Maine humorists to help Project Graduation

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Anyone seeking a great way to shake off the winter blues should attend the Maine Humor Revue at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 20, in Peakes Auditorium of Bangor High School.

The event benefits BHS Project Graduation 2004.

The Revue stars three delightful Maine humorists: Clyde Folsom and Joe Bennett of Bangor, and Gary Crocker of West Gardiner, “who is very, very funny,” Bennett told me.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Doors open at 6 p.m. because, while the Revue is the main event, this fund-raiser also includes a silent auction, raffle and 50-50 drawing.

Bennett promises the three funnymen will help rid you of your winter blues, and he said the silent auction will include some very nice items.

For example, one winner will co-host the “Dale Duff Morning Show” on WZON radio.

Other silent auction items include gift certificates for Sprague’s Nursery, Chickadee Gardens, massages, Cafe Nouveau, New Moon, brunch for two at Lucerne Inn, a manicure, an overnight motel stay, two homemade quilts and tickets to Penobscot Theatre Company.

One of the larger moneymakers for BHS Project Graduation, Bennett said, will be the $10 raffle, which will be drawn that night.

You do not, however, need to be present to win.

The raffle’s grand prize is $1,000 cash, and the other prizes are a driver’s education package from Northeast Auto-Cycle School, a kayak from Old Town Canoe, $200 off a television at Circuit City, an adult membership for the Bangor YMCA, and 100 gallons of heating fuel from Webber Oil Co.

“We hope people will come early,” Bennett said, “take a good look at the auction items, and have a lot of fun after being cooped up all winter.”

Local author Sandy Phippen informs us that author-translator Tony Brinkley, a University of Maine English professor, will be reading from and talking about his “anti-epic documentary” work, “Stalin’s Eyes” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, at Borders Books on Bangor Mall Boulevard.

The book tells the story of Joseph Stalin “as a young poet of promise” whose work appeared 10 years before the Russian Revolution in the 1907 book, “A Collection of the Finest Examples of Georgian Poetry,” according to Phippen.

Appearing with Brinkley will be Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei, whose debut poetry collection, “After the Palace Burns,” won the 2002 Paris Review Prize.

I appreciate having Jan Cox remind readers the Bangor Garden Show is coming right up.

Of course, she does have a vested interest because she wants you to know that “within that show, the fabulous Penobscot District Garden Clubs will present a standard flower show,” she wrote.

Cox believes that if you haven’t viewed these entries before, you’ve missed a treat, and she hopes you’ll stop by and enjoy its “My Fair Lady” theme.

Cox also reports the horticulture class features container-grown plants, herbs grown from seed, forced branches and evergreen branches.

If you want to enter this category, call Sonia Cianchette, 368-5972, or e-mail caddy@gwi net.

The 14th Bangor Garden Show will be held 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $3 for students and free for children under 5.

Advance tickets can be purchased at the Civic Center Box Office or by calling 990-4444.

Now in its 11th year providing group travel to benefit Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Friends of the Symphony will offer “Rite of Spring, A Museum Extravaganza” on Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, in the greater Boston area.

This trip, which incorporates Eastern And Western cultures, complements “our China connection,” reports trip coordinator Nancy Ziegenbein, referring to BSO music conductor and director Maestro Xiao-Lu Li.

The tour features a visit to the re-created southeastern China Yin Yu Tang House at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., and the “Art in Bloom” and “Draped in Dragons” exhibits at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston.

The cost, $249 double occupancy for non-FOS members and $239 for members, includes travel, all meals, admission, tours and overnight accommodations.

The reservation deadline is Monday, March 22.

To make yours, send your payment to FOS, c/o Bangor Symphony, P.O. Box 1441, Bangor 04402-1441. Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards will be accepted with a $2 handling fee. All payments are final.

For more information, call the BSO office, (800) 639-3221 or 942-5555.

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