Since 1998, after the Eastern Maine Chapter of Project Linus was officially organized by Merlene Sanborn, the chapter, which serves three counties in eastern and central Maine, has donated more than 4,000 blankets for children.

For those unfamiliar with the organization, its mission is “to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need, through the gifts of new handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer ‘blanketeers,'” according to its Web site.

Its second mission, however, is “to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.”

If you would like to join that special group of people, Diana Tracey hopes you will participate in Make a Blanket Day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Penquis Higher Education Center, 50 Mayo St., Dover-Foxcroft.

Please call Sanborn at 965-8005 to reserve your space.

Tracey hopes many people will attend and help these Project Linus chapter volunteers reach their goal of completing or collecting 100 blankets that day.

For a donation, you can get breakfast and lunch provided by the Maine Street Business and Professional Women.

You also will have an opportunity to take one or two free quilting classes.

Lee Priest will teach a simple quilt-as-you-go strip quilt, and Vicki Brackett and Judy Raymond will teach a strip-flannel quilt pattern.

Fabrics will be available, but you should bring your own machine.

You can work alone or with someone else, and you can choose a project or bring one that you want to finish.

For more information about Make a Blanket Day or to learn more about Project Linus, call Sanborn at the number above, e-mail her at mainelinus@panax.com, or visit http://www.project

linus.org.

Ella Waitt and members of the Bangor Nature Club board of directors invite anyone interested to a meeting featuring Bangor Daily News science columnist Clair Wood.

Wood will discuss celestial calendars at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, at First Congregational Church in Brewer.

Refreshments will be served after the program.

Are you interested in becoming a beekeeper?

If so, Andrew Dewey of Southwest Harbor reports there is a course designed just for you, and the registration deadline is Monday, Feb. 19.

Dewey e-mailed that the six-session Successful Beekeeping Course 2007 begins with the first session running from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the Hancock County Extension office, 63 Boggy Brook Road, Ellsworth.

The remaining classes are at the same times on March 6, 20 and 27 and April 3, with a field day in May.

The lead instructor is Maine state apiarist Tony Jadczak, working with Dewey and Fred Wardwell of Searsmont. Wardwell is a past president of the Maine State Beekeepers Association.

The cost of the course is $80 and includes two texts: “The Beekeeper’s Handbook” and “Honeybee Diseases and Pests,” as well as a loose-leaf notebook “of practical beekeeping information.”

The course is especially designed for beginning beekeepers, and you can purchase bees through the class.

To register, call the extension office at 667-8212.

For more information, e-mail Dewey at andrew@

beeberrywoods.com.

During February vacation, the Marine Environmental Research Institute invites children ages 7-12 to Explore with MERI from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Feb. 20, and Thursday, Feb. 22, at MERI on Main Street in Blue Hill.

The cost of each program is $6, and registrations must be made by Friday, Feb. 16, by calling Lea Paddock at 374-2135.

On Tuesday, youngsters will learn about animals that live in the ocean’s twilight zone, and on Thursday the participants will learn how to be an “ocean scientist” by working on experiments using common household items.

Jeff Franklin e-mailed that the Caribou Kiwanis Club is sponsoring its Keystone Kops fundraiser from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, during Caribou’s Winter Carnival.

Kiwanians urge you to “purchase warrants for arrests to be made” that day.

“Arrest warrants” are $10 each and are available before Feb. 16 at Caribou One-Stop, Caribou Food Trend, the Caribou Chamber of Commerce, from any member of the Caribou Kiwanis Club or by calling the American Legion at 76 Sweden St., Caribou, 498-2844.

All proceeds benefit Kiwanis charities.

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