This is a lovely little tale with a very happy ending.

Neil and Jeanne MacDonald of Hermon wrote the Bangor Daily News to thank the many people who helped them find their little lost dog.

Recently, Sam, the Dachshund, “escaped from a kennel in Bangor,” they wrote, “and was missing for 16 days.

“The kennel ran an ad in the paper, for two weeks, resulting in many phone calls and his ultimate return.”

The MacDonalds extend their gratitude to “all of the fine folks in the area of Judson Heights, in Bangor … and all others, who called in response” to the lost-Sam notice.

But they especially appreciate the effort of Lamees Hanna of Bangor for helping Sam find his way home, because it was her creative idea that made Sam’s safe return possible.

Hanna and her family had been “monitoring” Sam’s movements, so to speak, around their neighborhood, and their garage, all those days he was missing.

“We’d been seeing him in the woods,” Hanna said, “and, one day, I came in and saw him in the garage.”

With dog food made available to him in the garage, the hope was that Sam might be caught, but he was either too quick, or too clever for that.

Something else had to be done to catch Sam, and it was, when Hanna came up with the clever idea of installing a baby monitor in the garage.

Sure enough, it worked: Hanna and her 16-year-old son, William Clark, soon heard Sam eating in the garage.

William dashed out of the house and closed the door from the outside, trapping Sam in the garage until the kennel folks could come and get him.

“It was a very happy phone call for us seniors to receive,” the MacDonalds wrote upon learning that Sam was safe and sound and would soon be on his way home.

“It made us feel so good that so many people cared.”

Baby monitors are helpful in keeping your little ones safe, especially when they are sleeping or playing some distance from you.

But, now, thanks to Lamees Hanna, we know that a baby monitor can help keep little dogs safe as well.

Are you interested in opening a family child care business in your home?

Penquis Community Action Program Resource Development Center is offering six hours of training, “Getting Started in Family Child Care,” from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, and Thursday, Oct. 12, at Penquis CAP, 262 Harlow St. in Bangor.

The registration fee is $15. To register, or receive information, call 973-3533.

You are invited to meet the filmmaker, Maine native Thomas Hildreth, at the 7:30 p.m. showing of “Islander,” Friday, Oct. 6, at the Bangor Opera House on Main Street.

Hosted by River City Cinema, admission is $5 and refreshments will be available.

The film also will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Opera House.

“Islander,” the story of an island lobsterman forced to leave his home, and what he faces when he returns five years later, contains some adult situations and language and is not rated. It was filmed entirely on Vinalhaven and in Rockland.

Hildreth wrote, produced and stars in the film, and is prepared to discuss it with those attending the show.

My friend, Susan Carlisle, has been busy again this summer, lining up artists to decorate benches for the Maine Discovery Museum Annual Gala Dinner Auction, which begins at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at Spectacular Event Center, 395 Griffin Road.

She e-mailed the other day that the artist-decorated benches are being placed in windows of downtown Bangor storefronts.

“The pieces will be in the windows for about a month,” she wrote, “and we’ll have locator maps at the museum for people to use in their search.

“There will be 77 benches in all, and we’ll be putting them out as they come in.”

The benches are also viewable online, at www.mainediscoverymuseum.org.

Performers are still needed for the third annual Comins Hall Variety Show, which is planned for Saturday, Oct. 14, in Eddington.

The production is sponsored by the Eddington Clifton Civic Center.

Organizers would like to hear from people who can perform musical numbers, comedy routines, drama, skits, jokes, dancing or recitations.

Anyone who would like to appear in this production is urged to call Ruth Perry at 843-5132.

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