With all the changes resulting from the Maine Department of Transportation rebuilding Route 9, the road popularly known as “The Airline,” I think many people would be interested in attending the Upper Union River Historical Society annual meeting at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 27, at the Amherst Town Hall.

You are asked to bring food for the potluck lunch at noon, but drinks will be provided.

Those attending will enjoy two special presentations: one modern-day, the other from days gone by.

Historical society member Sylvia Sawyer reminds readers that “we used to be the Amherst Historical Society, but changed to include the four towns of Osborn, Aurora, Amherst and Great Pond.”

Maine author, historian and genealogist Connee Jellison will discuss “Local Military Men,” which Sawyer explained will focus on the military service of Amherst residents.

The other special feature will be a presentation by Bill and Kathryn Cook, volunteers at Leonard’s Mills, the Maine Forest and Logging Museum on Route 178 in Bradley.

The Cooks’ presentation is “Medical Care in the 1800s” which will “give us a glimpse of health and medical practices” of that era, Sawyer wrote.

In addition to the organization’s annual business meeting and the presentations, the event also features a flea market and a display of local historical artifacts.

The American Red Cross in Eastern Maine, Marlin Art and other local artists will hold their first art auction Sunday, July 28, beginning with a preview at 3:30 p.m. at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor.

Proceeds will benefit the local chapter of the ARC.

More than 140 pieces of art in a variety of media will be featured, representing local artists and local art outlets.

Cynthia Parady is chairwoman of the event, which includes a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres provided by area restaurants, markets and individuals. The auction gets under way at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at the First National Bank of Bar Harbor, Ellsworth or Northeast Harbor branches, or at Cynthia’s Day Spa, 24 First South St., Bar Harbor.

Tickets, for a donation of $15, can also be obtained by calling the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, 288-5103; the ARC In Eastern Maine, 667-4737; or Cynthia’s Day Spa, 288-3426.

The American Red Cross in Eastern Maine has offices in Ellsworth, Rockland and Belfast.

The public is invited to a presentation by University of Maine Cooperative Extension horticulturist, Dr. Lois Stack, hosted by the Ellsworth Garden Club and the Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteers.

Stack will discuss roses and rose trials being conducted at the university’s Rogers Farm on Route 16 in Stillwater. The presentation includes slides.

Stack will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, July 29, at the Cooperative Extension Office, 63 Boggy Brook Road, Ellsworth.

Light refreshments will be served after the meeting.

Organized in 1932, the EGC maintains the Donald A. Little Memorial Park in Ellsworth, which is named for Lt. Little, who died during the Korean War.

For more information about this meeting, or about the EGC, call Elaine Fernald at 244-3085.

The Extension office is handicapped-accessible, and the EGC welcomes new members.

Diane Durso of Philadelphia wrote the Bangor Daily News a heartwarming letter after a stopover in Machias last week.

A day after dining at the Bluebird Ranch Restaurant in that Washington County community, Durso discovered she had left her wallet “with all my worldly possessions,” at the restaurant.

A phone call to the restaurant informed Durso that “a customer saw it, turned it in, and the restaurant held it,” she explained about the status of her lost wallet.

Upon returning to the restaurant, Durso found everything intact, from her driver’s license to her birth certificate, credit cards and “the only $20 I owned.”

Durso wrote that she cannot say “thank you enough” to those honest, thoughtful people.

“We were able to go on with our trip but, more important than that, I felt safe and grateful,” she wrote. For so considerately waiting for Durso to reclaim her wallet, she extends her thanks “to the customer and to the restaurant employees who safely held it.”

Jerzy Matuszczak of Krakow, Poland, wrote the NEWS with a special request.

The 45-year-old has 25,000 blank postcards, and he hopes that, one day, he will have “the biggest world collection.”

He asks readers “to help me and send some blank postcards with views from Maine.”

Matuszczak thanks you in advance for your “kind help.”

Blank postcards can be sent to him at 31-462 Krakow, ul.Pilotow 22/21, Poland.

If you would like to e-mail him, that address is fraglers@markom.krakow.pl.

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