Celebrate another year’s worth of music making with Lauren Rioux’s amazing studio. Students perform Bach to Bluegrass, with inspiring professionals Brittany Haas, Joe K. Walsh, and Eve Vernon Sawyer. This year marks 21 years of Lauren’s commitment to music education. Concert held Sunday, January 19, 2 to 4:30 p.m. at Corthell Hall, 37 College Avenue, Gorham. For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/events/451640609052130/.

Christian Labonte, a graduate of Lewiston High School who attends the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, was one of 14 students selected to receive the 2019 Alva S. Appleby Scholarship from the Maine Dental Association Charitable Foundation.

Each of the students was awarded $3,500. To be considered for the annual Appleby Scholarship, a student must be from the state of Maine, have completed their first year of dental school, and be currently enrolled in a dental school accredited by the American Dental Association. 

Labonte is a member of the class of 2021 at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine who received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine. He is the son of Mark and Lisa Labonte of Lewiston.

Incorporated in 1867, the Maine Dental Association is a professional membership organization. The MDA works to support members in achieving excellence in dentistry and to be leaders in oral health in Maine. For more information about the MDA, go to www.medental.org.

Devoting a day and a half to programming derived from King’s racial justice legacy, Bates presents Stanford psychologist Jennifer Lynn Eberhardt with the keynote address: “Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think and Do.” Also featuring an interfaith service, an ample offering of workshops, a debate between Bates and Morehouse students, and an evening performance. The events take place Sunday and Monday, January 19 and 20. Free, however tickets are required for certain events. Full schedule can be found at bates.edu/MLK. For more information 207-786-6400.

The public is invited to participate in a French sing-along at 1:30 p.m. Friday, January 17, in Room 170 at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College.

Les Troubadours will lead in a selection of local Franco favorites. The sing-alongs are held from September through May. Admission is free. Call the USM Stormline at (207) 780-4800 to check for cancellations. For more information, call (207) 576-3212.

Gorham Yoga Company hosts Art Night-Rustic painting on January 17 at 6 p.m. Join us for a fun time of community! This DIY class with instruction from local artist Sarah Copperberg, will have you feeling creative in no time. $20 covers all materials and instruction to make your own rustic painting. Limited to 15 students! Grab a friend, sign up, and enjoy a hands-on start to the New Year! For more information call gorhamyogaco@gmail.com

Concerts for a Cause is proud to host Bold Riley on Saturday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Universalist Church of Auburn. 

Bold Riley is a folk quintet hailing from Western Maine, known for full vocal harmonies and uplifting originals. Fiddle, guitar, banjo, accordion, bass and percussion provide a wide range of instrumentation for listeners. While band members Michael Hayashida, John Gunn, Julia Edwards, Erin Sampson, and Dennis Boyd take turns singing lead, and a strong sense of community drives the energy of their music.

The band just released their first full length album, Kinship, showcasing a refined list of originals peppered with a few key covers. The result is truly Bold Riley: family, love, and hope. The band is immensely proud of joy, connection and community their music brings to all listeners.

Concerts for a Cause brings special concerts to the LA community, while raising money for local charities. The series is produced by a dedicated group of church members.

The First Universalist Church of Auburn is located at 169 Pleasant Street (across from Dairy Joy) in Auburn. Parking is accessible.

On January 1, Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings Bank merged under a single banking charter becoming Maine Community Bank.  Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings will retain their names as divisions of the new Maine Community Bank.  The merger of these two community banks creates an almost $1 billion bank, providing strength for future growth, while retaining their established bank identities and ties to their communities.

The creation of Maine Community Bank combines the strengths and rich histories of two banks that share the same mission and core values. “Bringing these two great banks together under one banking charter is the next logical step for the relationship between Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings,” said Jeanne Hulit, President and CEO of Maine Community Bank. “Both banks are already vibrant and strong. Officially unifying these two longstanding community banks enables us to grow stronger together for the benefit of our customers, our colleagues and our communities.”

This merger gives Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings the ability to increase lending capacity and introduce expanded product offerings. All bank branches will remain open and customers will have access to full-service banking at all branch locations from Auburn to Kennebunk later in 2020.

Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings are updating their visual identities, bringing the look and feel of each division in line with the parent brand, Maine Community Bank. “We’re thrilled to unveil our Maine Community Bank brand family identity,” said Hulit. “Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings share the same values and integrity, which our new Maine Community Bank logo represents. We are proud of our heritage and excited about our shared future as Maine Community Bank.”

Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings have been financial partners to the people of Central and Southern Maine for the past 150 years. To help carry their commitment to the communities they serve, the two banks merged on January 1, 2020, becoming divisions of Maine Community Bank. The merger expands the lending capacity, product offerings, and branch service area, while keeping all decision making at the local level. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, and Windham.

Maine Event Comedy presents Worcester’s Jimmy Cash at Craft Brew Underground, Friday, January 10 at 8 p.m. The show will also feature Al Christakis and Kathleen DeMarle.

Cash is a young, working-class man with an old soul. He draws from his experience as a father of a teenage daughter, an uncertain amount of stepchildren, and 15 years as a public school janitor. He performs all over Boston and New England including Nick’s Comedy Stop, The Woohaha Comedy Club, and the Comedy Attic.

Christakis hails from Cape Cod and was selected for the 2019 WOOtenanny and Portland Comedy Festivals. He’s performed at Laugh Boston, The Comedy Studio, and Empire Comedy Club. He also lends his talents to charitable causes with Funny 4 Funds.

Boston’s DeMarle shares tales of living with a one-eyed dog and the woes of being taller than the average American man. She’s performed in the Cleveland, Boston, and Charm City (Baltimore) comedy festivals.

The show is for ages 21-and-older; admission is pay-what-you-can. Craft Brew Underground is located at 34 Court Street in Auburn. It was voted the No. 1 Craft Beer Bar in Maine and offers more than 200 choices of craft beer, cider, and wine. For more information,  call/text (207) 513-0742 or email maineeventcomedy@gmail.com.

Commemorating a new day, at the beginning of a new year and a new decade, I stood the other day on a hilltop of a popular hiking spot and I surveyed the Atlantic Ocean to the east—I could almost see the Appalachian Trail far to the west and the lights of the cities to the south—and I thought about the past and the future of our great state.

You know, taking stock of the past at the turn of the year often lets us see the future more clearly.

I recall vividly, a year ago, standing before the people of Maine and becoming your 75th Governor. I talked then about our history, about “the unsung” people of Maine as poet Wes McNair called them, and about health care, the opioid epidemic, climate change, education and the economy.

That same week, by executive order, Maine expanded Medicaid. Now, more than 56,000 people have accessed life-saving health care coverage.

Then with the passage of LD 1, we made sure that Maine people would not lose their health insurance due to pre-existing conditions and that their families would have necessary mental health, pediatric care, substance abuse treatment and the like. And we began the hard work of reducing health insurance costs for small businesses and self-employed individuals.

We commenced a battle to undo the ravages of the terrible opioid epidemic, providing life-saving naloxone across the state, creating more recovery centers, providing medication assisted treatment, beefing up prevention efforts and training dozens of recovery coaches to turn people’s lives around.

We issued the long-delayed voter-approved housing bonds to build 200 new homes and weatherize another 100 for seniors.

We revived the Children’s Cabinet and the public health nursing program, we hired dozens of child protection workers, beefed up prenatal care and commenced a Safe Sleep campaign to prevent the needless deaths of so many infants.

In June I signed a budget that had broad bipartisan support in the legislature — one that was negotiated and debated with civility and collaboration. That budget provided property tax relief — sent money back to the taxpayers — and it invested another $115 million in pre-K-12 public education and adult ed and it set us on the path to a $40,000 minimum teacher salary.

Working with the legislature, we enacted significant measures to tackle the high cost of prescription drugs. We passed groundbreaking legislation to require dangerous people to relinquish their firearms and we created incentives for residential and community solar projects, for offshore wind, for heat pumps and for the purchase of electric vehicles and charging stations through nontax dollars.

We created the bipartisan Maine Climate Council and Maine joined the US Climate Alliance.

In September I stood before the United Nations and represented you and told the delegates of 193 countries about the things our state is doing to combat climate change.

In November we announced a ten-year economic development plan — the first in decades — that’ll stimulate growth and personal income and workforce availability in the coming years, with results that are concrete and measurable.

So today I want to give thanks to the thousands of people across Maine who offered their help — citizens, businesses and legislators from every corner of the state — who gave us their suggestions about the economy, health care, public safety, taxation, climate change and children’s issues; who told us they want to see the state move forward with a civil tone and in a spirit of cooperation to become a place of innovation and excellence.

