Rico Portalatin, 48 of Milo, won the men’s age 45-49 division at the 22nd annual TD Beach to Beacon 10K on the morning of Aug. 3. Portalatin covered the 6.2 miles in a time of 35 minutes, 8 seconds to best 277 other runners in his age group. He also placed 111th overall out a field of 6,414 finishers.

A father and daughter escaped a boat fire without injury on Sebec Lake at the Tim Merrill & Co. marina in Dover-Foxcroft shortly after noon on Tuesday, Aug. 6.

Two prestigious Foxcroft Academy alumni awards were presented during the 2019 alumni banquet on Saturday night, Aug. 3.

Upcoming events around the region.

The Maine Red Hot Festival will be back in downtown Dexter on Saturday, Aug. 10 as the fourth annual event will feature activities with free admission from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. -- rain or shine.

The 28th annual Maine Forest Heritage Days is scheduled for Aug. 8-11. The weekend includes a bus tour through Maine’s working forest, a craft fair, carriage rides, chainsaw carving, a woodsman demonstration featuring chopping and ax throwing and the regional Game of Logging competition.

Every five years Bowerbank Days returns to the community on the shores of Sebec Lake and in 2019 the festival features events in the village on the evening of Friday, Aug. 9 and throughout the day on Saturday, Aug. 10 with a theme of “We Love Bowerbank -- Hook, Line & Sinkah.”

On Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. at The Commons at Central Hall, NAMI Piscataquis County will present the first in the Depression and Anxiety Secrets series entitled “SSRIs, Antidepressants, and Alternative Remedies: Understanding Your Options.”

A few years ago I was interviewed by a newspaper on the future of genealogy and DNA. I went on record that DNA would change genealogy in the future, opening doors we could only imagine. When the piece ran I was chided by a fellow genealogist who insisted that DNA was a flash in the pan and what I said was ridiculous.

On Wednesday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter will be hosting one of the Chewonki’s Foundation’s most popular traveling natural history programs “Owls of Maine.”