The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife will host a black bear education seminar at 7 p.m. May 20 at the YMCA’s Camp Topanemus, Route 537, Millstone.

The “Living In Bear Country” presentation is being sponsored in conjunction with the Monmouth County Chapter of the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.

Both human and black bear populations have increased greatly in New Jersey since the 1980s, and as a result, bears and people are coming into contact with each other more often.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has implemented a black bear management plan, and an important element of the plan is the education of homeowners. Liz Jackson, black bear educator from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, will review a number of topics, including bear history in New Jersey, and precautions residents can take to bear-proof their environments.

The Monmouth County Chapter of the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs (www.njsfsc.org) will provide snacks. For directions to YMCA Camp Topanemus, visit the Web site www.topanemus.org.

According to Kelcey Burguess, Black Bear Project coordinator for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, 10 black bear sightings or complaints have been received from Monmouth County since 2001 including a sighting in Millstone in 2004.

For information, contact John Messerol, Fish & Wildlife Council member, (732) 932-9176, or visit www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearinfo.htm.

Auction to benefit AHS band’s trip to England

The Allentown Redbirds Parents Association will host an art show and auction as well as a performance by the Allentown Redbirds Jazz Band May 20 at the Millstone Elementary School, Clarksburg section of Millstone. Proceeds from the event will help to fund the Allentown High School Redbird Band’s trip to England to perform in the 2006 New Year’s celebration.

The art show preview will begin at 7 p.m. with the live auction starting at 8 p.m. Ross Galleries of Holbrook, N.Y., will conduct the auction, which will include more than 150 custom-framed and matted works of art featuring such artists as Bollinger Begin, Moses, Fairchild-Woodward, Delacroix, Orlando, Peter Max, Jane Wooster Scott, Neiman, Rockwell and many others, in oils, watercolors, acrylics, serigraphs, lithographs, etchings and animation cells. Also available will be sports memorabilia, sculpture, estate jewelry and art glass.

Opening bids are generally 50 percent less than retail and range from $45 to $300. All art is guaranteed to be below retail price and includes an exclusive lifetime exchange privilege.

Also being auctioned are box seats to a Yankees game and a boxing glove autographed by Sugar Ray Leonard.

Admission is $15 per person or $25 per couple and includes refreshments of light hors d’oeuvres and desserts. For tickets or further information, call Lori Feibus at (609) 259-6479.

U.F. rec offers basketball camp, tennis lessons

The Upper Freehold Recreation Department will sponsor summer tennis lessons for youths and adults at Byron Johnson Park.

Youth lessons will be offered in either one day per week or two days per week, for the following age groups: 6-8, 9-12 and 12-16. The one-day session will run June 30-Aug. 19 on Thursday afternoons. The two-day session will run July 11-Aug. 12 on Monday and Thursday mornings. Beginner adult lessons will be offered June 30-Aug. 18 on Thursdays 6-7 p.m.

Also, a girls basketball camp for ages 7-12 will be held at Allentown High School July 18-22 from 9 a.m. to noon. The camp will focus on individual and team instruction, offensive and defensive drills, games, contests and more. The camp will be directed by Linda Weise, head basketball coach at Hamilton High School West. The cost is $85, and each camper will receive a T-shirt.

For more information, call the recreation department at (609) 758-7738, ext. 12, or visit the Web site www.uftnj.com.

Millstone WyldLife

Club to meet May 21

The WyldLife Club of Millstone will meet May 21, 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Millstone Community Center, Route 524/Stagecoach Road, Clarksburg section of Millstone.

All Millstone-area sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders are invited, and there is no cost to attend. This month’s theme is “The W (WyldLife) Games.”

WyldLife is an interdenominational, Christian-based group focused on middle school youth and is a division of YoungLife. The group holds monthly meetings and offers summer camps and weekend excursions. For more information, call Dixie Lane at (609) 208-1659, Gina Cullinane (609) 259-7958, or Donna Bruton (732) 303-8636.

Spaghetti dinner May 24 in Millstone

The WyldLife Club of Millstone Township will hold its second annual spaghetti dinner fund-raiser May 24 at the Millstone Elks Lodge, Burnt Tavern Road, Millstone. It is an “all you can eat” event with pasta, salad, bread, dessert and beverage from 5 to 8 p.m.

All of the proceeds will go to defray the cost of WyldLife summer camp for those Millstone WyldLife members who are going to YoungLife’s Rockbridge camp in the Shenandoah mountains of Virginia this August.

The cost for the dinner is $8 for adults, $5 for children ages 12 and younger, or $30 for an entire family. This year, take-out meals will also be available.

WyldLife is an interdenominational, Christian-based group focused on middle school youth and is a division of YoungLife. For information, call leaders Dixie Lane at (609) 208-1659 or Gina Cullinane at (609) 259-7958, or Millstone Township chairperson Donna Bruton at www.Younglife.org.