Fall flotilla

GILEAD – Canoeists and other persons interested are invited to join the Mahoosuc Land Trust in its annual Fabulous Fall Foliage Flotilla on Saturday, Oct. 1. The trek will begin at 9:30 a.m. and last approximately four hours.

Canoes will be put in at the Androscoggin River Bridge on Bridge Street in Gilead. Participants may register by calling 824-3806 and must provide their own canoe, personal flotation device and lunch. A shuttle will be provided to return to vehicles after the trek.

Ladies night

PARIS – The VFW Post 9787 and Auxiliary will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the post home. It will be Ladies Night, with the men supplying the food. All veterans and spouses are invited.

Grange meeting

OXFORD – Oxford Grange will hold an informational meeting at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, when Amy MacMillan of SeniorsPlus will explain the new Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. She will also answer questions. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome. The Grange is handicapped accessible.

GOP speaker

BRYANT POND – Nate Walton, a Bates College student and chairman of the Maine College Republicans, will be the featured speaker at the Tuesday, Oct. 11, meeting of the Oxford County Republican Committee at Franklin Grange.

The session will begin with a 5:30 p.m. social hour and a 6:30 p.m. dinner followed by a business meeting and the speaker.

Walton is expected to outline the strategies and significant roles the college Republicans will play in electing a Republican governor and legislature in 2006. All area Republicans are invited.

Lunch meeting

BRIDGTON – The lunch meeting of the Lake Region Healthy Communities Coalition will be held at noon Tuesday, Oct. 11, at the Bridgton Community Center. Members and guests are welcome to discuss opportunities to make the communities of the Lakes Region safer, happier and healthier.

Art program

WOODSTOCK – Murad Sayen will share his insights on art, photography and rural Maine at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Whitman Memorial Library. The program is free and open to the public.

Sayen lived in Bryant Pond for almost 20 years, and he photographed the area extensively. He also built one-of-a-kind “art knives” in his shop on Cushman Hill Road. He went to Penn State University and graduated with a degree in the philosophy of ethics, but he has painted since the age of 6 and has written three books, two of them novels.

Sayen’s photography book, “Maine, the Home Place,” was published in 2003 by University Press of New England.