When I opened the e-mail from Nina Gormley, I must admit it made me smile because Gormley certainly had fun writing about this event.

She wrote to inform readers that “Cocktails and Nightingales Congregate for a Cause” will be held 6-8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, at the Causeway Club in Southwest Harbor.

“You might think that benefit auctions are for the birds,” she wrote “and, in this case, you’d be right, and the remark would be taken as a compliment.”

That’s because “the event is a benefit to enhance community awareness, educational outreach and exhibition restoration” for the host Wendell Gilley Museum of Bird Carving in that community.

“Advance tickets are ‘cheep, cheep’ at $50,” Gormley said, adding that “if available, tickets at the door will soar to $60.”

Tickets may be reserved by calling the museum, 244-7555; visiting it from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. before the auction; and at www.wendellgilleymuseum.org where you also can preview some of the auction items.

Gormley wrote that among the auction highlights would be 11 miniature waterfowl and game bird carvings by Gilley, “which were donated, specifically, for sale to benefit the museum.”

“Also perched for purchase will be carvings and sculptures by other well-known artists, including Elmer Crowell, Ray Carbone, Locke Jones, Edwin Hawkes, Russell Mount, James Pyne and John T. Sharp.”

Other auction items include scenic flights, land and sea excursions, exclusive cottage and lodge stays, custom jewelry, “birdscaping” features and fabulous feasts.

Once you’ve reserved your tickets, Gormley encourages you to “start preening and put on your most festive, but not fussy, feathers and fly over to the Causeway Club on 8/8/08 for Cocktails and Nightingales.”

Sandra Gordon of Waldo County Healthcare in Belfast invites you to learn what kind of hospice services are available in that area by attending one of two sessions on this subject at 2 p.m. or 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, in the library at Harbor Hill, 2 Footbridge Road in Belfast.

Waldo County Home Health and Hospice social worker Margie Spencer-Smith and hospice volunteers of Waldo County director of volunteers Connie Woitowitz are the featured presenters.

In addition to all families, residents and staff of Harbor Hill, Gordon wrote, the public also is welcome. For more information, call Spencer-Smith at 338-2268.

This week’s Mary Potterton Memorial Faculty Concert features flutist Suzanne Gilchrest, pianist Gregory Biss, violist Phillip Coonce, cellist Joachim Woitun, guitarist Winslow Browning, clarinetist Anna Maria Baeza and pianist Charles Jones.

The concert is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, at Lubec Congregational Christian Church, with donations accepted for the piano-tuning fund.

Intermission refreshments will be provided by Downeast Drawings Wildlife Gallery and Gifts, and information about the concert boat from Eastport is available by calling 853-2500.

Joanne DeWitt invites you to attend the Milo Garden Club’s annual Summer Fair, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, at Milo Elementary School.

DeWitt reports the fair will feature perennials and other plants, crafts, food, a nearly-new table, a raffle, a silent auction and a “by-donation” luncheon.

In addition, she wrote, “Allan Monroe’s miniature furniture and paintings” will be on display.”

Jackie Nicholson e-mailed that “all women are cordially invited to attend” the monthly meeting of the Hancock Woman’s Club at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, at the Hancock Community Center on Route 1.

The program will feature a presentation about falconry by Alan Parrot of Hancock, and “refreshments and socializing will follow,” Nicholson wrote. The evening will end with a brief business meeting, when plans for the annual lobster dinner will be finished.

For more information, call 422-6214.

The second annual Putt for the Club Golf Tournament, to benefit the Penobscot Nation Boys & Girls Club, begins with registration at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, at Palmyra Golf Course, reports PNBGC director Carla Fearon.

The early registration fee is $75 per golfer or $100 the day of the event, and you can register or receive more information by calling Fearon at 817-7355.

The benefit includes a barbecue, awards, silent auction, raffles, contests and prizes.

Ro Le Gassee, director of Caring Connections at the Bangor Y, reminds you to register for the Beach to Beach Swim for Breast Cancer, which is 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, beginning at Jenkins Beach on Green Lake in Dedham.

For more information, call or e-mail Caring Connections at 941-2808 or careconn@BangorY.org.

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