With letters having gone out to “parents, business owners and friends,” perhaps people with some very strong ties to Sumner Memorial High School in East Sullivan have not yet received this information.

For the benefit of SMHS Class of 2003, I am pleased to have the opportunity to extend a request to those, near and far, to help these deserving young people raise funds for their chem-free graduation all-night celebration.

SMHS Project Graduation coordinator Matt Umphrey wrote that “through the generous donations of time and monies from parents, community and area businesses, Project Graduation has been a tradition at Sumner Memorial High School for 23 years.

Students and staff at Sumner are committed to providing a chem-free party for the graduating senior class each year.”

That is a long-standing commitment to be honored.

Their goal, Umphrey reported, is to raise between $3,000 and $4,000 and, as of Monday, May 19, assistant principal Michael Eastman told me, “they are about halfway there.”

That gives you a few more weeks to get your check in the mail so these Hancock County seniors can safely enjoy what is, thus far, the most important night in their young lives.

But they need your help, and any donation, large or small, will be greatly appreciated.

Donations can be mailed to Project Graduation, c/o Matt Umphrey, Sumner Memorial High School, 2456 U.S. Highway 1, Sullivan 04664.

The Moosehead Historical Society & Museum invites you to learn about Maine government by visiting the Maine State Museum, State House and the Blaine House on Tuesday, June 3.

The cost of the trip, including transportation and admission fees, is $35 per person.

MSM exhibits include “This Land Called Maine,” “Made in Maine,” and “12,000 Years in Maine,” the story of Maine Native American inhabitants.

Lunch, on your own, is at the State House Cafeteria.

Reservations are necessary and should be made as soon as possible.

Call the Moosehead Historical Society at 695-2909; visit the office between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at 444 Pritham Ave., Greenville, or write MHS, P.O. Box 1116, Greenville 04441-1116.

Brenda Hall of Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor believes that “your trash is our treasure,” and hopes you will donate unused or unwanted items for its Giant Yard Sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Somesville Fire House.

“We will take everything, from kitchen sinks to catcher’s mitts,” she wrote. But, for clothing, the items requested are for “only babies and children, please.”

Yard sale donations can be left between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday, June 6, at the Somesville Fire House.

Bangor Women’s Golf Club invites all interested women golfers to join BWGC.

The women play at Bangor Municipal Golf Course, and you do not need to be a member of the course, or a Bangor resident, to play.

The women play 18 holes on Thursdays, nine holes on Wednesdays, and on Couples Day at 3 p.m. Sundays, in any combination of your choosing.

If you are interested, call Pat Martin, 990-1513.

The Central Maine Chapter Children of Chernobyl Relief Fund is sponsoring a raffle to help raise funds to purchase a laparoscope for a pediatric hospital in the Ukraine.

The drawing is set for 9:15 a.m. Sunday, June 29, at St. Joseph’s Church in Brewer. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5.

The first prize includes an Old Town kayak, vest and paddle.

Bohdan Slabyj is in charge of the raffle, and would appreciate hearing from others who would be willing to circulate the raffle tickets.

You can obtain tickets, or offer your assistance, by calling him at 989-6118 or e-mailing bslabyj@Maine.edu.

Gene Staffiere, Northern Maine Division Director of the March of Dimes, announced this year’s Bangor/Brewer WalkAmerica was the most successful ever, raising more than $45,000.

Staffiere had special thanks for the work of Leadership Committee members Bridget Lindsay, Sam’s Club; Gloria Faulkner, Town of Eddington; Irv Marsters, Bangor Letter Shop; Jill Ashe, Unicel; Joe Sekera, John Bapst Memorial High School; LuAnn Williams, Bangor Hydro; Paula Pierce, Hannaford Bros.; Rebecca Loveland, Mid-Maine Communications; and Wanda Adams, Key Bank.

Hannaford was the top team, raising more than $5,000, and Peirce was the top individual walker, raising more than $2,000 in pledges.

Staffiere thanks “all those who participated in WalkAmerica.”

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