American Red Cross Pine Tree Chapter CEO Joyce Henckler wrote to remind readers that organization, as well as many other nonprofits, has had “a particularly rough fund-raising season.”

With cold weather approaching, it is important to remember “when the economic climate is bad, those in need frequently suffer more than others,” she added.

Henckler explained the emergency services work of the Red Cross “involves helping people who, without assistance, could not, in many cases, recover from a personal disaster.”

When we spoke this week, she said when people become unemployed, “one of the first things to go is insurance. It becomes a luxury.”

“Money for insurance doesn’t put food on the table.”

For example, she indicated, most people “who have house fires do not have insurance and are unprepared when they are, literally, thrust out into the cold with the clothes on their back”

The cost for two nights’ lodging, replacement clothing and food for a family of four is approximately $1,500 and “in some cases, when a home is totally destroyed and the family has no resources,” the Red Cross also provides basic replacement furniture.

During this fiscal year, which began July 1, “we have had much larger family groups and several multifamily apartment fires that have reduced our already meager resources,” Henckler explained.

One of the major events that helps replace those resources is the Red Cross Real Heroes Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Bangor Civic Center.

The event honors six local heroes for saving a life and performing acts of heroism that demonstrate courage, kindness and unselfish character.

Individual tickets, at $35, and corporate table sponsorships, at $400, are still available.

If you would like to attend the breakfast, or sponsor a table to help raise funds for services provided by the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross, call the PTC at 941-2903.

The reservation deadline is Friday, Nov. 1.

The Old Town Museum Repair Fund will benefit from your attendance at a spaghetti supper beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Old Town.

Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the suggested donation is $5 for adults and $3 for children under 12.

University of Maine English professor and author Robert Froese will read from and discuss his latest book, “The Forgotten Condition of Things,” beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, in the Riverview Room of the Ellsworth Public Library, 20 State St.

The book is described as a psychological thriller set in an antiquated mental health facility in the woods of Maine that explores the fine lines between people and things, sanity and insanity.

For more information about library activities, call the EPL at 667-6363.

The Bangor Museum and Center for History “Ghost Lamp Tours” are conducted each Thursday this month.

The next tour begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Thomas A. Hill House, 159 Union St..

Participants on the walking tour through Bangor that lasts approximately 11/2 hours will also hear stories of ghosts, spirits and other unusual occurrences that are part of the history and culture of Bangor.

Admission is $5 for adults and children are free. For more information, call the center at 952-5766.

Maine Discovery Museum Executive Director Anne Hartmann reminds readers that sponsor sheets for the MDM RiverWalk, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, in downtown Bangor, are still available at selected area merchants and at the museum, and also can be found at www.mainediscoverymuseum.org.

Stephanie Peavey of the YWCA Bangor-Brewer will be available to lead you through stretch-out exercises beginning at 9 a.m. in Pickering Square, and then it’s off on the walk along the Bangor-Brewer waterfronts.

Among prizes the top money-raiser in various age groups can win are two Pan Am airline tickets within the continental United States, a three-month membership at the Bangor YMCA, a scooter and an MDM family membership.

Each participating child will also receive a prize and be eligible for raffle drawings.

Eastern Maine Orchid Society co-founder Louise Snow of Orono invites you to purchase orchids at the Bangor Mall Community Booth from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at the mall on Hogan Road.

Each purchaser also will receive instructions on how to care for your orchids, and orchid experts will be in attendance to answer all your orchid questions.

Snow said proceeds from the sale would go toward a new scholarship the EMOS is establishing to be awarded a junior horticulture student attending the University of Maine in Orono.

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