FARMINGTON — The fifth annual Maurer Meals on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17, will feature 12 locally owned restaurants in 10 western Maine communities, offering a menu of alternative specials using locally grown food products, focusing on organic and all natural foods. For two nights the businesses will raise money for the Justin A. Maurer Memorial Scholarship Fund and support local agriculture.

The scholarship is for a third- or fourth-year University of Maine at Farmington student enrolled in the community health program. It is given in memory of Justin Maurer, a 2004 magna cum laude graduate of that program, who died shortly after graduating. “Justin had become a believer in and supporter of the small farm in Maine, and he recognized the necessity of producing food without poisoning the earth, and preparing and eating it without poisoning the body,” said Justin’s father, Gary Maurer of Leeds. “We thought this project might be a good way to carry on his beliefs and honor his legacy.”

“As one of Justin’s teachers said of him, he embraced the concept of living consciously in an increasingly unconscious world,” said Maurer. “We are trying to spread that idea, that we need to think seriously about how we live our lives in respect to the food we eat, the money we spend and where it goes and our relationship to the communities in which we reside and work.”

Maurer Meals has raised more $8,000 for the scholarship. “This year we will be looking for our 10,000th dollar,” said Maurer. “The meals are always good, often extraordinary, as the chefs get to exercise their creativity using the freshest of local foods. I can’t say enough about the local restaurants that participate. The owners and staff look forward to a special atmosphere that weekend and are wonderfully supportive.”

The help of the Healthy Community Coalition of Franklin County, Western Mountains Alliance, Healthy Oxford Hills and the University of Maine at Farmington has enabled the Maurer Meals project to become a fixture in many western Maine communities.

Participating restaurants are: Brian’s Bistro in Rumford, 364-3300; Café di Cocoa of Bethel, 824-5282; Café Nomad of Norway, 739-2249; Calzolaio Pasta Company of Wilton, 645-9500; Carriage House Café of Livermore, 897-5880; The Granary of Farmington, 779-0710; The Homestead Bakery of Farmington, 778-6162; LaFleur’s of Jay, 897-2117; The Lake House Inn of Waterford, 583-4182; The Olde Mill Tavern of Harrison, 583-9077; The Sedgley Place of Greene, 946-5990; and Willy Beans of Lewiston, 777-1111.

For reservations, call a participating restaurant; for information about the scholarship, call Pat Carpenter of UMF at 778-7091; and for information about the Maurer Meals project, call Gary Maurer at 524-2060 or visit maurermeals.org.

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