Our historic Bangor Band has been preparing for its annual Christmas concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, at the Bangor Civic Center.

“As always,” band president Bob Pentland reminds you, the concert “is free to all.”

He is, however, concerned the concert might be “competing with Kenny Rogers this year,” since Rogers’ show is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., that day, at the Bangor Auditorium.

But Pentland has an excellent point to make, in that the Bangor Band concert’s “early start allows those with tickets” to see Kenny Rogers “to attend the band’s Christmas concert, and still have time to attend the auditorium event.”

Pentland forgot to add that if you attend the Bangor Band concert first, you also should get the best parking spaces!

Our Bangor Band is believed to be this country’s second-oldest community band, and conductor Fred Goldrich “has chosen a wonderful assortment of Christmas and familiar seasonal selections, which will delight both young and old alike,” Pentland wrote.

To make the occasion even more merry, band members will not be wearing traditional attire, he added.

“Instead, members will wear whatever they choose that has colors of the Christmas season,” Pentland wrote, indicating that “some may even have lights on their instruments.”

And, of course, for the little ones, Santa Claus will arrive during the concert.

Pentland encourages residents “of all ages to come celebrate the season with the Bangor Band this Christmas,” describing the annual event as a fun-filled one “for the audience, the musicians and for Mr. Claus.”

On behalf of Homemakers Organized for More Employment, or H.O.M.E. Inc., as it is known, Carlene Parsons reports the H.O.M.E Craft Store will be open until 9 p.m. tonight, and until the same time Saturday, Dec. 16, at H.O.M.E., located on Route 1 in Orland.

Parsons reports that, at the Craft Store, people will be able to purchase locally made, Maine-made gifts for Christmas.

She also said that while you are shopping on either day, you will be entertained by “a local artist” playing Christmas music.

For more information about H.O.M.E., call 469-7961.

Mary-Anne Saxl, development and marketing specialist for the Warren Center in Bangor, has a holiday gift suggestion that is worth considering.

She reminds parents to be careful of toys you buy, especially if they are noisy.

“In some cases,” Saxl wrote, noisy toys can “constitute a direct danger to children’s hearing.”

For example, “when used in ordinary play, some types of battery-driven toy guns can create noise levels between 110 and 135 decibels, the same noise level as a heavy truck, a rock concert or an airliner at takeoff.”

Saxl pointed out that “in many workplaces, employees are required to wear hearing protection where noise level exceeds 85 dB.”

Not only are noisy toys a problem for children, she wrote, but can be annoying or even painful for adults.

Saxl suggests you “think about noise” when purchasing toys and avoid buying toys with warning labels indicating they should not be held close to the ear.

She suggests placing masking tape over toy speakers to reduce volume; replacing noisy toys with less noisy ones; restricting their use to outdoors, if possible; installing mats or rugs to reduce noise level; lining toy boxes or storage boxes with fabric or felt; or keeping toys in baskets or fabric bags.

Finally, Saxl reminds parents “the damaging effect of repeated exposure to intense noise, over a lifetime,” is something we should always be aware of.

The mission of the Warren Center is to provide “evaluations, therapies and technologies in the areas of speech, language development and hearing to the children and adults of Eastern and Central Maine.”

For more information, call the center at 941-2850.

Parke Clemons, president of Bangor Center Corp., wrote the BDN that “for 15 years, Sprague’s Nursery” in Bangor has delivered “very large and carefully groomed” Christmas trees to the Queen City’s West Market Square “as gifts to the community.”

Over the years, the lighting of those trees has helped help mark “the official kickoff of the holiday shopping season and December festivities,” he added.

On behalf of BCC “and the thousand of residents and visitors who enjoy your gifts,” Clemons thanks the owners and staff of Sprague’s Nursery for “the huge tree” that is “a beacon placed at the very heart of downtown.”

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