Maine Event Comedy presents the third annual Tightest Five contest at Bear Bones Beer, Thursday, September 19 at 7 p.m. Stand Up! Records recording artist Jay Chanoine will be the evening’s featured comedian.

Any stand-up comedian will tell you they have a tight five minutes, but who has the Tightest Five? Twenty of New England’s rising comedy stars will give it their best shot.

In the first preliminary round, Mark Turcotte will host 10 hopefuls as they perform their best five minutes of original material. Five will advance to the semifinals. Along with bragging rights, the winner’s haul includes over $200 in cash and prizes.

The prelim will include Stephen Amoroso, Nate Bradford, Fred Dearnley, Joe Flynn, Chris Fritz, Al Ghanekar, Nick Gordon, Dave McLaughlin, Brendan Williams, and Randy Williams.

Described by AXS as “the funniest comedian you don’t know yet,” New Hampshire’s Chanoine honed his cynical perspective and sharp wit on stages throughout the country for the past nine years. He’s a regular on JT Habersaat’s Altercation Punk Comedy tour and recently recorded his second album “The Texas Chanoinesaw Massacre,” which will soon be released October 11 via Stand Up! Records.

The second preliminary round will be October 17, followed by the semifinals on November 21, and the finals on December 19.

The show is free and for ages 21-and-older. Bear Bones Beer is located at 43 Lisbon St., Lewiston. For more information call 207-513-0742 or e-mail maineeventcomedy@gmail.com.

The 12th annual Aging Well Living Well Expo kicks off on Friday, October 4, 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a breakfast keynote address by Diane Atwood, the former health reporter on Maine’s WCSH6 news station, who now has multiple internet platforms on aging and health. Featuring workshops and lectures, the day-long Expo is a learning opportunity, and will be held at the Grand Summit Hotel and Conference Center at Sunday River. 

The Aging Well Living Well Expo is presented by the nonprofit SeniorsPlus, the designated Area Agency on Aging for Western Maine. Tickets for the Expo are $25 per person and include breakfast and lunch, as well as entrance to workshops. Tickets can be purchased via the brochure downloadable at www.seniorsplus.org/AWLW or by calling 1 800-427-1241. Raffle and chondola ride tickets may be purchased for an additional fee. Seats are limited; advance registration is strongly recommended.

Diane Atwood is author of the blog Catching Health with Diane Atwood and this year introduced her podcast Conversations About Aging, for which she interviewed people across Maine ages 60-100 about their perspectives on aging. Her keynote will focus on these life stories and the discoveries she has made working on her podcast. In the interviews that comprise her podcast, she encourages her subjects to think deeply about how they are living their lives. Their responses encourage a wider conversation about growing older. In her talk, Diane will share some of the stories she’s heard and the lessons she has learned.

Diane’s career path began with working as a radiation therapist at Maine Medical Center. She went on to work for 20 years as the health reporter at WCSH (NewsCenter Maine), the NBC-affiliated television station. She left in 2002 to manage marketing and public relations for Mercy Hospital (now Northern Light Mercy Hospital) in Portland. In 2011, Diane decided to combine the experience and skills she had acquired over the years to create the award-winning health and wellness blog Catching Health and now Conversations About Aging. Both the blog and podcast may be found at CatchingHealth.com and in the Bangor Daily News.

Attendees are invited to explore serious learning, such as understanding Medicare options, having fraud and scam awareness and doing first-time explorations like learning about self-employment and marijuana. The workshops to be presented at the Expo cover a spectrum of topics including law, health, exercise, cooking, and art. Workshop titles range from “Healthy Dessert Choices” to “Long Term Care Planning,” to “Self Defense and Safety” and “Downsizing Made Easy.” Workshops run 75 minutes each.

“Our goal is to inspire and encourage healthy, active aging,” said Betsy Sawyer-Manter, President and CEO of SeniorsPlus. Almost 300 people attended the Expo last year. A complete schedule of programming can be found at the SeniorsPlus website, www.seniorsplus.org.  

