BREWER - Maine Robotics has partnered with the Brewer Community School and is hosting an after-school Robotics Program where boys and girls, grades 5 to 8, learn about robotics and engineering. The program is being held in the 8th grade science classroom, on Thursdays, from 2 to 5 p.m.   

Currently accepting registrations on a first come-first served basis, the program is designed to help young people find out how engineers work to solve problems and help people in day-to-day living. The students will work in small groups under the supervision of adult educators, college engineering students and high school mentors to design, build and program LEGO robots.

LEWISTON – Pardon Me, Doug, a band that pays tribute to the music of the popular Vermont jam band Phish, will perform at the Franco-American Heritage Center on Friday, Feb. 22 at 9 p.m.

Phish is known for their dedicated legions of followers, known as “phans,” many of whom travel great distances to see multiple shows on each tour. They’re also known for their long shows that completely change from night to night. During a stretch of four Madison Square Garden concerts leading up to New Year’s Eve, for example, Phish played 90 songs without repeating a single tune.

BANGOR - Maine Discovery Museum (MDM) has been gearing up for another wild and crazy February vacation week here in downtown Bangor. 

February Vacation Camp runs from Monday, Feb. 18 through Friday, Feb. 22, and on Wednesday, Feb. 20, the Main Street Gallery opening of “CHINA: A Traveling Exhibit, 1903-1904,” sponsored by the Oriental Jade Restaurant, kicks off the “Year of the Snake” at MDM. And, as a proud partner with the National Engineers Week Foundation, MDM has many “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” activities planned throughout the month.

Bangor Waterfront will play host to inaugural Bangor Beer Festival in June

BANGOR – The Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau will present a first-time festival focused on Maine beers this summer. Bangor’s Beer Festival – Tap Into Summer - is a one-day event scheduled for June 22, 2013, that will feature a general session, a VIP tasting session, food, entertainment, beer aficionados and a focus on Maine breweries.

LEWISTON – Pianist Tamara Poddubnaya will perform the fourth concert of the season in the Franco-American Heritage Center’s Piano Series on Friday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in a program that will include works by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and Rachmaninov.

A child prodigy in her homeland of Georgia, Poddubnaya was only 15 when she went to St. Petersburg to study at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, from which she went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees, including a doctorate with distinction in piano performance in 1976. Irina Kugucheva and Boris Lysenko were her principal teachers.

BELFAST - Waterfall Arts is holding its annual February School Vacation Art Camp for 8 to 12 year olds from Feb. 19 to 22. The focus of the camp is “Sketcher's Studio”.

In this art camp young artists will take their favorite and most familiar standby - drawing - to the next level. Instructor Bridget Matros said, “Bringing their unique styles and their frustrations along, kids should prepare to overcome drawing angst with four days of learning and practicing tips guaranteed to boost confidence and improve drawing skills - while having fun! Learning to See, the secret of the Pencil Sketch, drawing games and challenges, materials explorations and cropping/presentation will all be covered. Forget the fridge - these artists will no doubt produce at least one piece they deem suitable for framing!”

STONINGTON - Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House is proud to announce that Maine’s most acclaimed playwright and actor John Cariani will be featured in conversation with national cultural journalist and “The Writer” editor Alicia Anstead following the Saturday, Feb. 9 7 p.m. production of his newly revised play, “Last Gas.”

“John is one of the most interesting people I know, and I can’t wait to talk with him again,” said Anstead.

STONINGTON - This Valentine’s Day, Thursday, Feb. 14, join Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House (OHA) and friends and be one of One Billion Rising around the world to end violence against women and girls. At events around the island throughout the day, including community readings from Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” and “Emotional Creature” at the Opera House at 7 p.m., you are invited to join women and men from across the world as we walk out, dance, rise up and demand an end to this violence.

ELLSWORTH – For the second year in a row, The Grand in downtown Ellsworth is helping the Knights of Columbus warm up winter for those in need on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. “To Warm a Winter’s Night II” will feature great music by our local talented musicians, and be a fundraiser for the Washington/Hancock Community Agency (WHCA) heating assistance fund.

Support for the event is community wide, with businesses helping with advertising and musicians donating their talents. Local performers include MacLir Ceilidh Band (Celtic), Bobbi Lane (Blues), The Crown Vics (Rockabilly), Trish Mason Band (Folk-Rock) with special guest Evensong.  

ELLSWORTH - The Grand’s 75 Anniversary series continues with an exciting, unpredictable collection of your favorite stars in short films when “Stars in Shorts,” screens on Thursday, Feb. 14 and Friday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. - with an additional matinee at 2 p.m. on Friday.

From the presenters of the wildly successful annual Oscar-nominated short films program, ShortsHD presents “Stars in Shorts,” a collection of seven short films featuring some of the world’s biggest actors! Judi Dench is a neophyte in the complicated landscape of internet dating in “Friend Request Pending.” Colin Firth is an unusually needy neighbor to Keira Knightley in “Steve.” Lily Tomlin gets lost on her way to a funeral in “Procession.” Jason Alexander is a screenwriter at the end of his rope in the musical short “Not Your Time.” Also including short films starring Kenneth Branagh, Julia Stiles and others, “Stars in Shorts” is the first collection of short films to bring you everything you expect when you go to the movie theater – laughs, drama and now some of the best actors from film and television.