Three girls will reign as Miss Maple in three respective age groups for the next year after being crowned during the fourth annual Miss Maple Pageant on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 25 at the 131st Piscataquis Valley Fair.

The executive committee of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) is seeking nominations for the annual Warren "Pete" Myrick Community Service Award, to be presented at the annual meeting of PCEDC in December. Meeting date and location will be disclosed soon.

On Saturday, Sept. 1 the Moosehead Quilters will present the “Quilts in the Woods” quilt show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Union Evangelical Church (at the blinking light) in Greenville.

Pleasant Meadows Estates is sporting a brand new flagpole at Dover-Foxcroft assisted living facility. Rep Paul Stearns, R-Guilford presented Administrator Kellie Brazier with a flag that was flown above the Maine State Capitol in honor of the residents and staff.

Banff, that fabled alpine village in the midsection of the Canadian Rockies, has been on my wife Diane’s bucket list for many years.

Trips into the state’s more remote places can come with all sorts of rewards. Just stepping off the beaten path -- hopefully out of cell phone range -- gives a person some peace and quiet that rarely exists in our busy lives. Add in a few wild animal sightings, and you’ve got the makings of a memorable day.

On Thursday morning, Aug. 2 an unexpected visitor arrived at The Covered Bridge Motel which is located at 382 Water Street across from the famous Low’s Covered Bridge which spans the Piscataquis River. Linda Moon, the owner, was informed that the visitor was a health inspector. So Linda proceeded to take the inspector wherever she wanted to go.

An Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 Educational Facility Pilot Project involving four of the area’s school districts, the Tri-County Technical Center (TCTC) and the Jackman school system remains on a list of state fudning finalists. The local collaboration is again ranked third behind projects in northern and southern Aroostook County, the same position on several previous rating lists from earlier in the year.

Dispatchers with the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office are currently using an antiquated radio system, with components dating to the 1980s. Dispatch Sgt. Gary Grant has been working for several years to upgrade the telecommunications division of the department through grants and other funding sources, but in order to complete the project more money is needed. The specifics are to be determined, but the Piscataquis County Commissioners passed a motion to proceed with an upgrade during an Aug. 21 meeting.

Joan Shapleigh and her horse Donatello rode into history when the pair took part in a dressage show at Infinity Farm on Aug. 19. Shapleigh, 81 of Dover-Foxcroft, and Donatello, 21, have a combined age of over 100 and this statistic enabled them to join the Dressage Foundation’s Century Club once Shapleigh rode the horse for a dressage test and had the performance scored by a judge.

A legislative watchdog found “no evidence” that Gov. Paul LePage’s administration diverted public timber from Maine millowners because they criticized the governor, though there was “very little documentation” to back that finding.

Two other regional proposals that also made the approved priority list must now wait to see if the state will find additional monies to fund their projects. The third-ranked proposal was submitted by officials from SAD 46 (Dexter area), SAD 4 (Guilford area), SAD 41 (Milo area) RSU 82/MSAD 12 in the Jackman area, the Greenville school district and the Dexter-based Tri-County Technical Center.

In May and June a near $11.6 million RSU 68 was approved across the four district towns with the respective annual meeting and referendum. After the two votes, district officials noticed a clerical error in one article from the district budget meeting and this mistake will now need to be corrected.

Gary Dethlefsen has discovered that when you live in a decidedly rural county like Piscataquis, diversification can be a key to successfully making a living. He has been interested in food related work for decades and has created three companies that help sustain him during the year: Moose Bee Jam and Granola, Lakeshore Provisions, Catering and Chef Services, including Mainley Treats Wholesale Baking Company (supplying bakery items for Northwoods Outfitters in Greenville), and Big Moose Deli which provides meals to hungry skiers during the winter season at Big Squaw Mountain. Now he has a fourth – Comida del Lago, a charming street taco stand at 3 Lakeview St. in downtown Greenville.

Uncle Tim Pollard was a game warden’s game warden. At least that’s the impression you’ll get if you read a tattered, faded clipping of an article from the Maine Sunday Telegram circa 1926. At that time he was the longest serving game warden in Maine history.

Three prestigious awards were announced at Foxcroft Academy’s 2018 Alumni Banquet, the Dr. Mary Chandler Lowell Award, the Tillson D. Thomas Award and the James S. Holmes Award. This year’s respective recipients are Linda Clark Howard ’63, Gene Philpot and Dr. Albert S. Buck.

A Marine from Dover-Foxcroft who perished in the crash of a Marine HMH Squadron 463 helicopter in Vietnam on Feb. 18, 1971 was honored with the presentation of the Purple Heart on the afternoon of Aug. 15 at the Dover-Foxcroft American Legion. Thanks to the efforts of his fellow Marines, the award was bestowed 47 years later upon U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Gregory A. Sloat -- who was 21 at the time of the crash -- with the Purple Heart presented to his mother Clarice Sloat Call.

Fisheries conservationists made passionate pleas Aug. 14 for state officials to reconsider a plan that would allow the introduction of Arctic charr into a brook trout water that has never been stocked, and which is included on Maine’s list of protected Heritage Fish Waters.