• BENEFITS
TODAY
Southern Maine Medical Center Auxiliary “Girls Night Out,” with hors d’oeuvres and comedian Karen Morgan; proceeds will help purchase a breast coil for SMMC’S MRI unit; Coastal House, Wells. $35. 282-2718. 5:30 p.m.
Tim Janis Concert, benefit for the Child Abuse Prevention Council of York County; Marshwood High School, South Berwick. $20 to $25. 985-5975. 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Maine Greyhound Placement Service Open House, with vendors, kennel and clinic tours, an art class, a silent auction and a live auction; benefits the Greyhound Adoption Center; Maine Greyhound Placement Service, Augusta. Free/donation; $35 fee for art class (pre-registration requested). greyhoundplacement.com. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Midcoast Community Chorus: “Planting Seeds,” benefit concert for Maine Farmland Trust; Camden Hills Regional High School (Strom Auditorium), Rockport. $15 to $30. mccsings.org. 7 p.m.
Juried Art Show and Auction, benefits the station; MPBN Lewiston. Free/donation. 330-4521. 5 to 9 p.m.
MONDAY
Food/Hunger, seven boxed portfolios from local artists will be auctioned off, benefits Cultivating Community; June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland. 772-1961. Monday to Wednesday; call for times. Through June 26.
• FAIRS/FESTIVALS
FRIDAY
Lupine Festival, boat ride, driving tour, garden tours, art, sculpture, activities, live entertainment and more, Deer Isle. deerisle.com. Friday to Sunday; see website for schedule.
SATURDAY
Strawberry Festival and Craft Fair, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Kennebunk. Free. 985-4303. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Thornton Academy’s 200th Birthday Bicentennial Summer Festival, parade, antique car show, craft fair, performances and more, Thornton Academy, Saco. Free. 282-3361. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Southern Maine Pride Festival, 25th annual festival with a parade, live entertainment and vendors, Deering Oaks Park, Portland (parade begins at Monument Square at ends at the park). Free. southernmainepride.com. 12:30 to 5 p.m.
Wolfe’s Neck Farm Art Fest, featuring more than 50 New England artists, live music, demonstrations, children’s activities and food, Wolfe’s Neck Farm, Freeport. Free. wolfesneckfarm.org. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rockland Summer Solstice Night, family festival with live music, entertainment, street dancing, food and special events, Main Street, Rockland. Free. 593-6093. 5 to 9 p.m.
Windham Summerfest, games, food, music, parade and fireworks, Windham High School. Free. 892-1905. Call for times.
Kittery Block Party, music, games, children’s activities and food, Kittery Foreside. Free. kitteryblockparty.org. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
SUNDAY
Legacy of the Arts Festival, live music, art exhibits and demonstrations, workshops, historic tours and more, various locations, Bar Harbor. Most events are free. barharborinfo.com/events/legacy_of_the_arts. Various times Sunday through June 26; see website for schedule.
TUESDAY
49th Annual Windjammer Days Festival, music, food, boat parades and fireworks, Boothbay Harbor. Free. boothbayharbor.com. Tuesday and Wednesday; see website for schedule.
• BOOKS/AUTHORS
TODAY
Melissa Coleman, author of “This Life is in Your Hands,” Kennebooks, Kennebunk. 967-6136. 6:30 p.m.
Emma Straub, author of the short-story collection “Other People We Married,” Longfellow Books, Portland. 772-4045. 7 p.m.
Ed McMahon, author and authority on sustainable development gives lecture on “The Dollars and Sense of Preserving Community Character,” Lincoln Theater, Damariscotta. $15 to $25. 236-1077. 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Monica Wood, Maine author discusses writing and reads a short selection, Gray Public Library. Free. 657-4110. 2 p.m.
FRIDAY
Caitlin Shetterly, reads from her book “Made for You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home,” The Personal Bookshop, Thomaston. 354-8058. 5 to 7 p.m.
Brown Bag Lecture Series: Helen Rivas-Rose, author of “Brave: A Memoir of Overcoming Shyness,” Portland Public Library. Free. 871-1700. Noon to 1 p.m.
