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.

The American Red Cross of Maine and the Brownville Fire Department are teaming up to make town residents safer by installing free smoke alarms in their homes and teaching them about fire safety on Saturday, Aug. 18.

The Maine Red Hot Festival will be back in downtown Dexter on Saturday, Aug. 11 as the third annual event will feature activities, with free admission, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. -- rain or shine.

The 27th annual Maine Forest Heritage Days is scheduled for Aug. 9-12. 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.

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, Aug. 15.

Bring your inner child and see a show for free. The Wayside Grange and Theatre is a proud sponsor of the free Frogtown Puppeteers show at the Maine Red Hot Dog Festival in downtown Dexter at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11. Great entertainment for all ages.

In August of 1818, a group of 15 settlers chartered a Baptist Church in Parkman. Soon thereafter, Zenas Hall was ordained at the home of Elias Merrill and became the church’s first minister. In 1831 the meeting house where Parkman Baptist Church currently gathers was built and in 1833 a bell was installed in the belfry.

The fourth annual Dexter Sunrise Kiwanis CRUISE-IN will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4 (rain date is Aug. 5) in the parking lot at the Ridge View Community School on Fern Road off Route 94.

Upcoming events around the region.

This weekend the annual Dover-Foxcroft Shiretown Homecoming and Foxcroft Academy’s 2018 Alumni Weekend together will feature a number of events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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.