Soon Wiscasset's Town Common will be graced with wagging tails and paw prints from our beloved pets! In honor of St. Francis of Assisi's love for all creatures and our natural environment, we'll gather outside to share blessings for our favorite pets on Sunday Oct. 4 at 1 p.m.

All are invited to bring your pets, whether they be dogs, cats, guinea pigs, bunnies, turtles, or bird, for a blessing. Please make sure your pet is leashed or in a safe place such as a crate, cage, or kennel. We will strive for a calm and friendly atmosphere in a natural setting, but close to home.

Le Café Français, a local French conversation group, resumes its lively in-person meetings on Oct. 5. Our discussions include a variety of themes, from French culture and news, useful expressions for travel and beyond, recipes and cooking experiences plus songs and topics of mutual interest. Our meetings offer participants a “mini French immersion” experience twice monthly.

Everyone is invited to the fifth annual Darrowby Farm Sanctuary Open House on Saturday Sept. 26 from noon to 2 p.m. at 216 N. Mountain Road in Jefferson.

An Industrial Areas Foundation information session will be held on Sunday, Sept. 27 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Edgecomb Community Church, 15 Cross Point Road in Edgecomb. This session is open to the public.

Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District and Maine DEP are co-sponsoring an in-person half-day event on Stream Crossing Installation Practices scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22 at Pownalborough Hall located at 314 Patterson Road in Dresden. The training will be held from 8 a.m. to noon.

Join Veggies to Table at The Contented Sole in New Harbor on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. for a Harvest Dinner & Fundraiser celebrating exceptional food and wine, community, and the abundance of the farm’s harvest, all in support of Veggies to Table’s work growing and donating organic produce and flowers to neighbors experiencing hunger and needing joy.

The Lincoln Home invites the public to a free Fraud Prevention Presentation, Thursday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.

First National Bank has launched the Dream First Community Grant, a new $5,000 funding opportunity supporting food security-related programming in the Maine communities the Bank serves. 

One eligible registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, municipality, or school will receive funding to launch a new initiative, expand a promising program, or strengthen an existing service. Applicants must serve residents in Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot or Washington County. 

The 23rd annual Pemaquid Oyster Festival returns to Mine Oyster Restaurant in downtown Boothbay Harbor on Sunday, Sept. 27 (11 a.m.-6 p.m.). The festival features freshly-shucked oysters from 10 Damariscotta River farms, live music, an oyster-shucking contest, a silent auction and an exhibition tent.

The Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District (KLSWCD) is seeking nominations for one elected position on its five-member Board of Supervisors.

The creative team of author and poet Susan Schadler and artists Lynne and John M.T. Seitzer recently released “Growing Wild: Four seasons of New England and Native Plants and Their Creatures.” Lynne and John’s artwork and Susan’s accompanying poetry make this book both an enchanting and informative read.

This is their second collaboration. You may remember their first endeavor, “come walk in the FYNBOS with me,” printed in 2018, took readers to Africa’s southern tip, the 500-mile stretch known as the fynbos.

The budget offer Wiscasset's school committee nodded Sept. 10 cuts $105,046 in costs from the one that failed at the polls Sept. 1. And it takes $600,000 from the undesignated fund balance instead of $500,000.

Gone would be a half-time social worker job and a full-time special education teacher job Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kim Andersson said are both vacant. The committee added $6,635 in field trips.

"I don't know where else we can cut," Chair Tracey Whitney said.

"We can't," member Doug Merrill said. "There comes a point where your system will implode."

From the state's cell phone ban to making sure students are where assigned, Wiscasset Middle High School Principal Chris Hennessey told the school committee Sept. 8, students are not pushing back. 

Six school days in, Hennessey said, “ I just can’t state enough, how proud I am of our faculty and staff, and our students … (The lack of pushback) is because we stuck to (the rules) right at the beginning. We were very clear about what our expectations were, and kids understand it.”

On Saturday, Sept. 19, visitors to Pownalborough Court House in Dresden will have the opportunity to interact with life in 1778, when the American Revolution was still being fought and the new nation was taking shape.

Join Sean Fleming and his eight-piece Ragtime Orchestra for the "Real Ragtime Concert," a collection of classic, early 20th century Rag tunes, on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. at the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle.

This September, Spruce Point Inn, at 88 Grandview Drive in Boothbay Harbor, will celebrate the connection between artists and the Maine coast with Art Week, Sept. 14–20, bringing together Massachusetts painter Jody Regan and Maine artist Michael Vermette for a week of painting, instruction and art history.

Set against the waters and landscapes of Boothbay Harbor, the program offers guests the opportunity to spend time with working artists and participate in hands-on creative experiences, while several events throughout the week are open to the public.