Charity wedding gown tour to stop in Bangor

Recently, I spoke with Fran Hansen of Portland, Oregon, the founder of Making Memories Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling wishes of terminally ill breast cancer patients.

Hansen said her organization will make its first visit to our area when it presents the fourth annual “Brides Against Breast Cancer – Nationwide Tour of Gowns” charity wedding gown sale at the Maine Wedding Association Bridal Show from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 27, at Spectacular Event Center, 395 Griffin Road in Bangor.

Gown prices range from $49 to $599, and include hundreds of new designer gowns valued at up to $4,000.

Hansen, who founded the organization in 1998, reports that since her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, the foundation received more than 10,000 donated wedding gowns from across the United States and the world for this tour. The Maine show features 2,000 of them.

As one who has never visited Maine before, Hansen is eagerly looking forward to coming to our state and is excited about introducing the foundation and bringing the show to Maine.

According to its Web site, the foundation’s principal purpose is to provide terminally ill, metastatic breast cancer patients with a memory-making event that may not otherwise be possible without the financial assistance of such a foundation.

For more information about the foundation, you can visit www.makingmemories.org or call 1-503-307-5600.

I’ll have more information on this accomplishment in a later column but suffice it to say that congratulations are in order for University of Southern Maine student Mary Cameron, who today will complete her five-month, two-day solo hike on the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin to benefit the Maine Alzheimer’s Association.

The last in the series of free Twilite Delite concert that salutes Bangor’s ethnic heritages features the steel drum band, Flash in the Pans, at 7 tonight on the Bangor waterfront.

University of Maine geologist Dr. Harold Borns Jr. is the featured speaker for the annual Upper Union River Historical Society Old Home Day at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Amherst Town Hall on Route 9.Borns will describe the geology of the Amherst area.

The event also features a potluck lunch at noon and a “This Old House Exhibit” and discussion by Connee Jellison.

All are welcome to bring memorabilia, a potluck dish and flea market contribution.

Annette Paradis King, author of “Growing Up on Academy Hill,” will discuss her book and memories of growing up in Old Town during the pre-World War II era at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 27, at the Old Town Museum, 353 Main St. For more information about the museum, call 827-7256.

In August 2004, Camp to Belong will be held at Camp Wigwam in Waterford.

The one-week camp reunites siblings who have been separated either through foster or adoptive care, Fund-raising walks for the camp are planned for September in Augusta, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Orono, Portland and Presque Isle.

People interested in organizing a team for “Walk to Reunite Siblings!” can attend a team captain informational meeting for the Orono walk at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 29, at Families and Children Together, 304 Hancock St., Bangor.

The team captain informational meeting for the Ellsworth walk is noon Monday, Aug. 11, at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth. For more information, call Chris Olsen at (800) 833-9786.

Anyone associated with the Allagash area will quickly find names they recognize when they read “Proudwood Poetry, Allagash Folks & Others” by Shirlee Connors-carlson.

The author will read from her new work at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at the Northern Maine Fair at The Forum in Presque Isle.

The book is $5.95 plus tax or $7.25 including tax and mailing and is available at Mr. Paperback stores, Country Cottage and Doris Cafe in Fort Kent, John Country Store and Rhonda’s Cafe in St. Francis, and T&F Quick Stop in St. John.

Books can be ordered by calling 834-6682 or at booky126@hotmail.com.

The next two SummerKeys concerts feature pianists Gregory Biss and Bruce Potterton at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 30, and pianist Jon Liechty at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 31, both at the Lubec Congregational Church.

The boat for concertgoers leaving from Eastport will be available Wednesday night but not Thursday night. For information, call 853-2500.

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