Deadline today for holiday cards to soldiers

Any holiday mail through the American Red Cross national “Holiday Mail for Heroes” campaign, “to receive and distribute holiday cards to service members and veterans both in the United States and abroad,” must be postmarked by today, according to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Web site.

All holiday cards should be sent to Holiday Mail for Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, Md. 20791-5456.

No holiday mail, unless addressed to a specific individual, should be sent directly to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which, as it states on its Web site, “is not accepting mail addressed to A Recovering American Soldier.”

After receiving e-mails requesting holiday cards be sent to “A Recovering American Soldier,” and suspecting this was not a legitimate request, I called and spoke with a representative of the WRAMC Department of Public Affairs, who told me that the e-mail request is false.

If you have received an e-mail requesting you add to your Christmas card list “A Recovering American Soldier” and that it is to be sent to WRAMC in Washington, D.C., do not do it.

For complete information about the holiday mail program for service members, visit www.wramc.amedd.army.mil, click on News and Events, then click on Holiday mail program for servicemembers under way, or visit www.redcross.org/holidaymail.

For anyone planning to send cards through the legitimate ARC program, please note that today is the deadline, and let anyone on your e-mail list know that the “A Recovering American Soldier” holiday card request is false.

Sandra Gordon of Waldo County Healthcare invites you to the Waldo County General Hospital Aid annual Silver Tea 3-6 p.m. today at the home of Dr. Terrance and Beth Anne Gordley Smith, 208 High St., Primrose Hill, Belfast.

“This year’s setting is a three-story, villa-style house built in 1859 for Charles B. Hazeltine,” Gordon wrote. The entrance is on High Street. Parking is available on nearby streets.

There is no admission fee, but you can drop voluntary donations in a silver bowl near the entryway. The winning ticket for the aid’s holiday raffle will be drawn at the tea.

Sue Perkins reports that now through Monday, Dec. 15, Brewer Federal Credit Union is conducting a food drive for products “to be donated to local area food cupboards during the holidays.”

You can drop off nonperishable food items between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, or from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays at the BFCU branches on North Main Street and Dirigo Drive in Brewer.

Husson University student and Husson Theatre secretary Shanna Miller e-mailed that the theater is presenting “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” at 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13; and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, in Kominsky Auditorium on the Bangor campus of Husson University.

“The show is a true story about the children of Terezin during the Holocaust,” Miller wrote of the program she said is “very powerful,” and a subject she believes “is important that the public is informed about.”

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students, free for anyone with a Husson or New England School of Communications identification card.

Because space is limited, call Miller at 890-1169 to reserve seats.

Lynn Higgins reports it’s time again for the Beth Israel Sisterhood’s Hanukkah Marketplace and Craft Fair, which will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at Congregation Beth Israel, 144 York St., Bangor.

More than 15 vendors will offer everything from stained-glass items to kosher baked goods and kosher meals-to-go, handmade soap, knitted and crocheted goods and American Indian dream catchers.

You can purchase raffle tickets and perhaps win a handmade afghan, and among the luncheon items you will find at The Sisterhood Cafe will be haddock rolls, falafel and homemade pizza.

Sue McKay and members of our historic Bangor Band invite you to their annual Holiday Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at Bangor Civic Center.

This year’s concert “will feature the music of Leroy Anderson,” McKay wrote in inviting you to “join Santa and his musical elves for this very special event.”

While admission is free, donations will be “gratefully accepted” as the band “is gearing up for its 150th anniversary in 2009,” McKay added.

For more information, visit www.bangorband.org.

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