Back by popular demand is the best way to describe the “second informal sharing of stories of life along the Bagaduce River,” explained Katharine Turok in describing Bagaduce Winters Way Back When to be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14, at Emerson Hall, 67 Court St., Castine.

Hosted by the Bagaduce Watershed Association, its members invite you to “an afternoon of informal sharing” with others “who have lived in the Bagaduce watershed for one or more generations,” Turok wrote.

That watershed includes residents of areas surrounding Brooksville, Castine, Blue Hill, Sedgwick and Penobscot.

“Because it was so well received,” Turok said of the first “sharing” event on a September afternoon, the association decided to invite you to participate in a similar event this winter.

In fact the place “was packed,” Turok said of the September event.

“It was marvelous to see,” she said of that gathering, which she reminds readers was “not formally or technically based,” but just an afternoon of conversation where people could “warm to the subject.”

Association members hope you will attend and share stories about what you “saw or heard” or what you know about what your “parents, uncles, aunts or grandparents saw or heard during winters way back when,” Turok wrote.

Recollections of growing up in the area, attending school, participating in outdoor activities from hunting to ice skating; “having a close call” or surviving a difficult winter; any and all of those memories would be welcome contributions to this gathering.

Turok hopes people will come with “facts, legends or whoppers from the past,” and she encourages you “to bring old photos as well.”

No admission fee will be charged, and refreshments will be served.

If you are concerned about the cost of gasoline to get to this gathering, carpooling is suggested and the association members would be happy to help with that arrangement.

For more information, call the Wilson Museum, which is co-sponsoring the afternoon of sharing, at 326-9247, or call Turok at 326-0966.

This certainly should be a delightful way to spend a January afternoon for those of you living, or who at one time lived, in the Bagaduce watershed area.

Shirley Shannon is activities coordinator for the Maine Veterans Home in Bangor.

She wrote that “we took a group of a dozen residents and volunteers” to Nicky’s Crusin’ Diner Thursday, Jan. 4, in Bangor “for an ice cream outing,” which Shannon described as “a wonderful treat.”

“As we were preparing to leave,” Shannon continued, “a woman quickly brushed past us on her way out and said ‘Happy New Year! I paid your bill.'”

That thoughtful individual “departed so quick we didn’t have time to thank her,” Shannon wrote.

Everyone who enjoyed the outing said it was made even more special because of this woman’s generosity, and wishes “to publicly thank her for her random act of kindness, which made the day for our veterans and their escorts.”

In a November mailing, executive director Jody Wolford-Tucker and board President Charles Tarr reminded supporters of Hospice of Hancock County how important your contributions to this organization have been.

As the bereavement program celebrated 25 years of service, Wolford-Tucker and Tarr wrote, they were “thankful for a full plate” as the program welcomed two new staff members, had a full roster of patients and families, active bereavement support groups, and offered a variety of outreach programs within the communities it serves.

Since Hospice of Hancock County is “a volunteer hospice provider,” they continued, “we do not receive any federal or state support, and we do not charge for our patient care or bereavement services, which means that your support is vitally important to our organization.”

Wolford-Tucker and Tarr hope you will participate in the Hospice of Hancock County annual appeal and thank you, in advance, for doing so.

They remind you $25 provides materials for one volunteer training session.

A donation of $250 would provide HHC with a quarter of its annual volunteer training costs, and a $2,500 contribution would cover a third of its annual household expenses.

A $25,000 contribution would underwrite the cost of its semiannual professional conference and annual educational outreach programs.

To contribute to HHC, mail a check to 14 McKenzie Ave., Ellsworth 04605.

For more information about either contributing to the annual appeal or the services HHC could offer you and your family, call 667-2531, visit www.hospiceofhancock.org or e-mail info@hospiceofhancock.org.

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