From William Barker of Presque Isle we learn that Northern Lambda will be host to Red Ribbons and Snowflakes, its first Winter Benefit Dance.
Northern Lambda is a nonprofit organization supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents of Aroostook County.
The dance will be 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Meduxnekeag Ramblers Snowmobile Club on Wiley Road in Littleton.
Admission at the door is a minimum donation of $5, and the dance is for people 18 and older only.
Barker said proceeds from the event would help raise awareness of and funds for residents of The County living with HIV-AIDS.
Barker wrote that the dance will feature “a live DJ; raffles to raise monies for heat; donation boxes for non-perishable food items, gas cards and food cards,” and he’s hoping for “a packed house with tons of fun.”
···
Sandra Gordon of Waldo County Healthcare reports caregivers, their families and friends are invited to share their experiences or concerns, especially about the holidays, at the next meeting of the Waldo County Family Caregiver Support Group.
That meeting will be from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, in the Education Building next to Waldo County General Hospital, 118 Northport Ave. in Belfast.
You are welcome to bring your lunch, Gordon wrote, and drinks will be provided.
Brenda Whitley of the Family Caregiver Support Program of Spectrum Generations and Margie Spencer-Smith of Waldo County Home Health & Hospice are the group organizers, and you can obtain information about the meeting or the group by calling Whitley at 800-282-0764, ext. 127, or Spencer-Smith at 338-2268.
···
Next Saturday, Dec. 27, Jessie Shaw of Brewer will celebrate her 100th birthday.
I had a delightful conversation with our area’s newest centenarian and extended my best wishes for a very merry Christmas and happy birthday.
If you would like to send a birthday greeting, write her at 738 North Main St., Brewer 04412.
···
Jennifer Therrien of Challenger Learning Center in Bangor reports “now that our application has been accepted, it is time to get to work” on the 2009 Team America Rocketry Challenge.
This annual nationwide rocketry-based aerospace design and flying competition is designed for teams of students who are in grades seven through 12, Therrien said.
“The top 100 teams nationally will compete in a face-to-face flyoff” in late May at The Plains, in Virginia, which is near our nation’s capital.
The first meeting of the Challenger Learning Center Rocketry Team is 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 10, at the center, 40 Venture Way in Bangor, “and there is still time to join the team,” Therrien wrote.
For information, call her at 990-2900, ext. 3, or e-mail jtherrien@clcofme.org.
···
Earlier this week, Harry Hafford, chairman of the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery Corp., e-mailed me that Alice Hammond of Harrington won its fall raffle to raise funds to build a footbridge at the Caribou cemetery.
I replied to his e-mail, telling him I hoped the raffle was successful.
His response came the next day.
“Thanks, and yes the fundraiser was a success,” he wrote, “netting over $3,500 profit for the footbridge project.”
He added that he would like to extend his “thanks to everyone who supported the fundraiser.”
When built, as Hafford explained in an earlier column, the new footbridge “will meet Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines,” thus improving access to the cemetery, “especially for seniors and disabled persons.”
For information about this project or the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery Corp., call Hafford at 435-6024.
···
Norma Milton reports Caribou Pet Rescue has “six healthy, happy, 14-week-old kittens available for immediate adoption.”
They tested negative for leukemia, had their first two distemper shots, have been wormed and cleaned of any parasites, are litter-box trained and accustomed to other cats.
Caribou Pet Rescue also has a shy adult male cat, Blackjack, who is looking for a safe, loving home.
He is a clean, neutered cat, litter-box trained and had all his shots.
“Blackjack will require a quiet home, with adults, who understand that he is a kind and gentle animal who has been abused,” Milton wrote, adding that it should take just “a couple of days of loving care for Blackjack” to warm up to you.
He is in foster care at Madawaska Lake.
If you are looking for a kitten or a cat like Blackjack, call Milton at 896-5650.
Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; javerill@bangordailynews.net; 990-8288.