Katahdin celebration for CancerCare of Maine

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The principal honoree built an ice-skating rink, and if there is enough snow, Bob Dyer of Sherman Mills will have a ski trail ready for the Katahdin Celebration of Life to benefit CancerCare of Maine at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, 9 am.-noon Saturday Feb. 18, at Katahdin High School in Stacyville.

The fundraiser was initiated last year by Jamie Pangburn of Eddington to honor her dad, a retired Aroostook County educator and coach who surpassed the expected survival rate of two years for a liver cancer patient.

It’s now year three for Dyer, and the celebration of what Pangburn describes as her father’s “strong will to continue to be a cancer survivor” continues as well.

But this is not just a celebration of Dyer’s survival; it is a celebration for all cancer survivors, their families and friends.

The event is expected to feature a 3-mile ski, a 1-mile indoor or outdoor walk, ice-skating and spaghetti meal.

Participants are asked to register and collect a minimum of $15 for the walk or ski. T-shirts will be given to the first 150 registrants.

Pledge forms are available at Lounsbury’s, East Millinocket; Pangburn Family IGA, Millinocket; Ellis Family Market, Patten; Jerry’s Thriftway, Island Falls; Oakfield Thriftway; Oakfield; Sherman Thriftway, Sherman; and The County Grocer, Houlton.

Not only will you have fun at this event, you will learn about new programs for early detection of cancer and have questions answered by medical professionals.

More information can be obtained by calling Pangburn, 843-7377, or Patsy Dyer, 365-4676.

Womenheart, a support group for women with heart disease, meets the second Tuesday of each month.

Mary Sidell of Old Town reports the meetings are moving to a new location, “and we need to get the word out because we get new people every month.”

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Affiliated with the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, the group’s purpose is “educating and supporting to serve the needs of women with heart disease.”

For more information, call Alice Page, 285-7592.

Here’s an invitation for senior citizens who love cats.

Penobscot Valley Senior College welcomes you to hear Dee Virtue of Orono discuss Cats: How Genes Affect Fur Color and Pattern, 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Feb. 15, at the Old Town Public Library.

Diane Cutler of PVSC reports Virtue will present “a talk and slides explaining the inheritance of visible characteristics in house cats.”

Cutler says everyone is welcome to attend this free session and suggests you “bring a photo of your cat and you’ll learn how to write out its actual genetic makeup” as well as acquiring “litters of other cat-formation.”

Those interested in attending this lecture are asked to call the PVSC message phone at 581-1947 and, at the end of the explanatory message about PVSC and its programs, leave your name if you plan to attend the cats meeting.

Diana Tracey e-mailed that the Project Linus Make a Blanket Day is 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at Penquis Higher Education Center, 50 Mayo St., Dover-Foxcroft.

The goal is to complete, or collect, 100 blankets, and everyone is invited to attend.

The mission of Project Linus is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to seriously ill children or those who are traumatized or otherwise in need, through the gifts of new, handmade, washable blankets and afghans made by caring volunteers.

To reserve your space for Make a Blanket Day, call Merlene Sanborn at 965-8005,

e-mail mainelinus@panax.com or visit http://www.projectlinus.org.

During the day, two free quilt classes will be offered as Lee Priest teaches a simple quilt-as-you-go strip quilt, and Rita Mountain teaches how to make a strip flannel quilt pattern.

Although fabrics are provided, you will need to bring your own machine.

You have the option of working on your own or with a buddy and choosing your project or bringing along one to finish.

If you want to purchase lunch, the Maine Street Business and Professional Women’s group will provide food for a donation.

The event is hosted by the Eastern Maine Chapter of Project Linus, which since its inception in 1998 has made more than 3,000 comforting blankets for Maine children.

The chapter serves three counties in eastern and central Maine, and more information about the organization can be obtained through the contacts listed above.

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