Carol Curtis and her sister, Jean Noyes, invite you to join them in making “Out of the Darkness,” sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, a memorable occasion. The event has been described by Curtis as “the first time a walk of this kind has been held north of Boston.”

The 3-mile event begins with registration at 9 a.m. and the walk at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at the rec center in Houlton.

The walk will “wind through the streets of Houlton,” Curtis wrote, take you “across the new footbridge, and back to the Rec Center.”

Registration is free. Coffee and doughnuts will be provided at the beginning of the walk, and lunch will be offered afterward.

Curtis wrote that the purpose of the event is twofold: first, to increase local and national awareness about suicide and depression; and second, to raise money to fund the AFSP’s ongoing efforts with research, education and prevention as well as provide support for survivors.

The women invite you to participate as individuals or in teams.

All walkers who raise $150 will receive an official “Out of the Darkness” T-shirt, and you are invited to “bring a photo of a loved one you are walking in memory of,” Curtis wrote.

“We will have a poster to write names and post photos of loved ones lost to suicide,” she added.

You can register online at www.outofthedarkness.org or by calling Curtis at 365-4651 or Noyes at 528-2944.

According to information about Maine suicide rates on The Acadia Hospital Web site, records indicate that suicide is the second leading cause of death, following accidents, in young people age 10-19. Records also show that Maine has consistently higher suicide rates than the national average.

The average suicide rate for youth in Maine, ages 15-19, is almost 20 percent higher than the U.S. average, and the rate for ages 10-14 has nearly doubled since the 1980s.

Let’s hope this is a sellout.

Maura Smith, coach of the Madison High School Drama Club, e-mailed that the group is hosting “an evening of improvisational theater,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21 at the Elias Performing Arts Center at Madison Junior High School.

Hoping “to use humor for helping and healing,” Smith wrote, “students and high school staff will play Whose Turn is it Anyway?”

The presentation is a takeoff of one of my favorite television shows, “Whose Line is it Anyway?”

Admission is free, Smith wrote, “and we will ask for generous donations for hurricane relief” with all proceeds benefiting victims of the Gulf Coast disaster.

Because the turnout is expected to be high, you are asked to preregister for the first Friends of the Sebasticook Valley Hospital Women’s Center basket bingo.

Doors open at 11 a.m. and the first game is 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25 at the American Legion Hall in Corinna.

Attendees will have a chance to win one of 12 Longaberger baskets. Beverly Rollins reports that “generous donations from area businesses and individuals” enabled the group “to purchase several new and discontinued Longaberger baskets for the event.”

The Friends hope to raise $2,000 to help provide free mammograms for women in need seeking care at the hospital’s Women’s Center in Pittsfield.

To preregister, call Rollins, 679-2136; Judy Cianchette, 938-3862 or visit brollins@cianbro.com.

This event is more than a month away, but your help is needed to make it successful.

Kristine Guyton is chairwoman of the Sullivan Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department Woman’s Auxiliary.

She wrote that the organization is hosting a spaghetti supper on Oct. 29 for Hurricane Katrina relief, and the group plans “to help some community in Hancock County, Mississippi, in their time of need.”

The event will include a Chinese auction and a 50-50 raffle.

If you can help, or have new items to donate, please call 422-6282 or 422-6719.

Janeen Feero of Penquis CAP in Bangor wrote to thank every business, organization, and individual who helped “stuff the bus,” with school supplies for families in need.

“While I have always admired our corner of the world,” she wrote, “I was recently reminded that people make the place.”

Needed school supplies “that are benefiting children throughout Penobscot and Piscataquis counties,” were provided by “caring and generous individuals” who demonstrate that our towns and cities are “true communities,” Feero wrote.

She thanks everyone for your “kindness and for serving as an inspiration for us all.”

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