Valley Grange of Guilford notes that the fall event calendar includes plenty of opportunities for celebrating and strengthening American values and hometown roots.

The Maine Legislature may be out of session at the moment but like many of his colleagues, Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville is busy with important work that will help guide the next Legislative session when it begins in January. Sen. Davis has been appointed to the Working Group on Energy of the Maine Climate Change Council

It's been a year since the names of nine hospitals stretching from Presque Isle to Portland changed to reflect the new identity of their parent group, Northern Light Health.

Let’s Go! in partnership with Mayo Regional Hospital is honoring 14 sites in greater Piscataquis County for their positive impact on children’s health. These schools, school cafeterias, out-of-school programs and child care programs, in addition to several of health care practices, have adopted healthy eating and active living practices, influencing the choices children make.

Doors to the Piscataquis County Ice Arena on West Main Street were formally opened with a ribbon cutting on Monday, Sept. 30. The $5.5 million project, funded by the Libra Foundation and being managed day-to-day by Foxcroft Academy, had some distinguished guests including Gov. Janet Mills and Hockey Hall of Fame member Ray Bourque who played for the Boston Bruins for more than two decades.

The Piscataquis Observer will be published on Friday each week beginning with the issue of Oct. 11. The change will allow us to provide you with more timely coverage of events occurring early to mid-week.

In 1820 Maine became the 23rd state, separating from Massachusetts, and the Grand Lodge of Masons in Maine was established. The first Governor of the State of Maine, William King, was also the first Grand Master of Masons in Maine. In recognition and celebration of these historic events Chris Russell, District Deputy Grand Master of Maine’s 5th Masonic District, has organized a celebration for Saturday, Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds.

Tour Bissell Brothers Three Rivers Brewery and hear about food fermentation on Tuesday, Oct. 22 from 5–8 p.m. at the Three Rivers Brewery and Taproom, 157 Elm Street. The event is sponsored by the Piscataquis County Extension Association, University of Maine School of Food and Agriculture and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Partners for Peace, the domestic violence resource center serving Piscataquis and Penobscot counties, will be observing Domestic Violence Awareness Month with a local End Domestic Violence Days event from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3 at Stutzman’s Farm Stand and Bakery in Sangerville.

Thanks to Anheuser-Busch and the Maine-based Valley Beverage, the Milo Fire Department now has a pallet of emergency drinking water to support relief efforts and hydration. A pallet containing 98 cases of drinking water was dropped off at the station mid-morning on Thursday, Sept. 26.

The parent company of the Bangor Daily News is the new owner of the Penobscot Times, a small weekly newspaper that covers Old Town, Orono and surrounding towns.

Elaine’s Bakery is well known in Piscataquis County, not simply because their finger-licking products can be found in convenience stores, cafes and markets across the state of Maine but because of the bakery’s owner Elaine Poulin. Most would say of Elaine, “to know her is to love her.”

Ever want to spend a day in the field with a state fish expert? One lucky winner and a friend will win just such an opportunity in the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s third “Keeper of the Maine Outdoors Experience” contest.

ixteen years ago, the last time a governor-initiated group attempted to better understand a growing ATV community in the state, the machines that riders were taking into the woods were small, light and mobile. That’s not the case anymore. And that’s why an ATV task force formed by Maine Gov. Janet Mills is tackling a new slate of ATV issues related to bigger, wider and heavier machines that have simply outgrown the existing ATV trail system.

Today, let’s take a deep breath, appreciate what we have, and reflect on how quickly everything could change. Perhaps we go out in the morning, walk into our back field for a bit of exercise, or to cut some wood, or to dig around for some gemstones that we know are waiting in that sandy pile of soil. And perhaps we never come back.

During a Sept. 4 school board meeting in the library Director of Building and Grounds Donnie Richards said the majority of three dozen heaters arrived earlier in the day. “The piping’s going well, most of the middle school classrooms are done and they’re working through the night,” he said about the contractors.

The Dover-Foxcroft Police Department is working with the Piscataquis County District Attorney’s Office to determine if charges will be filed in connection with the report of a man in a car pointing an assault rifle at a man Tuesday in the Dover-Foxcroft Shopping Plaza parking lot on West Main Street.

The American Legion 14th District -- Piscataquis County - will hold its first meeting of 2019-20 on Saturday, Sept. 14. It will be hosted by Conner-Trafton Post 119 at the Masonic Lodge, 34 Hudson Avenue.