Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust naturalist Sarah Gladu will lead a hike at Tracy Shore in South Bristol from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 9.  

Tracy Shore is owned by the town of South Bristol and managed in partnership with Coastal Rivers. A network of trails winds through coastal spruce forest, past a meandering brook and rocky outcroppings draped with ferns and moss, to a high overlook with sweeping views of the Damariscotta River estuary.  

The Big Gray Rotary Club Barn opens for its sixth season on Saturday April 4 as sure a sign of spring as spring peepers and potholes. Be there to help us celebrate, 66 Montgomery Road, Boothbay Harbor from 8:30 to 11 a.m. But, dress warmly, the big gray barn has great bargains and hard to find items, but alas no heat. The current plan is to be open every Saturday from 8:30 to 11 selling furniture, collectibles, tools and household goods. It’s a lot of fun. You might get a chance to meet new people and take home a special treasure. And while you visit , ask us about the Rotary.

Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, in partnership with the Maine Forest Service and Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District, will host a hands-on Live Staking Workshop on Thursday, April 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Coastal Rivers’ Salt Bay Farm in Damariscotta. 

Live staking is a natural, low-cost restoration technique that involves collecting cuttings from dormant trees and inserting them into the sides of streambanks in order to revegetate. These live stakes will grow into trees, stabilizing soil and improving habitat. 

Spring is back and that means the Edgecomb Community Church is gearing up again for their Thrift Store opening on Tuesday, April 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Several new items have been brought in to sell to those bargain hunters out there. The outside donation bin will be unlocked so anyone wishing to donate may drop things off during the Thrift Store’s hours, which are the same as last year: Tuesdays and Saturdays 9 to 1.  Proceeds help our neighbors in need as well as other local charitable organizations. 

As winter winds down, students at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb are celebrating a season of building their skills as cross country skiers. Over the past few months, kids in grades pre-K through eight have been spending many of their physical education classes getting up and out on skis, led by Misha Barker of Hearty Roots in Damariscotta.

An educator with Chewonki Foundation spends much of her time visiting local schools and bringing the shoreline to students — giving them a chance to experience tide pools up close.

She visited Wiscasset Elementary School this week and set up four touch tanks in the library. By the time the kindergarteners filed in, sea urchins, crabs, mussels and starfish were waiting for them.

Maine is a very special place for artists. Its ragged coast and interior woods, fields, and mountains have long provided inspiration for creative expression. Maine Art Gallery (MAG) in Wiscasset has chosen to focus its 2026 exhibition season on the ways in which imaginative individuals respond to the natural world and to the state’s place in the sustainable agriculture movement. 

Veggies to Table has launched its annual Dahlia Tuber Sale, offering gardeners in Maine and across the country the opportunity to grow beautiful blooms while helping provide fresh, healthy food to community members experiencing hunger.

Midcoast Conservancy is pleased to announce the successful completion of a new conservation easement protecting 108 acres of forest, wetlands, and wildlife habitat along Pettengill Stream in Union. The property, now called Herbie Hill for the landowner’s beloved tortoiseshell cat, will remain permanently conserved, safeguarding an important stretch of land within the Upper Medomak River watershed.

Do you have a story to tell? “Memoir Writing: Crafting Your Own Story from a Kaleidoscope of Memories”, taught by Caroline Janover, will meet on Thursdays on Zoom, 10 to 11:30 a.m., beginning April 9.

April enrichment classes close out the program year for Boothbay-Wiscasset Regional Adult Education, and now is the time to sign up. 

For six weeks beginning on Thursday, April 9, instructors Tim Barrows and Ted Williams will lead a wild ride through the history of quantum mechanics on Zoom, from 10 a.m. to noon.

Each year, students in music classes at Wiscasset Elementary School participate in “Musical Madness” (fashioned after college basketball’s “March Madness”). This year, the theme is “Happy 250th, America!” Students will learn 16 patriotic songs and vote on their favorites until we have a winner.

See the bracket. How many songs are you familiar with?  How would you vote?  

It's time to start thinking about registering your pre-kindergarten or kindergarten eligible student for next year. If your student is already enrolled in pre-k, you do not need to complete the form. We will automatically enroll them in kindergarten unless we hear differently from you.

Step inside the pre-kindergarten classroom at Wiscasset Elementary School, and you’ll immediately feel it — the hum of curiosity, the comfort of belonging, and the joy of learning just beginning to bloom.

One child carefully builds winding train tracks on the rug while another snuggles a favorite bear nearby. Yet another is already looking toward the door, eager for his turn on the swings outside. A fourth child brings stories to life at the puppet theater, and another happily explores the sensory room, proudly sharing stories about her 3-year-old sister, her very best friend.

If Liberty left Regional School Unit 3 and joined Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit, Alna, Westport Island and SVRSU's other members would be chipping in 5% less than they do now, and Liberty would pay about 25% less for education than it pays now, SVRSU Superintendent of Schools Howard Tuttle told Alna selectmen and other residents March 5. He said Liberty has formed a withdrawal committee, and SVRSU residents could vote as early as November on whether to accept Liberty; this does not impact the 2026-27 budget.

This spring, John "Johnny" Merry will retire as director of facilities and transportation for Wiscasset School Department, closing out a career that began in 1998 — though his connection to the schools stretches back much further.

Merry graduated from Wiscasset High School in 1975. His mother, Anne, father, Gordon, and extended family attended the same schools. Long before he was responsible for the buildings, he was a student in them — walking the halls, riding the buses, sitting in those same classrooms.

Since its inception last October, 100+ Women Who Care Lincoln County Maine has been the catalyst to raise over $33,000. By year’s end, they have a goal of raising $100,000 to support the tireless work of local nonprofits.

March 23, Wiscasset’s planning board is set to hear from Ed Harmon about a school and much more to help veterans thrive. The Boothbay man, founder of Boothbay V.E.T.S., said this would also help fill area workforce needs, by teaching the veterans a trade. And Harmon's goal has big help from the man who for years brought shoppers to “Route One, Wiscasset,” and continues to spend much of his time serving local causes, Allen “Big Al” Cohen, retired from his famous Big Al's store.