A space for residents to gather during the middle of the week, and enjoy a healthy lunch starting the middle of next month, is being provided in the former Fossa’s building by the Dexter Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Help, hope, and giving to our communities -- that is what Pine Tree Hospice volunteers do. We offer non-medical support to individuals and families in Piscataquis, Penobscot and Somerset counties who are dealing with progressive, life-limiting illnesses and/or grief.

He moved to town in 1895, taking up residence in a cabin on Lake Onawa, about 8 miles from the Piscataquis County town of Monson. Nobody in town knew where he came from or why he chose to live in the Maine wilderness. One thing was almost certain, though: Jim Whyte was hiding from something.

Yoga instructor and Pine Tree Hospice volunteer Gayle Worden RYT, is offering free Yoga Nidra sessions for both professional and family caregivers in the community and for hospice volunteers as well. The sessions are about 45 minutes in length and are held at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church on West Main Street. The next session is from 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14.

Eight entrants in the age 6-8 division each chased down a runaway piglet during the pig scramble on Sunday afternoon as part of the 132nd annual Piscataquis Valley Fair in Dover-Foxcroft. The boys and girls could choose to keep their pigs or sell the animals to interested buyers.

The BJHS Alumni Association awarded 13 scholarships at the recent annual reunion to grandchildren and great-grandchildren of members of the Alumni Association or deceased members of the association.

A Sangerville volunteer firefighter was killed when the trash truck he was driving went off Route 5 in the Oxford County town of Stoneham and struck a tree on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 22.

The Piscataquis County Commissioners authorized district attorney’s office staff to purchase a replacement vehicle for Investigator Scott Arno to use, during an Aug. 20 meeting.

The 46th annual International Seaplane Fly-In is coming up the weekend of Sept. 5-8. It promises to be a lot of fun for participants and spectators alike. It is a time when the population of Greenville swells as folks flock to the popular event. Besides watching pilots show their skills, folks can browse an excellent craft fair as well as the local shops, stop and listen to live music and enjoy delicious fare from local restaurants.

The launch of a new program that aims to put a book in the hands of every Maine first grader each month during the school year by 2025 was announced Aug. 22. Dirigo Reads is co-founded by Dan and Karen Cashman of Brewer and operationally supported by United Way of Eastern Maine. The mission of the program is to improve the health and wellbeing of children in Maine through literacy and share a little optimism along the way.

At this moment around the state, bear hunters and outfitters are erecting treestands and servicing their bait sites. The bear season opens officially the last week in August. Bears are about as plentiful as they have ever been. First-time bear hunters, and those they share their wild game with, invariably ask the question: “What does bear meat taste like?”

Starting in the 2020-21 school year, students from around the region will have the opportunity to take part in an early childhood education satellite program through the Tri-County Technical Center to be housed at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport. The SAD 46 school board authorized the program during an Aug. 21 meeting in the Ridge View Community School cafeteria.

“We have a consultant on board, it’s Gorrill Palmer,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said during an Aug. 19 selectmen’s meeting about the South Portland-based firm. “We know them and they’re familiar with Dover-Foxcroft because they did our road study” as well as working with the MDOT elsewhere in the state.

This year marks the 132nd anniversary of the Piscataquis Valley Fair, which began in 1887. The 2019 fair will run from Thursday, Aug. 22 to Sunday, Aug. 25 at the fairgrounds located at 77 Fairview Avenue. The four days will feature exhibitions, rides, concerts and fun for all ages.

Jim and Brenda Crane present a check for just over $10,000 to Events Manager Samantha Elliott of Make-A-Wish Maine. Funds were raised from the second annual Wings for Wishes on the Waterfront

Friday, Aug. 9 marked the opening of Gathering 4 Main Street, a community center in Dexter. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed by a lovely reception which included inspirational piano music and oral presentations. The community center, provided by the Dexter Seventh Day Adventist Church, will be a place for people in the area to meet for coffee or tea and/or a healthy vegetarian or vegan light lunch by mid-September.

According to a newspaper story that made the rounds earlier this week, those of us who choose to release fish that we would, by law, be allowed to keep are not being as helpful as we had thought. That’s the story some are telling, anyway.

Not surprisingly, it took some time for Maine’s fish and wildlife regulatory apparatus to loosen up when it came to accepting the crossbow as a legitimate and acceptable hunting device. Compared with other states, we have been a long time coming around.