Pilgrims, Indians

AUGUSTA – Visitors will have a chance to learn more about the Pilgrims and about Maine’s Indians when Old Fort Western hosts “Pilgrims and Indians at Cushnoc: New Perspectives on an Old Story” from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26.

The program will focus on the 1628 to 1660 Pilgrim trading post, located in what is now the north yard of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Williams Street.

On hand will be Ken Hamilton, a Native American reenactor, and Christopher Hall, long-time historical interpreter at Plimoth Plantation.

Admission to Old Fort Western is $6 for adults, $4 for children between the ages of six and 16. Kids under 6 and all Augusta residents are admitted free. Go to www.oldfortwestern.org or phone 626-2385 for more information.

Masonic event

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Some 174 Thirty-Second Degree Scottish Rite Masons will be elevated to the Thirty-Third Degree in a special ceremony on Monday, Aug. 27, during the annual meeting of the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.

Those who will be elevated this year were elected a year ago at the annual meeting in Chicago. The degree is awarded for outstanding achievement in the fraternity or for contributions to others reflecting credit on Freemasonry.

To be honored this year from Maine are: William H. Stretton of Lewiston, Lewiston safety coordinator; John E. Lord Jr. of Readfield, engineering technician; Richard A. Makahusz of Brewer, retired structural steel draftsman; Richard C. Trott Jr. of Brewer, real estate broker; Walter L. Hayes of Westbrook, educator; and Jeffry A. Simonton of Scarborough, telephone construction, Verizon.

Volunteers needed

UNITY – The Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program will be at the Common Ground Fair this year and it needs volunteers to help man the display booth in the environmental concerns tent. Volunteers who sign up for a three-hour session at the booth will get free admission to the fair for the rest of that day.

For more information, contact Jim Entwood at 783-7733 or [email protected].

Writing retreat

BATH – Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance will host its annual fall writing retreat at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle on Friday through Sunday, Sept. 21 to 23.

Six workshops will be offered, including “Beginning Fiction, Prose Basics” with Tanya Whiton; “The Idiosyncratic ‘I,’ or the Pleasures, Perils, and Pitfalls of the Personal Essay” with Elizabeth Peavey; “Advanced Poetry Revision” with Dawn Potter; “Novel Ideas” with Suzanne Strempek Shea, “Constructing a Novel for Young Readers” with Sarah L. Thomson; and “You are the Main Character” with Carolyn Gage.

For registration and fellowship information materials, visit www.mainewriters.org. Registration deadline is Saturday, Sept. 15.