Cold got you down? Want to do something that makes you feel warm and toasty?

Leslie Poake and everyone associated with Project Atrium urge you to get out your beach attire and attend the Project Atrium Beach Party from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at Spectacular Event Center on Griffin Road in Bangor.

And when they say beach attire, they mean it: You can wear anything from your favorite bikini to a loud Hawaiian shirt.

In fact, you can compete in the Loudest Hawaiian Shirt Contest, enter a limbo contest and even play a modified version of beach volleyball.

Tickets are $50 per person and part of that is tax deductible. Tickets are available by calling 941-2825.

Project Atrium, located in Bangor, is the only residential treatment program in northern and eastern Maine that serves adolescents with substance abuse and mental health problems.

Funds raised this year will help Project Atrium expand its services beyond the group homes, since it recently received its license to provide outpatient substance abuse counseling for those 14-23 years old.

Project Atrium also hopes to restart the Bangor support group Teen Recovery program, thanks to a grant from the Maine Community Foundation, and it has begun working with local school districts by providing school-based substance abuse counselors.

Since 1974, Project Atrium has been working with young Maine people who are willing to make changes in their lives. Its purpose is to assist each person in his or her journey into adulthood so he or she is, increasingly, able to live a more successful and healthful life.

If you would like more information about the programs and services of Project Atrium, call the number above, fax 941-2836 or e-mail projatr@infionline.net.

Bill Miller of Miller Drug in Bangor announces its final Flu Clinic of the winter season is 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at Miller Drug on State Street in Bangor.

Miller Drug participates in all Medicare Part D programs. But if you prefer to pay for your own flu shot, the cost is $30.

This is Week No. 2 of the Healthy Hancock Lose and Win program, and the next team and public presentation is 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Beechland Road in Ellsworth.

Iris Simon reports the topic will be “the benefits of weight training, followed by a demonstration of the Get Strong/Get Healthy exercise program.”

The public is welcome.

Simon also e-mailed that 365 people have joined teams this year for the program that is based on the book, “The Town That Lost a Ton,” and sponsored by the Healthy Hancock coalition to help improve the heath of county residents.

And Simon’s updates are as delightful as ever.

For example, she wrote of those 365 team members, they “reported a beginning weight of 70,212 lbs.”

“This is equivalent to a Navy Twin Engine Jet, or the average house.

“Each week, the 44 teams will report their team loss, and the weekly winner will receive the Victory Stick.”

I have a feeling this is going to be a really fun year!

Recipes, tips, photos and a complete program schedule are available at www.mainehospital.org.

Martha Cullison of Oxford, Miss., e-mailed to report what a great surprise she and her husband received Jan. 10 when they talked with their son, who was making a stopover at Bangor International Airport on his way home from Iraq.

“We had no idea when Chris would be returning,” she explained, since Spc. Christopher Smith, a member of the Mississippi National Guard 155th Combat Brigade, was “helping get the equipment ready to ship back to Mississippi” after serving one year in Iraq.

His twin brother, Spc. Alexander Smith, also a member of the brigade, had “returned home in time for Christmas,” she wrote.

“We are so very grateful to the citizens of Maine who greet the returning solders with cell phones,” Cullison added.

The phones are provided by Unicel.

“It is very patriotic of these people,” she wrote of those who have become known as BIA Troop Greeters.

“It is so good for the returning soldiers to know that they are loved and appreciated by their fellow countrymen. My husband and I are extremely grateful.

“We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.”

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