Over 20 area souls met in the basement meeting room of the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter April 5 to discuss the thought-provoking ideas expressed by Daniel Schmactenberger, a futurist whose concern about the current human demands on the earth’s physical systems has driven him to question most aspects of the status quo.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension Piscataquis County 4-H is offering the Piscataquis Passport Project again this summer. Enrollment forms are available Monday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through June 3 at UMaine Extension, 165 East Main Street. Sign up opportunities also will be available at community events.

A career resource fair will be held at the Penquis Higher Education Center on Thursday, April 25 from 1-4 p.m. for youth to meet with local employers and apply for positions and possible on the spot interviews and also explore job training and higher educational opportunities available from Eastern Maine Community College and the University of Maine at Augusta. The fair is also open to the public and anyone seeking employment services or career services are encouraged to attend from 2-4 p.m. that day.

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC)/Miosac Club met April 2 at Thayer Parkway. Diane and David Leighton presented an interesting program of their trip to Nashville and all the sights they saw, including Willie Nelson’s Road House, the Wall of Fame, car museum, Elvis’ car, the Parthenon and the “Smokey the and the Bandit” car and many more. Diane rode in Daisy Duke’s car.

A variety of Easter egg-themed activities for children of all ages will be offered from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 20 at The Commons at Central Hall in Dover-Foxcroft.

The Brownville Free Public Library has been selected by the Maine Humanities Council to offer “Let’s Talk About It,” a free reading and discussion group with copies of books available through the library. This program is provided by the Maine Humanities Council’s Maine Center for the Book in cooperation with the Maine State Library. The series “Detective Fiction in the 20th Century: A Notion of Evil” begins April 16 at the library and continues every two weeks for five sessions through June 11.

For the fourth year in a row the Abbot-based JD Foundation invites the community to honor those who have died by suicide and support survivors and families impacted at the organization’s Walk/Run to Wake the Silence. The 5-kilometer event will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 4, with an opening ceremony at 9:45 a.m. and registration beginning at 8 a.m., at the Piscataquis Regional YMCA on Park Street.

On Saturday, March 30 the Penquis Cruizers held the group’s annual Cabin Fever Reliever at the home of Fred and Susan Worcester in Williamsburg, this is one of the group's annual events. This year there was discussion about how to recognize the organization's 30 years of bringing auto enthusiasts in the area -- and outside our area -- together to enjoy their love of everything automobile.

The class is offered at Mayo Regional Hospital in the Resource Center on Monday, May 13. Registration is at 9:30 a.m. with class starting promptly at 10 a.m. and running until 2:30 p.m.

Upcoming events around the region.

Eastern Area Agency on Aging will be holding a Medicare 101 class at The Commons at Central Hall from 9-10:45 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24.

Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) has opened registration for the second session in its popular Families in the Outdoors series, Rocks, Gems & Dirt! This event will take place at the Law Farm in Dover-Foxcroft from 1-4 p.m. on Thursday, April 18.

This event is scheduled for Tuesday, April 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Dover-Foxcroft and is part of Pine Tree Hospice’s Adult Bereavement Support Program. Lunch & Learn is free of charge and includes a nutritious lunch. The program is open to adults in the community who have experienced grief and loss whether recently or in the past.

April is National Donate Life Month. Every year, Donate Life America leads the celebration of National Donate Life Month (NDLM) to focus national attention on organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation -- to share the importance of registering your decision to be a donor, honor deceased and living donors and celebrate the lifesaving and healing gift of transplantation. Mayo Regional Hospital will be participating in the month-long celebration.

The Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) takes pride in offering in-demand programs. In 2018 we offered two sessions of Chainsaw Safety for Women, both sessions filling in only four days. Considering this overwhelming demand and the feedback we received from both men and women, we are once again offering a Chainsaw Safety Level 1 Workshop, open to all, on Friday, April 26 (rain date is April 27) at the Law Farm.

Coming to the Milo Free Public Library Wednesday, April 17 from 6-7 p.m. Ed Rice former journalist, college instructor and author of “Baseball’s First Indian” published in 2003 is coming to discuss the legacies of Louis Sockalexis, the first known Native American to play professional baseball. The talk is in support of a special project to raise awareness about why this largely forgotten Maine historical figure is worthy of such respect

Advance care planning isn’t just for those with life-limiting illnesses – but for all of us. Pine Tree Hospice is offering a free informative seminar at Dexter Health Care, located at 64 Park Street, from 1-3:30 p.m. on Monday, April 15.

The library will be hosting free digital literacy classes beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24. The first class will be an introduction to social media. These classes are designed to help you grow your computer and digital literacy skills. Please call 876-4547 for more information.