SeniorsPlus is grateful for the support of its major sponsors for the Expo: Turner Publishing, Inc., Subaru of America, Healey & Associates, Central Maine Healthcare, Senior Planning Center, Home Care for Maine, Woodlands Senior Living, Martin’s Point Health Care, and Gleason Media.

The mission of SeniorsPlus is to enrich the lives of seniors and adults with disabilities. Established in 1972, the organization believes in supporting the independence, dignity, and quality of life of those we serve. 

SeniorsPlus covers Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford counties, where it is the designated Area Agency on Aging. The agency focuses on older people, adults with disabilities, and families, and offers a network of support, including information and assistance, short-term case management, Medicare counseling, caregiver support and respite, prevention education, and Options Counseling. It provides nutritional services including Meals on Wheels and community dining in our tri-county, largely rural territory. Annually, SeniorsPlus serves 17,000 individuals.

 The Maine Arts Commission has opened registration for the 2019-20 Poetry Out Loud program. Poetry Out Loud is a student recitation contest that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high school students across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. 

The Maine Arts Commission is proud to partner once again with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation to give Maine schools the opportunity to participate in Poetry Out Loud in 2019-2020. Last year 32 Maine schools participated in the program. 

Educational materials and resources for Poetry Out Loud are provided at no cost to teachers or students, and registration is available at www.MaineArts.com.gov Schools must register before December 1 to participate in the 2019-20 program.

Student champions from each participating school will advance to either the Northern Regional Finals at Hampden Academy or Southern Regional Finals at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center. The State Finals will take place at the Waterville Opera House on March 2, 2020.

Each winner at the state level receives $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington, DC to compete for the national championship. The state champion’s school receives $500 for the purchase of poetry materials. The first runner-up in each state receives $100, with $200 for their school. At the national finals, a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends is awarded annually.

For more information about Poetry Out Loud in Maine, contact Brita Wanger-Morier, Director of Media and Performing Arts for the Maine Arts Commission at (207) 656-2750, or brita.wanger-morier@maine.gov.

The City of Auburn’s year-long 150th Celebration continues to “rock,” with the upcoming Riverwalk Blues & Brews Festival! 

This FREE festival, which is presented by Auburn Savings and the City of Auburn, will take place on Saturday, September 28 from 2 to 8 p.m. downtown at Festival Plaza. 

The blues fest will showcase incredible local blues talent, including headliners Downeast Soul Coalition, Memphis Lightning, Double Entendre, Tom Dube, cigar box guitarist and Continental Shakedown The blues fest will also be featuring Auburn Blues Legends Denny Breau, Bonnie Edwards, Ken Goodman, George Stamboules, Matt Fournier, Mary Murphy & Jerry Joe Carrier! 

Craft Brew Underground will be serving up brews in the “beer garden” from BluesFest exclusive brewery, Side by Each Brewing Co. Great Falls Delivery Cafe will be offering authentic BBQ. In case of rain, the festival will move indoors to Craft Brew Underground (34 Court Street). 

“We are delighted to welcome these exceptional blues musicians to Auburn,” said Liz Allen, Auburn’s Communications Manager. “We are especially proud to celebrate our home-grown Blues legends. We hope everyone will join us for the Blues & Brews Festival and enjoy all that downtown Auburn has to offer on a beautiful fall weekend.” 

The Festival is scheduled for the Saturday of what is known locally as “Dempsey weekend.” Event organizers warmly welcome Dempsey Challenge participants and supporters. 

Craft Brew Underground and Gritty’s will both feature live music following the Blues Festival. Gritty’s will host Smith Collaboration from 8:00 p.m. to midnight; and CBU will host Mike Schools and the Fish from 8 to 11:00 p.m. 

For more information on the Riverwalk Blues & Brews Festival, visit www.auburn150.com/blues- brews. 

