Congratulations to members of the St. Croix Valley International Garden Club who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year.

Conveniently, and enjoyably, you have the opportunity to thank them for their service to the communities they represent, and to wish them continued success with all such endeavors.

Promising you a midsummer night’s dream, co-chairwomen Cheryl Brissenden-Ficker, Sharon Norman and Joan Edwards invite you to the SCVIGC Flower Show and Tea with a Shakespearean Theme from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at Pembroke Elementary School on Route 1.

Admission for the show at the door is $1. Admission for the tea is an additional $4.50.

This event is the major fund-raiser for the SCVIGC, Edwards says.

Proceeds will help the organization meet its responsibilities for maintaining “many town gardens in the St. Croix Valley, and beyond,” Edwards wrote.

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, the women promise you “our love’s labour (of gardens) will not be lost, for all’s well that ends well!”

Congratulations to the Hampden-Newburgh-Winterport Junior League softball team that won the state championship last week in Sanford.

Coached by Rodney Wells of Winterport, the team advances to the regional tournament this week in Syracuse, N.Y., and is seeking donations to help with transportation, food and lodging for team members.

If you can help, make checks out to HNLL and mail them to League President Dewey Martin, 575 Meadow Road, Hampden 04444.

For more information about the team or how you can help, call Martin at 862-4598.

The Mary Potterton Memorial Faculty Chamber Concert at 7:30 tonight at Lubec Congregational Christian Church features Anna Maria Baeza, clarinet; Gregory Biss, piano; Suzanne Gilchrest, flute; Biana Cvtkovic, cello; and Winslow Browning on the guitar.

The concert is free, but donations for the church’s piano-tuning fund are graciously accepted. Information about arriving at the concert by boat from Eastport can be obtained by calling 853-2500.

The Faculty Chamber Concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, at the same site features the same musicians playing different works, and the above information applies.

Jackie Hathaway of Holden is still beating the bushes to get members of the Brewer High School senior alumni to attend their 2004 reunion beginning with a social hour at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 20, at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer.

The honored class will be those who graduated in 1944, and all reservations must be made by Tuesday, Aug. 10.

Hathaway wrote that all alumni “who have not been notified, and wish to attend,” should call her at 989-2792.

Writing on behalf of Moosehead Arts and Theater Society, Marilyn Gilbert “thanks the community for its support of the very successful 23rd Annual Art and Crafts Show” last month in Greenville.

The organization appreciates the donations of many local business owners to the silent auction, she writes, and the offerings of “excellent artists and craftsmen” who “displayed and demonstrated their very fine work.”

The event was the most successful fund-raiser in MATS history, she adds, thanking community members who “came and enjoyed the show.”

“The funds will directly benefit every student in Greenville through art field trips, art supplies and an art-related scholarship to a graduating senior,” Gilbert says.

If you live in the area, or even if you don’t, and art matters to you, Gilbert urges you to “join MATS and help us meet our goals.

“Your $10 membership or contribution will help fund these programs.”

Your membership fee, or a tax-deductible contribution, can be sent to MATS, P.O. Box 1373, Greenville 04441.

Marilyn Parsons Levering of Indiana wrote last month that she was heading home to join the families of Forrest Parsons of Penobscot, Elaine Waggoner of Bangor and Kay Fletcher of Waterville for the Parsons family reunion.

The 70 attendees, Levering wrote, are the “children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the late Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Parsons.”

And while the group was headquartered in Bangor, their three-day gathering included a day at Camp Peirce Webber in Hampden, trips to Mount Katahdin and Moosehead Lake, Penobscot, Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.

“We all return to Bangor as often as schedules permit,” Levering added, “as it continues to be our favorite place.

“Maine: The way life should be. We agree.”

I hope, after the dreary, damp July we offered, they still feel the same!

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