What a pleasure it was to learn that a program we’ve heard and written about on a state and national basis can now be found right here in our own back yard.

Lynn Boulger of United Cerebral Palsy of Maine, located at 700 Mount Hope Ave. in Bangor, wrote to report that “UCP has a used vehicle donation program that I think your readers would like to know about.”

And I agree!

Boulger wrote UCP will now take your “old, tired cars, or lovely used cars as well” and, if you wish, you can take a tax deduction for your gift.

“It’s a great way to donate to UCP,” Boulger explained.

“We take away the hassle of placing an ad for their used car; having people call night and day; having to hang around to show the car; and they get a tax deduction!”

UCP has an agreement with the Brewer-based Central Maine Auto Auction.

“We guarantee the car will be gone [towed or driven away] from the donor’s house in less than a week.”

Then, she continued, “CMAA auctions off the car for us. We use the money to support campers at Camp CaPella, and other services for children and adults with disabilities.”

Boulger also wrote that many of the cars UCP has received come from families “who have lost a loved one.”

“Sometimes, it’s too painful and bothersome to see a loved one’s car, and donating it to a good cause feels right,” she wrote.

If you would like to donate a car to UCP, or know someone who would, call UCP’s new fund development director, Deborah Blease, at the UCP Fund Development Department, 941-2952, Ext. 225.

“It’s a very simple process,” Boulger added

You simply fill out a one-page form and send in your title.

“Then, poof! The car disappears!”

Lucy Spencer reports that the Brewer High School Class of 1942 will hold its 60th reunion beginning at noon Saturday, Aug. 24, at Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street in Bangor. Those attending will order from the menu.

The planners must have been working hard because, Spencer wrote, they have been unable to locate only eight classmates.

The missing members of BHS ’42 are Dorothy Austin Morrison, Thelma Cole Oblinger, Harold Hadley, Martina Myette Thomas, Iris Oakes Lundy, William Smith and Everett Spencer.

To attend the reunion, you are asked to RSVP by Monday, Aug. 12, by writing Elizabeth Beal, 30 Longmeadow Drive, Brewer 04412, or call her at 989-3505.

If you have information on any of those missing classmates, write or call Beal as well.

Through the generosity of owners Steve and Paula Brown, the fifth annual Pine Tree Camp Open begins with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Brown family golf course, a public course in Clinton.

The $100 per-person entry fee includes 18 holes of golf, brunch, a choice of lobster or barbecued chicken for lunch, and the chance to win several prizes.

Registration for the Texas scramble is 8 a.m., and a pre-tournament brunch will be held in the new clubhouse.

Businesses can sponsor holes for $100, and reservations or sponsorship inquiries can be made by speaking with Greg Chesley, Harvey Chesley or John Begin at 397-2141.

In its four-year history, the PTC Open has raised more than $25,000 for the Pine Tree Society for Handicapped Children & Adults in Bath, which operates Pine Tree Camp in Rome, as a recreational and therapy outlet for Maine children and adults with disabilities.

After 25 years, members of the Orono High School Class of 1977 are planning their first-ever reunion, reports Kathy Lees.

And, after all the research the committee has done, there are still classmates “who did not get an invitation,” she wrote.

The “missing” members of OHS ’77 are Cindy Clark, Glen Emerson, Jim Haley, Mike Lapointe, Charles Martin, Larry Nadeau, Kathy Paul, Bob Pickering, Mo Pollard, Brian Thurlow and Clara Whitman.

If you have information to help locate these individuals, call OHS, 866-4916; e-mail lees@pivot.net; or write Mike Tuell, 802 Stillwater Ave. Bangor 04401.

Now that its successful group show and its even more successful Fine Art Fair are over, the Aroostook Visual Arts Coalition returns to its regular meeting place with members and interested individuals gathering at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, at the Caribou Public Library, 30 High St.

If you would like to learn more about the AVAC and its activities, attend the meeting or call 496-3650.

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