Motorcyclists looking for a great ride and a great way to help others should plan to participate in the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association Poker Run Fundraiser which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at Caribou Plourde Harley-Davidson, 1 Laurett St., Caribou.

Aroostook County Harley Owners Group and Caribou Plourde Harley-Davidson are co-sponsoring the event.

Caribou Plourde Harley-Davidson owner Bob Plourde said the ride, which is between 70 and 75 miles, is a “fun route with lots of stops at rest areas and restaurants,” which he believes bikers of all ages will enjoy.

In a poker run, riders stop at five checkpoints on a predetermined route to draw playing cards.

At the end of the run, riders with the best poker hand are awarded prizes.

Plourde is expecting approximately 100 bikers to enter the event, which costs just $5 per participant. Additional hands can be purchased for $2 each at the five checkpoints.

Plourde said 113 made the ride last year, which was the first for this dealership.

Registration can be made on the day of the event, and the rain date is Sunday, Aug. 18.

The ride begins and ends at Caribou Plourde Harley-Davidson, and riders of all motorcycle brands are invited to participate.

Proceeds benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, of which Harley-Davidson Motor Co. is a national corporate sponsor.

Similar fund-raising efforts have raised approximately 22.7 million for MDA since 1980.

In memory of late Islesford summer resident Lisa DeFrancis, the annual Islesford Auction begins with a silent auction at noon Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Neighborhood House.

The event benefits the Lisa DeFrancis Cancer Fund, to provide respite grants for oncology nurses in northern New England.

DeFrancis, who lost her eight-year battle with breast cancer four years ago, recognized the tireless care nurses give cancer patients, and believed their dedication and grace, under severe stress, are generally underappreciated.

To help them, before she died, DeFrancis and her husband, artist Henry Isaacs, established the fund, which has enabled 15 nurses to take a much-needed break. A cancer patient draws recipients’ names from a random lottery.

Last summer, more than 60 people and businesses donated goods and services, and nearly 200 people attended the fund-raiser.

“The best part of it,” Isaacs said, “is that everyone gets into the sprit of it.”

The live auction begins at 2 p.m., with Great Cranberry Island landscaper-craftsman Gary Allen wielding the gavel.

At least that’s the plan.

Allen’s wife is due to give birth that day but, Isaacs said, as of Monday, she was still planning to attend.

Islesford is accessible by Beal & Bunker mail boat from Northeast Harbor, 244-3575, and by Cranberry Cove Ferry, Southwest Harbor, 244-5882.

For more information, call Isaacs at 244-5275 or e-mail henry.isaacs@valley.net.

Jerry Ballanger of Brewer has written that the date for the 55th reunion for Bangor High School Class of 1948 is Friday, Aug. 23, at Pilots Grill, 1528 Hammond St., Bangor.

Ballanger requests that those wishing more information, or reporting changes of addresses, call him at 989-4596; Geri Cyr, 942-6402; Dana Hamilton, 848-3658; Joyce Hollis, 945-3144; Natalie McFarland, 469-3866 or Jeannette Morrill, 942-7629.

In early June, Hazel and Daisy ran away from home, and their owners, Penny Guisinger and her husband, John Leavitt of Perry, wants their pets to come home.

The couple is offering a $600 reward for information leading to the safe return of both dogs.

Hazel is a 7-year-old, mostly white husky mix, with one blue eye and one brown eye.

Daisy is a 3-year-old, tricolor mixed breed with white on her paws, chest and the tip of her tail.

Both are spayed females, and were wearing identification tags and radio fence collars when last seen.

A $200 reward is being offered by Guisinger’s parents, Gary and Jeanne Guisinger, to anyone providing information that will assist with the conviction of anyone who might have stolen or harmed the dogs.

If the dogs are no longer alive, a $100 reward is being offered for the location of the dogs’ remains.

If you have information that can help, call Gary and Jeanne Guisinger, 853-0696, the Washington County Sheriff’s office, (800) 432-7303, or e-mail Gary Guisinger at garyg@nemaine.com.

Sarah Haraden of Steuben is looking for a special pattern.

She wonders if anyone has a plastic canvas pattern for a pickup truck, to be used as a tissue box cover.

“My grandson saw one, and went wild over it,” she said.

Haraden would gladly copy the pattern and return it.

You can write her at 108 Village Road, Steuben 04680.

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