RUMFORD – After a year’s hiatus, the Rumford Community Concert Association will present its first concert in the 2004-05 season. The husband-and-wife guitar and cello duo, Richard Smith and Julie Adams, will appear at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Muskie Auditorium.

Smith was born in Beckenham, Kent, England, in 1971 and started playing guitar at age 5 under the instruction of his father. Richard initially concentrated on the music his father loved – the country picking of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. Soon he was digesting everything he heard, learning even the most complicated of tunes with ease.

He has toured the world, showcasing a repertoire spanning country, bluegrass, mainstreaming jazz, modern pop and rock.

In 1999, Smith married Adams, an accomplished American cellist, and settled in the Nashville area. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, and classically trained at the Cincinnati Conservatory, Adams has won many competitions and played in a variety of musical settings. The couple now play as a duo.

A representative of the Rumford Community Concerts Association will be available at this concert to assist anyone who would like information on how to join. Memberships are $35 for adults, $30 for seniors and $10 for students. Family memberships cost $75.

Candidates’ answers are focus

FARMINGTON – The Western Maine Legislative Caucus will sponsor a candidates’ breakfast at 7 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, at the University of Maine at Farmington in the Olsen Student Center.

The caucus will distribute its fourth copy of Western Maine candidates’ responses to a questionnaire about regional and state issues.

The Western Maine Legislative Caucus is a partnership of UMF, the Mission at the Eastward, SAD 9, the Franklin Community Health Network, Western Maine Community Action and the Alliance. The breakfasts are open to the public.

For more information, people may call the Alliance Office, 778-7274.

Planning Board to hold hearing

RUMFORD – The Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, in the selectmen’s conference room, 145 Congress St., to review the application of Brian and Laurie Frost for the Mountain View Mobile Home Park at 11 Franklin Annex Road.

Democrats to recycle signs

Oxford County Democrats are participating in the election year exercise of recycling their political signs.

County Chairperson Cathy Newell said in a statement, “Our candidates have carefully researched materials and selected recyclable materials for their signs. The corrugated plastic coated signs are recyclable, but their sturdiness makes them usable for several campaigns. The coated cardboard signs are also recyclable but we have had good luck in cleaning and reusing them as well.

“Because our candidates are running as Clean Elections candidates, free of obligation to donors, they have limited budgets, can afford fewer signs than traditional candidates and must be clever in stretching their funds,” she said.

“This approach to signs is a natural fit with their commitment to reuse and recycle as policy.”

Newell said signs will be collected promptly after the Nov. 2 election.

She reminded individuals that it is against the law to tamper with or remove a sign placed by a candidate or campaign. Anyone wishing to display a lawn sign for any of the Democratic candidates may contact her at 875-2116.

National forest visitors surveyed

GORHAM, N.H. – The U.S. Forest Service, in cooperation with Syracuse University, will be conducting visitor surveys in the White Mountain National Forest starting in October and continuing through September 2005. The surveys are part of a national effort to track recreation trends. Survey data will aid recreation managers, state and local tourism planners, and Congress determine the uses, level of visitor satisfaction and needs, and the local economic effects of national forest recreation.

Visitors traveling national forest roads or using trail heads, day-use areas, or special use sites such as ski areas may be asked to participate in the survey. The survey workers will be wearing bright orange vests and will be stationed near “Traffic Survey Ahead” signs. The interview lasts from 6 to 11 minutes, with about one-third of the interviewees asked for additional information on recreation spending during their trip.

All surveys are voluntary, anonymous, and confidential.

More information may be obtained on the Internet at www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum or by calling Gary Davis at 603-466-2713, extension 234, or by calling 603-466-2856 with a teletypewriter.