Fishy friends

Betty Haymon’s kindergarten class at Memorial School took the lead on a Fish Friends project earlier this year. They raised Atlantic salmon from eggs to the fry stage, and released those young fish into the Royal River on June 12. Parent volunteers Keri Duffy and Laura Dorsey helped supervise.

Patrick Keliher, director of Maine’s Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat, provided guidance in contacting the Atlantic Salmon Federation, and he obtained the necessary permits to carry out this project. According to Keliher, Robb Cotiaux, who is the parent of a Memorial School student, deserves the credit for doing a wonderful job of spearheading the initiative.

Cotiaux, a licensed arborist with a vast knowledge of stream ecology, looked right at home dressed in waders while immersed in waist-level water for the salmon release celebration on the drizzly morning of June 12. He caught mayflies, a stone nymph and other insects in his net to dazzle the audience of neophyte entomologists. When Cotiaux asked if wood should ever be taken out of the water, kindergartner Zachary Durapau correctly answered, “No, because bugs are living on it.”

From the riverbank, students took turns using a net to scoop fry from a cooler and set the tiny Atlantic salmon free. Keliher estimated that this shoal of salmon would return to the exact point of release in about four years.

Visit the horses

Open Gates Equine Rescue, 407 Morse Road, New Gloucester, is hosting an Open Barn from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 20. The public is invited to come see the horses and meet special guests Tom Judd, DVM, and Kate Lisnik from the Humane Society of the United States. Light snacks will be available, and a bake sale will be taking place. Call 926-5570 for more information.

Smorgasbord

Sabbathday Lake Grange will be holding its first-of-the-season Public Smorgasbord Supper on Saturday, June 20, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The menu will include hot dogs, baked beans, assorted casseroles and salads, with homemade pies for dessert. The hall, which is handicapped accessible, is located on Sabbathday Road in New Gloucester, just off Route 26. Tickets cost $7 for adults and $3 for children 12 and younger.

Strawberry Festival

One of the premier social events of the year in New Gloucester is the Strawberry Festival. Its thirty-fourth edition will be held on Thursday, June 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Congregational Church Vestry, Gloucester Hill Road, located just off Route 231.

Highlights of the festival will include strawberries grown in New Gloucester, homemade biscuits, Hodgman’s Frozen Custard and the ever popular Berry, Berry Good Band. New Gloucester souvenirs will also be on sale to benefit the History Barn Project. The festival is hosted by the members and friends of the New Gloucester Historical Society, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. For more information, call Jean Libby, 926-4538.

Shaker Village activities

Chair caning by the seven-step method will be taught at a workshop on Saturday, June 20, at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Route 26, New Gloucester. Participants must bring a hand-woven chair. The fee is $35, which includes supplies.

Also that day, Tim Greene will demonstrate his blacksmithing skills on an open forge. The demonstration is free and open to the public.

The Fourth Annual Maine Festival of American Music will be held from June 24 through 27. Evening concerts feature classical music, ragtime, Shaker music and the works of New England’s George Chadwick. Guest artists are the Portland String Quartet, pianist Virginia Eskin and music historian/annotator Steven Ledbetter.

Learn how to make an “in the round” stuffed Maine mitten at a knitting workshop on Saturday, June 27. The fee is $40, which includes Shaker yarn.

Morning and afternoon guided nature hikes will be offered on Saturday, June 27. The hikes cover fields, woods, Sabbathday Lake and Aurelia’s Cascade. Eagle sightings are a possibility. Reservations are required, and fees apply.

For more information on any of these activities, call 926-4597 or visit www.shaker.lib.me.us.

Keep dog park

dream alive

Upon her husband’s death earlier this year, Carol Swanson, who was the motivating force behind a community effort to create a dog park in New Gloucester, sold her house and is moving to California. She urges the hundreds of townspeople who indicated an interest in the project by signing a petition to continue her efforts. She has offered access to all of her research, as well as names and contact information of supporters.

Within an e-mail message, Swanson said that she wished she “could have been successful in convincing the selectmen that a dog park in New Gloucester would have been a wonderful fun and friendly place to gather, make new friends and watch our dogs play in a safe environment.” She thanked her supporters, wished them good luck and encouraged them to keep the dream alive.

Artists’ potluck

New Gloucester-based artists and other creative folks are invited to gather at the First Congregational Church vestry on Tuesday, June 30, at 6:30 p.m. for a potluck dinner and conversations about future network activities. RSVP to Betsey Leslie, 926-3708.

On June 12, licensed arborist Robb Cotiaux taught 16 kindergarteners from the Memorial School about stream ecology and insects at a spot along the Royal River below Sawyer Falls.