MRC Skating presents "Celebration on Ice" TOMORROW, Sunday, December 18th

Rockport, Maine - The community will be able to watch talented local skaters and Santa has the Mid-Coast Recreation Center Skating School presents "Celebration on Ice" at 1pm on Sunday, December 18th, 2016 in Rockport, Maine, an annual event held every year, a week before Christmas.

Come on out to support, see local talented skaters perform their skating routines to some favorite holiday songs and have a chance to skate with Santa after the show.

Tickets for the event will be available at the door:

$10 for Adults
$5 for Children
Children under 4 are Free!

This includes entry to the exhibition, public skate with Santa and skate rental.

MRC Skating will be hosting a bake sale and raffles.

RCN America Network's Maine division will be covering this event with photos, video and article to be posted either Sunday night or during the day on Monday.

Lecture: Maine’s Penobscot Project and the Global Future of Dams and Hydropower A Camden Conference Community Event hosted at Portland Public Library

Thursday, December 19th from noon to 1:30pm 
in the Rines Auditorium

Portland, Maine - Portland Public Library has partnered with the Camden Conference to present three lectures in advance of this year’s Camden Conference held annually in Camden, Maine.  This diverse series of free programs will focus around the theme of the 27th annual Camden Conference: The Global Politics of Food and Water.

On Thursday, December 19th, law professor David Owen will present a lecture about Maine’s Penobscot Project and the Global Future of Dams and Hydropower.  Maine is currently the site of one of the world’s most ambitious river restoration projects.  After years of negotiations, two dams on the lower Penobscot River have been removed, a third has been decommissioned, and fish passage facilities at others will be improved.  Atlantic salmon, shad, alewife, sturgeon and other fish species will gain access to many miles of river habitat, with benefits stretching from the rivers and lakes of Maine’s interior to the groundfisheries of the Gulf of Maine.  Normally, a river restoration project would create its environmental benefits by removing some hydropower, but the Penobscot project is different.  Because of improvements at several remaining dams, the Penobscot River will generate just as much hydropower after the Penobscot River Restoration Project as it did before.

This combination of features should make the Penobscot River Restoration Project a global model.  River systems across the world are filled with dams, and in many countries, large-scale dam building remains national policy.  The environmental impacts of those dams have been devastating.  But dams do produce societal benefits.  Hydropower is one of the most important of those benefits, particularly in a world increasingly threatened by pollution from other energy sources.  Finding better ways to balance hydropower and environmental protection therefore is an international imperative, and this talk will explain how the innovations of the Penobscot River Restoration Project could help achieve that improved balance.

Professor David Owen teaches courses in environmental law, natural resources law, water law, and administrative law. He is also a faculty member of Maine's Sustainability Solutions Initiative. Professor Owen is the faculty advisor to the Maine Law Review and serves on the Board of Directors of the Maine Bar Foundation.

The Camden Conference was founded in 1987 as a nonprofit, non-partisan educational organization whose mission is to foster informed discourse on world issues. In the years since, it has convened its annual Conference on the third weekend of February in the historic Camden Opera House, drawing some of the best minds on foreign policy to share their insights and expertise on a range of global issues with the community. Conference topics have included The Making of American Foreign Policy, The Influence of the News Media on Foreign Policy, US-Japan Relations, Globalization, The Politics of Energy and Water, Religion, Global Leadership and a number of conferences focusing on regions of the world.

Festival of Lights Kicks Off TODAY

It takes volunteers to build the annual Lobster Trap Tree in Rockland, Maine.

Rockland, Maine - It's that time of year again when Rockland Main Street Inc hosts the annual Festival of Lights which kicks off today with Santa's arrival by Coast Guard at 12 noon and Tree Lighting at 6pm. There are fun events taken place throughout the weekend which ends with a Festive Family Breakfast with Santa on Sunday at 8:30am.

List of Events:

Friday November 29th

12:00 Santa arrives by Coast Guard Boat at Buoy Park/ Middle Pier greets the kids and parades to his workshop in Mildred Merrill Park near the Lobster Trap Tree.
Sponsored by Journeys End Marina

12:30 - 3PM Santa is at his Workshop in Mildred Merrill Park ( top of the hill in Harbor Park near the Lobster Trap Tree ) Sponsored by The Free Press

12:30 - 3PM Horse Drawn Wagon Rides, pick up near Rustica across from Planet Toys
for a ride around downtown. Sponsored by Local Businesses so everyone rides for free !

