What a delightful evening the Brooksville Parents, Teachers and Friends Association has in store when you attend a supper and variety show gala beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at Brooksville Elementary School, 1527 Coastal Road in Brooksville.

The suggested donation is $6 for adults, $3 for children and $15.50 for families.

School librarian Rick Alexander e-mailed that “variety might be an understatement” for this event.

The meal features delicious hot and cold dishes ranging from casseroles to hot dogs, salads and desserts.

The variety show features talented community members and pupils entertaining you with music, storytelling, skits and readings of locally written works and pupil publications.

You also will have the opportunity to meet author Joan MacCracken, who will share “Trisba and Sula,” her book set in Guatemala, where she is part of a literacy program.

Pupils will display their artwork inspired by the book, and copies of the book will be available.

The “Best Friends” exhibit will give you an opportunity to see some local pets through the pen and ink work of Brooksville artist Leslie Moore.

Finally, Alexander reports, the event will feature a young authors’ display “of carefully written and edited student-produced literature.”

Nicole Heanssler e-mailed that, due to bad weather, the Waldo County Healthcare Dessert Cabaret, originally scheduled for Friday, will begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 13, at Belfast Area High School.

Admission to the event is free, but donations are requested, and I will have updated details nearer the date of the fundraiser, which benefits services provided by Waldo County Healthcare.

Nelson Durgin, executive director of Phillips-Strickland House in Bangor, called to let readers know “we still have seats available, but they are going fast” for the annual spring fundraiser which, this year, is the Paper Moon Dinner Dance.

The event starts with a social hour and silent auction at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono.

After the meal, attendees will enjoy dancing to the music of Brian Catell and Jump City Jazz.

“We have some outstanding items in our silent auction,” Durgin said of opportunities to bid on everything from “entertainment packages to dine-around packages for the city of Bangor and downtown shopping” certificates.

Admission is $150 for couples or $75 for singles, and proceeds benefit the nonprofit housing facility for seniors.

To buy tickets, call Durgin or administrative assistant Sharon Nickerson during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, at 941-2820.

Elizabeth Clayton reminds readers that applications are still being accepted for the Eastern Maine Community College Friends of the Library sixth annual Books2Eat contest, which is 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, in Rangeley Hall on the EMCC campus in Bangor.

The contest features categories for all ages from under 12 to professional chefs, and features a special Stephen King title category open to everyone.

For more information, or

an entry form, call Karen Reilly at EMCC, 974-4606.

March for Meals is an annual campaign of Senior Spectrum, based in Augusta, “to raise awareness in our communities about the reality that many of the senior citizens in this area are going hungry each and every day,” according to a release from administrative assistant Kimbaile Henderson.

During March, Senior Spectrum receives support for its many home delivery meal programs from city and town officials who participate in Mayors for Meals by joining Meals on Wheels volunteers in delivering daily meals to seniors who are part of that program.

Henderson asks that readers “please consider making a donation during this campaign to ensure that Meals on Wheels receives the funding it requires.”

For more information about the work of Senior Spectrum, about March for Meals, to make a contribution, or to join the senior Spectrum Volunteer Corps, call the agency’s Consumer Helpline at (800) 639-1553, or visit www.seniorspectrum.com.

Charles Bernstein, interim director of Maine Initiatives in Augusta, wonders if you have a solution to hunger; a project that advances sustainable agriculture in Maine; are working to preserve small farms; promoting organic growing; or teaching neighbors the advantages of buying locally grown produce?

If your answer is yes, he wrote, “the Harvest Fund just might have money for you.”

This small grant program of Maine Initiatives is accepting grant applications through Wednesday, April 4.

To apply or learn more, visit www.maineinitiatives.org.

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