A most significant symposium, addressing the relationship among nonprofit and volunteer organizations and government, is being hosted by the Maine Commission for Community Service.

“Together by Design: Lessons from Canada’s Voluntary Sector Initiative,” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, June 6, at the University of Maine’s Buchanan Alumni House.

Any individual or organization, with an interest in the ties between Maine’s nonprofit-voluntary sector and government, should make every effort to attend.

Kim Goding, public relations representative for MCCS, reports Marie Gauthier, director of the Voluntary Sector Policy Unit for the Canadian government, will be the keynote speaker.

Gauthier will address her government’s voluntary sector initiative and the five-year process spent researching and analyzing the impact volunteerism has on the Canadian government, according to Goding.

The symposium received support from Irving Woodlands of New Brunswick and was convened by MCCS in cooperation with several community partners.

“The event is a first-of-its-kind in the nation and, as far as we know,” Goding wrote, “no other state has collaborated with the Canadian government on research of this kind.”

She detailed the fourfold purpose of the symposium: To learn about Canada’s voluntary sector initiative; engage Maine’s strategic thinkers to consider what aspects of this initiative might strengthen Maine’s communities; explore how volunteerism can affect state and local government; and examine the possible benefits, challenges and opportunities of developing a Maine Initiative that incorporates this Canadian research.

The $40 registration fee covers the workshop and lunch, and the registration deadline is Monday, May 30.

Registration information is available at www.maineservicecommission.gov or by calling the State Service Commission at 287-8931.

The town of Charlotte and the Charlotte Historical Society are hosting a very special day of remembrance for those who attend the 2005 Memorial Day ceremony beginning at 8:15 a.m. Monday, May 30, at Round Pond Cemetery.

Anne Carter reports “the ceremony will include an honor guard, and the reading of the names of veterans who are buried in the cemetery.”

Soloists, and “a group gathered for the occasion,” will share “songs from the past and present.”

Additionally, recorded music “will accompany the procession around the cemetery, as cedar wreaths are laid on the veterans’ graves.”

This activity, Carter wrote, is one in which “the children are prime participants,” because the wreaths that will be laid on the graves “will have been made, earlier in the week, by the children” of Charlotte Elementary School.

After the ceremony, brunch will be served at the Charlotte town hall.

Everyone is welcome.

In April, I wrote about a fund-raiser for Precious Paws Rescue & Adoption of Van Buren, founded by Linda Ouellette.

That benefit concert raised $1,350 for the all-volunteer organization that takes in homeless cats and kittens.

In a recent e-mail, Ouellette wrote of even more good news for Precious Paws.

The shelter has been awarded two grants by the Maine Community Foundation, including a $7,500 grant from an anonymous donor.

That grant, Ouellette wrote, “will be used to renovate a section of our facility in order to provide an isolation area to monitor new intakes, and a quarantine area for sick animals.”

The second MCF donation, for $500 to purchase medical supplies for its wellness program, was awarded from the Gauvin Fund at the suggestion of Ray and Sandy Gauvin.

A $1,000 grant from the Avrum Katz Foundation will be applied toward the renovation project.

For all donations and grants, everyone associated with Precious Paws extends sincere thanks.

Here is a mark-your-calendar suggestion for those who enjoy garden tours.

Patti Wharton has announced advance tickets are available for Seaside Gardens All in A Row, which is 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, July 24, in Southwest Harbor.

The eighth in a continuing series of garden tours sponsored by the board of trustees to benefit Southwest Harbor Public Library, the tour is part of that community’s centennial celebration.

“The gardeners in this area have triumphed over sloping and eroding lots, clay soil, harsh sea winds and the never kind, Maine winters,” Wharton wrote.

Tickets are $15, and available by sending checks payable to the library, P.O. Box 157, Southwest Harbor 04679.

Credit card purchases can be made by calling the library at 244-7065.

The day of the tour, tickets will be $20 each at any participating garden.

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