The students and staff of SAD 4 are inviting area veterans and the general public to attend their annual Veteran’s Day celebration at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 9. “We’ve certainly created a tradition,” noted John Keane, Piscataquis Community High School principal. “We’ve been hosting these celebrations for over a decade. But it’s a tradition that seems to have more meaning every year and it’s anything but a habit -- every year we create some differences.”

As part of the development of a Lifelong Learning curriculum geared specifically to older learners who are interested in exploring new topics, The Commons at Central Hall is offering a six-session course that will help to answer some of these questions. If you are interested in figuring out a way to improve your life and health without giving up or buying in to the “medicalization” of your body, sign up now for “Taking Charge of Your Health” at The Commons at Central Hall in Dover-Foxcroft starting on Monday, Nov. 12, taught by local physician Dr. Lesley Fernow.

Pine Tree Hospice and AARP are sponsoring a free family movie, screening “The Bucket List,” with popcorn, water, tea, coffee ,and juice at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at the Center Theatre.

The Piscataquis County Extension Association will hold its annual meeting from 5-7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Dover Foxcroft Congregational Church, 824 West Main Street, There will be a brief business meeting before supper, featuring pork loins from Farm in the Woods in Monson, served by DKB Catering of Greenville.

The Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) is co-hosting a “Climate Change: Forest & Ecosystem Impacts” presentation with the University of Maine’s Piscataquis County Extension Office, and the Natural Resource Education Center at Moosehead (NREC). It will be held Friday, Nov. 9 at the Center for Moosehead History, 6 Lakeview Street in downtown Greenville, and will run from 6 to 8 p.m.

Doors at the East Sangerville Grange open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3 for its renowned annual Holiday Craft Fair.

Land is a valuable resource and asset to residents of Piscataquis County. Those that have land have passion for maintaining, using and protecting it. Additionally, most landowners have hopes and dreams for the future of their land. With all this in mind, the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) has hosted several land future planning (succession) workshops over the past three years and are thrilled to be hosting speaker Jessica Leahy for an evening program from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Monson Arts Center to discuss planning a future for your land.

Upcoming events around the region.

On Friday, Nov. 2 Dexter Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT) will host Dexter Regional High School’s Key Club at the monthly free public discussion held every first Friday at 6 p.m. at the Abbott Memorial Library.

A number of events are planned for the weekend and on Halloween as part of the annual Dover-Foxcroft Halloween BooNanza. A full schedule and more information is available at http://www.boonanza.info/.

On Friday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. the Center Theatre will be hosting its second annual Pumpkin Jam Battle of the Bands Fall Fundraiser. The event brings three favorite local bands together to compete for a cash prize and bragging right for the year. This year, Troy Youngblood and Deb Maynard's Little Big Band will be trying to knock last year's winners the Doughty Hill Band off their pedestal.

Many times we are asked “what does the American Legion do?,” “why should I belong?,” and “what’s in it for me?” These questions hang out there because we do a poor job to telling our story. To answer the first question, the American Legion is the largest veterans service organization in the United States standing on four pillars of service -- veterans affairs & rehabilitation, national security, Americanism, and children & youth.

Upcoming events around the region.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced that staff from her Bangor Constituent Service Center will hold office hours in Dover-Foxcroft from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, Oct. 26 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building, 48 Morton Avenue, Suite A.

Leslie Lizotte, aging and disability resource center specialist from the Eastern Area Agency on Aging, will be holding a Medicare 101 class at the Piscataquis County office building (Peaks House) located at 163 East Main Street from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Oct. 24.

Members of the community are invited to attend the Piscataquis Regional YMCA annual meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25. The meeting will be held at the Piscataquis Regional YMCA at 48 Park Street.

The Misty Mountaineers play traditional bluegrass, gospel, and a mix of older country tunes done bluegrass style at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Wayside Theatre.

Eastern Maine Development Corporation (EMDC), the Katahdin Higher Education Center, and the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) are partnering to bring a grant writing conference to Dover-Foxcroft. The event comes four months after EMDC and the Katahdin Higher Education Center hosted a similar event in East Millinocket. The Grant Writing Conference will be held at The Commons at Central Hall, 152 East Main Street, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 18.