Another Totes of Hope fund-raiser is upon us; this time, it’s an Oktoberfest from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Hampden VFW Post on Canoe Club Road.

Rebecca Reeve is chairperson of the event.

She promises you will find “great German food, crafts, and baked goods from Coffee Break Bakery.”

A Longaberger basket valued at $110 will be raffled, and KISS 94.5 will feature a live, remote broadcast from noon to 3 p.m., sponsored by Bangor Car Care.

Reeve wrote that tickets for the meal are $5 for adults, $3 for children under 12, or $15 per family.

She hopes you come for the food, or just come for the crafts and bake sale.

All proceeds benefit Totes of Hope, a program now in its fifth year providing gift items, in a tote bag, for seriously ill children at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Included in the reusable Totes of Hope bags are books, puzzles, bubbles, games, toys, crafts and baby blankets.

And Reeve promises you the Oktoberfest is “sure to be a wonderful afternoon.”

Totes of Hope is a project of Hope Lutheran Church in Bangor.

If you have questions, or wish to purchase tickets in advance, you can leave a message on the church phone answering machine at 990-5900.

Physics and astronomy professor Dr. Neil Comins of the University of Maine in Orono will make his 25th appearance at the regular meeting of the Schoodic Audubon Society at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, at the Community Center in Whiting.

An astronomy author and a lecturer at the American Museum of National History in New York, Comins will speak on the ongoing missions exploring Mars and Saturn, and data collected by orbiting spacecraft and its use for scientists throughout the world.

The public is welcome to attend the meeting, at which members of the Downeast Astronomy Club will be special guests.

It appears to me the Whiting Community Center is a pretty busy place, because Joan Edwards has written to invite you to attend a meeting of the St. Croix Valley International Garden Club at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, at the center on Route 1 in Whiting.

I loved the wording of her notice about the meeting, which features Dr. Gordon Trowbridge, a local dentist, who will discuss orchids and “not just the kind you wore to your high school prom,” Edwards wrote.

She added that attendees will have a chance “to drill” Dr. Trowbridge about how he “keeps orchids blooming, all year long, in his office.”

She also explained the doctor “has traveled extensively, rooting out varieties of orchids from around the world.”

And then, she tops off her announcement by inviting you to “come sink your teeth into the subject of orchids,” and participate in a bulb swap after the meeting.

For more information about activities or membership, call the SCVIGC at 726-9664.

Dawn Winchester is co-director of the St. Croix Valley Pageant. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the pageant beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at Woodland Elementary School in Baileyville.

The pageant is open to girls ages 5 to 18 who reside in Washington County and New Brunswick’s Charlotte County. Contestants compete in three age divisions.

The event, Winchester wrote, offers participants an opportunity to develop their self-confidence and public speaking abilities, and display their talents before an audience and a panel of judges.

Audience admission is $4 for adults and $2 for students in U.S. funds, or $6 for adults and $3 for students in Canadian funds. Tickets will be available at the door.

A portion of the pageant proceeds benefits the Woodland Elementary School Library Fund.

For more information, call Winchester at 454-2803, or Jayna Smith at 454-2244.

Ginger Hutchins is volunteer program coordinator of Womancare/Aegis Association in Dover-Foxcroft.

Womancare is a nonprofit, domestic violence prevention project funded in part by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Hutchins is seeking volunteers to participate in its volunteer Helpline program, and the next volunteer training session is about to begin.

The training consists of 12 three-hour sessions, and the trainees meet from 5 to 8 p.m. each Monday and Wednesday, beginning Monday, Oct. 25.

If you believe you can make a difference to victims of domestic abuse, you are asked to call 564-8165 for more information.

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