.

The Piscataquis County Republican Committee will meet at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 at Mayo Regional Hospital in the Resource Center — please use the rear door of the building. U.S. Senate candidate Eric Brakey will be speaking at the meeting.