Heather Bolint, a Newcastle native and Lincoln Academy graduate of 2004, recently completed one of her lifelong dreams: to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Bolint was introduced to this idea while reading Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods” as a book assignment in Patti Sims’ English class at Lincoln. Since then, the notion had always been on the back of her mind as something that she dreamed of doing “someday.”

Despite the weather conditions, Lincoln County Publishing Co. will still welcome the community for a firsthand look at how The Lincoln County News gets printed during an open house from 5-7 p.m. this evening, Wednesday, Jan. 17. The event is free and open to all.

During the month of December, Rising Tide Community Market in Damariscotta donated $343.22 to Lincoln County Animal Shelter in Edgecomb.

The trustees of the Union Fair – Maine Wild Blueberry Festival, serving Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo counties, are launching their annual contest to choose a design suitable for use in publicizing the 2018 fair, running Aug. 18-25.

The Nor’easters Barbershop Chorus, of Brunswick, will once again brighten the day for special ladies and gentlemen by presenting singing valentines to those special persons this coming Valentine’s Day, Wednesday, Feb. 14. One of the chorus’ quartets will engage their rich voices to deliver a singing valentine to a special person at home, school, a workplace, a hospital, a nursing home, or anywhere in Midcoast Maine from Freeport to Wiscasset, Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta, and Newcastle.

On a recent snowy Monday afternoon, Mary Mayhew joined local Tea Party leader Gordon Colby for a tour of small businesses around Lincoln and Knox counties. Mayhew and Colby made stops at Frantz Furniture, On the Road Trailer Sales, Lincoln’s Country Store, Lewis Law and Auto, and RZR Hardware.

Pemaquid Watershed Association has launched its midwinter bird seed sale featuring the most common seed varieties, including black oil sunflower seeds, sunflower meaties, and thistle seed.

Nobleboro Central School fifth-grader Emily Tibbetts and her Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine “big sister,” Maya Bailey, a senior at Lincoln Academy, learned that good friends and good food go hand in hand. Since the fall of 2015, Emily and Maya have spent Monday afternoons together as part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine after-school mentoring program. In December, they had a chance to learn side-by-side about preparing nutritious, locally grown foods.