1PM - 3PM Gingerbread House drop off at Waterworks

6PM Lobster Trap Tree Lighting ! Santa arrives by All Aboard Trolley to Light the Trap Tree and greet the kids ! Enjoy Cocoa, Cookies and Holiday Music !
Sponsored by Camden National Bank

Saturday November 30th

All Day: Gingerbread Gazing on Main Street. Look for Gingerbread Houses in the shop windows. Stroll Main Street, Shop and Dine, enjoy the festive decorated windows and lights. Sponsored by The First

10AM - 1PM Share the Wonder at the Farnsworth Art Museum: Family Activities
and Music

12 - 3PM Santa is at his Workshop by the Lobster Trap Tree greeting kids or
Strolling Main Street ( Be sure to say hello ! )

1PM - 3PM Horse Drawn Wagon Rides, pick up near Rustica across from Planet Toys
for a ride around downtown. Sponsored by Local Businesses so everyone rides for free !

6PM - 8PM Festival of Lights Parade! Floats return to Main Street for viewing.
Vote for your favorite by placing can goods on the float for the Salvation Army.
Awards given to the Most Lights, Best Spirit, Most Creative and Best Business Floats.
Entry with the most Can Goods donated receives the People Choice Award!
Sponsored by The First

Sunday December 1st

8:30 - 10:30 Festive Family Breakfast with Santa $2 kids, $5 Adults
Chowder House at The Tradewinds.
Sponsored by Eastern Tire, Served by Camden National Bank

For Festival of Lights Parade Float information and application, Gingerbread House information and to ask questions about The Festival of Lights Weekend : festivaloflightsrockland@gmail.com

Ellis Paul Family Show at Strand Theatre March 31st

Ellis Paul Family Show at Strand Theatre March 31st
Editor: David Mills

ROCKLAND, ME - Playing selections from his Parent’s Choice Gold Award Winning album “The Hero In You” (January, 2012) and Silver Award Winning album “The Dragonfly Races” (2007), Ellis Paul creates a lively and engaging show for all ages.   This show at The Strand will be one of his first family shows featuring material from his new award-winning album!

Ellis Paul is a critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, poet, troubadour and father of two daughters, originally hailing from a potato farming family in northern Maine. Paul has become one of the leading voices in American songwriting and one of the top songwriters to emerge out of the fertile Boston folk scene.  He is the recipient of 13 Boston Music Awards, second only to multi-platinum act Aerosmith. He helped create a movement that revitalized the national acoustic circuit with an urban, literate, folk rock style that helped renew interest in the genre in the 90's.

Known for his deeply felt and socially conscious songwriting, often about heroes, Ellis Paul was inspired by his own two growing daughters and four years of performing for families to write about people who contributed something to the world through their work and art. ‘The Hero In You’ is a collection of songs that reminds both parents and children of the important individuals who had an incredible impact on American culture and history. America enjoys the kind of freedoms that have produced a long list of free thinkers, risk takers, innovators. By creating a dialogue within the family, and in the classroom, Ellis hopes to inspire kids to reach for the same great heights that these wonderful characters achieved.

“These people did amazing things, but they can also inspire young people today to go out and do something out of the ordinary to become the heroes of their own lives,”explains Paul.

His charismatic, personally authentic performance style has influenced a generation of artists away from the artifice of pop, and closer towards the realness of folk. Though he remains among the most pop-friendly of today's singer-songwriters - his songs regularly appear in hit movie and TV soundtracks - he has bridged the gulf between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger more successfully than perhaps any of his songwriting peers.

Don’t miss this incredible musician and performer for a fun afternoon concert the whole family will enjoy!

We hope all those in community will be able to attend this family-friendly show today at 2pm. The Strand Theatre is located at 345 Main Street in Rockland, ME.