When my husband, Stan, suffered a stroke six years ago and passed away a year later, I got to be all too familiar with the ups and downs of health care and the health insurance industry and system in Maine. I became the “reassurer in chief” for our five daughters and the “treasurer in chief” for our family finances. I gave our friends some guarded hope…hope I didn’t always feel myself. But I was the strong one, the advocate, the informed one. Privately, I tried to figure out what the insurance would pay for and what it wouldn’t.

Now, I am a lawyer. At the time of my husband’s illness, I was Maine’s Attorney General.

I am no shrinking violet, but what about other families who are forced to do battle with health insurance companies at a time in their lives when they are least able to cope with a crisis? What about the families who don’t have any savings or income to pay the bills, the deductibles and copays and prescription drug costs?

Those families are why our administration has worked so hard to make health care coverage more affordable in Maine. In the last eight months, we’ve expanded MaineCare to more than 36,000 people, we put federal consumer protections into state law, we named an Opioid Response Director—Gordon Smith—to establish a Prevention and Recovery Cabinet, to distribute 35,000 units of the life-saving, anti-overdose medication Naloxone and to train 250 recovery coaches statewide. We also enacted bills to allow for the wholesale importation of prescription drugs, to create a prescription drug affordability board, to increase drug price transparency and to better regulate pharmacy benefit managers.

I am proud of the work we have done with the Legislature, but there is more we can do to reduce health care costs in Maine. So, earlier this month, I wrote to the federal government to tell them that Maine will pursue creating a State-Based Health Benefit Exchange on the Federal Platform—that’s a health exchange for Maine. This way, Maine can engage in outreach and marketing and consumer assistance. We can help you, the consume, while the federal government will retain the cost of the website and call center for health insurance eligibility and enrollment.

This move will allow us to reach out to communities and small businesses we know who need access to health insurance but who are hard to reach and don’t know where to turn.

Enrolling more people, especially if they are younger and healthier individuals, will improve the market overall and should really lead to lower premiums for all people in health insurance plans. 

In addition to this, having a State-Based Marketplace on the Federal Platform will protect Maine from the attempts to sabotage affordable health care by politicians in Washington, D.C.

The cost to establish a State-Based Market is minimal. In fact, we may even get back money from the federal government—some of the fees they already take from firms doing business in Maine—and the benefits will be large.

Maine will call the shots on educating and engaging consumers and supporting the navigators for open-enrollment periods.

I’ll be introducing legislation to establish the details of the new State Based Marketplace when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

You know, Stan and I were lucky, we had health insurance. But boy, dealing with copays and deductibles and the high cost of prescription drugs is such a challenge for all of us, and is an even greater challenge, of course, if you’re not lucky enough to have health insurance.

Health care coverage—I know you agree —should not be a luxury, or some privilege reserved for well to do people—it is a human right.

It is for Stan. It is for every Mainer. It is for you. It is for all of our state.

As governor, my goal is to ensure affordable, accessible health care for every Maine person, every small business, every self-employed person, every entrepreneur and every family across the state. Establishing this State-Based Health Benefit Exchange is one more step toward that goal.

Governor Janet Mills announced today that she will allow LD 1083, “An Act To Implement Ranked-choice Voting for Presidential Primary and General Elections in Maine”, to become law without her signature in January 2020. In a memo to the Legislature announcing her decision this afternoon, Governor Mills lauded Ranked-choice Voting (RCV) as giving voters greater voice and encouraging civility, but explained that after consultation with stakeholders and much deliberation she remained concerned over costs, logistics, and the lack of funding to implement the bill.

