Beginning sewing classes

offered at Joyful Harvest

Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center will sponsor sewing classes for beginners or anyone who is out of practice.  Participants will tackle simple projects, such as tote bags, pocket books, drawstring skirts or book covers, and need to supply their own cloth. 

During the first class, 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 6, participants will learn to read a pattern, what kind of cloth is best and the basics of using a sewing machine. Subsequent classes on Aug. 13 and 20 will include cutting cloth for projects and sewing as time allows. For more information, contact Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center at 286-9105 or stop by at 32-34 Water St., Biddeford,  Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

Authors to speak about

‘how to’ funeral book

Authors Sue Bailey and Carmen Flowers will speak about and autograph their book “Grave Expectations: Planning the End Like There’s No Tomorrow,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Union Church, 3 Stonecliff Road, Biddeford Pool. 

After attending one too many truly depressing funerals of friends who had been colorful, fun-loving and exuberant, the authors decided there must be a better way. The result is their new book on the “how to” of funerals, wakes, memorial services and other rites of passage that occur at the end of life.

Tickets may be purchased in advance for $12 by calling 284-9807 or are $15 at the door. Doors open and book sale begins at 7 p.m.  Light refreshments will be served.

HOB kicks off new

evening concert series

The Heart of Biddeford will sponsor a new summer evening concert series in downtown Biddeford.  The concerts, organized by the promotions committee, will be held 5 to 7 p.m. tonight and Aug. 6 in the courtyard behind Building 18 of the North Dam Mill. 

Beer from Run of the Mill brewery and soft drinks will be available. All proceeds will benefit the Heart of Biddeford.

Tonight’s concert features Mirror Image, with hits from the 1980s and 1990s. The Worlds Finest will perform Irish music Aug. 6. In the event of rain, events will be canceled.

Legacy Theater presents

‘Charlie Brown’

Tickets are now on sale for The Legacy Theater Company’s theater production,  “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Thursdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. from Aug.13 to Aug. 23 at Garland Auditorium, Route 1 in Saco.  All tickets are $15 plus a non-perishable food item for Legacy’s United We Weigh, 1-Ton of Food Raising Campaign for the Saco Food Pantry. The Legacy Theater Company also sets aside 10 percent of its proceeds to benefit other local charitable organizations that feed the hungry, house the homeless, and clothe the needy.

Starring in the Peanuts classic are Audra Anne Curtis as Lucy, David Ciampa as Schroeder, Nathan Greene as Linus, Meredith Lamothe as Patty, Ben Row as Snoopy, and Jon Messena as Charlie Brown.  Musical direction is by Jim Colby, choreography by Brenda Hoyt-Brackman and the show is directed by Steve Burnette.

To order tickets call the box office at 604-9448. For more information visit Legacy Theater Company online at www.legacytheatercompany.org.

Summer food program for

children still has openings

Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center’s summer program still has space available for more children to attend.  The program runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The center offers breakfast and lunch daily in addition to activities. 

All programming is free of charge and appropriate for ages 5 to 17. Activities include Art Van, Scout reach (through the Boys Scouts), community garden, story time and vacation Bible school.  If you are interested in having your child attend, contact the center at 286-9105 or stop by any afternoon Monday through Friday at 32-34 Water St. Biddeford. 

Equest Riding Center to host

annual Cowboy Ball

Equest Therapeutic Riding Center in Lyman will host its 11th annual Cowboy Ball fundraising event, Saturday, Aug.15, from 6 to 10:30 p.m. 

The Don Campbell Band will again provide entertainment and  Kitchen Chicks Catering of Kennebunkport will provide a barbecue buffet. This year guests may try their hand at roping on the “Rodeo Roper” and will have the opportunity to put a spouse or friend in the Spring Creek Jail. Prizes will be given for top cowhands as well as best- dressed cowboy and cowgirl and best dancers. 

The evening, which also includes line dancing instruction and gambling at the Birdcage Casino, culminates with a raffle drawing featuring a week-long getaway to Baxter State Park.

The Cowboy Ball is the largest of several annual fund-raising events Equest hosts to raise about 75 percent of the center’s $380,000 budget. Last year’s ball raised nearly $57,000. Equest provides equine-assisted therapy to children and adults with disabilities. 

Tickets for the event are $40 in advance for ages 15 and older; $50 at the door. For tickets or more information about Equest’s programs, call 985-0374 or visit www.equestmaine.org

Norm Audie scholarship ride 

set for Aug. 15 in Biddeford

The 2009 Norm Audie scholarship ride will be 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 15, at Five Points Shopping Center in Biddeford. 

The ride, which takes participants through Saco, Buxton, Gorham, Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, and Biddeford, is in memory of Normand Audie, who was killed on his motorcycle by a drunk driver in 2006.

Registration and breakfast starts at 7 a.m. Riders may preregister online for $10 at www.normaudie.org/ride.htm.  The ride ends at noon with a barbecue and music.

Comedienne Karen Morgan

to perform at City Theater

Comedienne Karen Morgan brings her standup comedy performance, “Legally Funny,” to the City Theater in Biddeford on Friday, Aug. 14 at 8 p.m.   

Once a practicing trial attorney, Morgan began a new career as a comedy headliner after making her national television debut on Nick at Nite’s first “Search for the Funniest Mom in America.”  Morgan was chosen one of seven finalists from more than 1,000 entries to appear on the Nick at Nite /TV Land special. 

 Morgan followed her television debut with appearances in comedy clubs and theaters nationwide. 

Tickets may be purchased online at www.citytheater.org or by calling the box office at 282-0849.  

Seaglass Chorale to perform

at Jordan Hall in Ocean Park

The Wednesday Evening at Jordan series in Ocean Park will feature the Seaglass Chorale on Aug. 5.

Founded in 1993, the Seaglass Chorale is a non-auditioned adult choral group of 50 voices, representing some 20 southern Maine communities. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Jordan Hall, 46 Temple Ave.  

Music festival presents

songs from Ireland

Two Old Friends will perform Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Ocean Park Summer Music Festival.

Mac McHale and Emery Hutchins –Two Old Friends – have joined forces to sing and play songs from Ireland, the mountains and the sea.  Mac and Hutch founded and played for many years with the Northeast Winds.  For the past 17 years, Mac has headed up Mac McHale & the Old-Time Radio Gang, while Hutch has been part of the Angel Band.  Mac and Hutch will play the banjo, guitar, mandolin, concertina, bodran and the octave.  

Their concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Temple, 50 Temple Ave. Admission is $10.  Tickets may be purchased at door or at the Ocean Park Association office, 14 Temple Ave., Ocean Park, 934-9068.

Harvard professor

at the Temple Sunday

The Rev. Professor Peter Gomes of Harvard University will present a sermon, “Don’t Worry,” 10 a.m. Sunday at the Temple, 50 Temple Ave., Old Orchard Beach.  A children’s program and nursery are available.  The Temple is non-denominational and open to the public.  

Final noontime concert

today on Main Street

Lex & Joe will be featured during the final free noon Music on Main Street concert, 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. today in Biddeford. The performers, who share an interest in the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, have played music up and down the east coast for more than 20 years.