Volunteers are needed to help with the Farnsworth Art Museum Annual Auction Fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, March 17, at the museum, 356 Main St. in Rockland. Entrance to the museum, however, is on Museum Street.

Museum staff member Kit Stone said volunteers are needed “to man the auction tables, the checkout tables, and, generally, just be helpful that evening.”

So, if you’re looking for a pleasant way to spend St. Patrick’s Day, and the Farnsworth Art Museum is one of your favorite places to be, here is a chance to enjoy yourself and help the museum at the same time.

You might even volunteer to set up or staff tables at the event, or to help clean up afterward.

With last year’s auction more than doubling what has been raised through previous auctions, planners are hoping for another successful fund-raiser.

Stone said many lovely items have already been donated for the auction, including Waterford crystal, original paintings and certificates for dinner or limousine services.

In addition to the need for volunteers is the need for items for the silent auction part of the fund-raiser.

If you have items similar to those listed above that you would like to contribute to the fund-raiser, call the museum at 596-6256.

Tom and Sharon Gray of Holden have written the NEWS to publicly thank the many friends, neighbors and family members who assisted them when their horse barn collapsed under the weight of snow recently, trapping their horses, John and Cola, in the rubble.

They are most grateful for the response to their 911 emergency call, which brought to their aid individuals they consider heroes: members of the Holden and Brewer fire departments, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department and the Holden Public Works Department.

The family is grateful, too, to Dr. Peter Ritchie “for crawling through that danger and caring for Cola;” family members who looked after their daughter; farrier Kevin Oliver for finding transportation and stalls for the animals; Val Grondin for transporting them; and Don Gallant at Bass Park in Bangor for stabling them.

The horses were freed with the help of Tim Dougherty, while relatives Dick and Ellen Campbell and family friend Glory Pike provided moral support throughout the ordeal.

The couple wrote that Brewer Agway placed “halter and lead chains in our arms,” and refused to let the Grays pay for them, and that they appreciated Chris Corio of WABI-TV “staying until the horses were okay.”

To everyone who offered help and kind words, the Grays want you to know “the horses are doing great,” and to all those who helped that day, they thank you “from the bottom of our hearts.”

Cindy Blease of Orono will be the guest of honor at a meeting of the Down East LaLeche League beginning at 2:30 p.m. today at the Grace United Methodist Church, 193 Union St. in Bangor.

Blease will be honored for her 33 years of service to this organization.

Carlene Parsons of Ellsworth wrote that Blease, the mother of six children, “has spent thousands of hours counseling and assisting new mothers with babies; teaching them to breast feed and bond with their babies.”

Friends, acquaintances, and those who have benefited form Blease’s assistance are invited to attend the meeting in honor of this special individual.

Writing on behalf of the Coastal AIDS Network in Belfast, executive director Michael Sirota has a heartfelt message to share today.

Sirota informs us that today is not only Valentine’s Day, but CAN has declared it “Love Safely Day.”

CAN staff members remind you that, more than a feeling, love is also behavior.

“Don’t just say you love your partner, show him or her how much,” by loving safely, Sirota wrote.

CAN serves the people of Waldo, Knox and Lincoln counties.

For information about its programs and services, call 338-6330 or e-mail can@acadia.net.

We have received word from our friend, Priscilla Coney Quinn of Bangor, that the date and site for the 45th Reunion of the John Bapst High School Class of 1956 has been changed.

The reunion now begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, and will be held at the YWCA Bangor-Brewer Camp Molly Molasses off Route 9 on Chemo Pond in East Eddington.

For more information about this very special reunion, call Quinn at 942-7945, Beth Largay Dunning at 945-4012, or Mary Kelly at 947-6231.

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