Celebrating solidarity and independence is the theme of the Fourth of July celebration being hosted by Food AND Medicine and Eastern Maine Labor Council, formerly known as The Greater Bangor Area Central Labor Council.

Food AND Medicine organizer Rob Brown invites you to its second annual Chili Cook-Off that also features a barbecue with hamburgers, organic lamb, and “other delicious food,” to the accompaniment of live music and finishing with a flourish of fireworks.

The fun begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 4, at the Solidarity Center, 20 Ivers St. in Brewer.

“Some call it the Labor Council,” Rob Brown explained of the facility, which is located behind St. Teresa’s Church on South Main Street along the banks of the Penobscot River.

The event is a fundraiser “to support our food bank and heating oil programs, which we run for laid-off workers,” Brown said.

The organization is focusing its efforts on laid-off workers from the paper mill in Old Town and with workers trying to organize at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Union groups and organizations will compete in the chili cook-off as musician Sean Mercer entertains.

Featured speakers include Rep. Mike Michaud, Gov. John Baldacci and Stewart Acuff, national organizing director of the AFL-CIO.

The featured music for the evening is Gilpin Railroad Incident.

“Then we hope every one hangs in there for the fireworks,” Brown said. “One of the best seats in the house is here along the river.”

The requested admission is a donation of $5 a person or $12 a family, that includes a raffle ticket for more than 20 prizes.

Additionally, one $5 ticket will have five people each winning 10 pounds of hard-shell lobsters donated by a Vinalhaven lobsterman.

Brown hopes you will choose this site to celebrate your Fourth of July and show your support for the needs of your fellow workers.

For more information, call Brown at 989-5860.

Even though this is the day of the event, Cary Weston said you can still make a reservation to join Fusion Bangor for a visit at the Challenger Center of Maine.

Fusion Bangor meets at 5:30 p.m. today at the center, located at 30 Venture Way, near University College of Bangor.

At the learning center you will enjoy food, drink and a tour of the facility that features a high-tech space simulator.

You can register for this early-evening event by visiting www.fusionbangor.com.

If you and your family were among those who dined at McDonald’s during the World Children’s Day fundraiser last fall, or attended the Maine McDonald’s All-Star basketball games in March, you might like to know the results of your participation.

World Children’s Day, in which McDonald’s owner-operators donated 15 cents from the purchase of certain meals, and customers purchasing paper cut-outs, raised $30,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine.

McDonald’s restaurants around the world raised an estimated $20 million for children through the annual event in more than 100 countries. In the United States alone, more than $7.2 million was raised to benefit children.

The McDonald’s All-Star basketball games raised more than $11,000, bringing the total to $41,000 for Ronald McDonald Houses of Maine.

Additional support for this fundraiser came from corporate sponsors donating funds to the event, including McCain Foods, Olympia Sports, Eagle Franchise, Martin-Brower and Bangor area McDonald’s Restaurants owner Gary Eckmann.

Mary Louis and Jim Davitt of Nonesuch Farm at Six Mile Falls on the outskirts of Bangor, wrote recently to publicly thank those who helped them recapture an escaped young ram that was alone in the woods for 36 hours before he was reunited with his mother.

The couple thank Ray Sprague and Rey Dubois, who initially tracked him; Dustin and Lenise Dean, who kept an eye out for him and offered their lawn to host his mother to attract the ram; Andrea Sprague and the Bragdon family, who monitored his wanderings; and Roger Ackerson and his family, who not only allowed their yard to be used for his recapture site, but assisted in the event.

To their neighbors “and all the nameless friends we haven’t met who were so helpful to report his sightings,” the Davitts extend “a very big thank you.

“We have learned a lot about good fences and good neighbors,” the couple wrote, “and how sweet it is to live in a small, rural community in Maine where cooperation and generosity are alive and well.”

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