What special evenings they will be when the Three Rivers Kiwanis Club holds its second annual variety show, “The Old Town Hall Tonight,” at 7 p.m. Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, in the auditorium of the Milo Town Hall on Pleasant Street in Milo.

The show is a fund-raiser for the Three Rivers Kiwanis Club, wrote Kathy Witham, but it also serves as “the launching of our newly renovated Town Hall Arts Center.”

A project of the Three Rivers Kiwanis Club of Milo and Brownville, the restored facility is the realization of the club’s goal to raise enough money to turn the auditorium in the 77-year-old Town Hall into a performing arts center.

“This will be the first public performance since renovations began many months ago,” Witham wrote.

No tickets have been sold in advance, she said.

“We’re doing it the old-fashioned way,” she said, “so people can just get them at the door.”

Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students, and preschoolers will be admitted free.

Witham wrote that during preparations for the show, committee members recalled “fond memories of dances, basketball games and performances they’d participated in.” She added that the sponsors hope “to recapture some of the glory of the Milo Town Hall and present it in a nostalgic and lively program.”

In addition to enjoying what should be a terrific show, thanks to the efforts of Edwin and Ethelyn Treworgy and the musical guidance of Stephanie Gillis, attendees will get to see new stage curtains and lighting, and “the new sound system equipment will be up and running” as well, Witham wrote.

Major repairs have been performed on the piano, and 200 of the 360 new chairs “have been funded by donations,” she added.

While much work remains to be done before the project is completed, the opening of this show is a major step forward in the overall goal of restoring this facility to its former glory.

Refreshments will be on sale during breaks in the performance, and proceeds will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Pine Tree Hospice for Children and the Town Hall Arts Center.

“Petacular” is the name of the Bangor Humane Society’s first “pet and people talent show” to be held at 8 p.m. Friday, May 3, at Peakes Auditorium at Bangor High School on Broadway in Bangor.

“Basically, it’s pets doing amazing things,” said Humane Society board member Cindy Rollins. “We also have a lot of animals that help people in society, and they will be giving demonstrations.”

WLBZ 2 news anchorman Ric Tyler and KISS 94.5 radio personality Mike Dow will be co-hosts of the event, which benefits the Bangor Humane Society.

Tickets are available in advance at the Humane Society, 693 Mount Hope Ave., Bangor, or at the door the night of the performance.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children under age 13.

What better way to celebrate the extraordinary life of the late Doris Twitchell Allen than to attend a fund-raiser for the Maine chapter of Children’s International Summer Villages, which she founded.

The Maine chapter of CISV will hold its fourth annual Big Band Dance & Swing Jam plus a silent auction from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the Husson Campus Center at Husson College in Bangor.

Attendees will enjoy the award-winning music of the Old Town High School Jazz Ensemble and swing dance instruction will be available from 7 to 8 p.m.

The event features a swing jam, prizes, refreshments and door prizes.

Tickets are $6 each, $15 for families and $5 for students.

All proceeds benefit CISV-Maine’s 2002 International Doris Allen Village, which will bring nearly 50 11-year-olds and their leaders from 12 countries for a cultural exchange and friendship visit this summer in Old Town.

For more information about this fund-raiser or about CISV and how you can help support its work, call Alec Horth at 469-2062 or visit Maine@cisvusa.org.

Allen was 100 years old when she died March 7 in Virginia.

A Bangor Daily News report at the time of her death described her as a pioneer in the field of psychodrama. A 1979 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, she founded CISV, which works to promote world peace and cultural understanding by bringing together children from all over the world.

Despite the weather, members of the Searsmont United Methodist Church are preparing for their spring cleanup, which, I am told, includes painting the outside of the church.

To support this work, church members invite you to attend a public spaghetti supper beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the church in Searsmont.

Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children under age 12.

On behalf of the Community Asthma Coalition of Eastern Maine, Dr. Paul Shapero of Bangor invites the public to stop by its booth from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the Bangor Mall.

Shapero, along with respiratory therapists and school nurses, will provide free information and free screenings for asthma and related respiratory conditions.

“We want people to stop by, ask questions, take a breathing test and obtain information about smoking allergies” and other related illnesses or conditions, he said.

“We will have questionnaires to be completed and then if there is a need we will refer people to their own doctors.

“This really is all about distribution of helpful patient and public information about asthma,” he said. Shapero hopes anyone who wants or needs such information will be sure to visit the booth.

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