GRAY – Children’s singer-songwriter Rick Charette will perform at a family concert from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 17, at The Maine Wildlife Park. This outdoor event will take place rain or shine. Bring blankets and chairs.

Charette’s performances blend original contemporary pop music and lyrics with imaginative activities that generate audience participation. Many of the songs he will perform at the park will be about all kinds of animals.

Charette graduated from the University of Southern Maine with degrees in music education and English. Elementary teachers across the country use his music in their classrooms to enhance and facilitate their language-arts programs. He has been a featured speaker at the Northeast Whole Language Conference and a keynote speaker at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Conference in Washington, D.C., as well as at other education conferences around the United States.

He travels throughout the United States and Canada, performing at schools and concert halls.

His music has been featured on Peter Pan and Walt Disney records and been cited in Entertainment Weekly and Billboard magazines. The television broadcast on NBC-TV affiliates in New England titled “An Evening with Rick Charette” won the National IRIS Award for programming excellence. His music receives airplay on such radio networks as KTOO-FM, Juneau, Alaska, which syndicates its program “We Like Kids” on 35 public radio stations around the United States.

Concert excerpts of his songs are a regular feature on “The Learning Channel” (national cable).

Charette has released 10 albums, two children’s picture books and two live concert videos, which are distributed nationally and have sold more than 225,000 copies to date.

A summer series of wildlife exhibits and demonstrations targeted for the general public is offered throughout the season at the Maine Wildlife Park located on Route 26. Wildlife Days are held on consecutive weekends throughout the summer. Presenters featuring a variety of wildlife topics will set up exhibits and demonstrations from roughly 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on most Saturdays. Visitors are encouraged to stop by, ask questions and participate in some activities.

Three popular Night Visits will also be offered, when the park opens on moonlight evenings for a July All about Owls hike, from 8 to 10 p.m.; an August Creatures of the Night hike from 8 to 10 p.m.; and the popular October Halloween Night hike from 6 to 9 p.m.

The park is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Nov. 11; visitors must leave the premises by 6 p.m. Admission is free for ages 3 and under; $4 for ages 5-12; $6 for adults and $4.50 for seniors. Cost is $3 per person for groups of 15 or more. Visitors may bring a picnic and spend the day. Family and community season passes are available. For more information, call the park at 657-4977 or log on to www.mainewildlifepark.com or www.mefishwildlife.com.