Individuals who meet income guidelines have the opportunity to participate in the Somerset County Extension Senior Companion Program.

A volunteer program for limited-income people who are 60 years of age or older, it is coordinated by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in partnership with Sebasticook Valley Hospital, Senior Spectrum, Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish and other agencies.

Gene Tobey is the Senior Companion Extension aide at the Somerset County Extension office in Skowhegan.

“We want the program to grow,” he said.

Senior Companions work out of the Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, the Senior Spectrum office or the office of the Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish, which are both in Skowhegan.

Interested persons “can call us anytime, and we will provide the training,” Tobey said.

Perhaps most significant of the services provided by Senior Companions is helping combat the loneliness and isolation of many elderly who are threatened with the loss of their independence or have become homebound because of failing health, Tobey indicated.

“Generally, the program provides companionship,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 issue for people who are isolated. We are hopeful that the program will help maximize and maintain, or gain, independence in some way.”

Senior Companions may be asked to perform duties ranging from help with personal care to help with proper nutrition, participating in social-recreational activities, assisting with home management, or providing respite care for caregivers.

Personal care can range from accompanying a person to the office of a doctor, nurse or other medical appointment, or simply sitting with someone and reminiscing.

Nutrition assistance can be making out a shopping list or planning meals, or it might mean accompanying a client to a nutritional meal site.

The social-recreational aspects range from playing cards or games with the client to just being there to listen to someone, and helping make life a little more cheerful.

Among the home management responsibilities can be reading the mail and filling out forms, assisting the client sort mail and pay bills, or even some light housekeeping or yard work, if that is appropriate.

Tobey believes one of the most important things a Senior Companion might do is foster client contact with family and friends.

“The more people who call and the more people who write letters, [the more they have] an incentive to reach out and make contact with people they haven’t had contact with for some time,” he said.

People who are eligible to become a Senior Companion can receive a tax-free stipend and can be reimbursed mileage. Training and job shadowing are also provided.

Senior Companions are needed in Somerset and Franklin counties, and especially in the Skowhegan and Pittsfield areas.

If you are able to get out and about, and if you think you are eligible to become a Senior Companion and make a difference not only in your life but, more important, in the life of a homebound elderly citizen, call Tobey at 474-9622 or (800) 287-1495.

He will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

On behalf of The Curran Homestead, Orrington Living History Farm board of directors president Dick Stockford invites the public to the Curran Homestead Maple Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 11, at the Curran Farm on Fields Pond in Orrington.

With live music by The Late Edition, this fifth annual spring event is expected to the best yet.

Bob Croce and Jill Martel will direct the sap-to-syrup demonstration in the sugar shack while Mary Brooks, Nancy Bruni, Robbi Hughes and Karen Marsters oversee a variety of food from turn-of-the century recipes that you will enjoy sampling.

Museum director Brian Higgins will conduct a noontime reception honoring Hilfred and Pauline Bailey for their donation of a Bangor-made antique sleigh, which will be on display for the first time.

If weather permits, local sleigh enthusiasts will conduct a sleigh rally for various classes and age groups.

Entries for the sleigh rally are Appointments, Parade of Sleighs, Pony, Horse, Draft, Juniors, Reinsmanship for Horse or Pony and Draft, Obstacles and Most Authentic-Picturesque. Sleigh Rally entries can be coordinated by writing Paula Leavitt, P.O. Box 36, Dixmont 04832.

If you do attend, you can also bring along your ice skates, your camera for a “Capture the Past” photo contest, or wear an 1890s costume to participate in a Best Dressed-Most Authentic clothing contest.

For more information, call The Curran Homestead at 989-1769.

Anyone interested in learning about the work of Dayspring AIDS Support Services is invited to attend a volunteer training program from 6 to 8 p.m. either Tuesday, March 13, or Thursday, March 15, or from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at One Weston Court in Augusta.

Participants will also learn what it is like to live with HIV-AIDS as well as what volunteer opportunities are available through DASS.

Dayspring volunteers visit one on one with clients, provide transportation, and work on special Dayspring projects and fund-raisers.

Food will be provided at each training session.

Call DASS at 621-6201 if you wish to attend any of these meetings.

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