First Lady Ann LePage reads “Otis,” by Loren Long, to schoolchildren Thursday at Gilbert Elementary School in Augusta, as part of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record initiative.

Charlie the Pomeranian keeps his eye on the ball as he swims after a small green tennis ball at the China Village boat launch on Wednesday in China. Donna Walston, of Waterville, said that Charlie loves to swim and play fetch.

Willie Danforth, from the Franco-American War Veterans Post 31 in Lewiston and dressed as Uncle Sam, leads the 10th annual Manchester Apple Festival parade on Saturday on Route 17 in Manchester.

Raymond Fecteau, left, gives Adriana Yeaton, center, some advice on where to throw the metal ball, called a boule, during her pétanque game against Ian Gifford, right, on Friday at Farrington School in Augusta.

Robert Antognoni, left, hooks up wires for LED lights as Robert E. Antognoni waits with a remote control to test them on Thursday at the Maine Emergency Medical Services monument being built in in Augusta.

Matt McLeod, of eWaste Recycling Solutions, is reflected in the screen of an old television while wrapping up a stack of them on Saturday in the parking lot at the Augusta Civic Center.

Chef Michael Barna talks to a group of Taste of Home Cooking School Show attendees in the preshow, VIP reception today at the Augusta Civic Center.

Construction workers under and on the Calumet Bridge at Old Fort Western work on natural gas pipe line on a rainy Friday over the Kennebec River in Augusta.

Whitefield Community Day was held today, and had among its events a miniature pie-eating contest, antiques appraisals and live music.

A crew from Hickey Logging cleans up several fallen trees on Thursday at a camp on the banks of Cobbossee Lake in West Gardiner. Several trees on the property were blown during a thunderstorm on Wednesday night. Owners Jack Boynton and Gail Andrews said that they’d been standing on the porch watching lightning over water when the trees fell right in front, but not on top, of the camp.