Friends and co-workers are doing all they can to assist and support Mark, Kristine and Brooke Butterfield during one of the most difficult times of their lives.

Kristine Butterfield, who had been in remission from melanoma for several years, has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the brain and spine.

She has had to give up her job at Stillwater Dental Associates, and Mark has taken time off from his work at General Electric to care for her. Their daughter, Brooke, is a senior at John Bapst Memorial High School.

Staff at Stillwater Dental Associates and GE have “joined forces to do what we can” to help the family, Carole Gass wrote in describing a coming fundraiser for the family.

A Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction to Benefit the Butterfield Family is set for 1-6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24, at the Elks Club, 108 Odlin Road, Bangor.

The dinner and dessert is 1-6 p.m. The silent auction is 1-4 p.m., and a live auction begins at 2 p.m. Disc jockey music, a 50/50 raffle and cash bar are also part of the fundraiser.

Up to the day of the event, Gass said, planners welcome any and all contributions for the auction.

If you can make a donation to help the Butterfields, call Jeff Gerald, 843-7118; Tony Brothers, 884-7430; Larry Butera, 659-2745; Brent Brown, 944-8101; Scott Randall, 234-4594; or Rodney Dupuis, 843-5772.

If needed, your contributions can be picked up.

Gass said that, to date, auction items range from restaurant, theater and athletic tickets to gift certificates for dental services and a Bar Harbor campground as well as an autographed book by Stephen King.

Your support, either by making a contribution or attending the fundraiser, would be most appreciated by all whose care and concern, at the moment, is focused on this family and their needs.

Orono High School alumni are invited to visit its new Web site, www.oronoalums.org.

“The site is free to use and is intended for anyone who attended or taught” at the school, wrote Betsy Graves Rose, OHS ’81.

The site was developed by the newly formed Orono High School Alumni Association, which plans to use it “to keep alumni informed about current events at OHS, all-alumni events, and efforts to raise funds to benefit current OHS students,” she explained.

The new alumni organization’s first all-alumni function is a Welcome Home Event 5-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, under a tent at the OHS football field, before that evening’s Homecoming Weekend game with Boothbay High School.

The Orono Booster Club will have food available for purchase, and you can obtain more information about this event, or coming ones, through the Web site or by calling Rose at 866-3307 or e-mailing her at brose@oronoalumns.org.

Betty Renaud reports Ecotat Gardens and Arboretum is hosting both a morning and afternoon Hydrangea Wreath-making Workshop.

The morning workshop is 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, and the afternoon workshop is 1-3 p.m. the same day at Ecotat Gardens in Hermon.

The cost is $25 for supplies, which include freshly picked hydrangea blossoms.

To register, call Renaud at 947-0403.

Spaces remain for anyone wishing to join the Penobscot Theatre coach trip to see the Tony Award winning production “Hairspray.”

The show is Saturday, Oct. 28, at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass. The reservation deadline is Monday, Sept. 25, and your payment confirms your reservation.

Tickets are $149 and include transportation, theater seats no more than 50 feet from the stage, lunch at The Wenham Teahouse and dinner at the Village Cafe in Portland.

The coach boards at 6:30 a.m. the day of the show and leaves, promptly, at 7 a.m. Boarding along Interstate 95 and Interstate 295, south of Bangor, is possible with prior arrangement.

All venues are accessible, and all proceeds benefit Penobscot Theatre.

For more information, call Nancy Ziegenbein, 947-7965.

Ruth Perry of Clifton e-mailed recently that performers are needed for the third annual Comins Hall Variety Show, which is planned for Saturday, Oct. 14, in Eddington.

Perry is chairperson of the Eddington Clifton Civic Center Variety Show, and she invites you to perform on stage.

“All types of performances are needed,” she wrote, ranging from “musical, comedy, drama, skits, jokes, dance or recitations.”

If you would like to be part of the Comins Hall Variety Show, call Perry at 843-5132 and “join the fun on stage!”

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