Today, May 12
Ground art: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Fitchburg Art Museum presents “Freshly Ground Art Caf : Hot Heads, Traitors and Slackers,” an irreverent look at some of the museum’s collections, free of charge.
Class reunion: Ayer High School class of 1980 (and other AHS classes too), 6:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton, 90 Erdman Way, Leominster. Contact Claire “Caissie” Stevens at cmscable@adelphia.net or call (603) 595-7609.
Live music: 7 to 11 p.m. on Fridays, bluesman singer/songwriter Skip Jackson hosts acoustic blues and folk music at the Stagecoach Inn in Groton. Friday is also an open microphone night, so bring your musical talent and sign up at the door or e-mail Skip at glennsd@aol.com.
Diary of Anne Frank: Friday, May 12, and Saturday, May 13, 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, May 14, at 2 p.m. at the Marion D. Campbell Performing Arts Center at the Groton School. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Call (978) 448-7284 or order online at www.groton.org/boxoffice.
Battle of the Bands: 7 p.m. at Indian Hill Music, Route 2A, Littleton. Cover charge: $10 per person.
Ed Pieters: Friday, May 12, from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., tribute to Ed Pieters at the Harvard Unitarian Church Fellowship Building, 7 Elm Street, on the Harvard common. Free to the public.
Grange 100: 7 p.m., Grange secretary Ellen Longley Hitchings will visit the Shirley Historical Society Museum on Center Road for the opening of “100-Year History of the Shirley Grange.”
Saturday, May 13
Open House: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Natural Market, 148 Main St., Groton, celebrates 27 years in business with an open house. Raffles, chair massage, free consultations.
Fruitlands opens for the 2006 season. Weekends and holidays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; galleries and grounds 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tea Room 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with Sunday brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Singles Dance: 8 p.m. to midnight, American Legion Hall, 357 Great Road, Bedford. New England Singles, ages 35 and up. Admission is $8. Call (617) 325-4900.
Poop-a-Palooza: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Ashby town common. Live music, games, fertilizer. Free admission.
Dale’s racer: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Conway Chrevrolet-Buick on Hollis Street (Route 111) in Pepperell. Dale Earnhardt’s “GM Goodwrench No. 3 car, live broadcast by 99.5-WKLB, NASCAR ticket raffle.
Flea market: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Townsend Business Association on the town common.
Garden club: 8:30 a.m. to noon, plant sale by the Groton Garden Club in front of Groton town hall.
Wildlife field trip: 8 to 11 a.m., Friends of the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, meeting at the Oxbow entrance at MacPherson and Bishop roads in Ayer. Rain date is May 14.
Rummage sale: 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., United Church of Shirley, corner of Lancaster and Harvard roads. Includes bake sale.
Barbershop chorus: 7:30 p.m. at Townsend town hall, the “Sounds of Concord” 45-member chorus, to benefit the town’s 275th Anniversary Celebration.
Plant sale: 9 a.m. to noon, Colonial Garden Club of Hollis, N.H., on the Hollis town common.
Food drive: Letter carriers in Harvard, Ayer, Groton and Shirley will be collecting food during mail deliveries on Saturday, May 13.
Coffeehouse: 7:30 p.m., guitar duo “Late Bloomers” at the Boulder Coffeehouse, First Parish Church Unitarian Universalist, Fitchburg. Donation of $5 is requested. Proceeds benefit the church and the Nashua River Watershed Association.
Mother’s Day breakfast: 7 to 11 a.m., VFW Post 6538 Ladies Auxiliary, at the VFW function hall, 491 Main Street, Townsend.
Sunday breakfast: 7 to 10 a.m., Ayer Gun & Sportsmen’s Club, offering a breakfast buffet on Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day breakfast: 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. seatings, Townsend United Methodist Church at the junction of Routes 13 and 119. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children, under age 6 is free. Call (978) 597-2487 for reservations.
Singles dance: 6:30 to 11 p.m., American Legion Hall, Bedford, with 50s music. Visit www.singlesdances-newengland.com.
Salute to Mothers: breakfast, seatings at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., Groton-Pepperell Rotary Club, at the Groton Country Club, catered by Currier & Chives. Adults are $14.95, children over age 3 are $9.95. For tickets call (978) 433-2728 and ask for Derek.
Monday, May 15
Strength training: Mondays at 11:30 a.m.; Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.; Fridays at 10 a.m., at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Call (978) 448-1170 for information.
Weight Watchers: Mondays at 9 a.m. at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Call (978) 448-1170 for more information.
Quilting: Mondays at 2 p.m. at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main Street. Drop-ins are welcome. Call (978) 448-1170 for more information.
Knit and crochet: Donna Acquaviva teaches knitting and crocheting to all levels of experience on Mondays, from 7 to 8:45 p.m., at the Dunstable Library, 588 Main St.
