Need for volunteer Meals for Me drivers crucial

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Eastern Agency on Aging of Bangor really needs your help.

I hesitate to use the word “desperately” needs your help, but it wouldn’t be too far a stretch if I did.

If you can drive, and you have the time, you can be of tremendous assistance to some elderly people this summer.

EAA’s Meals for Me program needs volunteer drivers to deliver meals to homebound elderly residents in the Bangor, Bucksport and Ellsworth areas.

Carol Higgins of EAA said that, unfortunately, this is a problem the program faces every summer, “when our regular drivers are on vacation, or they have family in town visiting with them.”

The Meals for Me home delivery program depends on volunteers to help feed older people unable to prepare a meal for themselves.

The delivery schedule is flexible, and all that is asked of you is an hour or two a week, or a month, to help ensure that the elderly in our area receive the nutrition they need.

The program is very rewarding for those who volunteer, because it offers an opportunity to make a major difference in someone’s life.

There are occasions when the Meals for Me driver is the only person the meal recipient sees during the course of the day. So in addition to providing hearty nourishment for older people, you are also providing much-needed companionship.

When you consider that Meals for Me provides more than 200,000 meals annually to individuals age 60 and older, who may be housebound, frail, ill or unable to cook for themselves, you can easily see the tremendous impact this program has upon older residents of our area.

And while many of those meals are delivered to the recipients’ homes, those who are able to get out, receive their nourishing meals at Meals for Me dining rooms throughout Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock and Washington counties.

If you can possibly donate some time this summer to Meals for Me in the Bangor, Bucksport and Ellsworth areas, please call 800-462-9899 or 941-2872.

Allen Monroe of the Milo Historical Society invites members of the public to help that organization salute “Milo’s Greatest Generation” beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 19, at the Milo Historical Society Museum.

Rescheduled from an earlier date, the event will be one in which guests can reminisce about the impact World War II had upon this community.

Guest speakers from the area, both those who served in the armed forces and those who served the cause at home, will participate in the discussion.

On display will be historic artifacts and pictures from the WW II era.

Anyone interested in participating in the event is most welcome to attend.

Everyone who has ever attended has loved it, including me.

It’s just plain fun, to begin with, and there are lots and lots of great buys.

Which is just as it should be, since members of the Orono-Old Town Kiwanis have been host of this event for more than half a century, and they know how to do it right!

The 54th anniversary Orono-Old Town Kiwanis Charity Auction opens its gates at 5 p.m., with the gavel banging on the auction block from 7 p.m. to midnight both nights, Thursday, July 19, and Friday, July 20.

Gates open at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 21, with the auction starting at 7 p.m. and running until midnight, or until all the items are sold.

The three-day auction is held at the Kiwanis Barn on Forest Avenue in Orono.

At that location, you also will find new and used goods, and you can make direct purchases from the Toy Barn, the Book Barn, the Trash and Treasures House and the White Goods Annex.

As always, appropriate refreshments such as popcorn, hot dogs and ice cream will be available.

In conjunction with the Kiwanis Auction, you can also pick up delicious treats at a food sale Saturday morning on the lawn outside the Church of Universal Fellowship on Main Street in Orono.

Steve Colburn and Jim Dill are auction co-chairmen, and their committee has lined up some great raffle prizes for you, with the top prize being a Loon 120 Kayak, donated by Old Town Canoe.

If you are visiting here, and you’ve never attended this event before, drop by and find out for yourself why so many people think this is one of the most entertaining auctions around.

Joyce Schoppe of Ellsworth has written that it is nearly time once again for the annual meeting of the Franklin High School Association, beginning with a social hour at 5 p.m., and dinner at 6 p.m., Friday, Aug. 17, at the Franklin Veteran’s Club.

Schoppe, the association’s president, wants FHS alumni, whom she points out “are creatures of habit!” to pay particular attention to the fact that this year’s event is being held on a Friday night rather than on a Saturday as it was before.

The cost to attend the ham-chicken buffet dinner is $9 per person, and guests are welcome.

A business meeting and entertainment follow the dinner.

Association dues are $2 per person, and the deadline to register is Friday, Aug. 3.

Reservations can be made by calling Schoppe at 667-8425, or writing her at 74 Beals Ave., Ellsworth 04605.

Individuals also can call association secretary Peggy Hunt, 565-2004, or write her at 8 Winter Road, Franklin 04634.

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