Patience is a virtue, as members of the Hodgdon Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization certainly must appreciate.

Otherwise, how could they take on the enormous task of raising $50,000 to construct a new playground to serve their school and community?

The fund raising continues, with no projected deadline, just the determination of these people that the effort will succeed.

“We have a playground, made in the late ’80s, of pressure-treated wood,” said PTO president Julie Chapla.

“It does have arsenic in it, and we are in the process of having a certified, professional report” by an expert in the field to help guide the PTO in its quest to provide a safe and healthful playground for the children of the community, she explained.

Chapla noted that “there is a whole wave of replacing these playgrounds in the country, and we’d really like to get somebody up here out of Portland or Bangor to look at ours. We may need to take it down right away, or we may need to do things to make it safe.”

Chapla said the PTO believes it will need “at least $50,000” for the project, of which $8,000 has been raised.

“We’re writing grants and we are doing other fund-raisers,” Chapla said of the project that got its first major financial boost last year with a spring walkathon.

“We raised $2,500 with that, and we’re planning another one for this spring,” she said.

For the past four years, the PTO has conducted a general fund-raiser at the beginning of the year, and has dedicated a portion of the money to the playground project.

But the major fund-raiser at the moment is a recycling effort being conducted through the Funding Factory of Erie, Pa., in which the PTO collects used laser cartridges, ink jet cartridges and old cell phones.

The PTO is working hard to collect these items, Chapla said.

“We’ve gone to several businesses in our area in The County, and we’re hoping people who read about this will contact us and be willing to recycle these products for us.”

The cartridges and cell phones are sent back to the company, which pays the PTO for what it has collected.

“We’ve found that a lot of bigger places already recycle these items, but others that don’t might be able to help us,” she said.

One of the best aspects of this project, from the perspective of the Hodgdon PTO, is that participants may be from any town in Maine.

“All they have to do is get in touch with me, and we’ll set it up so that the Funding Factory will send boxes directly to them to fill. The businesses then drop the boxes at UPS and it’s all paid for,” Chapla said.

For those unable to participate in this fund-raiser in this manner, any financial donation would be most welcome, Chapla said.

“We have a playground in Houlton, which is in a community park, but the other closest one is in Hodgdon, at the school, and people here and in surrounding towns do use it.”

What the Hodgdon PTO is trying to do, Chapla added, is make a better and safer playground for everyone.

For information on how you or your organization can participate in this recycling fund-raiser, call Chapla at 532-404. There is an answering machine if she is not available.

If you prefer to make a direct donation to the Hodgdon PTO Playground Project, mail it to SAD 70 Hodgdon PTO, Attn: Julie Chapla, Hodgdon Mill Road, Hodgdon 04730.

All too many of us, it seems to me, are experiencing a season of final farewells as we express our sorrow at the passing of those who have been an integral part of the fine fabric that is our hometown.

The recent deaths of two grand ladies of Bangor add to a list of departed individuals I have known whose personal contributions, in a variety of ways and a variety of manners, have made this such a great place to live.

To the families and dear friends of Gwen Winchell and Estelle Robinson, I extend my deepest sympathies at their passing.

Gwen, although she had no children of her own, was a loving mentor to many young people who today lead our city, state and nation.

A behind-the-scenes politician who shunned the limelight for herself, she quietly, sincerely, expertly and effectively guided into politics others who, today, make us proud they call Bangor and Maine “home.”

Estelle was known not only for the beautiful flowers that always graced the front door of her State Street home and cheered our daily commutes, but also for her commitment to church and community.

Through her service on boards and organizations whose missions are to help others, her life had a direct impact on the lives of others who unknowingly benefited from that service.

Both women led by example, and we will do our best to follow in their footsteps, keeping faith with their beliefs and their commitment to community.

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