Thank goodness for the mail, voice mail, e-mail and faxes, because that is sometimes the only way important information reaches my desk!

For example, Hampden Academy director of bands Patrick Michaud and I voice-mailed each other for too many days without connecting directly.

Finally resorting to the fax, here is the news area residents, and particularly the older people among us, need to know!

The Hampden Academy music department invites the public to a special holiday concert in honor of local veterans and senior citizens.

The concert is free, although donations will be accepted at the door.

Veterans and seniors will be treated to this special concert at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 30, in the school’s Skehan Gymnasium.

Under Michaud’s direction, the HA concert band will perform several selections including a Civil War suite, an Armed Forces medley and an arrangement of “Shenendoah” as a tribute to those who died in the service of our country.

Heidi Corliss, director of choral activities, will conduct Hampden Academy’s Voices Unlimited in a show medley of swing music.

Among those selections will be “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Satin Doll,” “In a Sentimental Mood” and other swing hits.

The concert concludes with a performance by the Hampden Academy Jazz Ensemble featuring old, familiar swing music hits such as “I Got Rhythm,” “Get Happy,” “Misty” and “When the Saints Come Swingin’ In.”

What a wonderful Memorial Day tribute this will be for all area veterans and music-loving seniors.

Be sure to make plans to attend the concert these young people have prepared just for you.

For more information about the concert, call the HA music department at 862-4962.

Folks dressed in casual clothes will be the norm during “Employee Dress Down Day” on Friday, May 25, in the Pittsfield-Newport area.

Participating in the first community fund-raising event for the planned Sebasticook Valley Hospital’s Women’s Health and Outpatient Center will be the staffs of Bud’s Shop ‘n Save and Merrill Merchants Bank in Pittsfield and Newport, and SVH in Pittsfield.

For the privilege of wearing casual clothes for the day, employees will make contributions to help raise funds for the expansion of the nonprofit health care organization.

Ground is expected to be broken for the SVH Women’s Health and Outpatient Center early this winter.

The new facility is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2002.

With a long history of live theatre in Dexter, some area residents are working hard to keep that tradition alive.

June Woodman of Dexter is president of the board of directors of the newly formed Wayside Theatre.

Serving on the board with Woodman are vice president Barbara Steller of Garland, treasurer Jack Emery of Dexter and secretary Liz Breault of St. Albans.

“We’ve been getting together since last August, and we had our first board meeting in January,” said Breault of the group working to bring live theater back to Dexter.

“It’s taken us many months of hard work to get organized.”

The local, professional theater has scheduled its first production for August, with open auditions coming up in June, she said.

In the meantime, the Wayside Theatre special events committee will host a live cabaret at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 26, at the Sterling Hotel in Dexter.

Headlining the Wayside Theatre fund-raiser will be Greta Sproul of Brownville, lead singer for the band “Syntonic.”

Breault said Sproul is “donating her time and talent” to help raise funds for the Dexter theater group, which traces its community roots to the 1850s.

Tickets for the cabaret are $8 per person and $15 per couple.

They are available at Millside Pharmacy and the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter and at Mr. Paperback in Dover-Foxcroft.

The cabaret is a BYOB and mixers event. Glasses, snacks and ice will be furnished.

For more information about this special fund-raiser or about the Wayside Theatre call Breault at 924-7292.

Winners have been announced for the 2001 Bangor Art Society Open Juried Show, which is on exhibit through Saturday, May 26, at the Bangor Public Library.

Best of Show was awarded to Beth Lambert of Mariaville for her oil pastel “Apple Tree in Blossom.”

In the oil and acrylic category, first place was awarded to Mary Louise Town Jacqua of Winslow for “Jordan Pond.”

Second place went to Lambert for “View of the Island,” and third place to Marilyn Dwelley of China for “Needs Repairing.”

The top honor in the watercolor category was awarded to Sandra Dravitz of Holden for “Bee on Lily.”

Sharon Field of Waterville received the second-place award for “View from the Water’s Edge,” and third place went to Helena Bosse of Bradley for “The Proud Overseer.”

In pastels, first place was awarded to Keith Curtis of Waterville for “Bangor Savings Bank.”

Kris Sader of Orono was second with “Ladies of the House” and Lee Harper of Oakland placed third for “Summer’s Rest.”

For prints-mixed media, the first-place award went to Kathy Finkel of Oakland for her “Third Shift” monotype. Pam Dunphy of Old Town was awarded second place for her mixed media entry, “Untitled.” Third place in that category was awarded to Danuta Muszynska of Old Town for “Untitled.”

Judges for this year’s show were James Linehan, chairman of the Department of Art at the University of Maine; Bangor High School art teacher Kal Elmore, and Diana Young, participating artist at Clark House Gallery in Bangor.

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