Learning to identify birds by their songs or calls will help find more birds, and aurally read the landscape. In a Zoom program, York County Audubon will focus on the skills to identify and recognizing different vocalizations.

On Tuesday, May 17, at 7 p.m., York County Audubon will host York County Audubon board member Doug Hitchcox, who will present a program on birding by ear. Doug is the outreach coordinator for the Maine Bird Atlas and staff naturalist for Maine Audubon.

There’s no charge to participate, but participants need to register in advance to watch the program. To register, visit www.yorkcountyaudubon.org. After registering, a confirmation will be sent.

Museum looks at perspectives of history

The Brick Store Museum will host a virtual springtime lecture series called “Expanded Perspectives of History,” supported by the Maine Humanities Council. The series is delivered via Zoom every two weeks. On dedicated Thursdays at 2 p.m., the museum presents a visiting virtual lecturer to speak on different perspectives of history. Registration is free, and spots can be reserved at www.brickstoremuseum.org.

On Thursday, May 5, Professor David Jones of Harvard University will speak on “COVID-19 Through the Lens of Epidemic History,” a subject on which he recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Lastly, the series will bring Kennebunk’s own history into focus, with Town Historian Kathy Ostrander Roberts speaking on the town’s history of Freed Enslaved People and Kennebunk’s Poor Farm on Thursday, May 26.

Participation in the lectures is free and open to the public thanks to the support of the Maine Humanities Council, but participants must register online at www.brickstoremuseum.org or call the museum at 207-985-4802. Lectures will be recorded and made available to registrants and museum members through the member portal after the live presentations.

KW Contemporary Art plans group exhibition

Celebrating its second anniversary, KW Contemporary Art will present Summertide an annual summer group exhibition. Curated by owner and director Kiersten Wilcox, Summertide, features the newest work from gallery artists Pedro Bonnin, Elaine Coombs, Susan English, Havoc Hendricks, Jeremy Houghton, KX2, Matthew Langley, James Austin Murray, Yangyang Pan, AJ Oishi, Mareo Rodriguez, Michelle Sakhai, Chloe Saron, and Hunt Slonem.

The exhibition will premiere the works of Liz Barber, Serge Hamad, and Heather Zusman. The opening reception will be held 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 28 and is open to the public.

According to an April 6 news release, “The exhibition explores the coastal influences on contemporary art while also infusing abstract qualities. Color and form inform the works asking the viewer to look beyond their perceived notions and explore new avenues of thought. Each artist’s unique vision and talent is put on display while also allowing the different medias and subject matter to mix and show us how to curate a collection in dynamic ways. Works ranging from abstract sculpture, paintings of birds in flight, interpretations of the sky, and contemporary photography will be on view.”

KW Contemporary Art features a roster of artists ranging from emerging talents to mid-career established artists from around the world. The gallery is located in Lower Village, above Spaces Interior Design store.

Seacoast Garden Club digs into spring

Members of the Seacoast Garden Club of Kennebunkport, Kennebunk and Arundel are welcoming spring with numerous seasonal activities.

On April 28, members gathered at the Kennebunk Beach home of Buffie Clarke to assemble nearly 90 May baskets for distribution to the homebound, elderly and garden club friends in the area. According to an April 26 news release, “Clarke has chaired the annual community outreach project for several years and appreciated the large array of colorful flowers that Seacoast members donated to the effort.”

Garden club members are also lining up their schedules to prep and weed various gardens throughout Kennebunkport and Kennebunk that the club maintains from late spring to the fall. The gardens include the Community House, Graves Memorial Library, post office and Dock Square monument garden in Kennebunkport, and also the library, town hall and Oakes Neck peninsula opposite the Narragansett in Kennebunk Beach.

The major fundraising effort of the Seacoast Garden Club is its annual Plant and Pie Sale, traditionally held the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. This year’s sale featuring home-grown plants and homemade fruit pies is scheduled for Saturday, May 28 at St. Martha’s Church, Route 1, Kennebunk, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Members of the club, who hail from Kennebunkport, Kennebunk, Arundel and Wells, contribute the healthy vegetables, flowers and herbs from their own gardens. Proceeds of the Plant and Pie Sale help fund the Thompson Pelletier Scholarship Fund.

Church plans rummage sale

First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Kennebunk will host its first rummage sale in two years on May 14-15.

The sale will feature clothing, household items, treasures and is scheduled for 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday, May 14. A close-out sale is set for 8 to 11 a.m. Sunday, May 15; everything that fits into a bag for $3.

