Mother Nature may or may not cooperate to make the third annual Five Club Poker Run a true snowmobile event but, if she doesn’t, and there is no snow, organizers know everyone who participates will have fun anyway, and it’s all for a worthy cause.

Check-in time for the poker run is 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at any one of the five club sites.

“This is our third year sponsoring the event,” said Susan Hall of the Hampden Snowmobile Club, which is host to the event, along with the snowmobile clubs of Carmel, Hermon, Glenburn and Levant.

The event raises funds for the Pine Tree Camp for Handicapped Children and Adults in Rome, which last year received more than $1,000 from the poker run.

Snow or no snow, it’s no matter, as they say.

Last year, on a beautiful day, Hall reported that while “many people made the run on snowmobiles, almost as many went by car.”

And that’s the point of this event.

If there is not enough snow, then you “play your hands” inside the warmth of your automobile.

The cost of the event is $5 per poker hand, and there is no limit on the number of hands you may play.

Hall said that each club this year “is planning its own activities” in conjunction with the fund-raiser, which may be a breakfast, lunch or supper. Other fun activities are planned and door prizes will be offered.

Once again, Hall promises, “there will be lots of good food, prizes and raffles.”

She also wants our readers to know that all volunteers from the respective clubs are “excited to do it again.”

And I’d like to remind you that 100 percent of the proceeds from this event benefit Pine Tree Camp.

If you are new to the area, new to snowmobiling, or not a local club member and you want information about how to participate in this fund-raiser, call Bill Hall at 862-2062.

Employees of Union Trust in Ellsworth choose 12 nonprofit organizations they contribute to during the year and assign them a specific month and a specific “dress-down day.”

To participate in the dress-down day, each employee contributes $3. The total contributed by the employees is then matched by Union Trust, which sends a check for that amount to the nonprofit for the selected month.

However, instead of contributing the money to dress down for one of the months in 2001, Union Trust employees chose to participate in the annual “Coats for Kids” campaign.

As a result, more than 50 coats were collected, several of which were purchased by the employees, and others that were donated on behalf of co-workers without children by co-workers with children.

Some employees also dressed down for the month and, with the match made by Union Trust, a check for $270 was given to The Salvation Army to assist with the “Coats for Kids” program.

WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6 sponsor “Coats for Kids.” Coats are collected at Shaw’s Supermarkets and Shop ‘n Save stores statewide .

The coats collected in eastern Maine are cleaned as a public service by Gold Star Cleaners of Bangor and are distributed by The Salvation Army wherever they are needed in Maine.

Volunteers and staff of nonprofit organizations that promote the preservation of land are invited to apply for grants from the Maine Community Foundation.

Grants from the Fund for Maine Land Conservation range from $500 to $2,500. Proposals must pertain to the issue of sustaining Maine land trusts.

The deadline for the receipt of this grant application is Tuesday, Jan. 15.

Grants from the Maine Fund for Conservation Land Acquisition are matching grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. Applications are accepted on a rolling deadline throughout the year.

These grants provide land trusts with small grants to help expand service programs and build a constituency to provide a permanent base of support.

For application guidelines call (877) 770-6800 or visit the MCF Web site at www.mainecf.org.

Skiers interested in participating in the third annual Ronald McDonald House Charities and Sugarloaf/USA third annual vertical challenge from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at Sugarloaf/USA in Carrabassett Valley should register as soon as possible if they need help raising funds to meet the entry fee.

The event, in which participants ski or ride as many runs as possible, helps support the work of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine.

Participants also may earn vertical feet for extra money raised with 1,000 feet for every $25 raised above the entry fee.

Prizes will be awarded participants with the most vertical feet and the all-around top fund-raiser. Skiers and boarders may register in three levels.

The $100 Boardwalk level includes one participant entry and one event package.

Cruiser, for $800, includes one participant entry, one event package and a pair of Rossignol Rebel skis or a Rossignol snowboard.

The $1,000 Snowfields level includes one entry, one event package and a pair of Rossignol Bandit XX or Bandit XXL skis.

Event package includes a T-shirt, lunch and an all-day lift ticket.

To ensure preferred ski size, preregistration is encouraged, but you also may register from 8 to 9:30 a.m. the day of the event at the Sugarloaf Inn at Sugarloaf/USA in Carrabassett Valley.

For information about this fund-raiser, call Martha Bradley, 797-7130, or visit www.sugarloaf.com.

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