Senior social work student Krista Thompson of the University of Maine in Orono asked me this week to issue a special invitation.

Thompson is the organizer for the “Indigenous Women’s Voice Gathering 2001.”

She said the public is invited to hear the second annual “Indigenous Women’s Voices” performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14 in Hauck Auditorium on the UMaine campus.

The free performance will be the culmination of the of the three-day Indigenous Women’s Voices gathering Oct. 12-14 at China Lake.

During the retreat, women and girls representing the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Nation tribes will have an opportunity to form new friendships, renew old relationships and develop an appreciation for their respective heritages.

The public performance enables them to share, through song and music, their experiences with the non-Indian community.

Some 70 women are expected at the gathering, and Thompson hopes getting the word out about this free performance will help to “recruit an audience.”

“We have already had a positive response in the university community,” she wrote, “and we hope to reach out to the Greater Bangor community as well.”

To help finance the gathering and performance, participants have conducted raffles, sold Indian fry bread, copies of a CD made at their first performance, and solicited donations from individuals and organizations.

If you cannot attend the free performance, but would like to make a donation, purchase a CD or receive more information about the organization, call Thompson at 827-3238 or e-mail indigenouswomen@yahoo.com.

Here’s some great news from director Jan Cox and the Brewer Hometown Band.

“Some of the members of the concert band have organized a Dance Band,” Cox wrote.

The band will perform music “from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, with the big-band sound.”

The new group will host a dance, for the public, 8-11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12 at the Brewer Auditorium.

Tickets are just $5 per person in advance, or $8 at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Brewer Auditorium.

And while many might want to dance the night away, Cox realizes others “might just want to come and listen.”

Light refreshments will be served and, and the event will be alcohol-free.

Cox reports that Ken Hanscom of the Brewer Recreation Department “is very excited about this, and we hope it will be a great success and, perhaps, be booked as an annual event.”

Bobbie Fowler of The Animal Orphanage in Old Town has written that organization is hosting its annual “Blessing of the Animals” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13 “at the Knights of Columbus Ball Field in Old Town.”

“All animals are welcome,” Fowler wrote.

And while the event is free and open to any type of animal, people are asked to keep their pets on a lead.

“This is our fifth annual blessing,” Fowler added of the event that will include several members of the clergy and “a Native American blessing.”

Members of the Skowhegan Area High School Drama and Speech Department will be representing the state of Maine in the prestigious Fringe Festival next August in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The festival is the largest international performing arts festival in the world.

Students and supporters are working hard to raise $100,000 to make the trip, and their current fundraiser is a Dinner Theatre & Dance beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13 at Lakewood Inn Restaurant on Lake Wesserunsett in Madison.

The event, which is $100 per couple, includes a raffle of Lakewood Theatre historical playbills featuring stars of the 1960s and 1970s.

I hope this is one of their more successful fund-raisers because I know those who attend will thoroughly enjoy being at Lakewood.

For more information about this and other fund-raisers, call Nancy Chapman at 474-7135.

If you would like to make a contribution to help the first students from Maine participate in this event, send your donation to SAHS Speech and Drama Dept., RR 3, Box 6488, Skowhegan 04976. Include “Edinburgh Experience” on the memo line of your check.

One of the area’s most popular sales is the annual Fall Rummage Sale of the Church of Universal Fellowship which runs 7-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12 and 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Oct. 13 in the vestry of the church on Main Street in Orono.

Entrance to the sale is through the side door on Juniper Street.

Joyce Harris and Louise Libby are coordinating the event with assistance from members of the Alliance and Fellowship Circle.

This particular sale includes clothing for all seasons, and for all ages, a white elephant table and children’s toys.

Donations of items for the sale are welcome. For information, call the church office at 866-3655.

One month ago today, Sept. 11, the U.S. experienced the worst terrorist attack in its history.

We pause to remember those whose lives were lost, and to thank those who are clearing the attack sites, those in the military in faraway lands working to eliminate terrorism, and those whose responsibility it has become to keep us safe from harm in our own land.

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