SATURDAY
“Growing Up in Brooklyn” with Maine author, artist and musician Barbara Duke, McArthur Library, Biddeford. Free. 284-4181. 1:30 to 2 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Brown Bag Lecture Series: Elisabeth Tova Bailey, author of “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating,” Portland Public Library. Free. 871-1710. Noon to 1 p.m.
“The King’s Speech,” discussion comparing book and film, Lithgow Public Library, Augusta. Free. 626-2415. 6:30 p.m.
• SPECIAL EVENTS
TODAY
Bloomsday Portland 2011: “Ulysses for Beginners,” a humorous performance piece by AIRE (American Irish Repertory Ensemble), Maine Irish Heritage Center, Portland. Free. maineirish.com. 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Solar Show: “Images of the Infinite 2011,” see the universe through the eyes of the Hubble space telescope, University of Southern Maine (Southworth Planetarium), Portland. $5, $6. 780-4249. 7 p.m.
Solar Show: “Black Holes,” University of Southern Maine (Southworth Planetarium), Portland. $5, $6. 780-4249. 8:30 p.m.
SLANT Storytelling Series, writers, performers and other notables tell 10-minute stories without notes or props, presented by The Telling Room; Space, Portland. Free; all ages. 774-6064. 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Lighthouse Tours, one of only 40 caisson-style lighthouses in the U.S. and the only one open to visitors; must be more than 55 inches tall; canceled in case of rain or fog; Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, South Portland. $5; free for children under 14. 699-2676. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Solar Show: “Dinosaurs,” University of Southern Maine (Southworth Planetarium), Portland. $4, $5. 780-4249. 3 p.m.
SUNDAY
Summer Season Kick-Off Family Fun Day, children’s activities, family lawn games, local food and music, Clay Hill Farm Restaurant, Cape Neddick. Free. clayhillfarm.com. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Summer Antique Show, with 75 antique dealers, Fort Andross, Brunswick. Free admission. 522-1977. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
MONDAY
“The Astronomy of Stonehenge,” learn how the Stonehenge designers might have used it as a sophisticated astronomical observatory, University of Southern Maine (Southworth Planetarium), Portland. Donation. 780-4249. 8 p.m.
Edie Clark: “Baked Beans and Fried Clams: How Food Defines a Region,” humorous presentation, Log Cabin, Yarmouth. $3 to $5. 846-6259. 7:30 p.m.
TUESDAY
“The Best of the Met: Live in HD Encore Series,” screening of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” Lincoln Theater, Damariscotta. $20. 563-3424. 7:30 p.m.
• FILMS
Image Gazer Film Festival, 25 films shown at various locations, Down East. $15 for one-day pass; $30 for four-day passes. tinyurl.com/imagegazer. Times vary today to Sunday; see website for schedule.
“Rated Local: Short Works from Maine Filmmakers,” St. Lawrence Arts Center, Portland. $5. stlawrencearts.org. 7 p.m. Friday.
“Being Rapanui: Easter Island,” Sawyer Memorial Auditorium, Greene. Free. 946-5311. 2 and 7 p.m. Friday.
Summer Silent Film Series, silent films with live music, Leavitt Theatre, Ogunquit. $5. 646-3123. Buster Keaton film “The General” (1926), 2 p.m. Sunday.
“ArtWORKS,” stop-motion animated films by local middle and high school students, Strand Theatre, Rockland. Free. 596-6457. 3 p.m. Sunday.
Teens Through Time, film series with teen-cenric viewpoint, Portland Public Library. Free. 871-1700. 2000s: “Napoleon Dynamite” (2004), 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
• PRO SPORTS
Portland Sea Dogs, Minor League baseball, Hadlock Field, Portland. $7 to $9. portlandseadogs.com. Vs. Trenton, 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
• PARTICIPANT DANCE
The Parcel of Rogues, Scottish music and contra dance, Eighth Maine Regiment Memorial, Peaks Island. $4 to $7. 766-5086. 8 p.m. Friday.
Contradance, Town Hall, Bowdoinham. $9. 666-3090. 8 to 11 p.m. (beginner’s lesson at 7:30 p.m.) Saturday.
Swing Dance Party, join the cast of “Much Ado About Nothing” as they swing dance with instructor Jessica Earnest, Cumston Hall, Monmouth. $5. 933-9999. 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
