All senior citizens in the Millinocket area, and beyond, are invited to take the AARP Driver Safety Program from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, and Wednesday, March 24, at the Baptist Church on Penobscot Avenue in Millinocket.

The program “is designed to make [seniors] safer and more confident drivers by dealing with physical changes in vision, hearing and flexibility,” wrote instructor Vaughn Martin of Millinocket.

Participants will “review defensive driving techniques and address right-of-way situations that sometimes cause problems,” he added.

Certificates presented at the end of the program will enable participants to apply for insurance discounts that last up to three years.

This is an excellent opportunity, and Martin added some thoughts that remind us just how important such a program can be to older drivers living among us.

“As you know,” Martin wrote, “our rural areas have very little public transportation, so the ability to drive is a key ingredient in maintaining our independence.”

That is why he hopes the word will spread far and wide among seniors about the AARP Driver Safety Program being offered in Millinocket.

To register or to receive more information about this program at this location, call Martin at 723-5590.

This course is being sponsored by AARP local Chapter 2652.

Everyone who has had the privilege of meeting “Gen. Joshua Chamberlain” at various historic events throughout the state, or meeting the old Irishman “Michael Curran” at Curran Homestead events, will not want to miss the eighth annual Maple Festival & Irish Celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at Curran Homestead on Fields Pond Road in Orrington.

Donations for the day’s events are $5, or $3 for members.

One of the highlights of this special day will be the opportunity to say goodbye and thank you to Brian Higgins of Brewer, not only for his outstanding portrayals of Chamberlain and Curran, but also for his extensive work on our behalf to help preserve the history of this area and of Maine.

Higgins, a photographer, historian and Curran Homestead director, is leaving Maine for California, where he will work for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He will be teaching computer use to blind veterans in the Palo Alto area.

A farewell ceremony for Higgins is planned at 1 p.m. in the Curran barnyard.

The event also includes the fourth annual Currier & Ives Sleigh Rally, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., weather permitting, as well as music, syrup-making demonstrations and food tasting throughout the day.

For more information about this most meaningful celebration and farewell, call Richard Stockford, 947-3701; Irv Marsters, 745-4426; Karen Marsters, 478-5578 or Wayne Killam, 989-1791.

The Charles O. Howard Memorial Foundation is sponsoring an auction-dinner beginning with item viewing from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 27, at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer.

Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. and the auction will start at 8.

Tickets, available by reservation only, are $18 per person and must be purchased by Wednesday, March 24.

No tickets will be available at the door.

To order your tickets, call 942-9319 or 299-0561.

Tickets can be picked up at Creative Flowers, 25 Hammond St. in Bangor.

Proceeds will benefit the Howard Foundation whose purpose is “embracing diversities in our neighborhoods.”

You are invited to a Gala Dessert Party from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 27, in the Bangor Ballroom of the Campus Center at University College of Bangor.

The event benefits and celebrates the work of Spruce Run Association, the agency that provides assistance to those living in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties who suffer domestic abuse.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for children under age 12.

The evening features delicious chocolate desserts but also will have fruit, vegetables and vanilla items for those who are not necessarily chocolate lovers.

Back by popular demand to entertain you throughout the evening is The Spontaneous Jazz Ensemble and the Athena Consort.

And new this year is the organization’s first Summer-Really-Is-Coming silent auction.

Among the featured items are a week or weekend at a summer camp, a guided kayak trip, garden plants and sessions with personal trainers.

Tickets can be obtained by calling Spruce Run staff members Dorathy Chocensky or Sheila Daigle at 945-5102. They also will be available at the door.

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