“My experience with ranked-choice voting is that it gives voters a greater voice and it encourages civility among campaigns and candidates at a time when such civility is sorely needed. At the same time, there are serious questions about the cost and logistics of ranked-choice voting, including collecting and transporting ballots from more than 400 towns in the middle of winter, and questions remain about the actual impact of this particular primary on the selection of delegates to party conventions,” Governor Mills wrote in her memo the Legislature. “At the time the bill authorizing presidential primaries was enacted in late June, the Senate decided to hold L.D. 1083 because of its fiscal impact on state and local governments. In enacting this bill late in the day on August 26, the Senate did not add any appropriation, nor did it clarify how the will of the voters would be reflected in the selection of delegates and in the ultimate nomination of a candidate for President.”

“By not signing this bill now, I am giving the Legislature an opportunity to appropriate funds and to take any other appropriate action in the Second Regular Session to fully implement ranked-choice voting in all aspects of presidential elections as the Legislature sees fit,” Governor Mills continued. “[…] I thank the sponsors of L.D. 1083 for presenting this bill and I am optimistic about the ability of political parties in Maine to implement ranked-choice voting at every level in an inclusive and fiscally responsible way in the upcoming presidential election year.”

The complete text of Governor Mills’ memo to the Legislature is as follows:

I am permitting L.D. 1083 to become law without my signature, allowing ranked-choice voting to be used in the general election for presidential electors in November 2020.  My experience with ranked-choice voting is that it gives voters a greater voice and it encourages civility among campaigns and candidates at a time when such civility is sorely needed. At the same time, there are serious questions about the cost and logistics of ranked-choice voting, including collecting and transporting ballots from more than 400 towns in the middle of winter, and questions remain about the actual impact of this particular primary on the selection of delegates to party conventions.

At the time the bill authorizing presidential primaries was enacted in late June, the Senate decided to hold L.D. 1083 because of its fiscal impact on state and local governments. In enacting this bill late in the day on August 26, the Senate did not add any appropriation, nor did it clarify how the will of the voters would be reflected in the selection of delegates and in the ultimate nomination of a candidate for President. By not signing this bill now, I am giving the Legislature an opportunity to appropriate funds and to take any other appropriate action in the Second Regular Session to fully implement ranked-choice voting in all aspects of presidential elections as the Legislature sees fit.

As for the general election for presidential electors, the law will allow voters to use ranked-choice voting in the fall of 2020 if there are three or more candidates, requiring a majority vote instead of a plurality vote. The law will still require that one presidential elector be chosen from each congressional district and two electors to be chosen at large, but ranked-choice voting could well make a difference if there are more than two candidates and if no candidate achieves more than fifty percent in the first round of tabulation in one of the two Congressional districts or in the at large count. The two at large electors would both represent the one winner in the statewide tabulation for President.

In the case of the presidential primary, the purpose is not to elect an individual or to choose electors for President, but to allow the party using the primary system to apportion delegates to its convention. Even without this bill, however, the parties could still use ranked-choice voting, or some similar process, in the selection of delegates. Depending on state and national party rules, a party which uses a primary presidential election could elect delegates to the party convention without reference to the results of the primary, and they may select delegates by ranked-choice voting, or some similar method, at the municipal caucuses held in March, per 21-A MRS §311. The party will be free to employ ranked-choice voting in the very process that is most likely to influence which presidential candidates the delegates to the national convention represent in nominating a candidate for President. People whose candidates do not achieve the required threshold will be able to vote for someone else, and the purposes of ranked-choice voting can be fulfilled without making use it in the primary.

I thank the sponsors of L.D. 1083 for presenting this bill and I am optimistic about the ability of political parties in Maine to implement ranked-choice voting at every level in an inclusive and fiscally responsible way in the upcoming presidential election year.

Members from the Centre de la Fancophonie des Americques were intrigued by what Museu, L-A accomplished in a three-month period which included enabling Franco organizations, restaurants, hotels, both citis of Lewiston and Auburn, and the LA Metro Chamber of Commerce, to complete a test-run bus tour of local Franco heritage sites. Quebec delegates who participate in the bus tour were impressed, so they requested Rachel Desgrosseilliers , founding executive director of Museum L-A, attend as a speaker to represent Lewiston-Auburn at the 2019 Conference of Francophonie and Francophile Cities Network held recently in Moncton, New Brunswick. Conference attendees came from all regions of Canada, Louisiana and the New England states.

