Planners for the fourth annual Five Club Poker Run are thrilled with the recent snowfall, reports Susan Hall of the Hampden Snowmobile Club.

Check-in for the event is 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at any of the snowmobile clubs in Hampden, Carmel, Glenburn, Hermon and Levant.

I’m sure all the planners’ fingers are crossed that we don’t lose too much of this beautiful snow between now and then but, Hall reminds us, “it can be done both ways: by snowmobile or by car.”

Hall said that 100 percent of the net proceeds from the Poker Run will benefit Pine Tree Camp for Handicapped Children and Adults in Rome.

“Each year, this event has gotten better and better,” she said of the activity that “has brought snowmobilers from different clubs together for fun and for a good cause.”

The cost to participate is $5 per hand, with no limit on the number of hands purchased.

You do need to check ahead with organizers at the club where you choose to start, however, because each club is sponsoring either its own breakfast, lunch or supper as well as prizes and raffles.

For more general information, you are welcome to call Susan or Bill Hall at 862-2062.

Carl Little of the Maine Community Foundation, with offices in Ellsworth and Portland, reports that that organization is seeking grant requests from nonprofit organizations that promote the conservation and preservation of land.

Grants from the Fund for Maine Land Conservation range from $500 to $2,500. Applicants should address the issue of sustaining Maine land trust and, preferably, submit proposals that encourage collaboration with other projects.

The application deadline for this grant is Wednesday, Jan. 15.

The Maine Fund for Conservation Land Acquisition awards matching grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 for land trusts or land acquisition projects.

Applications for this grant are accepted on a rolling deadline throughout the year.

For complete application guidelines, call toll free (877) 770-6800 or visit www.mainecf.org.

This year, MCF is celebrating two decades of philanthropic service in Maine.

Denis Cranson and all associated with Eastern Maine AIDS Network congratulate Earl Robinson of East Eddington, who was the winner of the fifth annual Tree of Hope fund-raiser, a fully lit tree decorated with more than $2,500 in handmade European ornaments.

Cranson also extends his thanks to everyone who participated in this event, which raises funds to help provide services for families served by the AIDS network in Penobscot, Aroostook and Piscataquis counties.

The National Arbor Day Foundation wants you to know that anyone joining that nonprofit organization during the month of January will receive 10 free trees.

Part of the foundation’s Trees for America campaign, the package includes two white flowering dogwoods, two flowering crab apples, two Goldenraintrees, two Washington Hawthorns and two American redbuds. The trees are guaranteed to grow or will be replaced free of charge.

Compact and selected for planting in large or small spaces, the trees will be shipped, postpaid, in time for planting between Feb. 1 and May 31, complete with instructions.

Members also receive a subscription to the Foundation’s bimonthly publication, “Arbor Day,” and “The Tree Book,” which provides information about tree planting and care.

To become a member and receive the trees, send a $10 contribution to Ten Free Flowering Trees, National Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, Neb. 68410 by Friday, Jan. 31.

Representatives of Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth have reported its 2002 Lovelight Tree Campaign raised more than $18,000.

Part of the success of this year’s fund-raiser was the fact that four area cafes had trees in their dining rooms to encourage patrons to purchase postcards on the tree to benefit the hospital’s Lifeline Program.

Trees were placed in Sylvia’s by owner Sylvia Hodgdon, My Fork in the Road by owner Becky Littlefield, Riverside Restaurant by co-owners Beth Fendl and Barbara Guda, and by manager Joyce Mitchell at Mr. Paperback Cafe.

For 15 years, the Lifeline Program has helped individuals in Hancock and Washington counties live safely in their own homes. The Lovelight Tree proceeds help ensure those unable to pay the $30 monthly fee are able to remain in the program.

Currently, more than 360 households have the service, which brings help at the push of a button.

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