Tots’ Time: Mondays and Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Harvard Public Library. This is an informal, drop-in story time for children up to age 4 (siblings are welcome). Call the library at (978) 456-4114 for information.
Lions Club: The Ayer/Shirley Lions Club will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley. Guests are always welcome.
Brainstorming session to benefit and improve Pepperell Recreation, 7 to 8 p.m., Sis McGrath Community Center. All new ideas are welcome.
Tuesday, May 16
Band rehearsal: 7:30 to 9 p.m., Legion hall in Groton center, rehearsal with the Groton Marching Band and Chowder Society. Former school musicians are invited. Extra chowder for piccolo and sousaphone players.
Senior options: 1 p.m., Hildreth House in Harvard. Panel of experts will discuss options for senior living including assisted living, home health care and skilled nursing facilities. Call (978) 456-4120 to sign up.
Tots’ Time: Mondays and Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Harvard Public Library. This is an informal, drop-in story time with activities for children ages up to three (and their caregivers). Call the library at (978) 456-4114 for information.
Cards: Play “Hand and Foot” Tuesdays at 12:45 p.m. at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Call (978) 448-1170 for information.
Line dancing: All levels. Virginia Butler and Phyllis Garrepy teach line-dancing on Tuesdays from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Call (978) 448-1170 for information.
Bargains in the Belfry thrift shop is open at the Harvard Unitarian Church on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Gently-used women’s and children’s clothing and small houseware items are available.
Painting class in decorative glass, Tuesdays at the Groton Senior Center. Advanced class meet from 10 a.m. to noon; beginner class from 11 a.m. to noon.
Wednesday, May 17
Art history: five-week course, May 17 to June 14, 10 a.m. to noon, $65 at Fitchburg Art Museum. Also starting, “Creative Collages” course, five-week, 1 to 3 p.m., $65 for members and $70 for non-members.
Members meeting: 7 p.m., Nashua River Watershed Association, 592 Main Street, Groton. Guest speaker will be Richard Stomberg, teacher-trainer with the New England Wildflower Society.
Beginner strength training: Wednesdays from 11 to 11:30 a.m. at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Call (978) 448-1170 for information.
Rotary Club: The Groton-Pepperell Rotary Club meets on Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. at the Groton Country Club. For more information call secretary Martha Campbell at (978) 425-0831.
Senior gathering: The community room of the Dunstable Library is reserved on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for use as a senior center, open to anyone age 60 years or over. A luncheon is served weekly from noon to 1 p.m. for $2.
Thursday, May 18
Spanish Club: The Spanish Club for adults meets at the Lawrence Library in Pepperell on Thursdays at 7 p.m., for conversation in a friendly atmosphere. Call (978) 433-0330 for information.
Whist is played on Thursdays at 12:45 p.m. at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Call (978) 448-1170 for information.
Yoga: Thursdays from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Yoga is supported by the Friends of Groton Elders and costs $2 per session. Call (978) 448-1170 for information.
Rotary Club of Ayer-Harvard-Shirley-Devens meets Thursdays at 6 p.m. at the Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley.
Story Time: 2 p.m. at the Harvard Public Library. This mix of interactive and quiet stories is geared toward preschoolers, ages 3-5.
Merrimack Valley Chorus: Rehearsals are held every Thursday night at the Wilmington Arts Council, 219 Middlesex Ave. (Route 62), Wilmington.
Rainwater: 7 p.m. seminar at the Nashua River Watershed Association Resource Center, 592 Main Street (Route 119), in Groton. “Creative Landscape Design: Solutions to Capture and Use Rainwater” is the topic.
”Bach’s Lunch:” noon to 1 p.m., free concert by Indian Hill Music School faculty, performing music for flute and piano. Indian Hill Music, 36 King Street, Route 2A, Littleton.
Friday, May 19
Singles dance: 8 p.m. to midnight, Irish-American Club, 616 Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica. New England Singles. Admission is $8 per person.
Strength training: Fridays at 10 a.m., at the Groton Senior Center, 163 West Main St. Call (978) 448-1170 for information.
Used book sale: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, continuing Saturday, May 20, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, May 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Pepperell Community Center by The Friends of the Lawrence Library.
Evening of opera: 7:30 p.m., by Indian Hill Music School faculty and advanced students. Tickets are $15, or $10 for students and seniors. Indian Hill Music, Route 2A, Littleton.
Coffeehouse: 7:30 p.m. at the Pepperell Christian Fellowship building, 17 Main Street in Pepperell. Performing May 19 in the Mustard Seed Coffeehouse will be Bryan Graves. All ages welcome. Admission is fee but a donation of paper goods to assist My Father’s House charity is requested.
