Although most folks are busy with holiday activities, you might want to circle this date on your calendar.

Cindy Madore reports Back Door Dance Studio, owned by Chuck and Sue McKay of Eddington, is preparing a special Zoot Suit Revue benefit for 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8, in the Brewer Middle School auditorium, 5 Somerset St.

Donations will be accepted at the door, and proceeds will benefit the school’s Seventh Grade Merit Activities which, Madore explained, “include such outings as going to the movies, bowling, and golfing for those students who have demonstrated that they are Good School Citizens.”

Madore wrote, “We are excited about this event as several members of the seventh-grade class, along with faculty members, will be performing a couple of the 1950s songs” during the show.

For two months, the youngsters have been taking swing dance lessons from two Brewer Middle School teachers, who dance at Back Door Dance Studio, and Chuck McKay has been visiting on Tuesdays “to help with the lessons,” according to Madore.

Pupils will be wearing “poodle skirts and 1950s attire for the performance,” Madore wrote. The program “will begin with the 1920s Charleston, working up through the Shim Sham and Lindy Hop, and ending with the 1950s Swing.”

During intermission, you can purchase baked goods donated by parents and friends of the seventh graders.

Continuing with a musical theme today, aspiring young musicians are reminded that the Bangor Symphony Orchestra will host its 23rd annual BSO Maine High School Concerto Competition at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 12, in Minsky Recital Hall on the University of Maine campus in Orono.

The snow date is Sunday, March 13.

The competition is open to all Maine high school instrumental and traditional orchestra musicians, including those who play piano, harp, saxophone and percussion.

Of utmost importance, however, is the fact that the application deadline is Saturday, Jan. 1.

To apply, or to receive more information, call the BSO box office at (800) 639-3221 or 942-5555 and ask to speak with Surya Mitchell, or visit bangorsymphony.com.

And, here is more news from the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.

Members of the public are invited to travel with Maestro Xiao-Lu Li on a 12-day (10 evening) tour of China beginning Monday, March 14.

The trip includes visits to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai as well as the Great Wall of China and evening entertainment including the Peking Opera, Shanghai Acrobats and Tang Dynasty Theatre.

The cost is $3,950 per person and includes a $250 donation to the BSO, plane fare from Bangor or Portland, China flights, hotel, most meals, ground transportation, airport taxes and tips.

A $500 deposit is recommended.

For more information, call Christine Szal, 947-4330, or e-mail christineszal@yahoo.com.

To everyone connected with the Veterans Affairs hospital at Togus, and the Bangor Clinic, Martin Johnson of Penobscot extends best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

He is grateful to those employees “for their mostly thankless work and services performed every day.”

Johnson has been receiving treatment from the VA for a service-connected disability for more than two decades.

“The VA often gets criticized for their work or lack of services to veterans,” he wrote.

“However, over the past 22 years, I have seen nothing but improvements.”

When he required VA treatment this summer, he reports, his “appointments were on time or early, bills were paid, medications were sent” and he “was on the road to recovery.”

And while he admitted there have been occasions when he had to “wait a couple times for appointments,” he noted he “can’t remember a doctor or professional’s office where I haven’t waited, at least, for a while.”

Johnson hopes other veterans and their families will join him in wishing VA staffers happy holidays, and “that all veterans receive the same quality care that I have been afforded.”

Those who contributed to the Manna Ministries Thanksgiving Holiday Turkey Drive are to be congratulated for helping that organization to surpass its goal of obtaining 4,200 turkeys for the needy in November. The final count was 4,300 turkeys.

Manna reports it distributed 22 tons of food at that time, so that thousands of men, women and children were able to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and receive food to help them get through the winter.

On behalf of those who benefited from your generosity, Manna Ministries extends thanks and gratitude.

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