There’s much more than meets the ear, and the eye, for those who attend the Maine Music Educators’ Association District VI Jazz Festival set for noon-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at Mount Desert Island Regional High School in Mount Desert.

Admission to the competition is $4 for adults and $2 for students and seniors.

Participants, directors, chaperones and bus drivers are admitted at no charge. The snow date is Friday, March 1.

A delightfully informative letter from Marion Arnold reports that the jazz festival is “a big event, involving about 600 student musicians.”

She also wrote that the festival is “notable because many of the schools involved regularly come home winners of the All-State Jazz Festival competition.”

Included among the 30 area big bands, jazz combos, show choirs and soloists represented are student musicians from host MDI and schools such as George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill, Brewer High School, Ellsworth High School and Washington Academy in East Machias.

Billed as a showcase of some of the state’s best young jazz musicians, including jazz bands, ensembles, choirs and soloists, Arnold reports “the competition is really exciting.”

But, she added, “another element of fun is the festival food. You won’t find chicken fingers or faintly flavored spaghetti. The festival foodies have considered the needs of all attendees, from meat-eaters to vegans, with homemade soups, salads and vegetarian lasagna.”

Under the direction of jazz festival food coordinator Kathy Stanley, the MDI Music Boosters made the decision to offer healthful food choices to all who attend.

The jazz festival food menu has something for everyone, from vegetable soup (which is made from scratch and uses a vegetable stock base) to veggie-stuffed pita as well as pizza baked on the premises.

The MDI Sports Boosters have a new pizza oven, which they apparently delight in using, and they also offer the traditional school event treats of hot dogs and french fries.

The cost of the “daytime food” ranges between $2 and $2.50.

A sit-down supper, catered by Michael and Fayelle Anderson of August Moon Catering in Bar Harbor, is 5-7 p.m. at a cost of $6 per person.

The menu for that meal includes two kinds of lasagna including vegetarian, a green salad and garlic bread. Dessert and coffee are extra, but those who love fine food won’t want to pass up this opportunity.

Michael and Fayelle Anderson were the folks who introduced MDI locals to Mexican cooking back in 1983 with the arrival of Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant. Michael Anderson is also the former food services director at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor.

For three years in a row, Anderson’s cooking earned COA the Princeton Review’s No. 1 rating for college food.

Arnold reports that Anderson’s cooking also received a mention in Gourmet magazine last fall.

And while you’re enjoying the music and the food, remember that all profits from the food sales, including the catered supper, will help defray the costs of this truly “sense-sational” jazz festival.

Although the 2002 Tour de Cure fund-raisers of the American Diabetes Association New England Region do not take place until May and June, now is the time to start planning for them.

On behalf of the ADA Maine office, Kathryn Libby invites members of the public who are interested in participating in this event to attend an informational meeting from 7 to 8 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Shop ‘n Save General Office, 208 Maine Ave., in Bangor.

The annual fund-raiser is expected to attract more than 50,000 riders at 100 sites throughout the country.

For information about this event, or this meeting, call (888) 868-7888 or visit the Web site 222.diabetes.org/tour.

The Hampden Children’s’ Day Committee is planning a fund-raiser to support its 2002 Hampden Children’s Day next August.

Amy Lorenzo reports the committee is sponsoring a Bowl-a-Thon beginning at noon Saturday, March 2, at Heritage Bowling Center, 1620 Outer Hammond St. in Hermon.

Members of the public are invited to form teams of four, collect pledges and compete to win prizes in this fund-raiser, which helps support the activities of Children’s Day.

For the Bowl-a-Thon, the Children’s Day committee will provide the lane and the shoe rental. All you have to provide are your pledges.

The committee requests a minimum of $25 in pledges per team member, or $100 per team.

Lorenzo reports the field is filling up but, if you would like to register, do so as soon as possible by calling her at 862-5522.

“We won’t turn anyone away,” she said.

University of Maine at Machias International Club adviser “Lefty” McIntyre sent information that yet another international presentation and potluck event is in the works, and one the club members hope the public will enjoy.

Richard Eckendorff of Frankfurt, Germany, will be featured in “Presentation on Germany and Potluck” beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at Portside on the UMM campus.

The potluck supper is open to everyone on campus as well as everyone in the community.

Those planning to attend should bring a covered dish as a contribution to the event.

Eckendorf is a junior who has a double major in recreation management and education.

An active hiker and outdoorsman, he cycles all over campus, but it may be his voice that most people recognize since he has his own program on the campus radio station.

An honors student, Eckendorf served this year as vice president of the International Club.

For information about this event, or the activities of the International Club at the University of Maine at Machias, contact McIntyre at 255-1368.

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