The format for the day is interactive with two panel discussions in the morning, lunch and two more panels.

Kandyce Powell, Executive Director of the Maine Hospice Council, will be introducing and participating in each of the panel discussions.

Topics for the day include the following:
1) Break the Silence: Begin to Talk About It (questions to consider include: How you feel, Who will, or won’t, listen? Who can you talk to? Why don’t we talk about it?)
2) Choosing the Options: Which Way to Go and What to Do (traditional and non-traditional funeral options, organ donation)
3) Planning a Big Event in Just Two Days (Making decisions now vs. later, Preparing Advance Directions, Taking action now, Quality of Life)
4) Honoring Spirit (pondering the sacred, religious and spiritual matters of the heart).

The day wraps up with the Tourmaline Singers, a volunteer chorus whose purpose is to bring comfort and to ease the passage of the dying through their a cappella singing and supportive presence. They offer their songs to the people in the Waterville and Augusta areas at the bedside in homes, nursing homes and hospitals.

If you are interested in participating in a local volunteer singing group, please call Pine Tree Hospice. There is no charge to attend the conference, lunch is available for $5 pp, donations to Pine Tree Hospice are gratefully accepted.

For more information or to pre-register, call Pine Tree Hospice at 564-4346, e-mail PTH at wecare@pinetreehospice.org or drop by the PTH office located at 883 West Main Street in Dover-Foxcroft.