Owl program

FALMOUTH – Maine Audubon will host two sessions to see and learn about live owls from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center.

Naturalist Marcia Wilson and photographer Mark Wilson will start the program with a slide show introduction to the owls of New England and beyond.

Participants will then get a hooting lesson, tips on how to identify and find owls without disturbing them and an opportunity to see six live owls, including a northern saw-whet owl, eastern screech owl, great horned owl, snowy owl and one of the largest owls in the world, an eagle owl.

The program is $8/adult, $3/child per session for Maine Audubon members; $10/adult, $4/child per session for nonmembers. Advance registration is necessary. To register or for more information, call 781-2330 or visit www.maineaudubon.org.

Holiday meeting

WISCASSET – The Mid-Maine Rose Society will hold a Christmas meeting Sunday, Dec. 4, at LaGarage Restaurant’s lower deck. Luncheon will be served from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

A Christmas gift exchange with a $5 limit will be held. Gifts should be marked whether for a man or woman. Diana Allen will present “The Night Before Christmas” as it pertains to roses.

The society will donate $400 to the Children’s Center in Augusta for the Christmas charity.

College circle

YARMOUTH – Maine College Circle, a Yarmouth-based nonprofit, recently announced the launch of the “Future of Maine” college scholarship program.

College scholarships of $100 are being awarded to third- through sixth-grade students. The scholarships are sponsored by Maine businesses, organizations and individuals interested in seeing more young Maine students realize the opportunities of a college education.

Applicants are asked to write about what they enjoy doing today that might make a career for them in the future, and they are asked to identify a college that would serve More information about the program is at www.mainecollegecircle.org.

Poetry event

AUGUSTA – The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation is presenting Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, in partnership with the Maine Arts Commission and Maine Alliance for Arts Education.

The program encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition. State champions will advance to the national finals, to take place on May 16 in Washington, D.C.

The NEA and the Poetry Foundation have each contributed $500,000 toward the 2006 Poetry Out Loud program in support of materials, grants, prizes and the national finals in May. The Maine Arts Commission will target at least 10 to 30 high schools in the Augusta and Kennebec Valley region.

Program materials are available for download on the Web site, www.poetryoutloud.org, which offers additional resources. Contact the Maine Alliance for Arts Education at [email protected] or visit www.poetryoutloud.org for more information.