The Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) is excited to kick off its second annual Families in the Outdoors program. The goal of this program is to provide fun, active, and interesting opportunities for families to enjoy the outdoors, together. This program is designed for youth ages 5 and up, parents, grandparents and other relatives. This year, the district will be offering seasonal sessions, each with a different nature-related theme.

The following births were recorded recently at Mayo Regional Hospital:

On Monday, Jan. 14 Mayo Regional Hospital is bringing on-line an integrated health record system that will combine multiple medical records into one record for each patient. The software behind the system, CERNER, is an integrated database of patient health records that provides a comprehensive set of capabilities to electronically store, capture and access patient health information in both the acute and ambulatory care setting.

Offering numerous types of insurance coverages and financial programs, Kimball Insurance, LLC provides strong customer service to go above and beyond the needs of its clients. Since opening its doors in the spring of 1999, Kimball Insurance has strived to be a family-oriented independent agency.

Being faced with loose ends after someone dies is the topic of Pine Tree Hospice’s Jan. 15 Lunch ‘N Learn, held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church. Donna Peterson, Piscataquis County register of probate, will present “Tying up Loose Ends.”

January, the perennial fresh start, can feel a bit anticlimactic, even weighted with pressure from loose ends of the past year to the bright, uncertain promises of a new one. So, it’s the perfect time to visit the Thompson Free Library (TFL) in Dover-Foxcroft, where our programs, like our collection, feature plenty of your favorite elements mixed with new concepts and new faces -- all in a welcoming setting.

Three Rivers Kiwanis will be serving Christmas dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 25 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Kiwanis Headquarters building, 15 Harris Pond Road, off Park Street. The Penquis Valley High School Key Club will be helping serve along with many volunteers from the community.

In your grief, do you feel that you haven’t been able to take time for you, for a walk, a ride, or to get a haircut? “Self-Care for the Bereaved,” presented by Sherry Corbin, R.N., M.S., is the topic of Pine Tree Hospice’s Lunch ‘n Learn Program from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church.

On snow days Mainers get creative and get to work! The Commons at Central Hall, formerly the Maine Highlands Senior Center, is doing just that this winter by coming up with an innovative way to raise money to fulfill the vision of building space for an adult day service center at Central Hall. Some of you may have seen an oddly placed car with a red bow on the hill in front of Central Hall! That classy 2002 Toyota Celica sports car is being raffled to raise money to complete the building project that was started in 2012.

The Dexter Public Health Association nurses want to help people in the Maine Highlands region keep warm by holding the Keep Me Warm Raffle. The first- and second-prize winners will each receive a gift certificate from A.E. Robinson for 100 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil. The third-place prize winner will receive a $25 gift certificate from Dexter’s Ace Hardware.

Approximately 1,300 Walgreens-owned Rite Aid stores will convert to the Walgreens brand over the next 12 months.This will bring Walgreens products and trusted pharmacy services to more customers and communities across the country. As part of an estimated $500 million investment nationwide, Walgreens recently converted the former Rite Aid stores in Guilford, Machias, and Calais.

Leslie Lizotte, aging and disability resource center specialist from the Eastern Area Agency on Aging, will be holding a Medicare 101 class in the Sebec Room at Mayo Regional at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13.

The Polyvagal Theory, developed by scientist Stephen Porges, PhD, will be the focus of this month’s Healing Trauma Series presented by NAMI Piscataquis County at Dover-Foxcroft’s The Commons at Central Hall at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13.

Piscataquis Community Elementary School students will be demonstrating their skills with voices and movement at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6 at the Piscataquis Community High School gymnasium on Campus Drive. The Holiday Choral Concert is a yearly event that parents and friends do not want to miss.

As we focus on what to buy for family and friends this holiday season, studies show that experiences are more meaningful than things and December is an experiential wonderland at the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft.

The Center Theatre is debuting a new work by award-winning playwright Bobby Keniston titled “A Wicked Christmas Carol." The show is a mash-up that faithfully blends the worlds of Charles Dickens' “Christmas Carol” and L. Frank Baum's “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

The staff of the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter will host a Christmas Tea at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8.

Despite sub-zero wind chill temperatures, members of the Abbott Memorial Library book club recently gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving in Dexter.