            The Francophone and Francophile Cities Network was founded in 2015 by the cities of Quebec, Moncton and Lafayette and has been managed by the Centre de la Fancophonies des Ameriques since July 2018 with 150 member cities to provide a way for members to work together building tourism and economic and cultural links for the benefit of their cities and communities.

            The cities of Lewiston and Auburn became members of the network through the Gendron Franco Center with other Francophone organizations who became part of the network. In March 2019, Museum L-A worked with a Quebec intern to organize Franco Trail L-A —a walking tour and bus tour, a website and an app that would become a product to be offered as part of a larger New England Franco route being developed that included Woonsocket R.I., Manchester N.H., Biddeford and Lewiston-Auburn, Maine.

            The panel discussion in which Museum L-A participated, along with Anne Conway of Rhode Island, Isabelle de Bruyn of Ontario and Gwen Leblanc of Nova Scotia, was titled, “On the Way: Creating Tourism Routes.” Projects of developing tourism routes as well as discussion of issues and challenges related to their implementation and success were presented. Museum L-A was asked to specifically address the issues of community engagement, creating dialogue between organizations and municipalities.

            Camden Martin, guest services coordinator for Museum L-A, was chosen out of 265 candidates to participate in a Youth Mobilization section of the conference. Mobilisation Jeunesse 2019, or Youth Mobilization 2019, was an intensive training of four days that comprised both theoretical and hands-on workshops. This training was put together for participants living in the Americas, from ages 19 – 35, to wave durable links with other Francophones in the Americas and to contribute to the promotion of the Francophonie.

            Youth participants were chosen based on their proficiency with the French language as well as demonstrating how they would be able to benefit from this training on a professional and personal level. Out of the 265 candidates, 17 were chosen ranging from the Yukon to Buenos Aires. Martin participated in Profile Tourism, where he learned how to evaluate and identify the touristic potential connected with possible Francophones coming from Canada, Europe or even from other states as he learned how to create and improve touristic offerings based on that potential.

            Other workshops were animated by a company that specializes in augmented reality as they learned how the latter can be used as a veritable touristic asset when promoting local heritage and skillset to the Franco-Trail L-A as well as the new tourism efforts being developed by Museum L-A and that which is rising in our local communities. The young professional participants were able to meet briefly with the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. A series of seminars attended by all participants dealt with: Creating dynamic municipalities that promote youth development and retention; Bilingualism as Driver of Economic Development; Creating Franco-Friendly Businesses and Services; Celebrating the Francophonie at the Heart of a Municipality; and Developing Cultural-Based Tourism among others.

            Bilingual cultural tourism was the order of the day. Tourism is an economic development tool that has been recognized by many provinces of Canada and the Maritimes as most municipalities are looking toward retaining and bringing back their youth. They find this is one way to do it. New Brunswick declared official bilingualism in 1969 and remains, to this day, the only officially bilingual province in Canada.

            Networking with officials of many other municipalities and organizations was of great benefit in sharing of ideas and concepts as great contacts were made that will be useful for future work in tourism for the area. Quebec showed great interest in doing more exchanges in both tourism and the presenting of our mutual heritage.

            Tourism to Museum L-A is of great importance as it has already received visitors from 44 states and 13 countries, all of who leave in awe after learning about the culture of our history including several Canadian provinces and French-speaking European countries. “This allows our museum to let people know where they can stay, eat, play or learn which becomes an economic boost to the area,” said Martin.

            Museum L-A is located in the Bates Mill Complex at 35 Canal Street in Lewiston. Use the parking lot entrance at 36 Chestnut Street. Its hours of operations are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Special tour requests and large group tours outside of these hours are available by appointment. For more information, please contact info@museumla.org or call 207-333-3881.

