One of the nicer reasons for getting out of the office on occasion is that you get to meet people in person you’ve only “met” by phone.

Such was the case when I participated in the Governor’s Service Awards recently in the State House Hall of Flags in Augusta.

There I met Erin Rice, marketing and communications director for Pine Tree Society in Bath, and she provided me with more detailed information about one particular aspect of the upcoming Paddle for Pine Tree Camp.

I was interested in the fund-raiser that will take place Saturday, June 4, at several sites in Maine. Particularly, I wanted to learn more about the one scheduled for Swan Lake, which is north of Belfast off Route 141 in Swanville.

Since Paddle for Pine Tree Camp began in 1997, the event has raised more than $78,000 through pledges and contributions to benefit the summer camp in Rome for Maine children and adults with disabilities.

The Swan Lake site is the fund-raiser’s first lake location and, Rice reports, is a site that is suitable for all paddling levels.

It’s a terrific one, I believe, and a great opportunity for those who’ve never visited lovely Swan Lake State Park to do so.

Paddlers will be on the lake for three to four hours, and then enjoy a celebratory barbecue at the park that also offers volleyball, horseshoes and swimming.

For those who would like to take advantage of this opportunity, or to participate in any other way, you need to get busy because the registration deadline is Tuesday, May 31.

To register or receive more information, visit the Pine Tree Society Web site at www.pinetreesociety.org and click on Paddle for Pine Tree Camp at the top of the page.

You can also call the society at 934-7962 or e-mail kdorer@pinetreesociety.org.

Other paddle sites include the Kennebec, Saco and Androscoggin rivers, as well as sea kayaking on Sunday, June 5, in the Brunswick area.

Terri Neil is greenhouse coordinator for North Star Christian School on Route 2 in Hermon.

She wrote that the school “has a small greenhouse for our agricultural program” which enables students “to study plant cycles, seed life and other agricultural issues.”

In its second year of growing vegetables, flowers and herbs from seeds, she explained, the school starts the seedlings indoors beginning in February and then transfers them to the greenhouse in April.

As a community service, some plants are given to local businesses and neighbors, but they are now available for sale to the public.

The greenhouse will open its doors from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, May 22, in Hermon.

“We will continue to be open, during the week, and on Sunday, through mid-June,” Neil wrote.

For more information, call the school at 848-2331.

The Kenduskeag Union Church has had an ongoing relationship with Bangor Theological Seminary since the church was founded more than 150 years ago. Sue King of Bangor wrote that the church is now hosting a special event to raise money to maintain the facility.

One of the things that makes it special is that the fund-raiser is “a combined effort of people in the church and seminarians, who are offering their talents … to help raise money for much-needed repairs to the church,” King explained.

The public is invited to attend a walk down memory lane and ice cream social at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at the church in Kenduskeag.

Admission is $5 for the event, which features King and Wendy Stewart as The Aussie-Scots Duo appearing with the Step in Time Cloggers and Buck Masters & the Beecher Boys Band.

King believes you will enjoy this “hand-clapping, toe-tapping time.”

The public is invited to hear classical artists Marcoliva at 11:30 a.m. Monday, May 23, in the Webber West level one concourse of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

The appearance of the violin-viola duo of Marc Ramirez and Olivia Hajioff, who have performed throughout the world, is free and sponsored by the EMMC Art of Healing initiative.

Studies have found that art aids in the healing process of patients, according to an EMMC release.

This concept brings together four distinct aspects of creative expression to integrate the therapeutic benefits of an arts presence at EMMC.

Those four aspects include visual arts, performing arts, patient care interactive arts, and visiting artists in residence.

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