Office hours

Regular Durham Town Office hours are Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Wednesday closed and Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Meetings

A Planning Board workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m., at the Town Office.

The Board of Selectmen will meet Tuesday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m., in the Town Office.

CEO available

Darren Carey, the interim codes enforcement official, will be at the town office on Wednesdays, April 16, 23 and 30, from 5-7 p.m.

Annual meeting

Acacia Lodge Building Association will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, April 15, at the Durham Lodge Hall, Route 136. It is an open meeting and all members are invited to attend. This will follow a stated lodge meeting. For more information, call John at 751-0037.

Easter in the churches

At Shiloh Chapel, 38 Beulah Lane, the Good Friday evening service, April 18, starts at 7 p.m. “Easter Grace” is Sunday, April 20, at 10 a.m., with music, kids program, message, and refreshments and a huge egg hunt for all the kids. For more information, call 353-2434 or see www.shilohchapelmaine.org.

At the First Congregational Church UCC of Durham, 773 Royalsborough Road, Maundy Thursday service is at 7 p.m. April 17, with the Rev. Peter Mercer. The Good Friday Vigil “Walk with Christ” begins at 8 p.m. on Thursday and continues until 8 p.m. on Good Friday. The church will be open for 24 hours. All are welcome to come and pray. Easter Service on April 20 begins at 10 a.m.

RSU 5 Dine and Discuss scheduled

Residents are invited to join the directors of Regional School Unit 5 for a hot meal and conversation about the State of the Schools report and the 2014-2015 proposed budget. Conversations will take place from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on the following dates: April 30, Durham Community School; and Wednesday, May 7, at Freeport High School.

Durham to celebrate

The town of Durham is celebrating 225 years with a full lineup of festivities on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. Events kick off with the 5K Family Fun Run at 8 a.m. at the Amvets, sponsored by American Kicks, followed by a parade at 10. Other town activities, all running from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., include fire station open house, big trucks and antique car show, cow chip festivities and PTA Fun Fair at school.

For more information and to obtain the Fun Run forms and parade information, visit http://durhamme.com/durham-life/memorial-day-parade-and-festivities.

Grief support

group is starting

An 11-week Griefshare Support Group, with a video and discussion, will be held at Shiloh Chapel Fellowship Hall, 38 Beulah Lane, starting Monday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m. The workbook costs $15 (optional). Each participant’s journey through grief will be shared with others who are on a similar road. For more information, see www.griefshare.org or www.shilohchapelmaine.org.

Scholarship applications

are available

Applications for the Durham Scholarship are now available. This is the second year the town will be awarding a $1,000 scholarship. The original scholarship was formed in the 1980s through the Durham School Department and was turned over to the town last year. All Durham students entering their freshman year of post-secondary education are eligible, regardless of what school he or she attends. Last year, Benjamin Tindall was awarded the scholarship.

Kendra O’Connell chairs the Durham Scholarship Committee. She can be reached at peaksi1@comcast.net.

Kindergarten registration

under way

Durham Community School 2014-2015 kindergarten registration is under way. Children must be 5 years of age on or before Oct. 15, 2014, and be a resident of Durham. To pre-register, see www.dcs.rsu5.org and fill out the form. Later in the spring, parents will receive complete information about screening. For more information, call 353-9333.

Dog licenses are overdue

A $25 late fee per dog will now be charged to register dogs. The regular fees are $6 for altered dogs and $11 for unaltered dogs. Proof of rabies and first time for neutered or spaying will be required by the registering clerk. This is once-a-year registration. For more information, contact Town Clerk Shannon Plourde at 353-2561, ext.11.

Vendors, crafters needed for fair

Vendors and crafters are being sought for a fair held in conjunction with Durham Bulky Waste Day, Saturday, May 17.

The fair is held rain or shine from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., at First Congregational Church, UCC, 773 Royalsborough Road. The fair will feature local crafters, vendors, farmers, musicians, a cheese sale, pie sale, silent auction, raffles and more. Coffee and muffins will be available early, and grilled cheese will be available for lunch. To rent a table, call 353-2464.

AMVETS Post 13 seeks members

Are you a veteran or do you know one? Want to belong to an organization that supports other veterans, families and the local community? You’ve earned to right to join the American Veterans organization. Become a member and tell your story. For membership information about Post 13 in Durham, call Chad Burke, 207-798-0956.

Eureka Center for rent

The Durham Eureka Community Center is available for rent. The maximum amount of people the hall holds for an event is 50. For rentals, contact Nancy Decker at 751-1323 or the Town Office at 353-2561.

At the community center

The Durham Eureka Community Center, corner of Route 9 and Route 136, hosts cribbage every Tuesday from 9 a.m.-noon at the Eureka Center. For more information call the Town Office at 353-2561.

Couponing for the Community meets every other Tuesday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. There is no cost. Learn the basics including where/how to find and collect coupons; how to organize them in a way that works best for you; and how to begin using them. Pat Provost heads this community project with the hopes that some of the skills acquired will be used to give back to the community by helping families in need.

Registration forms are available at the Durham Town Office or on www.durhammaine.com, which also lists new events and classes.

Food pantry

Lisbon Area Christian Outreach serves the towns of Bowdoin, Durham and Lisbon Falls.

The hours are Wednesday from 6-8 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-noon and Saturday 8-10 a.m. The Food Pantry is located at the Marion T. Morse School on School Street. The parking lot for the food pantry is behind the Lisbon United Methodist Church off Berry Avenue. In addition to the food pantry there is a free clothing bank. For more information, see www.lacopantry.org.

Durham updates

The town of Durham has a local TV channel and a website. The town also puts out a weekly bulletin of all posts, events and meetings for the upcoming week in the town/area. To sign up for weekly emails go to durhamme.com and enter your email at bottom of the home page. To get nonprofit information/event or meeting on the website or town channel, e-mail it to durhampublicinfo@gmail.com, or jricker@durhamtown.comcastbiz.net or call 207-353-2561 EXT 16. Durham Website is durhamme.com. See all town meetings on demand at http://durhamtown.pegcentral.com.

Local church services

First Congregational Church of Durham UCC, 773 Royalsborough Road, Sunday worship 10 a.m. Peter Mercer, acting pastor.

Services for the Shiloh Church, Beulah Lane off Shiloh Road, are every Sunday at 10 a.m. Ron Parker is pastor.

Services for Friends Meeting, corner of Route 125 and Quakermeeting House Road, are every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Daphne Clements is pastor.

Durham Community School fifth-grader Tyler Harris placed fourth in the Maine State National Geographic Bee, held at the University of Maine at Farmington on April 4. Harris took the National Geographic test, placing in the top 100 for the state, and was invited to participate in the state bee for the second year in a row. The top 100 students are separated into groups of 20 kids each for the preliminary round of the bee, and then the competition is narrowed down to 10 students. Following the tie-breaker round, he got five of six questions correct, and qualified for the finals. He answered six of eight questions correctly in the finals. His goal for next year is to win the Maine State National Geographic Bee and travel to Washington, D.C., for the national competition. Harris hopes to either be a geographer or a meteorologist one day.