Public hearings are in the planning stages concerning the proposed use of the Sheepscot River by Dragon Products cement barges. The hearings are principally for the benefit of commercial fishermen and recreational boaters, but anyone who has a stake in the River's health and beauty should pay attention to this new issue. Dates for the hearings have not yet been set.

MDOT has been scraping and clearing the shoulders along the River Road, from Newcastle through Edgecomb to the Route 27 intersection in Boothbay.

"Cakes for the Queen of Heaven," an 8-session program exploring women's religious history, will kick off at the Edgecomb Town Hall Friday evening, Oct. 3, from 6 to 9 pm. This course of study is sponsored by the Midcoast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The size of the group will be limited, and a $15 fee is requested to cover costs. Anyone wishing to attend should call Phyllis Loney, 529-2310 no later than Sept. 28.

Correction, correction: Last week's item about the two tax relief programs? Your calls should go to the Town's Tax Collector! Same number, 882-7018. I will be repeating these items once a month until their deadlines.

The Edgecomb Historical Society is holding its Annual Meeting today, Sept. 25, at 2:00 p.m. in the Town Hall. We will show off our collection of wonderful photographs of as many one-room schools as we have been able to find, all suitably reproduced for display, and discuss our plans for mounting the display at the Edgecomb Eddy School. You may be able to help us out with our inventories of historic buildings and other places and place names. Consider joining the EHS! Annual dues are only $5.00.

"The mission of the Edgecomb Historical Society is to preserve, record and interpret the history of Edgecomb. To achieve this, the society shall work with town government in the conserving, cataloguing and preservation of town records, to document and preserve buildings and artifacts significant toward explaining our history, to encourage research in Edgecomb's history, and to disseminate town history through educational programs and publications."

Bruce and I and Ruth Bryant are attending the Coastal Senior College course on "U.S. Military and Foreign Policy from 1898 to the Present," presented by Robert Fraser of Walpole in the Library of the Lincoln Home in Newcastle.

The Maine Forest Service's Project Canopy is offering training to be a Community Tree Steward, October 3 to 5 at the Tanglewood 4-H Camp, 1 Tanglewood Road in Lincolnville. The training is free, but the registration deadline is September 30. You will need to bring a sleeping bag and pillow, personal toiletries, comfortable shoes, and clothing to suit the weather. Call Jan Ames at the Project Canopy headquarters in Augusta, at 623-2371. The workshop will give you the basics of tree biology, identification and care, including planting and pruning. A wonderful opportunity for those interested in our Schmid Preserve, and other public forests near and far. Call 789-5868 or contact www.tanglewood4h.org for information on how to get there.

The last of this season's Edgecomb Congregational Church's fund-raising suppers is this Saturday, September 27, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Baked beans and other homemade casseroles and pies will be laid before you, to benefit the Meals on Wheels program of Senior Spectrum, to assist those homebound who need, but are unable to pay for the service. The price is $6 for adults, $3 for children under 12. Children under 3 are free.