I recently received a “Lincoln Veterans Memorial Monument Update” from Josephine DiCenso, secretary of the Lincoln Veterans Memorial Monument Committee.

The committee, she wrote, “is pleased that approximately $27,000 has been raised for the new monument,” but added that just $3,000 is needed to reach the estimated goal.

The committee’s research is complete, she said. They looked “for every veteran since World War II and including World War II.”

Additionally, the granite for the memorial has been ordered, and the names “are now in the hands of the engravers,” but the committee still needs to raise the remainder of the money.

DiCenso wrote that “the sale of more ‘pavers’ could really help this situation, and bring our dedication of the new monument to a reality.”

She said the committee has learned that some people think the pavers, which are granite stones that will surround the memorial, must contain only veterans’ names.

“Not so!” she wrote.

“The pavers can be dedicated to a loved one;” recognize a Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln graduating class or advertise a business; honor an “organization, a club, a group of friends, a church, a dear friend, a store, a sorority, a fraternity”; include “a message, poetry or prose”; or list the names of an entire family.

The pavers come in three sizes, and are available for donations of $200, $400 or $600.

Application forms for the pavers are available at J.K. Vose Jewelers in Lincoln, or from any member of the committee.

To make a donation and complete this honorable project, or to receive information, call Ed DiCenso, 794-6627; Errol Libby, 794-3577; Jim Vose, 794-8201; Roger Morrison, 794-8229; Don Richmond, 794-2434; Ellsworth Smith, 794-2217; or Dick Tolman, 794-8750.

For three years, according to Anne Ossanna, the Down East community steel pan band Schoodic Steel “has been entertaining the Schoodic community … with their lively music.”

Schoodic Steel will present an indoor street dance and concert from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 at the Sumner Memorial High School in East Sullivan.

Proceeds from the event, Ossanna wrote, “will benefit the SMHS Music Department’s April, 2006, trip to New York City.”

Making the trip is based on student participation in fundraisers and their attendance at performances, Ossanna said. Up to 41 music students are eligible “for this biannual learning experience, which will include attending a Broadway performance.”

Door prizes, donated by The Grand Auditorium, Hammond Hall, Schoodic Arts for All, Kneisel Hall and the high school’s music department, will be awarded to individuals with the most festive “island attire.”

Tickets are $5 and are available, in advance, from any SMHS music student, and also will be sold at the door.

Light refreshments will be on sale during the benefit.

The request from Shauna Stratton-Meier, president of the Phoenix Players of Eddington, was simple.

“Help!” she wrote. “We need three actors, two females, one male, in order to stage ‘Dr. Jekyll, No Place to Hyde,’ at Comins Hall in Eddington.”

Proceeds from the play, she said, will benefit the Comins Hall renovation project.

Final auditions are 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, and Sunday, Oct. 2, at Comins Hall in Eddington.

If you can help, please attend one of the auditions.

Liz Weaver, program director for the Alzheimer’s Association, Maine chapter, wants readers to know preregistration is required to attend “Keeping Our Minds Sharp as We Age,” which she describes as “a stimulating and fun talk.”

There is no charge to attend the seminar, which is 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Bangor High School.

Representatives of the cosponsoring Maine Alzheimer’s Association “will review the most recent research about maintaining cognitive fitness and reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease” during your lifetime.

The seminar will also address memory loss that can be a symptom of a more serious condition.

To preregister, call 941-6310.

If you cannot attend, but want information about this issue, call (800) 660-2871.

Merlene Sanborn, coordinator of the Eastern Maine chapter of Project Linus, reports she and Carol Reed of Interface Fabrics in Guilford, prepared and shipped boxes of blankets to Mississippi for children affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The project contributed 100 blankets, and Interface Fabrics donated the shipping costs.

Nationally, Sanborn wrote, Project Linus has provided more than 13,000 children with blankets during this crisis.

To learn about the organization and its activities, visit www.projectlinus.org.

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