I especially thank the fifteen people who stepped up to serve in the new cabinet — including three people who served in the previous administration, four veterans, eight women and seven men. Perhaps the most qualified cabinet in recent history.

A year ago, I invited the people of Maine to “rise before the dawn — like the new mist over the Sandy River — and seek adventure, with hope in our hearts and love in our soul for the brand-new day.”

Today, in this new year, a year later, in our bicentennial year, in a brand-new decade, I want to thank you for the privilege of being your Governor, and I invite the people of Maine again to join me in an adventure of change, progress and prosperity.

The Waterville Opera House (WOH) is excited to present a mystery that shines a new light on favorite characters when Miss Holmes opens this January 2020 in Waterville. Inspired by the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it’s not just another mystery – it’s a reexamination of the Victorian world of Holmes and Watson that explores the added obstacles that these two iconic characters would have faced if they had been women.

In a time and place where gender roles are rigidly defined, Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson dare to challenge societal norms by providing an unusual, but necessary, service. When an anonymous note sends a newlywed wife looking for help, Miss Holmes and Dr. Watson work together to uncover the secrets surrounding a corrupt police inspector whose wives have a habit of turning up dead. But this Holmes and Watson face far greater challenges than bringing the cunning criminal to justice. Miss Holmes possesses one of the greatest deductive minds of her generation, but she chafes at the restraints imposed upon her by society and family. Dr. Watson struggles to make a difference at the only hospital in London that will hire female doctors. 

Join the Waterville Opera House and go on the hunt for a killer with Miss Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Dorothy Watson, and an all-star local cast of memorable characters. With murder, mystery, mistaken identities, and plot twists that you won’t expect, Miss Holmes is an exciting and thought-provoking mystery with a positive message. Reserve your tickets today!

Miss Holmes Showtimes are January 24, 25, 31 and February 1 at 7:30 p.m. and January 26 and February 2 at 2 p.m. 

The talented cast of community actors performing in Miss Holmes are Miss Sherlock Holmes: Phoebe Sanborn; Dr. Dorothy Watson: Maggie Wachtl; Edwin Greener/Passerby: Erik Hyatt; Superintendent/Passerby: Joe Blackwell; Mycroft Holmes/Vagrant: Bart Shattuck; Dr. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson/Peggy/Martha: Jeralyn Shattuck; Mrs. Hudson: Eve Blackwell; Eudora Featherstone: Marie Cormier; Inspector Geoffrey Lestrade/Orderly #1: John DeWitt; Lizzie Chapman: Hannah King; Thomas Chapman/Orderly #3: Tim Croce; Dr. Michael Stamford/Passerby: Melvin Morrison; Reginald/Orderly #2: John Buys. Production Team, Written By: Christopher M. Walsh; Director: Debra Susi; Scenic and Lighting Designer: Tony Gerow; Sound Designer: Ben David Richmond; Costume Designer: Candace Chase; Stage Manager: Isaac Tardy

Miss Holmes runs January 24 through February 2 at the Waterville Opera House. Tickets range from $21 to $24. Groups of 10+ receive a 10% discount. WOH’s 19 through 20 season programming is made possible through the generous sponsorship of the Harold Alfond Foundation, Colby College, Golden Pond Wealth Management, Maine General Health, Kennebec Savings Bank, Central Maine Motors, Northern Light Inland Hospital, GHM Agency, Granite Hill Estates, Central Maine Newspapers, Marie Cormier, JS McCarthy Printers, and Woodlands Senior Living. Miss Holmes is presented through special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing. For more information or to reserve tickets call 873-7000, visit our website athttp://www.operahouse.org or our Box Office at 1 Common Street!

The Waterville Opera House has been Central Maine’s cultural center since 1902, treating audiences of all ages to the magic of the performing arts. The 810-seat venue has been host to theatrical productions, ballet performances, concerts, vaudeville and comedy acts, touring shows, as well as a variety of community celebrations and special events. Each year, the Opera House draws 30,000 patrons, reaches 4,000 students through its education performances, and features 250 youths in their theater camps and productions. From the classics to new releases the Waterville Opera House has a seat for you. For more information, visithttp://www.operahouse.org/