Nominees sought for first George Hale awards

May is Older Americans Month, and Eastern Agency on Aging in Bangor has announced it is going to honor some exceptional older residents with its first-ever George Hale Silver Frame Awards: The Picture of Active Aging.

The award is in honor of the exceptionally popular local broadcaster and co-host of Maine in the Morning on WVOM, 103.9 FM, The Voice of Maine, whom EAA considers “an icon in the community, and the epitome of active aging.”

The EAA is seeking nominees in two age groups: 60-75 and 76 and older. The deadline for nominations is Monday, April 30.

The nominees will “have shown themselves to be exceptional role models in any one of the following categories,” the EAA announcement states.

Those categories are Artistic-Creative; Fitness or Outdoor Enthusiast-Adventurer; and Life-Long Learner-Entrepreneurial.

To make a nomination, you are asked to write an essay of 350-500 words, explaining why your nominee is a role model in any of the qualifying categories. The EAA would like to publish the essays on its Web site.

Essays should be sent to Noelle Merrill, Eastern Agency on Aging, 450 Essex Street, Bangor 04401.

The winners in each group and category receive $100 and will be honored with a lunch in May in their respective communities, and have his or her picture taken with Hale to be placed in a silver frame. Winners also may appear on WVOM and on television.

Members of Franklin Street United Methodist Church invite you to join them for their popular, monthly, all-you-can-eat Breakfast Buffet from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday, April 14, at the church, 71 Franklin St. in Bucksport.

Admission is just $6 for adults and $3 for children.

Proceeds from this year’s breakfast event will help church members fund scholarships for young people to attend Camp Mechuwana, the United Methodist Camp in Winthrop, as well as help them provide financial assistance to local youth organizations.

For more information, call Ed Petravicz at 469-9979 or the church office at 469-3622.

For three years, Cheryl Murphy of Hermon has been the leader of Murfs Maineiacs, a team that will participate in the Boston Breast Cancer 3-Day event Aug. 3-5.

Murphy recently contacted me to let supporters know that it is now “time for our 3rd Annual Bake/Yard Sale” to raise funds for this 3-day, 60-mile walk to support the work of the Susan G. Komen Foundation to find a cure for breast cancer.

The Bake/Yard Sale is slated to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20, at 356 Billings Road in Hermon.

“So muck out your closets, garage, your attic, even your car,” Murphy wrote.

“If you and your neighbors have a truckload, we will come pick it up. We take anything.”

Murphy reminds you that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure,” and that “if you would like to bake something for the sale, that would be great as well.”

Store More in Hermon has donated a storage unit to the team “for this great cause” which, she added, raised nearly $3,000 last year.

If you have questions, or want your items picked up, call Murphy at 944-8977 or Kathy Griffin at 460-9931.

And speaking of the Komen Foundation, I extend sincere congratulations to the staff, volunteers and, especially, every single donor who has enabled the Maine affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to reach the $1 million mark in grants awarded in its 10-year history.

This year alone, reports Maine affiliate president Diane Aston, 10 Maine grantees will receive $261,731.

Among the many fundraisers the Maine affiliate conducts during the year are its Pink Tie Ball in June and its Race for the Cure in September.

Aston reports that, of the funds raised, up to 75 percent of the net funds “stay right here in the State of Maine and are distributed in the form of grants to breast cancer programs throughout the state that provide education, screening and treatment for the medically underserved.”

At least 25 percent of the funds help national research through the Komen Breast Cancer Award and Research Grant program.

Grant applications are accepted each January and, if your organization is interested in applying for a grant in the next cycle, Aston wrote, call the Maine affiliate office at 262-7117.

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