Youngsters in the Calais area are in for a busy pre-holiday weekend, reports Lorraine Mitchell of the Calais Lioness Club.

The weekend gets off to a fun-filled start with the Lioness’ annual Holiday Parade.

That event, featuring “Santa and Mrs. Claus and all kinds of floats,” Mitchell said, begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, at Johnson’s Hardware, and proceeds through downtown Calais.

“After the parade,” Mitchell said, “we’ll have cookies and visits with Santa.”

Adults should be sure that the youngsters are dressed warmly for this activity, since it will be an “outdoor” experience, Mitchell explained.

Santa will be meeting and greeting youngsters in what is known locally as the “library triangle.”

The parade is sponsored by the Lioness Club and Calais merchants.

And then, even more fun is in store for youngsters, and oldsters throughout the area who are listening, as the kids get a turn at the mike.

The Calais Lions Club, working with WQDY-FM and WALZ-FM, “is hosting a radio show to raise money for the Santa’s Helper Fund,” Mitchell said, and it’s the young people who are the show.

“We ask local kids” to volunteer to entertain the radio audience, Mitchell explained.

I spoke with station president Bill McVicar, who told me this is the 33rd annual Santa’s Helper show, and that it has proven not only to be very popular, but very successful as well.

McVicar said organizers are hoping to raise nearly $10,000 this year.

Individuals, groups and bands are asked to appear between 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church hall in Calais.

During this special program, listeners are asked to call in and make pledges for the fund, which makes Christmas much, much brighter for those in need.

The Lions Club provides needy families with a Christmas dinner basket, and coupons for toys for their children.

“The more money we raise,” Mitchell added, “the more we can give to each family.”

Lincoln Congregational Church is hosting its 11th Christmas House Tour noon-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, in that community.

Tickets for the self-guided tour are $10, and can be obtained by calling Carol Marino, 794-8336, or visiting Possibilities on Main Street in Lincoln.

One of the major fund-raisers for this church, the event has been “a tremendous success, and very well received by area residents,” wrote Jackie Thurlow.

“Many of us have made the tour a seasonal tradition to put us in the holiday spirit.”

Executive director Joshua Torrance invites you to enjoy December Holiday Tours of Woodland Museum, also known as The Black House, in Ellsworth.

Tours are 1, 2 and 3 p.m., on three consecutive weekends: Saturday, Dec. 4, and Sunday, Dec. 5; Saturday, Dec. 11, and Sunday, Dec. 12; and Saturday, Dec. 18, and Sunday, Dec. 19, at the museum on West Main Street.

New Land Nursery and Landscaping of Ellsworth and Westside Florists of Southwest Harbor have decorated select rooms. After each tour, hot chocolate, Woodlawn Teas and holiday cookies will be served.

The cost is $10, and you can also do some holiday shopping at the museum store, which is open 1-4 p.m. Monday through Sunday, now through Thursday, Dec. 23.

For information, call 667-8671.

Kent Higgins and Cyndie Dorman of the Levi Stewart Community Theater hope lots of folks show up to enjoy “Christmas in the Good Old Days” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, in the auditorium of the Stewart Library in Corinna.

Individuals, small groups and full chorus performances by local talent will help you ring in the holiday season.

The Pembroke Historical Society Craft Fair is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday Dec. 4, at Pembroke Elementary School.

Proceeds benefit society activities and its museum.

Crafts include stained glass by Mark and Arlene Wren of Robbinston; drawings and watercolors by Fred and Patty Hartman of Whiting, tole paintings by Joan Dodge of Alexander and pottery by Don Sutherland of Eastport.

You will find photography by Fred Knapp of Princeton, wildlife paintings by Joan Edwards of Pembroke, jewelry by Gloria Dodge of East Machias, fleece garments by Ellen Brown of Perry and folk-art dolls by Theo McDonough of Charlotte.

A food sale, back issues of its newsletter, T-shirts and sweat shirts will be sold by PHS, as well as framed photos of vintage scenes of Charlotte, Pembroke and surrounding communities.

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