The recently formed Business Women of Bangor, which is the local chapter of the American Business Women’s Association, is hosting its first Fashion Show & Silent Auction from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at Spectacular Event Center, 395 Griffin Road in Bangor.

Admission is $20 per person, but tickets are being sold only in advance and can be obtained by calling Andree Knowles at 944-5527 or Debbie White at 659-1264.

The evening begins with a social hour. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. and the fashion show at 7 p.m.

Door prizes donated by local business owners will be given away throughout the event.

Local businesses providing clothing for the evening include Filene’s, The Grasshopper Shop, Lane Bryant and Pretty Woman.

Members stress that everyone is welcome to attend the fund-raiser, men and women.

Proceeds will support the Business Women of Bangor Scholarship Fund and the national American Business Women’s Association Stephen Bufton Memorial Education Fund.

Knowles said that membership in the organization is open to any businesswoman, and more information about the organization can be obtained by calling her at the above number.

According to the American Business Women’s Association Web site, the purpose of the nonprofit organization is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations, to provide them with opportunities and to help them grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.

The public is invited to a variety show at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 24, at the Hampden Congregational Church, 101 Main Road North.

The Hampden Congregational Church Choir and Friends will sing Christian and folk music, show tunes and a variety of other music.

Alice Redmond reports that any freewill donation will be graciously accepted.

Gleason Gray will discuss backyard greenhouses with members of the Ellsworth Garden Club at 7 p.m. Monday, April 25, at the Hancock County Cooperative Extension office on Boggy Brook Road in Ellsworth.

The public is invited and refreshments will be served.

For more information about the Ellsworth Garden Club, call Elaine Fernald at 244-3085.

From Margaret Nagle we learn that a Gala to Benefit the Maine Chapter of Children’s International Summer Villages is 6:30-9 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at United Technologies Center, 200 Hogan Road in Bangor.

The event will have an after-dinner setting with finger foods and desserts by Culinary Delights. Light entertainment will be provided by the Old Town Jazz Combo.

Tickets are $100 per couple, and only 100 tickets will be sold.

Ticket holders are eligible for cash drawings, including a $1,000 grand prize, and door prizes will be awarded.

Tickets can be obtained at the door or by calling 827-7129.

In the event members of the military or their families have missed this information, you should know free tickets to a variety of events and other opportunities are available to you.

According to Operation Community Support organizer Skip Chappelle of Old Town, organizations throughout Maine have provided assistance for admission to cultural, educational and athletic opportunities.

Free tickets for family members of those still deployed or recently returned military personnel are available for the Anah Temple Shrine Circus Friday, April 29, at the Bangor Auditorium, and Thursday, May 5, at the Presque Isle Forum.

All you need do is present your military ID cards at the ticket booth.

Additionally, the University of Maine at Fort Kent is offering free admission for soldiers and their families to events sponsored by campus organizations.

UMFK also will waive the $40 admission application fee for soldiers who served in the war on terror, and their dependents, Chappelle reported.

Husson College in Bangor is waiving its admissions fee for soldiers and dependents as well.

Admission is free to a University of Maine Black Bear baseball double-header to individuals with a military ID and their spouses and children. The games will be played Saturday, May 14, at UMaine.

For more information, call the Family Assistance Center at (888) 365-9287.

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