Residents of Sullivan and surrounding communities are doing what they can to lend support and comfort to Connor, Garret and Morgan Openshaw, who were involved in a tragic automobile accident Aug. 24 on Route 1, which took the lives of their parents, Corey Openshaw and Stacey Collins.

Helen Gordon of the Sullivan Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary wrote me to provide readers with information about two events to benefit the family and how you can make a donation directly to assist these young children.

First, Cub Scout Pack 81, of which Connor and Garrett are members, and Mountain View School, which they attend, are hosting a Spaghetti Supper, with raffles and an auction, beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at Mountain View School, 542 Bert Gray Road in Sullivan.

Gordon wrote that raffle items are needed for the benefit, and volunteers “to help cook, set up, serve and clean up.”

If you can help at the event or make donations to it, call Guy and Lisa Coombs, 422-9520, or Casey and Kim Rush, 565-2154, or e-mail rushfam@localnet.com.

Next, mark your calendar for the Sullivan Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary and Family Ties Baked Bean and Casserole Supper and Chinese Auction to benefit the Openshaw Children from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Sorrento-Sullivan Recreation Center, 1776 U.S. Route 1, in Sullivan.

If you can volunteer to help at this event or donate food or raffle items for the benefit, call Gordon at 422-6719.

Finally, Gordon wrote, the Openshaw Children’s Donation Fund has been established at Union Trust Co. in Ellsworth.

You can contribute to the fund in person at the bank or by mailing a donation to the Openshaw Children’s Donation Fund, c/o Union Trust Co., P.O. Box 479, Ellsworth 04605.

Marlene Hofstetter of the Houlton Garden Club reports “we have another great meeting coming up” at 6:30 tonight at Houlton Congregational Church, to which the public is invited.

Dr. Jack Babson “will continue his wonderful slide program, Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail,” Hofstetter wrote, and refreshments will be served.

Bill Robertson wrote that the final meeting of the season for friends and members of the Franklin Historical Society is 7 tonight at the museum on Hog Bay Road in Franklin.

“A very interesting program is planned,” which will be presented by Roderic and Ruth Franzius of Hancock, “about the Austin Castle in Hancock,” Robertson wrote.

“The public is invited and refreshments will be served.”

For information about the Franklin Historical Society or this meeting, call 565-2901.

Beacon Hospice Inc. is hosting an Open House to introduce its new Penobscot County service to the public.

Members of the community are invited to visit the office between 4 and 7 p.m. today in Suite 3A of Hancock Place, 304 Hancock St. in Bangor.

Betty Brennan, a Bangor native, is president and CEO of Beacon Hospice, according to a press release.

Beacon Hospice is seeking volunteers who are interested in working either with hospice patients or in its Bangor office.

For information about Beacon Hospice services or becoming a volunteer, call 800-840-0668.

Cathy Marquez of the Church of Universal Fellowship board of deacons wants readers to know the church is conducting a yard sale 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at the church, 82 Main St., Orono.

And Marquez also wants readers to know about the Fellowship Singers, which she describes as “a choral music ministry” of this church.

Directed by Andrew McCormick, the group welcomes “individuals, of any age, who just love good music,” Marquez wrote.

The singers “are a group dedicated to learning, performing and ministering with uplifting music of the contemporary, folk and gospel traditions, along with traditional songs from other nations and cultures,” she said, adding that “no audition, or experience, is necessary” to join the group.

Rehearsals at 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesdays at the church, and the group performs “in December and May-June at various area churches, nursing homes, retirement facilities and community events,” she wrote.

Marquez invites you to “visit a rehearsal to see and hear more about this fun and motivated group.”

For information about the Fellowship Singers, call the church at 866-3655.

If you are a student at the University of Maine and interested in joining the group, Marquez says transportation is available from the Orono campus.

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