Learning day

AUBURN – The eighth annual Shared Learning Day will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 11, at the Auburn Public Library Androscoggin Community Room.

Central Maine Self-Learners home school students will present information about topics of interest to them. The public is invited to view their efforts. Topics will range from a display of artwork to reading to zoo school.

VFW meeting

LISBON – VFW Post 9459 and Auxiliary will meet on Tuesday, May 15, at the post home, Route 196. The House Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. and regular meetings will be held at 7 p.m. All members are encouraged to attend and new members are welcome.

Agenda items will include adopting a unit, sending troop boxes, getting new ideas for events and hall rentals. For more information, call 353-5291 Wednesday to Friday after 4 p.m.

Society speaker

POLAND – The Poland Historical Society will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, at the Old Schoolhouse, Route 26, next to the Poland Town Office. The speaker will be Lynda L. Sudlow of North Yarmouth.

Sudlow is the author of “A Vast Army of Women: Maine’s Uncounted Forces in the American Civil War” and has been researching the role of Maine women during the Civil War for more that 10 years. She is a full-time librarian and is director of the Falmouth Memorial Library.

Sudlow will speak about the role women played in the Civil War, both on the home front and with the troops. The public is welcome. Refreshments will be served following the talk.

Calendars ready

LEEDS – The Leeds Historical Society’s calendar will be off the press and ready to hang any day now. The 18-month calendar, featuring old Leeds photographs and quotes from Leeds residents’ diaries, runs from July 2007 to December 2008.

Members of the society have been working through the winter, assembling photographs and reading, deciphering and transcribing a number of old diaries, dating from the mid-1800s to the turn of the century.

The calendar will sell for $10. Copies will be available at the Leeds town meeting in June and, after that date, at the town office, local stores and the historical society. Those wishing may pre-order by calling Pam Bell at 933-4121 or Thelma Waite at 524-3453.

Birdathon set

BRUNSWICK – Merrymeeting Audubon will field a team in the annual Maine Audubon Birdathon. The target will be to find as many species as possible in 12 hours of birding the Merrymeeting area. Derek Lovitch of Wild Bird Center of Yarmouth will lead the team.

The Birdathon is also a fundraising event for Merrymeeting, supporting the scholarship program for environmental education. People can help by pledging a few cents for every species found. Members expect to identify approximately 100 bird species. Fixed pledge amounts are also welcome. To make a pledge, e-mail [email protected].