Five things to do: Plays, performances and the best dang antique car collection in Maine

Clouds and rain can’t stop the fun this weekend, where plays, concerts, art installations and the one and only Founder’s Day will still rage on.

The Cast of “The Laramie Project”: Front – Danny Gay, Don Libby, Brittany Bazinet; Back – Emily Kalafarski, Josie French, Paul Menezes and Ray Fletcher; Missing – Jackie McDonald and Hannah Hanson. Contributed

July 16 through 18: The Monmouth Community Players present The Laramie Project

Where: South Road Farm, 220 South Road in Fayette

When: 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

The Monmouth Community Players are back with their first in-person performance following the pandemic to bring audiences the powerful play The Laramie Project. The play, which follows the real-life story and the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shephard, will be held outside (rain dates ate July 23 through 25). Tickets cost $15 for adults and $13 for seniors; bring your own chair and prepare yourself for a powerful performance from players who hail from the L/A area and beyond.

Mary DeLano in front of the 42-foot clothesline at Western Foothills Land Trust’s Shepard’s Farm Preserve in Norway. Photograph by Nathaniel Liu

July 16 through July 26: Plant-dyed art at Shepard’s Farm Preserve

Where: Shepard’s Farm Preserve in Norway

When: All day

The Clothesline Project is in its second year at Shepard’s Farm Preserve, where art will hang from a 42-foot clothesline as an homage to the Penley Clothespin Company, once a linchpin of West Paris. This week’s installment is coming from Norway artist Mary DeLano, who spent the pandemic collecting unique plant samples to use for dye patterns and eco-print techniques. Learn more here.

Jeff Orwig straightens a picture of Bob Bahre on Wednesday inside the building housing Bahre’s car collection on Paris Hill. The curator of the collection said Bahre would be unhappy that his picture is hanging there because he once told him, “‘It’s not about me, Jeff. It’s about the cars.'” Bahre died last year at the age of 93. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Saturday, July 17: Founder’s Day

Where: Paris, Maine

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

One day each year, Bob Bahre’s extraordinary collection of antique cars goes on display for Founder’s Day, Paris’s epic rain-or-shine event to benefit the Hamlin Library and Museum. Find vendors on the Village Green and vehicles on Paris Hill, the birthplace of Hannibal Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln’s first vice president. It’ll cost adults $10 to get in; for kids, it’s just $2.

Learn more about the history of Founder’s Day, and the Bahre Collection, here.

The cast of “The Little Mermaid Jr.” practice choreography at the Western Maine Play Museum in Wilton.

July 17 through July 18: The Sandy River youth theater camp presents ‘Little Mermaid Jr.’

When: 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Livestreamed from the comfort of your own home

The Sandy River Players Summer Youth Music Theatre Camp has been hard at work rehearsing for its performance of Little Mermaid Jr. With just two weeks of rehearsal (down from the usual three), this group has been hard at work practicing outside sans stage to bring you a livestreamed performance beginning this weekend. Tickets are $13 for adults and $10 for seniors, and you can purchase them (and find the link to the livestream) right here.

Sandy River Ramblers, from left, Stan Keach, Dana Reynolds, Bud Godsoe, Julie Davenport and Dan Simons Submitted photo

July 19: The Sandy River Ramblers perform

Where: Haley Pond, Rangeley

When: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Bluegrass fans, Maine fans, banjo and mandolin fans: you’ll all find a place at the Sandy River Players’ performance this coming Monday at its Outdoor Concert Series. The band will be performing songs that are primarily about the great state of Maine (prep yourself for song titles like ‘Slow Down (You’ll Hit a Moose)’, ‘Donn Fendler’, and ‘Boots From L. L. Bean’) and supported with soaring harmonies and strings. The show is free.

And one more thing…

Heads Up: Last week, we mentioned that the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul would be holding their organ summer concert series. That’s officially on hold this week after the organ sustained some water damage. Keep an eye out for it to resume sometime in August.