Holiday food drive filling windows downtown

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Through the efforts of members of the Bangor Center Corp., downtown storefronts that otherwise might be bare this holiday are looking festive and bright.

But one storefront is more than just showy and glowy: It’s filling up with food for the holidays.

That’s the storefront of the former Bagel Shop on the corner of Hammond and Main streets in downtown Bangor.

Kelly Cotiaux of Prexar in Bangor told me when Prexar employees were approached about participating in this effort, they wanted to do more than just decorate a storefront.

“We were lucky enough to get that site,” Cotiaux said of one of the most visible corners in downtown Bangor.

“BCC gave us three trees to start with, and we began asking what we wanted to do.”

As with all of us, she said, suggestions naturally centered on helping those affected by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, something the company and its employees have been doing “since 9-11,” Cotiaux said.

“But we also realized while everybody is sending money to New York, we’re watching people from local companies getting laid off.”

They thought, too, of members of the military now serving their country, and of those who have served.

“So we began to wonder how we could tie the corner of Hammond and Main into something patriotic that would promote giving something to a local charity,” she said.

Contact was made with staff at the Bangor Veterans Center, who explained that many families are in need of food this Christmas.

“People think of feeding people at Thanksgiving, and that Christmas is for kids,” Cotiaux said, “but people need food at Christmas, too.”

So, while going ahead and decorating their storefront in a red, white and blue theme, Prexar employees also decided to conduct a food drive to help needy veterans and their families, a project that, Cotiaux said, “has taken on a life of its own.”

Donations to the Bangor Veterans Center Food Drive are coming in, filling the storefront windows at the corner of Hammond and Main.

In front of the American flag and among the red, white and blue lights of the Christmas trees and the red, white and blue ribbons and candy canes are window ledges filling with food for needy veterans and their families.

Donations of nonperishable food products, or gift certificates for turkeys at local supermarkets, can be left at Prexar, 40 Summer St. in Bangor, or at the Union Street Laundry and Dry Cleaners, Harlow Street Laundry and Dry Cleaners or State Street Cleaners in Bangor.

Cotiaux said donations could include things you might not ordinarily think of during a food drive such as diapers or health or household products.

In other words, anything nonperishable would be most welcome to help fill the windows at the corner of Hammond and Main.

The drive runs through Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Late word has been received about a fund-raiser for popular Nokomis Regional High School teacher Ray Dionne, who has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

ALS, a degenerative disease of the nerve cells, is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The benefit concert, sponsored by The Guitar Club of Nokomis, is 7-10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, at the Nokomis school cafeteria. Admission is $5 per person.

The concert features several student and adult bands, including Syntonic, with Guitar Club adviser Don Mendell.

Dionne teaches the Opportunities Awareness Program, and founded the Nokomis Warrior broadcast program that airs sports and other events in which Nokomis students participate.

Funds raised at the concert will go toward helping Dionne acquire a handicapped-equipped van.

Members of the Hampden Academy Boosters Club are holding their third annual Christmas tree sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, and Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Hampden Academy parking lot on the Main Road in Hampden.

Freshly cut balsam fir trees ranging in price from $20 to 25 may be pre-ordered by calling Judy Gamble at 862-4055.

If you prefer to cut down your own, you can do so at Evergreen Tree Farm on West Elm Street in Hampden.

Money raised through the tree sale will help support Hampden Academy Boosters and athletes.

Want to get a tasty start on that Christmas tree search?

Why not have “Breakfast with Santa” from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Reeds Brook Middle School cafeteria in Hampden?

Parents of Hampden Academy Dollars for Scholars invite you to enjoy breakfast with your child while helping that program.

The cost of the pancake breakfast is $2 per person, or a maximum of $8 per family.

Photos of your child, with Santa, can be taken for $2 each, and you also can make purchases at the Dollars for Scholars Holly Jolly Bake Sale.

If you would like to honor or remember a loved one this holiday season, you can do so by purchasing a light to decorate the “Lights of Hope” tree located outside CancerCare of Maine at Eastern Maine Medical Center on State Street in Bangor.

White lights can be purchased for $10, red lights for $25, green lights for $50, blue lights for $100 or orange lights for $250 each.

The name of the person being honored or remembered will be displayed at CCOM.

For information on purchasing a light, call Eastern Maine Charities at 973-5055.

The public is invited to the illumination of the “Lights of Hope” at 4:30 p.m. Saturday Dec. 8, at CancerCare of Maine at EMMC.

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