United Midcoast Charities (UMC) will hold its signature summer event, the 2025 Rising Tide Party & Silent Auction, Thursday, August 21, from 5 to 8 p.m., at the Sail, Power & Steam Museum Boathouse in Rockland.

This celebratory evening brings the Midcoast community together in support of UMC’s mission to strengthen nonprofit services across Knox and Waldo counties. With the theme “Be the Tide That Lifts All Boats,” the event features:

● Bold fire-crafted flavors of Applecroft Catering

● Lively swing, jive, and Latin sounds from the Right Track Jazz Combo

FALMOUTH — On July 16, 2025, MaineHealth Behavioral Health (MHBH) will hold a benefit, from 5:30 – 8 p.m., to raise funds for mental health services at the annual Signs of Hope fundraiser at the Portland Country Club, 11 Foreside Road, Falmouth, Maine. The event is co-hosted by longtime supporter and member of the MHBH Philanthropy Committee, Falmouth resident Sheri Boulos. 

The public is invited to the next meeting of Hope Historical Society, which will be held July 15, 2025. There will be a brief business meeting at 6:30 p.m., followed by guest speaker, Mary Kelly, Lady Knox DAR Historian. Kelly and Joanne Richards will share a PowerPoint presentation that will promote their [(DAR) Daughters of the American Revolution] Chapter’s book. 

Coastal Mountains Land Trust’s Arts on the Hill program brings Mondaynite Jazz Orchestra (aka MoJO) to Beech Hill Preserve, Monday, July 14, at 6 p.m., as part of this free summer concert series.  

Mondaynite Jazz Orchestra is an extraordinary 18-piece Midcoast-based big band that plays modern as well as traditional jazz, including Latin, swing, blues, and funk. The band derives its name from their practice schedule: Monday nights.

ROCKLAND — Like most Gen Xers, Justin Miller remembers his first vinyl record, The Germs. Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, before cassette tapes became overwhelmingly the popular choice for playing music, vinyl was king.

Private Press, a 200-square foot space on 385 Main Street, which opened June 13, has been Miller's dream business for some time. A private collector of vinyl records for more than 30 years, he began buying and selling records online before deciding to move the business to a brick-and-mortar location.

Cushing resident Jeff Epstein will present on his more than 30 years' painting, July 9, at 7 p.m., at the Meeting House on Hathorne Point Road. While working on his MFA at Brooklyn College in the early 90s, he was encouraged to paint on-site by Lois Dodd and John Walker. Prior to that he had been working in the studio from drawings, photographs, and memory. The directness of the experience was thrilling to him and gradually he was able to use the smaller paintings as studies for larger work done in the studio.

Emmy Award winning comedian Dulcé Sloan will take the Strand Theatre stage on Friday, Aug. 8, at 7:30 p.m. The two-time NAACP Image Award winner is known for offering a fresh and honest perspective that eviscerates the status quo, according to the Strand, in a news release. 

As a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah from 2017-2023, Sloan’s segments garnered millions of views. 

Maine author Dave Morrison will be signing copies of his poetry collections, Sunday, July 13, from 1 - 3 p.m., at the Tiny Bookshop in Rockport. The Tiny Bookshop is the Midcoast's newest (and smallest) book store, located at 164 Union Street in Rockport.

Morrison's poems have been featured on Writer's Almanac, Take Heart, Deep Water, and Poems from Here. Sprinter Runs the Marathon (Rain Crow Press 2025) is his eighteenth collection.

Morrison will read, on request, any poem from any book purchased.

Left Bank Books, in downtown Belfast, invites the public to a free talk and book signing by writer Jessica Berger Gross on Friday, July 18, at 6:30 p.m., at the bookshop to celebrate the release of Gross’ debut novel, Hazel Says No.

On Friday, July 11, beginning at 4 p.m., galleries and art museums throughout Rockland will be celebrating the third First Friday Art Walk of the season. Though most First Friday art walks take place on the first Friday of the month, this July, museums and art galleries have decided to skip the July 4 holiday and celebrate on the 11th. Here are some highlights of exhibitions and events taking place, provided by Rockland Main Street.

“The Wolff Sisters live comfily at the crossroads of Americana, roots, and ’60s rock ‘n’ roll, where The Band might meet Brandi Carlile and take her out for a beer,” says The Boston Globe. On Thursday, July 10, the sisters travel to Maine to perform at the historic Opera House in Boothbay Harbor.

A unique musical story creation for families, “Air Cake and Other Summery Occupations” with Catharine Cary and percussionist Andrea Re, will be held Monday, July 14, at 1 p.m., at the Belfast Free Library.

The Katahdin Valley Boys Bluegrass Band, makes their return on Sunday, July 13, at 3 p.m., at the First Congregational Church in Searsport.

"Located at 8 Church Street in Searsport, this admission by donation concert will promise foot tapping, hand clapping, rousing music, sure to put a smile on everyone's face as they enjoy Maines favorite Katahdin Valley Boys," said Dionne Haase, in a news release.  

Proceeds from the concert help further the outreach music concert series.

On Wednesday, July 16, at 2 p.m., at the Belfast Free Library, the Wawenoc Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society will be facilitating a group discussion intended to help people with their genealogies. This event will be in-person with a Zoom option available. 

ROCKLAND – The Strand Theatre will screen the movie Granite Rapids Moon as a fundraiser for Trekkers on Thursday, July 17, at 5:30 p.m. This romantic drama is the first narrative feature to shoot the majority of its footage inside the Grand Canyon. A Q&A discussion with producer/actor John Charles Meyer, actor Etienne Eckert, and actor W.C. Meyer will follow the screening. 

The sweet sounds of summer will fill the air on Wednesday, July 2, at 6 p.m., as UkesRock, Midcoast Maine’s community ukulele band performs a free outdoor concert on the lawn of the Masonic Lodge in Rockport.

Camden Public Library welcomes New York Times bestselling author Jessica Shattuck for a book talk on her latest title, Last House, in conversation with local writer Laura Bonazzoli. This event will take place on Tuesday, July 10, at 6:30 p.m., in the library’s historic Reading Room and is free and open to everyone. 

The Waldo Theatre Gallery presents graphite drawings and giclée prints by Susan A. Cooney. This show, “Texture and Light,” will be open to the public during the month of July. An artist reception will be held on July 17, from 5 to 7 p.m., to be followed by a screening of Ian Cheney's film The Long Coast, which features  Cooney's art.

SEARSPORT — "The story of Madeleine and Colonel John Jacob Astor is very much part of the story of Bar Harbor, Maine," said Carver Memorial Library, in a news release.

The relatively poor Madeleine Force met Colonel Astor, the third richest man in the United States, in Bar Harbor in 1910. The vicious scandal after their wedding caused the newlyweds to board the Titanic to return to America; the ensuing tragedy would claim the life of the colonel.

The improvisational comedy collective Bluebird Improv will bring their show to the Strand Theatre stage on Sunday, July 27, at 7:30 p.m.