The people who brought this area the highly successful “Vial of Life” program now have another program that women, particularly, will appreciate.

Participating agencies in the Penobscot County Area Triad are the Bureau of Elder & Adult Services, Eastern Agency on Aging, Legal Services for the Elderly, Maine Retired Teachers Association, Penobscot County district attorney’s office, Maine District 5 Police Chiefs’ Association, Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department, Phillips-Strickland House and RSVP.

Under the chairmanship of Charlie Sias of Bangor, the Triad is now in the midst of its “Keep an Eye on Your Purse” campaign, prompted, Sias said, when the Triad learned that more than 200 cases of purse thefts were reported last year in the Greater Bangor area.

Many of the thefts occurred in stores where shopping carts are used.

“When we learned about that, we decided to try and do something” about the number of purse thefts in the area, Sias said.

Anyone who carries a purse can appreciate the situation.

Admit it.

We’ve all done it.

We’ve all left our purse in the child-seat section of a shopping cart or, worse, casually left it in the bottom of the cart and turned aside to look at something on a department store rack or shelf.

Our shopping distracts us and we’re not paying attention to our purses.

Unfortunately, it only takes a second for someone to snatch that purse and disappear from view.

So, if you’re shopping in the Greater Bangor area this month, don’t be surprised if you see police officers in the store.

And don’t be surprised if they stop and talk with you.

“We decided the best people to get involved would be members of local police departments, since that is who they [people who’ve lost purses] report the theft to,” Sias said.

The Penobscot County Area Triad now has teams of officers visiting local department stores, he said. “The officers will wander about the stores, watching people,” Sias explained. If they spot shoppers that “have a tendency to leave their pocketbooks in the cart and then wander off, the police officers will stop them and tell them they are leaving themselves open to theft and suggest they keep it tied down,” Sias added

The officers will also leave a “Keep an Eye on Your Purse” card as a reminder.

Sias said police officers in Bangor, Brewer, Old Town and Hampden have already begun visiting stores in the cities and towns they cover. Others plan to be out and about in teams the remainder of this month.

The next Triad effort to prevent purse theft takes place Tuesday, Feb. 20, at Wal-Mart in Bangor, Sias said.

Triad members hope this effort will result in fewer reported purse thefts this year.

This Triad program is co-sponsored by the Bangor Letter Shop and Color Copy Center.

Maine residents entering their junior year of college in 2001, as well as seniors and graduate students majoring in a field related to growth or conservation of plants, may be interested in two scholarships that are available.

Judie Phillips of Sullivan is scholarship chairwoman of the St. Croix District Garden Club Federation of Maine. She welcomes applications for the $2,500 Garden Club Federation of Maine award and the $1,000 Nell Goff Memorial Scholarship of the St. Croix District.

Applications for both scholarships must be received by Thursday, March 1.

The scholarships are for students studying horticulture, floriculture, landscape design, conservation, forestry, botany, agronomy, plant pathology, environmental control, city planning or other gardening-related fields. Requests for applications can be sent to Phillips, St. Croix District, GCFM, HCR #32, Box 27, Sullivan 04664.

Thanks to Sharon Hall for sharing the news of the second annual Five Club Poker Run’s success.

The snowmobile clubs of Carmel, Hampden, Hermon, Glenburn and Levant sponsored the event recently to raise funds for Pine Tree Camp for Handicapped Children and Adults in Rome.

Hall wrote that slightly more than $1,000 was raised for the camp on a beautiful day. And while “many people made the run on snowmobiles,” she believes “almost as many went by car.”

In any event, “a good time was had by all,” she reports and a good amount of money was raised for the camp.

Margaret Brown of Orrington invites all to visit the Altrusa Club of Bangor bake sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., or until all the food is sold, on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Marden’s in Brewer.

Funds will go toward Altrusa Club scholarships awarded annually to Maine women.

On behalf of the Hancock County Genealogical Society, secretary Joyce Barr of Brooklin announces a meeting open to the public at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, in the Riverview Room of the Ellsworth Public Library.

The featured speaker will be member Charlene Clemons, assistant librarian at the EPL.

Clemons will speak about doing research at a library, a subject in which she is well-versed. Clemons’ knowledge of the library’s Alvin Whitmore Memorial Collection is a valuable resource for those researching their roots in Down East Maine.

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