Observer photo/Stuart HedstromTALES OF THE WATER — A mid-morning parade from outer Elm Street to the downtown athletic field helped celebrate Guilford’s annual Piscataquis River Festival on Saturday, July 28.

This summer, you could win a beautiful, handmade quilt at the Maine Red Hot Dog Festival on Saturday, Aug. 11. The Dexter Public Health Association will raffle this colorful, unique work-of-art that will add beauty to your life and comfort to your body.

At 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4 the Abbot and Monson historical societies will host a dedication ceremony at the moose horns on Route 15 in Abbot. The original moose horns were placed at this location by Monson settler Joseph Bearce in 1817 to mark the path from the Abbot-Million Acre Trail to the emerging town of Monson.

An essential tool for hiking enthusiasts, the newest edition of the “AMC Maine Mountain Guide” features more trails than ever before. Compiled and edited by avid hiker Carey Kish of Mount Desert, the 11th edition of the guidebook describes more than 625 trails on 300 Maine mountains.

There is stressful busy and there is exciting busy. We’re going for the latter this August at the Thompson Free Library and inviting you along for a fun, multidimensional, sensory-awakening ride. All ages -- families and individuals -- will find programs to make the most out of the dog days of summer.

Every guitar has a story to tell, believes David Iverson as the history of each instrument may reveal who has played it, where it has been and can also conjure up memories for the guitarist. Iverson plans to share many tales when his Story Teller Guitars store opens in early August.

On Friday, Aug. 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. Dexter Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT) will show the 2009 independent movie “A Farm for the Future,” as part of a free presentation at the Abbott Memorial Library with a public discussion following.

The Center Theatre is hoping to show the movie "Little Pink House" at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 23. Based on a true story, the movie is about a group of neighbor's fight with corporate and political interests who want to use eminent domain to take their property. The Center Theatre needs to get 86 advance reservations in order to show the film.

Join more than 80 beautiful parrots for a free, family-friendly open house at Siesta Sanctuary from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug 4. Play catch with them, hear them talk and sing, watch them play and dance and learn about their care.

Upcoming events around the region.

The 14th annual Piscataquis River Festival returns on Saturday, July 28 with a day of events in the downtown area.

Over a half dozen groups of paddlers tried to traverse the Lake Hebron cove from the boat launch to the Lakeshore House dock during the Anything Floats Race on the afternoon of Saturday, July 21 during the annual Monson Summer Festival.

Whether you are interested in the allied health field, such as preparing for medical assisting, nursing or medical office technology, education, business, hospitality and tourism, mental health, a liberal studies pathway or many other technology fields, join a fall open house on Thursday, Aug. 2 from 3 to 5 p.m. at 50 Mayo Street. Fall 2018 semester classes begin Aug. 27.

On Thursday, Aug. 9 at 1 p.m. at Central Hall in Dover-Foxcroft, NAMI Piscataquis County will show its second offering from the Sounds True-Healing Trauma Summit called “EFT to Heal Trauma,” featuring speaker Dawson Church. This video presentation will be helpful to those experiencing intrusive memories of bad events, insomnia, nightmares and flashbacks.

Early in its existence the Dexter Historical Society received a donation of negatives and photos from Bert Lincoln Call, a photographer in Dexter from 1886 until the early 1940s. Call's stock-in-trade was portraiture of local citizens, but his passion was for the woods, lakes and rivers of northern Maine which he visited annually.

Castlebay plays at the Wayside Theatre at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 28. Since 1986, Castlebay has been weaving together Maine's nautical and British Isles legacies transporting their audience through time and across the Atlantic. Julia Lane and Fred Gosbee’s traditional and original songs are supported with Celtic harp, 12-string guitar, fiddle and woodwinds.

Upcoming events around the region.

The Brownville-Brownville Junction Historical Society is pleased to announce Ken Hatchette’s latest book “The Canadian Pacific Railroad in Brownville Junction, Maine 1886 to 1963” is available now at the Parish House Museum on Church Street, Simple Sacks on the Main Road and the Milo and Points North Visitors Center on the Gerrish Road.