Reservations must be made by Saturday, Feb. 5, for the Down East Hospice Be Our Valentine Dinner and Art Auction.

Tickets are $20 per person for the event, which begins with a preview, hors d’oeuvres and cash bar at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at the American Legion Hall on Calais Avenue in Calais.

Organizer Linda Gralenski reports Alyce Butler is catering the affair, Leonora Hildebrandt and Brian Stewart are providing background music, and Roland Bothelo will be your auctioneer.

This is a very important fund-raiser for DEH, since it is held only every other year.

With offices in Calais and Machias, DEH offers free support services for terminally ill patients and families in Washington County.

More than 20 local artists donated original paintings, pottery, carvings, photographs and other work for this most worthy cause.

“The exciting thing, to me, is that almost every artist I asked was very, very willing to help us out,” Gralenski said.

“It’s really important for a small organization like this to have people” willing to offer support in that way, she said, which is one very good reason Gralenski hopes “people come out and bid high.”

Most of the work is by local artists “and all of it is by Maine artists,” she emphasized.

To make reservations, call Gralenski at 726-5837, or visit calaishospital.org and click on “Hospice Dinner” for information and a preview of the artwork.

Joni Miller of St. Croix Valley Area Chamber of Commerce issues an official “y’all come” for folks in the Bangor area to attend the first Ice Grippers Winter Carnival Friday, Feb. 4, through Sunday, Feb. 6, in Calais.

Miller urges you to “beat the winter blahs” by joining residents of the St. Croix Valley for what she describes as a family fun weekend.

“Since we in the Valley region visit Bangor so frequently,” she wrote, “we’d like to see more residents of the Queen City visit us. Route 9 is a lovely road to travel!”

She’s right.

If you haven’t driven that way lately, you should. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Here’s a brief Ice Grippers schedule.

A Snowmobile Parade & Community Bonfire is 6 p.m. Friday in downtown Calais, followed by a dance (for those 21 and older) from 8 p.m. to midnight at Calais American Legion Hall.

Saturday’s events begin with a pancake and baked bean breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m. at the American Legion hall.

Then, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., enjoy Discount Day and a chili-tasting contest at Downeast Heritage Center or a Radar Fun Run and a Poker Run at Baring Airport.

Casino Night, 5:30-11 p.m., ends Saturday’s activities at Calais American Legion Hall.

Breakfast will be served 6-10 a.m. Sunday at the Masonic Hall, and then it’s Family Fun Day, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., with snow sculptures, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and a half-dollar scramble for three children’s age groups (5-7, 8-10 and 11-13 years) seeking more than 200 half-dollars hidden in giant snow piles.

For information, call 454-7078 or 454-1325 or visit www.sledmaine.com.

The public is invited to attend the seventh annual Husson College Wheelchair Basketball Event, 2-6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, in Newman Gymnasium on Husson’s Bangor campus.

Admission is free for this family-oriented event, which raises funds for Alpha One to help people with disabilities live independently.

Competing will be Husson College physical therapy students, the Bangor High Rollers amateur wheelchair basketball team, and representatives of Eastern Maine Medical Center.

The 10-team tournament-style fund-raiser is sponsored by the Organization of Physical Therapy Students, led by Andrea Blois and Christen Niles.

At the tournament, you can purchase food, T-shirts and raffle tickets offering hundreds of dollars in prizes donated by community businesses.

Pre-game and halftime competitions will be featured as well.

For information, call OPTS at 941-7101 or e-mail opts@husson.edu.

As saddened as I was to read of the death of Margaret Coffin of Bangor, I was more than grateful for the length of that wonderful lady’s life, because it meant that so many more of us got to know her, and so many more among us were, unknowingly, helped by her efforts to improve life for members of her community.

Margaret was a doer.

She was a kind, giving person with an easy, outgoing, friendly, positive attitude that was never diminished by her severe arthritis or her age.

We were blessed to have had Margaret Coffin on this earth for all of her 93 years.

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