Benefit Comedy Show at The Alamo March 29th

Benefit Comedy Show at The Alamo March 29th
Editor: David Mills

Bucksport, ME - The Alamo Theater will be holding a special benefit comedy show for Tyler Maguire, a student of RSU 25 on March 29th. Tyler has been choosing to go to the Coast to Coast Baseball tryouts in Palm Beach, Florida.


All proceeds from this comedy show goes to benefit RSU 25's own Tyler Maguire. Tyler has been chosen as one of only three baseball players in Maine to attend Coast to Coast Baseball tryouts in Palm Beach, Florida for a chance at training camp.

If chosen, players may elect to represent the USA in competition in Puerto Rico, or work with top college coaches and pro scouts at one of their Florida or Arizona Camp & Showcase events held at a MLB spring-training complex. This is a wonderful opportunity for one of our own!

Thomaston Public Library Friday Night Film Series: Portrait of Jennie March 23rd

Thomaston Public Library Friday Night Film Series: Portrait of Jennie March 23rd
Editor: David Mills

Thomaston, ME - The Thomaston Public Library will be showing "Portrait of Jennie" apart of their Friday Night Film series at 6:30pm tonight.

Eben Adams (Joseph Cotton) is a struggling, and mostly failing, New York artist--until he meets Jennie (Jennifer Jones), a strange, enchanting girl, one day in the park. When they meet again a few weeks later, Jennie seems to have aged several years. Soon they are swept up in a strange love that even time itself cannot contain. Inspired by her, haunted by her, Eben finds new life in his art, and plans the portrait that will be his masterpiece, the portrait of Jennie.

We hope you all will be able to attend tonight's Thomaston Public Library's Friday Night Film Series showing of "Portrait of Jennie" at 6:30pm.

The Romantic Antics of the American Woodcock at Rockland Library Thursday April 12th

The Romantic Antics of the American Woodcock at Rockland Library Thursday April 12th
Editor: David Mills

Rockland, ME - Mike Shannon will present a Slide Talk on The Romantic Antics of the American Woodcock Thursday April 12 at 6:30 PM in the Friends Community Room of the Rockland Public Library.
As winter ebbs and the days lengthen into spring, there comes a hint of thaw, and a trickle of water is heard in the land.  One of the great opening acts of spring is the sky dance of the American Woodcock.  Listen!  Peent . . . it's doing it again!  The woodcock, a migrant/resident bird of bogs and young woodlands, is a most interesting wooing artist.  As the annual cycle of courtship begins, his aerial technique, bizarre and mysterious, places him up front as a strange suitor.

Mike Shannon is a lifelong naturalist, educator, and Registered Maine Guide.  Whether in the forest prowling for owls or aboard ship scanning for pelagic birds, he continues to lead outings for local groups.  He is retired from Unity College where he taught ornithology and ecological education for ten years.  A former director of the National Audubon Society's camps in Connecticut and in Maine (Hog Island), he has also served as Master Naturalist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society.  Mike has a long history of sharing his passion and enthusiasm for things natural.

This program is Co-Sponsored by the Rockland Public Library and Mid-Coast Audubon.  Mid-Coast Audubon is an all-volunteer group whose mission is to promote long term responsible use of natural resources through an informed membership, education and community awareness. MCAS offers free monthly birding trips and educational programs as well as maintaining four public preserves. For more information on Mid-Coast Audubon visit  www.midcoastaudubon.org or call Sue Schubel at 644-1077.

Special accommodations for persons with disabilities can be made with 48 hours notice. Please call the Library at 594-0310.

This is one in a continuing Thursday series of literary, film and cultural offerings sponsored by the Rockland Public Library & The Friends of the Rockland Public Library. Admission is free.

Entertainment: Ellis Paul Family Show At The Strand March 31st

Entertainment: Ellis Paul Family Show At The Strand March 31st
Editor: David Mills

Rockland, ME - The Strand Theatre presents a fun family show with critically-acclaimed folk singer Ellis Paul on Saturday, March 31 at 2:00pm!  Playing selections from his Parent’s Choice Gold Award Winning album “The Hero In You” (January, 2012) and Silver Award Winning album “The Dragonfly Races” (2007), Ellis Paul creates a lively and engaging show for all ages.   This show at The Strand will be one of his first family shows featuring material from his new award-winning album!

