Anyone who has ever attended the Bangor Garden Show Preview Night knows that is when you really get to see the show at its freshest, as chairwoman Nicole Stevens points out in expressing her hope you will be part of Preview Night from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center.

Admission is $52 for couples, and tickets for Preview Night are by advance sale only.

Tickets may be obtained by calling the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center Box Office at 990-4444, purchasing them online at Ticketmaster.com, for which a convenience charge might be applied, or at Sprague’s Nursery on Union Street in Bangor.

Proceeds from Preview Night support the work of Keep Bangor Beautiful to help with beautification efforts throughout the Queen City.

In addition to getting the first peek at the show, you will be able to sample cuisine from local restaurateurs and caterers, served by students enrolled in the culinary arts program at Penobscot Job Corps, enjoy a delightful variety of music, and be eligible for door prizes that include a diamond necklace.

For those not attending Preview Night, doors are open for the 2008 Bangor Garden Show from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. both Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center.

General admission tickets are available at the door only and are $10 for adults, free for children under 12 when accompanied by an adult.

Senior admission, for those 65 and older, is $7 Friday afternoon and all day Sunday, but $10 at all other times.

Information about group rates for groups of 10 adults or more or social service agencies can be obtained by calling 991-0688.

Bagaduce Music Lending Library board member Karen Dickes wrote to inform our readers about the library’s Win a Week in Maine raffle, which is being conducted as part of the library’s yearlong, 25th anniversary celebration.

Dickes wrote that the “first prize includes one week for two in an elegant, seaside cottage, in Brooksville, a rental car, a day sail on Blue Hill Bay, a carriage ride through Acadia National Park, a lobster dinner for two and much, much more.”

“Second prize is a lobster dinner for 12, with all the fixings, shipped overnight anywhere in the U.S. on a date of the winner’s choosing,” she added.

Only 300 tickets for the Win a Week in Maine raffle will be sold, and they are $100 each.

The entry deadline is Friday, April 25, and winners will be announced Thursday, May 1.

To purchase a raffle ticket or receive information about the raffle, call the Bagaduce Music Lending Library in Blue Hill at 374-5454, or e-mail 25anniversary@bagaducemusic.org.

“We hope that our Win a Week in Maine raffle will appeal to those who want to support the Bagaduce Music Lending Library and also give friends or relatives a chance to spend a week this summer in our beautiful state,” Dickes wrote.

The mission of the nonprofit Bagaduce Music Lending Library is “to collect, preserve and lend printed music and to provide music education programs.”

Mount Desert Island High School staff member Susan Vafiades-Diaz wrote that 16 MDIHS juniors and seniors will “represent our school and community in a unique, grassroots exchange program, Ecuador Field Studies.”

Since September, they have been “studying the history, politics, economics, culture, literature and art of Latin America,” and improving their Spanish speaking skills through an advanced Spanish class.

On April 7, the group will travel to Ecuador to live with Spanish-speaking families and participate in service learning projects.

One of those projects is providing new uniforms for 84 disadvantaged children who cannot attend school unless they wear the required uniform.

To raise enough money to purchase the uniforms, the students ask you to Adopt a Child for a $35 contribution.

They also need two computers (laptops or desktops) for students and teachers who do not have them.

If you can help, make a tax-deductible check payable to MDIHS and mail it to Adopt a Child Program, MDIHS, P.O. Box 180, Mount Desert 04660-0180.

If you have questions, call Vafiades-Diaz, 288-5011, ext. 115, or e-mail svafiades-diaz@u98k12.me.us.

The group has been working hard to raise the $65,000 it needs to make the trip but is approximately $2,300 short.

If you can help, use the contact information above.

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