WAYNE – A natural and local history walk will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Gott Pasture Preserve.

Kennebec Land Trust members will lead the walk on the recently acquired preserve donated by the Ladd family.

The afternoon will begin with an easy walk through the pasture to Wilson Pond. It will be followed by refreshments at the Ladd camp on Wilson Pond. After refreshments, Charlie Jacobs will take anyone who is interested to the old cellar hole on the property.

Those wishing can meet at 1 p.m. at George’s Road on Hardscrabble Road. For more information, contact the trust at 377-2848.

Art club

AUBURN – Barbara Randall, local poet, educator and world traveler, will read some of her poems at 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6, when the Auburn Art Club begins its season at the High Street Congregational Church.

Selections will be mostly from her recently published “Musings.” Hostesses assisting Chairwoman Julie Adams will be Donna Bain, Elinor Brockway and Helen Levesque.

Swim season

AUBURN – The YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston and the YWCA of Central Maine are preparing to kick off the 2003-04 Twin Cities swim team season.

The Sea Lions are a co-ed swim team for kids ages 6 to 18. The collaborative effort of the two organizations offers emphasis on the development of each individual in accordance with his/her abilities and desires.

Registration will begin at the scheduled fall parents meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, at the YMCA. The season will begin Tuesday, Oct. 14. For more information, contact the YMCA at 795-4095 or the YWCA at 795-4050.

Speaker set

AUBURN – The National Association of Insurance Women – Androscoggin Valley will meet Wednesday, Oct. 8, at the Martindale Country Club, Beech Hill Road.

The meeting will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m. and dinner at 5:45 p.m. The speaker will be Rich Pelletier, owner of Pelletier’s Karate-Do, who will speak and give a self-defense demonstration. Reservations can be made by calling Darlene or Nicole at Parent Insurance at 784-5181.

Making plans

LEWISTON – The L/A Veterans Council has begun making plans for the Veterans Day Musical Tribute on Tuesday, Nov. 11. Color guards interested in participating should contact Chairman Bert Dutil at 786-2305.

The event will be held at 10 a.m. at the Lewiston Armory, Central Avenue. The council plans to unveil two or three more stones in Veterans Memorial Park in the afternoon.

Essay contest

AUBURN – “Being the Best I Can Be” is the topic of the 2004 Optimist essay contest. The district winner will earn a $650 college scholarship. The deadline for the short essay is Dec. 31.

The contest is open to high school students age 18 and under. See optimist.org and search for “essay contest” under the help/site map for more information. E-mail name and mailing address to [email protected] for an application and contest rules.