Realizing our human connection to everything and everyone else in the world brings us to the point where we have the empathy needed for healing. This is a message from Bonnie Badenoch, PhD, in NAMI’s next Healing Trauma Summit video presentation called “Becoming a Healing Presence in the World” at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13 at The Commons at Central Hall.

The Center Theatre and Slightly Off-Center Players have announced auditions for the fall and winter productions. Auditions will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 and at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17. Auditions will be held at the Commons at Central Hall, 152 East Main Street.

Upcoming events around the region.

In 1901 a Piscataquis County family was brutally murdered by a person or persons unknown. It now appears a serial killer, who murdered many families throughout our country, was responsible. Come to the Sept. 5 meeting of the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society which will be held at 7 p.m. that Wednesday evening at The Commons at Central Hall.

On Wednesday, Sept. 5, starting at 5:30 p.m., Foxcroft Academy will host its annual fall open house. It’s a chance for all Foxcroft Academy students and their families to see the school and get to know their teachers. In conjunction with the night, counseling services will host its third annual postgraduate fair and senior night for Foxcroft students and their parents/guardians.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Piscataquis County is holding a poultry workshop for prospective and beginning small-scale meat and egg producers. The program will be offered twice on Thursday, Sept. 20, from 9:30 a.m. to noon and then 6–8:30 p.m., at the UMaine Extension office at 165 East Main Street.

Leslie Lizotte, aging and disability resource center specialist from the Eastern Area Agency on Aging, will be holding a Medicare 101 presentation in the Sebec Room at Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 6.

The JD Foundation will present a series of suicide awareness and prevention workshops in Abbot and Brewer during the next few months.

Upcoming events around the region.

This year marks the 131st anniversary of the Piscataquis Valley Fair, which began in 1887. The 2018 fair will run from Thursday, Aug. 23 to Sunday, Aug. 26 at the fairgrounds located at 77 Fairview Avenue. The four days will feature exhibitions, rides, concerts and fun for all ages.

The Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Food Mobile will be distributing food, including fresh produce, perishable and non-perishable items, to people in need in the Milo area from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at the Three Rivers Kiwanis, 24 Gerrish Road.

NAMI Piscataquis County is pleased to announce a special program Basic Reflexology for Relaxation to be presented at The Commons at Central Hall by Tara Smith, BA, BSN, CMT at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5. This program is part of the NAMI Connections Senior Support program for older people experiencing the anxiety and/or depression that is so common to this age group.

The East Sangerville Grange is resurrecting its famed tradition of putting on a not-to-miss public dinner. The meal, a “Farm-to-Table Suppah,” is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 7. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., with “suppah” starting at 6 p.m. Live old-time Americana sting-band music will be played by the local band Timberdoodle.

The Guilford Memorial Library is pleased to be hosting local educator and author Michele Maingot Cabral. She will be doing a presentation about her books series “Waking Up From the American Dream” at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 22

At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28 the Abbot Historical Society will be meeting at the historic Washington School (pictured) located just outside of Abbot at the corner of Route 15 and the Howard Siding Road.

Upcoming events around the region.

The Center Theatre for the Performing Arts recently announced that they updated their mission statement to more clearly reflect their community work. The theatre’s updated mission is “to make arts, culture, education, and entertainment accessible to our rural communities.”

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is waiving state park fees for residents as a show of appreciation. His office said that day use fees will be waived for residents at Maine State Parks and Historic Sites from Saturday, Aug. 11 through Labor Day.