Little League to honor umpire

During its customary May Day activities on Saturday, May 7, Kennebunk, Arundel and Kennebunkport Little League will host a ceremony for one of its umpires.

A special ceremony is planned at the West Kennebunk Field at 8:45 a.m. for longtime umpire Drew Dede. The ceremony will take place prior to the Majors 9 a.m. softball and baseball games. Dede, who has cancer, has umped for 30 years and many of the league’s current parent coaches remember when Drew as an umpire for their own games as kids.

The organization has installed a plaque on the home baseball dugout in Dede’s honor and will unveil the plaque that morning. Both the baseball and softball teams will wear T-shirts honoring Drew’s 30 years of service to Kennebunk, Arundel and Kennebunkport Little League.

Benefit supper scheduled at Stevens Center

The West Kennebunk Village Committee will host a benefit spaghetti supper for the Tracy family on Saturday, May 14. All proceeds from the supper will go to Shannon Tracy and her two children, Lillian (12) and Vincent (10) in the aftermath of the sudden death of Philip Tracy, who passed away April 13. Proceeds will assist with medical bills, household expenses and needs of the children.

The supper is scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. May 14 at the Dorothy Stevens Center, 80, Thompson Road in West Kennebunk. The cost is $7 for adults, $5 for children age 5-12, no charge for children younger than 5. There’s also a $20 family rate.

The menu will include spaghetti with meatballs, salad, bread and desserts. Donations of dessert (cookies, brownies, pies) are welcome.

For more information, call Rebecca Manikian at 207-420-4756 or email Rebecca.manikian@gmail.com.

Wine and Wellness Wednesdays scheduled

The Blue’s weekly Wine + Wellness Wednesday series begins May 11. The Blue will host a guided vision board session, followed by seven nights of wellness workshops, each exploring a different avenue, including emotional, financial, physical, social, environmental, spiritual and intellectual well-being.

“How are you caring for yourself? These last two years have been so hard on all of us,” said Danielle Tuomi, owner of The Blue, in a May 2 news release. “How did we come out of it and find ourselves again? I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and really want to create a community and camaraderie around self-care during these nights.”

Set for 6 to 8 p.m Wednesdays, the first night will be held Wednesday, May 11, kicking off with a guided vision boarding session. Future nights include: May 18: Emotional well-being; May 25: Environmental well-being; June 1: Intellectual well-being; June 8: Spiritual well-being; June 15: Financial well-being; June 22: Social well-being; and June 29: Physical well-being.

All well-being workshops are free and open to the public. Light fare, plus beer and wine, will be available for purchase. Admission to the May 11 vision board is $30, and includes all materials as well a choice of one wine or beer. Tickets are available at the coffeehouse, located at 84 Main St., Kennebunk.

Seashore Trolley Museum open for 2022 season

Seashore Trolley Museum opened for its 83rd season on May 1. The world’s first and largest electric railway museum will be open weekends in May, and Wednesdays-Sundays from June 1 through Halloween.

Experience history in motion on interactive trolley rides on the museum’s private heritage electric railroad, which once served as a portion of Maine’s Atlantic Shore Line Railway (1902-1927). Check out several outdoor exhibits and trolleys displayed in three carhouses. Visit the Restoration Shop and view trolleys currently being restored back to their former glory by museum staff and volunteers. Subway cars, locomotives, buses, a switching tower and other interesting artifacts are also on display around the museum’s grounds. The Museum Store offers several locally-made gifts to choose from. Pack a lunch and enjoy one of several picnic areas across campus. The campus and trolley rides are also dog-friendly.

New this season: A new exhibit titled “A Window onto the World” will be available in the museum’s Visitors Center. The exhibit features the museum’s international transit collection and was made possible by an enterprise grant provided by the Maine Office of Tourism.

Special admission days in May include free admission for mothers on Mother’s Day (includes mothers of pets); Military Appreciation Days on May 21 and May 28-29, with free admission for all active military personnel and veterans; and Dog Appreciation Day on Saturday, May 28.

Face coverings are optional anywhere on museum property and onboard the trolleys. Those who feel more comfortable wearing face coverings should continue to do so. If groups or families would like to be socially distanced onboard the trolleys, let the conductors know prior to boarding and the museum will do its best to accommodate.

For more information about Seashore Trolley Museum, special events calendar or to purchase tickets in advance, visit www.trolleymuseum.org.

