Although most people probably aren’t singing “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” during this especially frigid weather, I suspect that some are.

Take members of five area snowmobile clubs, for example, along with anyone associated with Pine Tree Camp for Handicapped Children and Adults in Rome.

Snowmobilers in Carmel, Glenburn, Hampden, Hermon and Levant are planning their fifth annual Five Club Poker Run that begins with check-in 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at any of the five clubs.

With checkpoints at each site, participants must complete their runs by 4 p.m.

The cost is $5 per hand, with no limit on hands purchased, and 100 percent of the net proceeds benefit Pine Tree Camp.

Snowmobilers certainly hope that by next week they can participate in the fund-raiser riding the machines they so love, but this is one event where participation is not limited to snowmobiles.

You can also participate in your car and that, Susan Hall of the Hampden Snowmobile Club reminded me, is just what happened to most people the very first year of this fund-raiser.

She recalled it was one of what we Mainers call an “open” January, with no snow to speak of. So, anyone who wanted to take part did so by car, not snowmobile.

But it didn’t matter. The event was still a great success.

“This has turned into a fun event, helping to get people together for a good cause,” Hall said.

Each club sponsors breakfast, lunch, supper or other activities, so there is plenty to do wherever (and however) you go.

If you are unfamiliar with the club locations, or want more information about activities at each site, call Bill Hall at 862-2062.

Mireille Le Gal invites all international and American women to celebrate the country of China during the Women of the World, or WOW, Luncheon at noon Monday, Jan. 12, at the Church of Universal Fellowship on Main Street in Orono.

She also reports that hosts are needed for this program that celebrates the Chinese New Year.

The cost is $4 per person, and there is no charge for young children attending with their mothers.

WOW offers international women an opportunity to “make new friends and enjoy women supporting women,” Le Gal wrote.

If you have an interest in, or connection to, China and Chinese culture, and you are willing to help, you are asked to call Le Gal at 581-3423.

An upcoming blood drive will enable you to help two worthy causes with one simple donation.

Good Will-Hinckley: Homes & Schools for Boys & Girls in Hinckley is hosting a blood drive from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, in Bishop Auditorium at Prescott Hall on the Hinckley campus.

For each pint donated, Eastern Maine Medical Center’s Blood Donor Program will donate $2 to Good Will-Hinckley.

The school, which is home to 130 young people, will use the funds for its literacy campaign.

Donors are asked to preregister by calling Tiki White at GWH, 238-4002.

You also can reach her at twhite@gwh.org.

Jon Paradise of the Maine Credit Union League in Westbrook has announced the return of its “Operation Phone Home” program.

The effort is being made, Paradise explained, in response to the recent activation of hundreds of Mainers by the military.

Now through Sunday, Jan. 25, participating Maine credit unions will be collecting phone cards and-or cash for “Operation Phone Home 2004 – A New Resolve.”

At the close of the program, the MCUL will contribute all phone cards and a check to the USO for distribution to troops and their families.

Last spring a similar effort collected more than 401,000 minutes of calling time, the third-highest donations of phone cards in the nation, behind only Wal-Mart and Verizon, Paradise noted.

He added that “the need for phone cards is greater now than it was even last April.

“Phone cards will be used for not only troops to call their families, but also for families to call other family members for support while their loved ones are deployed in the Middle East and other locales.”

The goal of the current program is to collect at least 100,000 minutes.

For more information, or to contribute, visit your local credit union, call MCUL at (800) 442-6715, Ext. 273 or visit www.mainecul.org.

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