Steve Norman, the director of the Belfast Free Library for the last 24+ years, is retiring. Join staff in celebrating his dedication to the library and the City of Belfast at a reception, Monday, Dec. 29, from 3 - 5 p.m., in the Abbott Room of the Library, 106 High Street. 

Come prepared with your favorite library stories. If you'd like to say a few words, remarks will start at 4 p.m. 

PORT CLYDE — Herring Gut Coastal Science Center presents A Winter Solstice Walk. The walk will take place Sunday, Dec. 21, from 9 - 10:30 a.m. Meet at Herring Gut Coastal Science Center, 59 Factory Road, Port Clyde.  

Join the group to celebrate the solstice with a light hike at Marshall Point Lighthouse led by Josh Waguli, Maine Master Naturalist.

"Enjoy activities for all ages and a wild tea ceremony to mark the shortest day of the year," said Herring Gut, in a news release.

Hospice Volunteers of Waldo County is offering two supportive, compassionate opportunities this winter for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one, according to a news release. Both programs are free and open to the community.

"We love opening the doors to our community to Celebrate the Season," said Lincoln Home, in a news release.

Join the Lincoln Home family Sunday afternoon, Dec. 14, from 3 - 5 p.m., for snacks and sweets and live music on every floor, including Orville Lee on guitar, Tyler and Amanda Arnold, and Loretta Morse Leighton.

"Come share the joy and warmth we celebrate every day at The Lincoln Home," said Lincoln Home.

Jock Robie will lead an indoor Worm Bin Harvest workshop, Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 6 p.m., at Merryspring Nature Center. This session is for any interested alumni and new students, according to Merryspring, in a news release.

Melanie Feinberg will lead an online presentation called Winter Sowing, hosted by Merryspring Nature Center, Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 12 p.m.  

It was cold, but not enough to drive off a merry crowd that lined the sidewalks of Elm and Main Street in downtown Camden Friday evening, Dec. 6, for the annual Christmas by the Sea Parade. A traditional holiday season kick-off, the parade is an eclectic and happy gathering of friends and neighbors with those in the parade and those watching from the sides of the street all vigorously waving and shouting greetings to each other.

BELFAST — Join Coastal Mountains Land Trust for a festive luminary walk at the Head of Tide Preserve, Thursday, Dec, 18, from 4 - 6 p.m. The lighted trail will take participants on a short loop walk (less than a mile), through a field and along a wide path in the woods. 

On Dec. 6, a Christmas Craft Fair will be held at the Old Brick School, 44 School Street, in Warren, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All are welcome. Twenty-two vendors, and free entry.

The First Universalist Church in Rockland will hold "The Longest Night: Blue Christmas Service", Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 6 p.m., for those who find the holidays difficult because of a loss or other struggles.

This special evening service will be a meditative time that will provide space for grief, for reflection and remembering, and for taking the time to simply be and seek out stillness. An offering of hope and healing, it is open to all.

The First Universalist Church is located at 345 Broadway in Rockland.

In Saturday morning, Nov. 29, Waldoboro fisherman Clint Collamore pulled up in front of the Waldo Theatre, in Waldoboro, with more than a few dozen lobster traps on the back of his truck.

Three hours later, with the help of fellow fisherman Buddy Murray and his wife Sierra, Theatre board member Barbara Boardman took on the lights, unrolling wheels of them that were draped and threaded through the traps.

The tree is the brainchild of Barbara Boardman, who remembered how Waldoboro used to have a gigantic tree in the center of the village festooned with lights.  

Rockland Main Street is ready for the annual Festival of Lights to get underway Friday, Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving.

On November 14, the Rockland Main Street board, along with several community members and organizations, kicked off preparations for the upcoming holiday season with “Build Day.” That included setting up Santa’s workshop, supplied by Shed City for over two decades, festooning in traditional red, green, and gold, with a focus on classic holiday favorites, including candy canes, Christmas trees, and gingerbread.

Some people who get up at 6:30 in the morning to run post-Thanksgiving-themed marathons.

Then there's the rest of us, staring into our refrigerators on Friday, November 28, thinking, "What am I going to do with all of these leftovers?"

The most common ways to reuse Thanksgiving leftovers are making sandwiches, casseroles, and soups, but today we're going to elevate that concept with individual mini turkey pot pies, made super posh by substituting pie crust for puff pastry.

The 99th annual Pageant of the Nativity will take place Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, at 5 p.m., at First Parish Unitarian Universalist, 425 Congress Street, in Portland.

The University of Maine System (UMS) is growing the next generation of entrepreneurs and the state’s innovation economy by providing free business and budgeting basics to middle and high school students. 

BRUNSWICK — Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) unveiled the first of two advanced manufacturing training centers on Thursday, Nov. 22, the latest addition to a statewide training network aimed at meeting the demand for more highly skilled workers in Maine’s manufacturing and defense industries. 

AUGUSTA – The Maine Community College System and The Associated General Contractors of Maine (AGC Maine) are partnering to launch a four-week, hands-on construction training program across the state to prepare Maine adults for careers in the construction trades. 

The Maine Construction Academy Immersion Programs, managed by AGC Maine and funded by MCCS’s Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce, will launch next year at five community colleges.

BELFAST — MaineHealth Waldo Hospital welcomes Ellen Pileski, NP, to its Pediatrics Belfast practice.

Pileski moved to Pediatrics Belfast full time from Primary and Walk-in Care Belfast, where she worked for the past two years as a nurse practitioner, according to MaineHealth, in a news release. Prior to that, she worked as a nurse practitioner at Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Alaska, providing primary, walk-in, urgent and emergency care.

The People’s United Methodist Church in Union will be hosting the annual Winterberry Fair, Saturday, Dec. 6, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

The Fair will be offering a variety of items for sale.

In a time when acts of goodness and kindness are overshadowed by less altruistic reactions, a story of two small coastal towns communicating and reaching a neighborly decision is worth noting.