Maple Syrup Day

AUGUSTA – Old Fort Western, the 1754 national historic landmark fort, store and house museum on the riverfront in downtown Augusta, will host its 15th annual Maple Syrup Day from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at the fort.

Staff will tap trees, whittle spiles and collect and boil sap, all in the 18th-century manner. Hearth-baked corn bread with maple syrup will be available in the south kitchen. Brief guided tours of the fort’s main house will be offered.

The day is part of Maine Maple Sunday, a yearly event sponsored by the Maine Department of Agriculture and the Maine Maple Producers Association. Sugar houses across Maine will be open for tours and special programs. For details, go to www.getrealmaine.com. For more information about Old Fort Western, see www.oldfortwestern.org.

Admission to Maple Syrup Day at the Old Fort Western is free. A $5 donation is suggested. Phone 626-2385 for more information.

Corps available

PORTLAND – The Community Resource Corps has announced that it will begin placing 43 full-time AmeriCorps members in nonprofit or public agencies across the state.

Part of a $1.5 million AmeriCorps grant, corps members will start their positions in early fall. Organizations that would like to utilize an AmeriCorps member for a full-time, 11-month position are being accepted through April 27.

The Maine Commission for Community Service awarded CRC $500,000 a year to fund the positions. Members serve one year with organizations that work on community needs in a variety of areas, such as youth service, preventative health care, affordable housing, domestic violence, natural resource conservation and community development. CRC is a division of the Portland-based Training Resource Center.

For more information on the program, call Joely at 775-5891, ext. 448, or visit www.trcme.com/crc.

Mascot named

AUGUSTA – Baxter is on the prowl. The large Maine Coon Cat, Baxter is the new mascot for Maine libraries and is sporting a new name following a six-week statewide contest.

More than 1,200 name suggestions flooded into the Maine State Library after the contest began in January. Individuals from Fort Kent to Kennebunk, and from Machias to Rangeley participated in the contest, which ended March 1.

A dozen individuals submitted the name Baxter. The winner, Ben Allen of Pittsfield, was selected March 15 by a random drawing in Augusta.

Mascot appearances will take place in communities across the state, as libraries schedule it for local events. Details can be found at http://www.maine.gov/msl/libs/pr/mascot/.

Seek mediators

AUGUSTA – The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division is recruiting new volunteer consumer complaint mediators for its spring class.

Training will begin on Monday, April 23. Volunteers will mediate consumer complaints over the phone or by mail, in the Attorney General’s Augusta office. Mediators are trained in consumer law and mediation techniques. They are asked to volunteer approximately six hours a week on a schedule convenient to them.

During the past year the Consumer Mediation Service recovered more than $690,000 for Maine consumers. If interested in volunteering, go to www.maine.gov/ag/ or contact Assistant Attorney General James A. McKenna at 626-8842 or [email protected].