Honor and remember in Lewiston

LEWISTON — On Friday, Oct. 24, at 4 p.m. the public is invited to gather at the Longley Bridge near Veterans Memorial Park on Main Street for a show of remembrance in support of the victims of the mass shootings two years ago and the community. 

Participants are asked to stand together, and those driving by to honk in support.

“We Remember” signs will be available, along with a sign-making station, candles and Remembrance Bags.

Parking is available in the Lincoln Street Parking Garage and North Gravel Parking Lot in Lewiston, and in the Great Falls Plaza lot (near the Transportation Hub) in Auburn. 

Attendees are asked to be mindful of parking reserved for businesses in the area.

Also, Maine MILL — Lewiston’s Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor — is presenting an installation titled “Familiar Faces” commemorating the mass shootings. Artist Ian Trask’s exhibit incorporates bowling balls and pool balls left at the sites of the tragedies. The installation is in the museum’s Memorial Room.

For more information and museum hours, go to mainemill.org.

Meet heroes — common and uncommon — at the symphony

LEWISTON — The Midcoast Symphony Orchestra’s 36th season-opener, “Heroes: Common and Uncommon,” takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Franco Center, 46 Cedar St. in Lewiston, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Orion Performing Arts Center, 66 Republic Ave. in Topsham.

The program will include works by Aaron Copland, Giuseppe Verdi, Lee Hoiby, Beethoven and a variety of spirituals.

The Saturday performance in Lewiston will include intermission entertainment by members of the Kennebec Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra in Heritage Hall downstairs from the main concert hall.

Prior to the performance Sunday in Topsham Mary Hunter, professor of Music Emerita at Bowdoin College, will give a brief presentation about how spirituals became concert hall staples, with audio illustrations from 1916 to the present day.

For tickets and more information go to www.midcoastsymphony.org.

Head to the intersection of music and stories

FARMINGTON — On Tuesday, Oct. 28, and Wednesday, Oct, 29, the University of Maine at Farmington presents “Music and Stories: Piano Works that Tell Their Own Tales,” a piano performance by Steven Pane.

The program by Pane, a pianist and UMF professor of music, highlights the expressive and narrative power of instrumental music. It draws inspiration from the UMF course Music and Stories, co-taught this semester by professors Pane and Lewis Robinson.

Performances will take place in Nordica Auditorium, Merrill Hall at 4 p.m. for the Tuesday performance and at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. The concerts are free and open to the public.

Face your fears at the Farmington Fairgrounds

FARMINGTON — This is the last weekend for Farmington Fright Night. So prepare for a “descent into pure terror as you navigate Blackwater Hall, Mr. Marbles Maze, and Granny Grimms,” according to promotors.

“Step into a world where your darkest nightmares come to life at Farmington Fright Fest! Don’t miss out on the most terrifying event of the year.”

The “fun” goes from 7-9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Farmington Fairgrounds, 292 High St. Tickets are $25.

Visit the ghosts of Mount Washington Valley

LEWISTON — The Lewiston Public Library will host local author Marianne O’Connor for a presentation on the Ghosts of Mount Washington Valley. The presentation will take place in Callahan Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 29, from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

O’Connor is a retired educator from Nashua, New Hampshire, who lives in Lisbon Falls. She is the author of “Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire” and is regularly featured in Memories of Maine, New Hampshire Magazine, and other outlets. She is an avid researcher with a focus on local history and lore. Since 2009, she has presented programming in schools, libraries and historical centers across New England.

The program is free. No registration required at this time but the program is recommended for ages 18 and older.

The library is at 200 Lisbon St., at the corner of Pine Street. For more information, contact the Lewiston Public Library Adult & Teen Services desk at 513-3135 or [email protected].

Welcome ceramic and photographic exhibitions at Bates College

LEWISTON — The Bates College Museum of Art will host an opening reception for two new fall exhibitions on Friday, Oct. 24, from 4-7 p.m.

One of the exhibitions highlights the bequest of an expansive ceramics collection from E. John Bullard. The other focuses on photographic studies of place by Shellburne Thurber.

“Precision and Expression: American Studio Ceramics from the E. John Bullard Collection” includes works by seminal figures in American Studio Ceramics, as well as recent innovators in the field. Bullard is director emeritus of the New Orleans Museum of Art, where his career as director and CEO spanned 37 years. A part-time resident of Maine, he chose to donate selections to Bates College based the college’s robust ceramics program

“Shellburne Thurber: Full Circle” will take place in the museum’s Lower Galleries. For much of her career, Shellburne Thurber “has been engaged in an ongoing photographic investigation of the relationship between constructed space and human energy. Long intrigued by the idea of lived space as an extension of the body and a site for projection, she has photographed a wide variety of subjects,” according to exhibit organizers.

An artist talk with potter and educator Lisa Orr is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at Bates’ Olin Arts Center. An artist talk with Shellburne Thurber will be held Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m.

For more information on the reception, the exhibits, the talks or the museum, go to www.bates.edu/museum.

Be immersed in a haunted masquerade in Auburn

AUBURN — Nonprofit group Angel’s Wing will host its biggest fundraiser of the year with the theme Toil and Trouble at the Midnight Masquerade. The murder-mystery dinner and gala will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch Saturday, Oct. 25 from 5-10 p.m.

Guests will be immersed in a murder-mystery experience while enjoying dinner and live entertainment.

“Step into the shadows of 1933 … Count Svengalia is once again hosting the infamous Grand Masquerade of the Midnight Council,” reads promotions for the event. “Don your most mysterious mask, summon your inner fiend, and prepare for an evening of laughter, intrigue, and delicious deceit. Join the Midnight Council — if you dare!”

The organization’s stated mission is to “ensure each person has every opportunity available
to live, learn and recover from substance and alcohol use disorder with access to education, detoxification, rehabilitation and employment.”

For tickets, go to eventbrite.com and search for Angel’s Wing.

Escape from the sanctuary in Lewiston

LEWISTON — The Franco Center has transformed its sanctuary (church space) into a “spine-chilling” Halloween escape room experience for friends, families and co-workers alike.

According to promoters, the one-hour escape room adventure entails navigating “a dark, eerie environment filled with spooky decorations, unsettling sounds, and live costumed actors. Flashlights will be provided.”

Reservations are required. First come, first served. Minimum of four people, maximum of 10 per experience. The “spooky” one-hour “lights-out” escape room reservations during October are for 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m., but check the reservations website for remaining available days and times.

Tickets are $15 per person and must be reserved in advance. Reservations are required at least one day in advance via https://bookeo.com/franco.

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, and Thursday, Oct. 30, those who successfully escape are invited to visit the center’s Creepy Crypt Bar & Lounge, which will be open to the public from 6-11 p.m. both nights.

The Franco Center is at 46 Cedar St.

Listen to Maine’s Got Talent winner Amy Stacey Curtis

LEWISTON — Maine’s Got Talent 2025 winner Amy Stacey Curtis will perform at the Oasis of Music on Wednesday Oct. 29, at 12:30 p.m.

The singer and ukulele player learns five cover songs weekly to continue to heal from a brain injury caused by Lyme disease she never knew she had. Over the past three years, Amy has played over 600 songs, singing most Mondays at Fast Breaks’ open mic in Lewiston, also on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

The Oasis of Music is at Trinity Commons, 247 Bates St. Admission is free; donations accepted.  Parking is available at the Agora parking lot on Bates Street.

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