The love and deep concern two friends have for the welfare of 49-year-old Sandi Worcester of Cushing was very evident when I spoke with them of the life-threatening illness the Indiana native faces.

Both Jane Newcomb and Dianne Couture choked up and spoke with lumps in their throats as they related the struggles Sandi and her husband, “Butch” Worcester, are facing in the wake of her diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia.

Both women described their friend as one of the “kindest, sweetest and dearest” people they know, and both expressed frustration with the financial circumstances that have been making it difficult for her to obtain the treatment she so desperately needs.

Their friend of 30 years must have a stem cell transplant to give her a chance at life, and it has been a long, difficult struggle to get coverage for that type of treatment, Couture said.

Fortunately, the couple learned just recently that the insurance they have through Butch’s employer, Webber Oil Co., will cover the treatment but will not pay for expenses already incurred by these popular area residents during her initial diagnosis and treatment.

Nor does it cover the “down payment of $4,000,” Couture said, which the Worcesters need for Sandi to be able to start the transplant process.

Time is of the essence, and the women hope you can help. A benefit supper already has been held, and an account has been established at a local bank to accept donations.

Those donations are absolutely critical at this point because the need is now, both Couture and Newcomb explained.

If anyone who knows and cares about this woman they may have met when she worked at Pen Bay Medical Center, or through her community connections, would just “send in $1” to the Worcester account, that “could have an awesome effect on the life of this special person,” Newcomb said.

“Many hands can lighten the load and, along with your prayers, hopefully things will turn out OK for my friend.”

Donations for the Sandra Worcester Cancer Fund can be sent in care of Dianne Couture, Administrator, Peoples Heritage Bank, 34 School St., Rockland 04841.

Although the 2005 National Scout Jamboree in Virginia is a summer away, Stuart Bost, Darren Casey-Covell, Lee Hecker, Sam Bacharach and Cam Rose of Boy Scout Troop 478 of Orono are already hard at work raising money to attend that event with 71 other Katahdin Area Council scouts.

To help with expenses for this jamboree, Troop 478 will host a yard sale from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 8, at the Scout Hall on North Main Avenue in Orono.

The Student Performance Series will feature 28 area piano students performing at two sessions on Saturday, May 8, on the Arlan A. Baillie Steinway grand piano at All Souls Congregational Church on Broadway in Bangor, with the first session at 2 p.m.

The second session, for high school and college-age students, begins at 3:15 p.m. at the same site.

The performers are students of Sandra Blanchette, Philip Burns, Kay Eames, Paulina Glazman, Ellen Newton, Sarah Pendleton, Elizabeth Poole, Katherine Souza, Patricia Stowell, Lise Wallace and Joanne Westin.

This year’s program also includes three of Karen Pendleton’s voice students.

The public is invited to enjoy this free concert.

You may have read this elsewhere but, if you haven’t, Hermon High School actors will appear in two public performances of “PALS,” the one-act play that earned the school top honors at the State Drama Festival.

The play, written by David Perkins and directed by Joanne Durkovich, features Zach LaFave, Mark Noyes and Tanya Sandberg as three New England prep school teenagers confronting the issue of suicide.

“PALS” will be performed at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at Penobscot Theatre Company’s Opera House on Main Street in Bangor.

Reserved seats are $5 and can be purchased by calling PTC, 942-3333.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.penobscottheatre.org or from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow and until noon on Saturday at the PTC box office.

Pianist Elena Spanger will be featured prior to the performance.

The performances are a cooperative effort of the school, PTC and Acadia Hospital.

Free suicide prevention information and free gun locks will be offered at each performance, which will be followed by a brief discussion of the play and the issues.

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