Camera club

HALLOWELL – The Capitol Area Camera Club will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at the Harlow Gallery, 160 Water St.

The program will be a “Coast Guard Lighthouse Slide Show” by Ernie DeRaps.

The free program is open to the public.

The presentation will consist of a narrated slide show depicting life at three family lighthouse stations.

A book, “Lighthouse Keeping,” is two stories in one book – one side written by Pauline E. Fitzgerald DeRaps, lighthouse keeper’s wife, and the other by Ernie DeRaps, lighthouse keeper.

It includes several of his photos and drawings.

The book was published by the American Lighthouse Foundation. Questions are welcome.

For more information, contact DeRaps at [email protected] or Dawna Leavitt at 377-2052.

Scholarships

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – “Qualified high school students are offered a unique opportunity to spend an academic year, three-month program or summer holiday in Europe, Asia, North and South America, New Zealand, Australia or South Africa as part of the ASSE International Exchange Program,” announced Gretchen Wietmarschen, eastern director of ASSE.

She said scholarships are available.

Students, age 15 to 18, qualify on the basis of academic performance, character references and a desire to experience abroad with a volunteer host family in an ASSE host country.

Students attend regular high school classes. ASSE also provides international opportunities for American families to host students from Europe, the Republics of the former Soviet Union, South America, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Students and families interested in receiving more information should call 1-800-677-2773 or visit www.asse.com.

Hosts needed

MINOT – The World Heritage Student Exchange program, a public benefit organization, is seeking local host families for high school boys and girls from France, Germany, Thailand, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Denmark and Italy.

Students are awaiting word on their host family for the 2008-2009 academic year. Host families provide room, board and guidance for a teenager living thousands of miles from home.

Couples, single parents and families with and without children in the home are encouraged to apply.

The exchange students arrive shortly before school begins in the fall.

Each student is insured, brings his/her own personal spending money and expects to bear his/her share of household responsibilities, as well as being included in normal family activities and lifestyles.

For more information, call Bethany at 1-800-888-9040 or visit www.world-heritage.org.

Writers’ gathering

BOOTHBAY HARBOR – The fifth Environmental Writers’ Conference in honor of Rachel Carson will be held June 10 to 13 at the Spruce Point Inn.

Writers, artists, educators and the public are invited. The keynote address will be delivered by Verlyn Klinkenborg, author.

His work has appeared in magazines and he has been a member of the editorial board of the New York Times since 1997.

Other speakers will include environmental historian and biographer, Linda Lear; poet, Alison Hawthorne Deming; authors, John Elder and David Gessner; and editor-in-residence, Jennifer Sahn from Orion magazine.

The program will also include an exhibit of Howard Frech pen and ink sketches, writing workshops, presentations by area writers and artists and outdoor activities.

For details, registration information and photos from earlier conferences and workshops, visit http://www.new-cue.org.