Last month, the BDN received a letter from Becky Murdy, committee co-chairwoman of the Bangor High School Student Council.

Murdy explained that because of the “overwhelming support from the community,” last year’s BHS Student Council Rock for Relief concert to raise funds for the American Red Cross to assist victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita was very successful.

The concert was such a success, she said, “that we have decided to make this an annual event.”

The council also decided that the money raised will be used “to support an important cause to be designated at that time.”

Therefore, this year’s Rock for Relief concert, planned for May 9, will benefit The Marrow Foundation, Murdy wrote.

The Marrow Foundation was chosen, she explained, because of the many BHS students who were personally affected by the death of fellow student Blake Vaillancourt, who was a member of the BHS Class of 2007. Vaillancourt was 18 when he died last August.

“Blake Vaillancourt’s battle with a bone marrow disease took him across the country,” Murdy wrote of the brave young man, who received treatment at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, in Boston and in Washington state.

And although three bone marrow transplants could not save his life, “his story has inspired and changed the lives of many,” Murdy wrote.

“We would like to honor his memory by helping others who face the illness that he faced.”

The Bangor High School Student Council is asking area business owners and individuals to make contributions to help raise money for The Marrow Foundation.

Area business owners or individuals interested in making a donation to help with this benefit are asked to call Angela Khorll at BHS, 992-5552, by Sunday, April 1, or e-mail her at akhorll@bangorschools.net.

Proceeds from the benefit will be collected through the end of May.

For more information about The Marrow Foundation, visit http://www.themarrowfoundation.org/.

Marie Saucier, president of UPtown Business & Professional Women, invites any interested woman to attend a luncheon beginning at noon Wednesday, Jan. 17, at the Muddy Rudder in Brewer.

The cost of the luncheon is $10.

Guest speaker Jann Jones will offer tips and techniques to help you live “frugally without giving up the good life,” Saucier wrote.

Since 1919, BPW, a national organization, has been one of this country’s leading advocates for women.

For more information about the organization or the meeting, call Saucier at 992-5042.

The public is invited to attend a free lecture by University of Maine ethnohistory doctoral candidate Micah Pawling of Bucksport 7-8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19, in the Science Building, Room 102, at the University of Maine in Machias.

The lecture, sponsored by the UMM Student International Club and the Behavioral Sciences and Community Studies Program, is titled “The Reconfiguration of Passamaquoddy Homeland: The Origins of Native Petitions to Maine and New Brunswick 1794-1879.”

The theme of the lecture is the history of the Passamaquoddy Homelands and, specifically, why the Passamaquoddy adopted the practice of submitting petitions or formal written requests to state and provincial governments.

For more information, call UMM assistant professor of anthropology Mike Kimball at 255-1428.

Attention, United Way of Eastern Maine donors: You should have received, or will be receiving, your invitation in the mail, but in case you missed it or misplaced it, don’t forget to mark your calendar for the UWEM campaign finale.

The event takes place 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Darling’s Honda, Nissan and Volvo, 114 Sylvan Road in Bangor.

You also need to RSVP for the celebration by calling Heather Rines at UWEM, 941-2800, or e-mailing her at heatherr@unitedwayem.org.

Remember, you could be the winner of one of three terrific prizes: a new Nissan Sentra from Darling’s, 500 gallons of R.H. Foster heating oil, or a $1,000 L.L. Bean gift certificate.

Registration is open for the University of Maine Department of Art after-school ArtWorks program for children in kindergarten through grade seven.

The classes are 3:30-5 p.m. on consecutive Fridays beginning March 23 and ending April 20, at Lord Hall on the UMaine campus in Orono.

The application deadline is Monday, Feb. 26, and the $25 fee covers the cost of materials.

For a registration form or more information, call Constant Albertson at 581-3251, or e-mail constant.albertson

@umit.Maine.edu.

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