Thanks to the individuals and business owners in Eastern Maine, support for the American Heart Association annual Heart Walk, “Go Red for Women,” has been outstanding.

In fact, AHA regional director Deb Farnham said, “The response this year has been phenomenal. It’s going to be a great turnout – just fantastic.”

Last week, “we had 79 teams and counting,” she said, “representing a variety of companies and a variety of industries.”

“Go Red for Women” begins with check-in from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, on the campus of Husson College in Bangor.

“We have a 1-mile circle route on the Husson campus and a 3-mile route that goes onto Husson Avenue to Broadway and right onto Falvey, where we weave our way through Bangor Gardens to Kenduskeag Avenue and back to Husson College,” Farnham said. “People can walk the 1-mile or 3-mile route and they can decide that day, depending on how they are feeling and what the weather is like. We’ll be there, rain or shine, and they can sign up early or sign up the day of the event. We’ll have extra envelopes for donations.”

Already, Farnham said, “we have $25,000 posted to our Web site, but our goal is $65,000 so we have a ways to go.”

That Web site is www.heartwalk.kintera.org/bangorme.

Many prizes will be offered, and the individual raising the most money will win an automated external defibrillator, or AED, for their community.

To register, call 848-2888 or (800) 937-0944, or visit the Web site.

The chairwoman of this year’s event, Sister Mary Norberta, president and CEO of St. Joseph Healthcare, invites you to form a “Friends and Family Team” to participate in honor of a loved one or friend who has been affected by heart disease or stroke, and that number is staggering.

According to the AHA Web site, “cardiovascular diseases claim the lives of more than half a million females annually, or about one death per minute.”

They’re off again!

Carol Lackedy and Shawn Cowan are hitting the road today in the third annual Tractor-A-Thon to benefit Children’s Miracle Network of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems.

Two tractors will travel 225 miles beginning at The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle and ending at Inland Hospital in Waterville.

The duo plans to arrive in Waterville on Friday, Oct. 15.

In two years, they’ve raised $18,000, and this year their goal is to raise $10,000.

If you see them when they pass by, toot your horn or wave to thank them for their effort on behalf of all children in our area served by CMN.

To support this fund-raiser, call the pair at 848-7317 or write Lackedy and Cowan, 3026 Route 2, Hermon 04401.

Make checks payable to CMN.

The couple assures you that all donations stay in this area to support the needs of local children in our CMN hospitals.

On behalf of Maine Coast Memorial Hospital volunteers, Joyce Schoppe invites you to a Craft Fair and Silent Auction from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, at the hospital, 50 Union St. in Ellsworth.

Schoppe wrote that you will find 25 craft tables and 100 silent auction items on three floors of the medical building, as well as a bake sale in the first-floor classroom.

Hoping to follow the success of last year’s fair, this event will benefit the Life Line Medical Alert program.

For more information, call the hospital volunteer office at 664-5314.

Mark Rampacek and Lynn Ambielli, owners of Eden Vegetarian Cafe in Bar Harbor, are pleased to announce that their end-of-season, fund-raising dinner this year will benefit the Hancock County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or SPCA.

Their second annual Night of Compassion is planned for Saturday, Oct. 16, and all of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Hancock SPCA, Ambielli wrote.

That organization recently purchased 34 acres in Trenton to build a new adoption and education center “to serve the needs of all of Hancock County,” she said. “We are very excited to rise funds for them.”

The restaurant is located at 78 West St. in Bar Harbor.

Information and reservations can be obtained by calling 288-4422 or visit www.barharborvegetarian.com.

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