Ellis Paul is a critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, poet, troubadour and father of two daughters, originally hailing from a potato farming family in northern Maine. Paul has become one of the leading voices in American songwriting and one of the top songwriters to emerge out of the fertile Boston folk scene.  He is the recipient of 13 Boston Music Awards, second only to multi-platinum act Aerosmith. He helped create a movement that revitalized the national acoustic circuit with an urban, literate, folk rock style that helped renew interest in the genre in the 90's.

Known for his deeply felt and socially conscious songwriting, often about heroes, Ellis Paul was inspired by his own two growing daughters and four years of performing for families to write about people who contributed something to the world through their work and art. ‘The Hero In You’ is a collection of songs that reminds both parents and children of the important individuals who had an incredible impact on American culture and history. America enjoys the kind of freedoms that have produced a long list of free thinkers, risk takers, innovators. By creating a dialogue within the family, and in the classroom, Ellis hopes to inspire kids to reach for the same great heights that these wonderful characters achieved.

“These people did amazing things, but they can also inspire young people today to go out and do something out of the ordinary to become the heroes of their own lives,” explains Paul.

His charismatic, personally authentic performance style has influenced a generation of artists away from the artifice of pop, and closer towards the realness of folk. Though he remains among the most pop-friendly of today's singer-songwriters - his songs regularly appear in hit movie and TV soundtracks - he has bridged the gulf between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger more successfully than perhaps any of his songwriting peers.

Don’t miss this incredible musician and performer for a fun afternoon concert the whole family will enjoy!

The Ellis Paul Family Show is Saturday, March 31 at 2:00pm at the Strand Theatre in Rockland. Tickets $8 children 12 & under, $12 adults – General Admission. Tickets are available by calling the theatre at 594-0070, online at www.rocklandstrand.com, or at the box office walk up window 6:30-8:30 daily.

I Pity the Fool ‘80s Fundraising Dance March 31st

I Pity the Fool ‘80s Fundraising Dance March 31st
Editor: David Mills

Rockland, ME - Youthlinks’ third annual I Pity The Fool fundraising dance is gearing up to be the most awesome yet.  Hot Pink Flannel is teaming up with Youthlinks to create a two stop progressive party.  On March 31st start your night at 7:00 pm Yvette Torres Fine Art on Winter Street in Rockland for great music and ‘80s fun.  The Nikki Hunt Band is back with ‘80s tunes and her lighted hula- hoops.  There will be contests and great prizes, so dress for success.  We’ll even provide a moustache making station to get you ready for stop number 2:  Hot Pink Flannel’s ‘Stashe Bash at Amalfi on the Water.  Your $10 I Pity the Fool admission fee goes to support the free after-school of Youthlinks and includes admission to the ‘Stashe Bash!  To sweeten the deal, Hot Pink Flannel will be raffling off a ‘Stashe Bashket at the ‘Stashe Bash and the only way to enter is with your I Pity the Fool ticket.

Not convinced that the ‘80s and mustaches go together?  Just think Hulk Hogan, Magnum P.I. or Mr. Belvedere.  Got it?

I Pity the Fool is sponsored by Café Miranda, Yvette Torres Fine Art, RHEAL Day Spa, Hot Pink Flannel and Machias Savings Bank.  Raffle and contest prizes have been generously donated by many local businesses.  See the complete list at  http://youthlinksonline.org/events.htm#sponsors.

Tickets are available at the door or by calling Youthlinks at 594-2221.

For more information find us on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/ipitythefool/.

Youthlinks is a program of Broadreach Family & Community Services located in Rockland that provides youth with community service, leadership and enrichment opportunities. These programs help youth learn skills, build self-esteem, cultivate social responsibility, develop leadership abilities and connect to their peers, to adult mentors, and to their communities. Youthlinks is funded primarily by state grants and the generous donations of individuals, businesses, and foundations. All Youthlinks programs are free for participating youth. For more information, visit www.youthlinksonline.org, or call 207-594-2221.

Poetry Month Rockland Events Kick off April 3rd

Poetry Month Rockland Events Kick off April 3rd
Editor: David Mills

Rockland, ME - Poetry  Month Rockland kicks off a month long series of both children’s and adult Poetry events beginning Tuesday April 3.

