Residents in and around the Littleton area are doing all they can to help truck driver Wayne Tapley and his family as he recovers from a recent accident.

Tapley was critically injured in early January while traveling north on Interstate 95 in Connecticut.

The Littleton man was struck on the forehead by a rock that came through his windshield, thrown by an unknown person.

When the rock hit Tapley, it apparently dazed or knocked him unconscious, causing him to lose control of his vehicle, which sideswiped a bus, careened off the median barrier, swerved back across the highway and plunged down a steep embankment, coming to rest among some trees.

Tapley has endured hours of major surgery to repair the damage caused by the incident, and was hospitalized for nearly a month before being able to return home.

The Littleton community is sponsoring a benefit supper and benefit dance for the Tapley family on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum on Route 1 in Littleton.

Kent Wotton reports the event begins with the supper from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and includes a silent auction and a 50-50 raffle. Admission to the supper is $5 per person, or by donation.

The dance, featuring Roger Hand and the Honky Tonks, is 8:30-midnight, at the same site.

Admission to the dance only is $10 for individuals and $15 per couple.

All the money raised will benefit the Tapley family, Wotton explained.

“We have lots of items that have been donated for the auction; all the truck drivers in the area are coming; and all the local churches have donated the food.”

Wotton expects up to 400 people for the dinner and the same number for the dance.

If you would like more information about this benefit, or are unable to attend and want to help in other ways, call Wotton, 538-8048, and he will be happy to assist you.

And while this accident has put him out of commission for a while, Tapley told the Bangor Daily News that he will return to work.

He’s not the 9-to-5 type, he said.

“I’m a trucker.”

Saturday is a busy day in The County. A public breakfast from 6 to 10 a.m. Saturday at the Meduxnekeag Ramblers Clubhouse in Littleton will be followed by a Benefit Poker Run.

Breakfast admission is $4.

The Poker Run is $7 per hand and includes an oyster stew and hot dog lunch at Raymond Wotton’s woods camp, which is a 60-mile round-trip ride, from the clubhouse.

Proceeds from the run will benefit new clubhouse construction in memory of the late Teri Bell, who was an integral member of the Littleton-Monticello community.

The second Penobscot River Winterfest this weekend in Brewer has activities to please everyone.

Along with all the outside activities, Jan Cox hopes many people will take advantage of the inside opportunities by getting warmed up and enjoying some outstanding music at the same time.

Cox wrote, “I will, again, be hosting the Cool Cafe from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday Feb. 28, in the Seniors Room at the Brewer Auditorium.”

She reports the all-day entertainment will include “such groups as 6 Basin Street, The Skyliners, Penobscot Winds and Sweet Adelines.”

Admission is free, and Dunkin’ Donuts is providing free coffee, hot chocolate and doughnut holes, she added.

“It’s going to be a real treat, so I hope lots of fans will show up to give these performers a tremendous audience,” she said.

And, she added, “Think snow!”

Erin Rice of Pine Tree Society in Bath, which operates Pine Tree Camp for Handicapped Children and Adults in Rome, reports PTC will hold its first Family Fun Day on Saturday, Feb. 28, at the camp.

Now that the facility has a winterized building, PTS staff decided to offer friends of the organization a wintertime opportunity to visit the 250-acre facility located in the Belgrade Lakes region.

Family Fun Day begins with Radar Runs at 9 a.m., a Poker Run at 10, a pig roast from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a daylong ice-fishing derby with weigh-in from 2 to 5 p.m., and games and hayrides throughout the day.

The event is open to the public and all proceeds benefit PTC.

For more information about the society or Pine Tree Camp programs and services, call 443-3341 or visit www.pinetreesociety.org.

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