With 40 elves of various sizes assisting Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Calais Lioness Club Second Annual Christmas Parade, set for 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, on Main Street in Calais, promises to be a real treat.

“Last year, we had thousands watching,” reported Calais Lioness Club member Lorraine Mitchell.

“We had a really good turnout. We just hope the weather cooperates this year.”

This fairly new event has proved to be a popular and fun one, she said.

The parade includes the Calais High School and Woodland High School bands, and floats and participants representing local businesses, groups and organizations.

“Anyone can be in the parade,” Mitchell said. “It really doesn’t matter. All you need is a truck and a sign.”

The parade starts at the Ames-Johnson parking lot and proceeds through town, she said.

“We close off Main Street, and we have a tree-lighting downtown.”

Cookies and hot chocolate are available, “and we sponsor a window decorating contest for businesses, to encourage downtown participation and to get people to shop there,” she said. Downtown stores will be open, and several will offer promotions.

Mitchell said the Calais Lioness Club, which has approximately 60 members, is a very active one, “and this parade has become quite the thing.”

The Lioness Club also helps the Lions Club with its Santa’s Helper program which, this year, will be broadcast on radio station WQDY on Sunday, Dec. 10.

“Local kids sing and dance, people call in donations, and the Lions give out toy coupons and Christmas baskets to those who need them,” Mitchell said.

The Lions and Lioness clubs give out more than $15,000 in toys and food over Christmas, Mitchell said. “And, for a small community, that is remarkable.”

Mitchell added, “I cannot stress how much the community and surrounding towns support the work of the Lions and Lioness Club.”

Friday night’s Christmas Parade is a chance for everyone to come together to celebrate that mutual support: clubs helping the community and community supporting the work of the clubs.

We thank the folks at HealthReach Network in Waterville and Coastal AIDS Network in Belfast for reminding us that Friday, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Day.

Staff at HealthReach want you to know that Dayspring AIDS Support Services is hosting a special remembrance service at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at the Universalist-Unitarian Church on Silver Street in Waterville.

Members of the public are invited to come and light a candle in honor of those who have died of AIDS.

Music will be provided. Bobby Perry, who has been living with AIDS for many years, will be the featured speaker.

Refreshments will be available after the service. For more information, call DASS at 621-6201.

World AIDS Day will be celebrated in midcoast Maine during an ecumenical AIDS memorial service honoring those who have died of AIDS, and paying tribute to those living with the disease at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at Our Lady of Good Hope Catholic Church on Union Street in Camden.

Also that day, Coastal AIDS Network will raffle “Sky Bands #2,” an original watercolor by Eric Hopkins and donated by the artist’s gallery in North Haven.

The painting is available for viewing through Friday, Dec. 1, at Planet on Main Street in Camden.

Tickets for the work are $25 each or five for $100. Information about obtaining them is available by calling CAN at 338-6330.

Proceeds from the raffle help CAN assist midcoast Maine residents and their families who are living with AIDS, and support its HIV prevention education programs.

You might be surprised who is bagging the purchases you make from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wal-Mart in Bangor on Friday, Dec. 1.

That’s because people such as Rep. John Baldacci, NASCAR driver Ricky Craven, several media celebrities and other community notables are participating in the store’s 4th Annual Celebrity Bagging for Charity event.

Funds raised by the baggers benefit Children’s Miracle Network of Eastern Maine Healthcare in Bangor.

The public is invited to attend the lighting of St. Joseph Hospital’s annual holiday display at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at the hospital’s entrance on Broadway in Bangor.

An illuminated outline of a dove, a star on the hospital tower, and several trees along Broadway will be decorated as well. Festivities include caroling, a visit by Santa Claus and refreshments.

Part of the SJH auxiliary’s winter fund-raiser is Lights of Remembrance. Hospital spokeswoman Diane Galutia said the Lights of Remembrance are offered “in honor and memory of people’s loved ones.”

One light can be purchased for $10; a donation of $25 brings a light plus a limited edition of a holiday winter scene replica of SJH; and $100 or more provides a light annually, and the holiday replica.

For all gifts, the name of a loved one is written on an ornament and placed on the tree in the main lobby.

For more information on this project, call 262-1720.

You can help the eighth-graders of Etna-Dixmont School travel to the Boston area next spring by attending their Christmas Auction, which begins with a preview and refreshments at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at the school.

More than $3,000 worth of items and gift certificates will be up for bid by auctioneer Fred Sales.

Charlotte Skiff and members of the Mount Desert Island Hospital Auxiliary of Bar Harbor invite you to attend their holiday tree-lighting at 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at the hospital.

Last year, the Auxiliary sold 280 stars for its Christmas tree project.

The stars are $5 each, and can be purchased as a gift in memory or in honor of a friend or loved one.

You can order your star or stars now through Monday, Dec. 18.

Checks should be made payable to MDI Hospital Auxiliary and sent to PO Box 8, Bar Harbor 04609-0008.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.