Beginning Tuesday April - Poetry Art Classes for Children in Grades 3-5 on Mondays April 3, 9, and 23 at 4 PM. Registration is required for each class and class size is limited to eight participants.

Tuesday April 3 at 6:30 PM
Poetry Reading: Four Strong Women Speak:
Kathleen Ellis, Elizabeth Tibbetts, Pat Ranzoni & Kristen Lindquist (Friends Community Room)

Wednesday April 4, 11 & 25 at 10:30 AM
Rhymetime Storytime for Children

Wednesdays in April at 12:00 Noon
Lunchtime Fireside Poetry (Library Reading Room)
April 4: Susan Connelly & Janet Shea
April 11: Local High School Poets
April 18: Alan Clark & Ellen Goldsmith
April 25: Carol Bachofner & TBA

Other Poetry Month Activities:
- Check out the Poems in the windows of Downtown Rockland Businesses

- Poem on Your Pillows at Historic Inns of Rockland

At The Library:

- Add a leaf with an original or favorite poem at
   the Poet Tree.
        - Create on the Magnetic Poetry Board.
        - Peruse Poetry display of Masks & Poetry.
        - Borrow some Books from the Library’s Poetry          
          Collection

AND last, but not least, applications for nominating the next Rockland Poet Laureate are due on March 23.

For More Information, Call the Rockland Library at 594-0310

Entertainment: Simons & Goodwin Performs Rockland Public Library March 22nd

Entertainment: Simons & Goodwin Performs Rockland Public Library March 22nd
Editor: David Mills

Rockland, ME - Simons & Goodwin will be performing at the Rockland Public Library on March 22nd around 6:30pm. Bob Simons and Renee Goodwin have been performing in the Boston area and beyond since the mid 1960's.   Bob has performed solo and with the groups Watkins Marsh Bumppe Shoppe and Frosty Morn' while Ren has performed solo and in a duo with Bill Staines.  Since the summer of 2006 they have performed together as the duo Simons and Goodwin.  Their eclectic performances include contemporary and traditional folk, country and originals.  Their unique sound and tight delivery comes from years of friendship and beautiful, intricate cross-harmonies.

We hope you all will be able to watch Simons & Goodwin perform at the Rockland Public Library on the 22nd of March. The Rockland Public Library is located at 80 Union Street Rockland, Maine.

Owls Head Transportation Museum Midcoast Model Festival March 24th-25th

Owls Head Transportation Museum Midcoast Model Festival March 24th-25th
Editor: David Mills

Owls Head, ME - The Owls Head Transportation Museum will be hold their annual Midcoast Model Festival on March 24th and March 25th from 9:30am to 5pm, each event day.


Midcoast Model Festival is a two day event exhibiting a vast array of models large and small, built by young and old. Modelers from throughout Maine and beyond display a mix of both kit models as well as hand-made creations.

Featuring everything from antique model steam engines, to cars, planes and trains. All sizes accommodated. Indoor and outdoor airplane and car model demonstrations. “Make-and-take” family activities and more!

Adults $12; children under 18 free.

Gates open at 9:30 am and close at 5:00 pm each event day.

Little more information: Modelers from throughout Maine and beyond display a mix of both kit models as well as hand-made creations. Featuring everything from antique model steam engines, to cars, planes and trains. All sizes accommodated. Indoor and outdoor airplane and car model demonstrations. “Make-and-take” family activities and more.

We hope you all will be able to set these two dates aside to see all the models, demonstrations and more.

Think Spring! Craft Night for Adults and Teens at Rockland Public Library March 28th

Think Spring! Craft Night for Adults and Teens at Rockland Public Library March 28th

Rockland, ME - Come to the Rockland Public Library on Wednesday, March 28 at 6:30 PM for a fun after-hours evening and learn how to make several different crafts.  There will be five tables to explore.