Scavenger hunt scheduled at Kennebunk Free Library

Kennebunk Free Library offers a new scavenger hunt every month in the Children’s Room. This month, faeries have visited the library, and need help to make a potion for spring. Hidden in the Kennebunk Free Library Children’s Room are six ingredients inside six colored envelopes. Participants can find and take each item on the list, mark it off on a potion maker’s sheet, and turn it in to the special files box for a prize. Keep up the faerie fun at home by checking out some faerie books, and be sure to attend the Faerie Festival on May 7.

Outdoor Story Time

Outdoor story times are back. On Mondays, May 9, 16 and 23, at 10 a.m., story times will be held outside the library near the faerie garden. Join Miss Maria for songs, stories, and fun. Bring a blanket or towel to sit on, and don’t forget sunscreen.

In the event of rain or inclement weather, story time will be held on Facebook Live. The location of story time will be announced by 8 a.m. on the morning of story time, and will be shared on the library’s Facebook page and website. The events are free and wheelchair accessible. Kennebunk Free Library is located at 112 Main St., Kennebunk. For more information, call 985-2173.

Faerie Festival

Kennebunk Free Library will host its annual Faerie Festival on Saturday, May 7, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Those who submitted faerie houses by May 3 can see Miss Maria during the festival to pick up certificates.

For more information, call 985-2173 or visit www.KennebunkLibrary.org.

May Day book sale

On Saturday May 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Friends of Kennebunk Free Library will host May Day Book Sale. There will be a wide variety of books – fiction and nonfiction, for all ages – to choose from, plus DVDs, audio books and puzzles. All members of the Friends will receive a free book of their choice at the sale.

To join Friends of Kennebunk Free Library, pick up an application at the library, the book sale, or visit www.kennebunklibrary.org/aboutfriends.asp.

Birding backpacks available soon

York County Audubon has established a Birding Backpack program that donates complete birding kits to local libraries. After a successful trial at Kennebunk Free Library, the organization is engaged in an effort to make them available to libraries throughout York County.

According to an April 25 news release, “The project is being done in memory of one of our dearest friends and colleagues, Pat Moynahan. She was a treasure of the Maine birding community and so much more, as rare a bird as any she ever found in the field. She served on the York County Audubon Board of Directors for 25 years. We are honored to announce that the many donations that we have received in Pat’s memory (and any additional ones we receive) will be dedicated to supporting the Birding Backpack program.”

Each backpack contains items needed to enjoy birding whether a beginner, avid birder or just interested in the natural world. The kit includes binoculars, birding guides from beginner, birding checklists for children and adults, documentation on how to use binoculars, where to look for birds and maps of local land trusts and trails that are full of birds.

The following Libraries have Birding Backpacks: McArthur Public Library in Biddeford, Kennebunk Free Library, D.A. Hurd Library in North Berwick, Dyer Library in Saco, Louis B. Goodall Memorial Library in Sanford and Waterboro Public Library.

Those who are patrons of the libraries or in the borrowing network, are eligible to participate in the program. For more information, visit www.yorkcountyaudubon.org.

Kennebunk Beach Classic 5K returns from pandemic hiatus

Organizers have announced the return of the Kennebunk Beach Classic 5K. The road race is back for its 30th year, in person. Walk, jog, or run on the USATF certified route on Sunday, June 5. Registration begins at $25, with early-bird pricing until May 1 and discounts for students (18 and under) and seniors (60-plus).

Free cotton event T-shirts to the first 150 registered runners. Teams are encouraged. Prizes and awards to top runners in age categories and team prizes.

Event proceeds support programming and outreach at The Center, a nonprofit in Lower Village that serves adults 50 and older. For more information, visit www.kennebunkbeachclassic.com or call The Center at 967-8514.

School Around Us plans fundraising run

The School Around Us will host Hustle for Holistic Education 5K run on Saturday, May 14. The event is billed as a fundraising family fun-run. In addition to supporting School Around Us, 10 percent of all event proceeds will be donated to UNICEF in support of children in Ukraine affected by the military conflict.

The event will take place at 10 a.m. at the Eastern Trail, beginning at Kennebunk Elementary School. A children’s half-mile fun run will be held at 11 a.m.  A virtual option is also offered, with participants running between May 1-14.

Kennebunk Elementary School is located at 177 Alewive Road, Kennebunk. The rain date is Sunday, May 15.

Registration is $75/family, $35/adult, $20/teen and $15/child. To register, visit www.runsignup.com and search for Hustle for Holistic Education.

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