Anyone who has ever been involved with high school booster clubs can appreciate the fact that quite often the accomplishments of those organizations can be attributed to a small, hard-core, dedicated group of volunteers.

For most of us it’s the “been there, done that” story, which is why I completely understood the request of Pam Tuell, secretary of the Orono Booster Club, to suggest that readers with any affiliation with Orono High School take advantage of this holiday gift idea.

The Orono Booster Club is selling sweat shirts for $25, Tuell wrote.

They come in sizes medium, large and extra large, and additional sizes may be ordered, she added.

The club, it should be noted, is not only an athletic booster club.

But it is, like others, “struggling with only a few people as active members this year,” she wrote.

“We support as many groups … as possible through our concession sales, and hope to boost school spirit with the sale of our new ‘Red Riot’ pride sweat shirts,” Tuell said.

All proceeds from the shirt sales go right back to students who benefited from more than $14,000 raised last year by the booster club, an amount that it hopes to surpass this year, she added.

To order shirts, call Tuell at 866-4220, or Hala Nazmy at 866-7215.

And how is this for service during the busy holiday season?

“Members of the board would be happy to deliver shirts to you,” Tuell said.

The shirts also are available for purchase at the regular club meetings. It meets at 7 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month in Room 84 of OHS, which means the OBC meets tonight.

Here’s another gift idea, compliments of Fern Stearns of Milford.

Friends of Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge has published a 52-page booklet, “Tales of Sunkhaze,” Stearns wrote of what she describes as “a great gift for anyone with an interest in the outdoors.

“The booklet contains a brief history of the 10,000-acre refuge in Milford, but the focus is on stories transcribed, or written, by people who have hunted, fished, camped, canoed, skied and skated on the Meadows.”

The booklet is $5 and is available at The Map Store in Old Town, Epic Sports in Bangor, or by sending $5, plus $1 postage, to the Friends at 1033 S. Main St., Old Town 04468.

Writing on behalf of the Maine Discovery Museum, Susan Carlisle of Bangor extends thanks “to the entire community for its wholehearted support of our recent benefit auction, ‘Sitting Pretty,’ in which we featured artist-decorated children’s rocking chairs created by many of Maine’s finest artists.

She wrote that the auction was a huge success, raising nearly $25,000 in support of museum programs.

Thanks are extended to those who purchased the chairs and to auction sponsors, including the Bangor Daily News, Merrill Merchants Bank, Quirk Mercedes-Saab and Northeast Cardiology Associates.

Additional thanks are extended to “our hardworking auction committee and, above all, our wonderful artists, who donated their time and considerable talent to create these fabulous works of art.”

It was, as she wrote, “a magical evening.”

Ray Forsberg, a volunteer with The Salvation Army, reports that The Salvation Army’s Ellsworth Service Unit is distributing Coats for Kids during December and January.

These are the coats collected and cleaned during the statewide campaign in conjunction with WCSH 6 in Portland, WLBZ 2 in Bangor and Gold Star Cleaners in Bangor.

The Salvation Army volunteers have two distribution points where the coats can be obtained free of charge.

One site is Hanf Laundrymat at 151 High St. in Ellsworth. This site is open 24 hours a day.

You also can obtain free coats from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Wednesday and Saturday during December and January, or at The Church of Life and Praise, 321 State St. in Ellsworth.

For more information, call The Salvation Army representatives at 667-5587, 667-6286 or 667-4428.

Thelma Parker of Lincoln likes to knit, and she wants to know whether others “who do a lot of knitting like I do, could send me directions for knitting men’s stockings and for snowmobile mittens for children.”

If you can help her, please send the information to her at 56 Transalpine Road, Lincoln 04457.

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