PORTLAND
Veterans sought for American Legion membership
The Harold T. Andrews Post No. 17 American Legion is seeking military veterans to join and serve as members at the hall, located at 23 Deering St.
Any person who has served in the United States military including Merchant Marines, is eligible to join. The American Legion is part of a three-million member organization that is committed to serving the country and the community.
Post No. 17 has taken on the duty of facilitating two parades in Portland – on Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day – and places flags on 1,500 veterans’ graves on Memorial Day weekend. Members also visit with veterans in nursing homes and those who are ill in hospitals, provide transportation to appointments and for shopping, do community activities with Camp Tall Pines, are involved in fundraising for Toys for Tots each Christmas and much more.
Stop by the Post home to pick up an application, tour the facility and ask questions.
For more details, call Joseph Rich at 772-9141.

Maine Playwrights Festival open for submissions
Acorn Productions, producers of the annual Maine Playwrights Festival, has begun accepting scripts for this year’s 21st edition of the state’s long-running incubator for new plays by local playwrights.
Maine residents are welcome to submit a new play for consideration in the festival. It must be 8 to 30 minutes in length and have not received a professional production prior to submission.
The festival is centered on developing and honing short plays, from submission through staged readings, rewrites, and culminating in public performances. The Maine Playwrights Festival is two weekends of fully staged performances of short plays, to be performed in Portland in April 2023. The festival anticipates selecting five or six short plays for production this year. The selected playwrights will receive extensive support revising their pieces during a workshop phase before going into rehearsals. In addition to the festival productions, several playwrights not selected for the full festival will get the opportunity to workshop their plays with this year’s professional playwright-in-residence, to be announced later this month.
Playwrights must submit their works for consideration by the Nov. 27 deadline to Acorn’s website at acorn-productions.org.

FRYEBURG
Fryeburg Academy students earn National Merit nods
Fryeburg Academy student May Ki-ok “May” Shin has been named a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program and Kyungyoon “Yuna” Lee has been named a Commended Student. The high school students entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test, along with more than 2 million students across the country; both young women placed among the top 50,000 takers of this test.
Shin is part of a nationwide pool of 16,000 semifinalists that represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and that includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. She has the opportunity to advance to the finalist level and compete to receive a National Merit Scholarship.
Lee will not continue in the competition for a scholarship, but she is one of 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation being thus recognized for exceptional academic promise.
Shin is the daughter of Sunkyung Hwang and Kiseub Shin, and Lee is the daughter of Hyosook Chung and Byungirl Lee. Both are from South Korea and attend Fryeburg Academy as part of its boarding program.

NEW GLOUCESTER
2023 calendars available for purchase
Copies of the New Gloucester Historical Society’s 2023 New Gloucester calendars are now available.
The calendars are $10 each and are available for sale at New Gloucester Town Office or via e-mail orders at bjtc4NGMHS@gmail.com.
For more details, call Leonard Brooks at 926-3188.

CAMDEN
Land trust posts ‘Trails Challenge’ results
Coastal Mountains Land Trust’s 4th annual Trails Challenge ended Sept. 10, with hundreds of hikers, runners, bikers, paddlers, and swimmers logging 10,820 miles on area preserves while collectively raising $10,820 for their efforts to benefit trail stewardship and development, as matched by local businesses.
Top three adult loggers overall were: Virginia Knutson (hiking, 262 miles); Lawrence Reichard (208 miles); and Jennifer Samway (202 miles). Top three youth activity loggers, under age 15, overall: Sam Tooley (145 miles); Ethan Cohen (107 miles); and Keagan Urey and Matilda Schroeder (50 miles).
Coastal Mountains Land Trust has worked since 1986 to permanently conserve land to benefit the natural and human communities of the western Penobscot Bay. The Land Trust has protected over 12,000 acres, offering 50 miles of trails for public recreation.

BAR HARBOR
Domestic violence resource center hosting roundtable
New Hope Midcoast, Midcoast Maine’s only comprehensive domestic violence resource center, will host a free domestic violence roundtable from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the Tugboat Inn, 80 Commercial St. All are welcome. The event is by advance reservation only, with sign-ups due by Oct. 20.
Roundtable discussions are meant to bring awareness about domestic abuse while providing an opportunity to learn, share, network and make plans about this important issue in local communities. New Hope Midcoast staff, trained specifically in advocacy regarding domestic abuse and supported by the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, will facilitate. Morning snack and full lunch are included at no charge. Attendees will be sent two brief articles to read in advance.
To register, go to newhopemidcoast.org or call 691-5969. Certificates of attendance will be issued for those applying for professional CEUs.