Great news for folks in our readership area comes from The Ark, a no-kill animal shelter in Cherryfield that has opened a Thrift Shop on Route 172 across from the fairgrounds in Blue Hill.
Ardene Scroggy e-mailed that the new facility houses five rooms and is open for business from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
As you would expect, the shop carries cat- and dog-related items “such as bedding, crates, toys, collars and leashes,” Scroggy wrote, “as well as good-quality and gently used household goods and small appliances.”
In fact, you will find everything from books to bedding, kitchen equipment to kitchenware, she said, as well as view photos and descriptions of cats and dogs ready for adoption.
The Thrift Shop manager is Ann Sterling, and Sterling and her group of volunteers welcome donations of a variety of items with the exception of clothing.
Scroggy wrote that The Ark president Tom Leigh “reports that the cost to run the shelter is about $21,000 a month,” and that “this money comes from bequests, grants and donations, all of which have fallen off in recent times.”
With this new venture, Ark supporters are hoping to increase its income and help “keep The Ark in business caring for abandoned and surrendered pets until they are adopted into loving foster homes,” Scroggy wrote.
For more information about The Ark’s Thrift Shop, call 348-9382.
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Cancer: There is Hope Here in Washington County is a free conference held by the Maine Cancer Foundation from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at Pellon Center on Court Street in Machias.
Tami Dinsmore reports that the keynote speaker is Debbie Violette, an 11-year, stage-3 lung cancer survivor and advocate.
Other participants include Maine foundation executive director Susan Rowan, Dr. Kevin Mills of The Jackson Laboratory, representatives of Down East Community Hospital, Calais Regional Hospital and CancerCare of Maine, Telemedicine Services director Tom Key, mental health-bereavement counselor and cancer survivor Mary T. White with other cancer survivors participating on a patient panel.
For more information about registering or car pooling, call Dinsmore at 733-1090, ext. 2214, or e-mail tdinsmore@rmcl.org.
You also may register at the door for this workshop that features question-and-answer sessions after each presentation.
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Diane Kopec of the Bangor Museum and History Center reminds readers the final Mount Hope Cemetery tour and the final Ghost Lamp tours are this month.
The final cemetery tour begins at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at the cemetery superintendent’s office, 1048 State St., Bangor.
The final Ghost Lamp tours are 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, and Tuesday, Oct. 20, beginning in the waterfront parking lot next to the Sea Dog Restaurant.
The fee for each tour is $5 for adults, free for history center members and children under 12.
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Librarian Barbara McDade invites you to the Bangor Book Festival that begins with an opening address by author Douglas Preston at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at the Bangor Opera House.
The daylong festival begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St., and features more than 20 authors participating in readings, panel discussions and book signings.
A complete schedule, author biographies and more information are available at www.bangorbookfest.org or call 947-8336.
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Terri Swanson reports Maine Coast Memorial Hospital Volunteers will hold their eighth annual Craft Fair and Chinese Auction 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at 50 Union St. in Ellsworth “under the large white tent across from the hospital’s main entrance.”
The fair and auction feature 40 Maine crafters and more than 100 auction items donated by local business owners, friends and volunteers.
Children in kindergarten to sixth grade can enter the Pumpkin Painting Contest after 10 a.m. Friday and before 11 a.m. Saturday.
Crafters who would like to participate can call Swanson at 664-5341 or e-mail tswanson@mainehospital.org to learn if spots are still available.
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Women’s Reentry Center volunteer Liane Giambalvo e-mailed to let me know she provided me an incorrect telephone number for the center in Bangor for those wishing to call and make contributions to its Quilt Project, which I had written about in Monday’s column.
To make a donation or for more information, call the Women’s Reentry Center at 561-5028.
Giambalvo will pick up donations in the Bangor area. Her number is 862-3356.
Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; javerill@bangordailynews.net; 990-8288.