In nine short years, Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Cooking Matters programming reached more than 30,000 Maine-based participants. Cooking Matters Maine provides hands-on cooking and nutrition classes, as well as grocery store tours, throughout the state, led by volunteer professional chefs and nutritionists.  The courses last six weeks and at each class, participants receive a bag of groceries and recipes to try at home. The tours provide strategies to extend limited food budgets while shopping for healthy, affordable foods. 

“It takes a lot of support and teamwork to make Cooking Matters a success,” said Courtney Kennedy, nutrition and education manager for Good Shepherd Food Bank, which operates Cooking Matters in Maine. “A major highlight for this year was a strategic focus on working with childcare providers statewide. Cooking Matters was able to provide ways that in-home and center-based childcare providers can prepare healthy, affordable meals for kids in their care.”

From July 2018 to July 2019, Cooking Matters Maine held 276 courses and saw a 93% graduation rate. This represents tremendous growth from when the program started in 2011 when the food bank worked with partners to offer 22 Cooking Matters courses to 344 participants. As the program continues to build partnerships that support Good Shepherd Food Bank’s work to reach families in Maine with valuable nutrition and food skills education, the success can only continue to grow. Currently, courses are taught through several partnerships including Maine SNAP-Ed, Cooperative Extension EFNEP programs and Let’s Go! 5-2-1-0. The programming is made possible due to the generous support of Hannaford Supermarkets.

If interested in participating in Cooking Matters or learning more about hosting a Cooking Matters course in your area, please contact Courtney Kennedy, nutrition and education manager at Good Shepherd Food Bank at ckennedy@gsfb.org or (207)782-3554.

Maine Event Comedy presents 20-year comedy veteran Ryan Gartley at Craft Brew Underground, Friday, September 13, 8 p.m. The show will also feature Al Ghanekar, Leonard Kimble, and Paul Cyphers.

With nearly 500 shows of experience, Gartley has performed everywhere from Las Vegas to Bangor. He was featured on the internationally syndicated Steve Katsos Show and was a semi-finalist in the Portland and Boston Comedy Festivals. His critical observations and dry humor have earned him opening spots for national headliners Lenny Clarke, Jeff Dunham, Steven Wright, and Dave Coulier.

Ghanekar has worked with national headliners at New York City’s Gotham Comedy Club and, along with shows throughout the United States, has performed in Sydney, Australia, and Mumbai, India.

As charming as he is funny, Kimble produces shows throughout Maine with The River Comics and recently advanced to the second round in the Last Comix Standing competition at Mohegan Sun.

Dark, cynical, and hilarious, Cyphers hails from Worcester, Massachusetts and has performed at the WOOtenanny Comedy Festival, The Comedy Attic, and WooHaHa Comedy Club.

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

Rotary Lunch Club from noon to 1 p.m. at The Village Inn, 165 High Street, Auburn.  Collins is the State House Reporter for the Sun Journal newspaper and Board President of Youth Journalism International. Collins will share information regarding the upcoming Bill of Rights concert in Auburn. The concert, which is the Maine premiere of this work, will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, at the First Universalist Church in Auburn. The music, which is for a large chorus and eight-member ensemble, brings the immortal words of the first Ten Amendments of the United States Constitution to life. Wesleyan University Professor Neely Bruce, who composed the work, will be in Maine to conduct. U.S. Sen. Angus King plans to share insights on the Bill of Rights as part of the event.  L-A Rotary meets every Thursday at The Village Inn, Auburn from noon to 1 p.m.  Lunch is available for $14. Guests and visiting Rotarians are always welcomed.  For more information, events and other club news visit www.lewistonauburnrotary.org and www.facebook.com/lewistonmainerotary/ or contact PR/Marketing Chair, Monica Millhime 713.7045, millhime@myfairpoint.net or Club President Celeste Yakawonis, 713.7111.