Make a “beachcomber's alphabet" sign with Mary Gaudette using photos of natural items (rocks, seaweed, etc.) that form letters of the alphabet along with driftwood and shells.  Learn a basic glass suncatcher window technique with Diane Green Hebert and create a special handmade piece with sea glass, stained glass, beads and shells which will hang like a jewel in your window.  If you have colored items you wish to use bring them along. Build wound wire bracelets with Peter Proeller using salvaged multicolored copper telephone wire. Bracelets will be C shaped so they can slip on and off wrists easily.  Jody Hoffses will teach participants how to assemble and sew together a button embellished felt flower pin. Patty King will show crafters how to create various kinds of paper flowers using mulberry and construction paper, as well as from old books and magazines.

 Just bring your fingers and a willingness to learn; supplies will be provided. This free program is for adults and teenagers. Rockland Public Library is located at 80 Union St . For more information, call 594-0310.

Please come to this great Rockland Public Library event at 6:30pm on March 28th.

Entertainment: 14 Strings Jazz Trio Performs Rock City Cafe Tonight March 16th

Entertainment: 14 Strings Jazz Trio Performs Rock City Cafe Tonight March 16th
Editor: David Mills

Rockland, ME - At Rock City Cafe tonight you will be able to listen to 14 Strings Jazz Trio as they perform. 14 Strings Jazz Trio is Jon Luoma- viola, Harry Richter- guitar, Doreen Conboy – bass. Jazz standards, original compositions and tunes with Latin and European flavor. The jazz trio, 14 STRINGS gets its unique sound from the unusual combination of viola, bass and guitar. Innovative arrangements and provocative rhythms give contemporary appeal to jazz standards, soulful ballads, Latin bossas and sambas, plus a twist of Django Reinhardt and Svend Assmussen. To round out the set lists, violist, Jon Luoma adds original compositions. Luoma, an artist and illustrator, studied in the Jazz and Contemporary Music program at University of Maine in Augusta, UMA. Harry Richter, on guitar, makes and repairs violins and repairs other stringed instruments at his shop, Somerset Violins, in Waterville. Jon plays a viola made by Harry. Richter also studied jazz guitar at UMA . Doreen Conboy has toured and performed with many Maine bands on bass and cello, and works as a painter and filmmaker.

We hope you all will be able to come out tonight. 14 Stings Jazz Trio starts their Rock City Cafe performance at 7pm. Rock City Cafe is located at 316 Main Street in Rockland, ME.

Thomaston Public Library Friday Night Film Series "Songcatcher" March 16th

Thomaston Public Library: Friday Night Film Series "Songcatcher" March 16th
Editor David Mills

Thomaston, ME - The Thomaston Public Library will be showing "Songcatcher" apart of their Friday Film Series. This Thomaston Public Library event starts at 6:30pm. Thomaston Public Library is located on Main Street in Thomaston, ME.

During a visit to her sister in Appalachia, musicologist Lily Penleric (Janet McTeer) stumbles upon a treasure trove of dozens of Scots-Irish ballads that have been preserved for generations by the local populace and are unknown to the outside world. Intent on collecting the beautiful songs, Lily comes to admire the locals, who live a tough, hardscrabble existence without complaint.

We hope you all will be able to attend Thomaston Public Library's Friday Night Series showing of "Songcatcher" at 6:30pm.

Rocky Coast News is a division of Rocky Coast Media

Rockland Public Library: World Affairs Slide-Talk: Ben Angulo March 15th

Rockland Public Library: World Affairs Slide-Talk With Ben Angulo March 15th
Editor: David Mills

Rockland, ME - There a special World Affairs Slide-Talk by Ben Angulo tonight at the Rockland Public Library on Union Street, Rockland, ME. This great Rockland Public Library event starts at 6:30pm the the Community room.

Join Rockland resident Ben Angulo as he discusses Amazon Pueblo, started at the University of Maine, and how he plans to assist the people of La Libertad, a small indigenous village found in the Colombian Amazon, near the borders of Peru and Brazil.  The village is only 14 years old, and has grown from 50 to over 350 people.  They live in near abject poverty, however, the hardships that they endure are balanced by the profound beauty and incredible biodiversity of the rainforest.

The slide-talk will focus on what can help the villagers to enhance their dignity and quality of life by following sustainable practices with food, water, energy, and economics.

We hope all those in the community will be able to attend, if time allows.

Rocky Coast News is a division of Rocky Coast Media