TRIAD offers family fraud prevention forum

Through the generosity of several sponsors, area seniors are being offered “a wonderful opportunity” to learn how to protect their financial security, reports Penobscot Country TRIAD Chairman Nelson Durgin.

For the small registration fee of just $2, which includes a hot meal, you are invited to attend an all-day family fraud prevention forum from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at Penobscot Job Corps Center, 1375 Union St., in Bangor.

If you’ve never visited PJCC before, you’ll find it worth your while, especially since the registration fee includes a delicious, hot meal expertly prepared by members of the PJCC culinary arts department.

However, to attend, you must register by Saturday, April 19.

Durgin reports that TRIAD, an organization of area law enforcement, senior citizen volunteers and senior service professionals, is able to offer the forum so inexpensively thanks to the sponsorship of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maine, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and local police and the sheriff’s department.

“We kept the cost low, so people would not feel a burden” in making the decision to attend, Durgin said.

The program addresses financial fraud, predatory lending practices, identity theft, inheritance fraud and scams by local home-repair contractors.

“We have a great lineup of people coming in to talk about these issues,” Durgin added.

For example, seniors who are using computers, and there are more of them every day, will want to hear what Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Love has to say about electronic fraud.

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe will discuss consumer protection, and how his office can be involved in investigating complaints, Durgin said.

Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross and Old Town Police Department Officer Debbie Holmes will provide information about how to avoid door-to-door scams.

Registration forms are available through Eastern Agency on Aging, 450 Essex St., Bangor, 941-2865, or at the Hammond Street Senior Center in downtown Bangor.

The National Kidney Foundation of Maine’s annual fundraiser, the Great Chefs Dinner and Auction, begins with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. Monday, April 21, at Jeff’s Banquet and Convention Center in Brewer.

Tickets are $30 and are available at Unicel, 395 Wilson St., Brewer, and, in Bangor, at 6 Telcom Drive (off Union Street) or 930 Stillwater Ave.

Several area restaurants and food service providers will be represented at the dinner. Auction items include golf and Walt Disney World packages, as well as a bronze sculpture by Forest Hart.

For information or reservations, call (800) 639-7220.

The public is invited to attend a presentation concerning “The Practice of Mindfulness with Elders.”

Sponsored by Northeast Geriatric Mental Health Provider Council, the program is 1-3 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, in the Region III BDS Conference Room of Pooler Pavilion on the campus of Bangor Mental Health Institute. The presenter is Dr. Jeff Aston, and certificates of attendance are available.

More information can be obtained by calling Pam Taylor at 947-0366, Ext. 204.

Everett Parker of the Moosehead Historical Society and Museum reports “our bags are packed, and we’re ready to go” on the organization’s annual New England and eastern Canada bus trips.

From May to October, a total of 23 trips are planned that include, among others, visiting Lakewood Theatre, King’s Landing, Willowbrook at Newfield and St. Andrews by the Sea.

A free trip brochure is available by writing the Moosehead Historical Society and Museum, P.O. Box 1116, Greenville 04441-1116, by calling the office at 695-2909, or by visiting the office from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 444 Pritham Ave., in Greenville Junction, or by e-mailing history@midmaine.com.

Parker reminds you that “many of these trips will fill up well in advance,” and he encourages you to reserve your spot now.

Applications are now available for a spring hospice volunteer training course offered by Hospice of Hancock County.

Classes will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, for eight weeks, beginning April 23 and continuing through June 11 at the Hospice House, 14 McKenzie Ave., Ellsworth.

Volunteers will be trained to help provide a range of care for the terminally ill residing at home, in nursing homes or at hospitals.An application and interview are required, and you can register or receive more information by calling Hospice of Hancock County at 667-2531.

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