With your help, the wonders of The Johnson Family Vaudeville Show will help bring joy to the lives of Russian orphans this summer.

Bruce Johnson of Bangor, his 12-year-old daughter, Hope, and 9-year-old son, Blake, make up The Johnson Family Vaudeville Show.

Dad has appeared nationally at sites such as the Bob Hope USO Club in Nashville and the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

His children appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” three years ago in a segment called “Kid Magicians,” and the family has performed locally, statewide and throughout New England.

But this summer, only Bruce and Hope will make the trip, since Bruce and his wife decided Blake was just a bit too young for such an undertaking.

The Church of the Open Door in Hampden is sponsoring this mission trip during which Bruce and Hope will perform for Russian children in orphanages and summer camps.

“The future for a child in a Russian orphanage is bleak and oftentimes hopeless,” Johnson wrote me, “so we are hoping to bring a little bit of joy and happiness to these children.”

In his e-mail, he related “some very sad facts concerning Russian orphanages.

“First of all,” he wrote, “it is not against the law to abandon children in Russia, so the orphanages are filled to capacity. At age 16, the children are turned out onto the streets. Within 18 months, more than 20 percent of the boys commit suicide, and about 60 percent of the girls get involved in prostitution in an attempt to survive.”

He added that since “magicians are virtually unheard of in Russia,” he hopes to bring happiness to those children “as well as bring them the message of hope that God loves them.”

Their performance includes magic, juggling, comedy and audience participation.

Johnson is very proud of Hope, he wrote.

“It was entirely her decision to travel halfway around the world, with her father, in an attempt to reach out, in love, to some Russian orphans.”

And he is equally proud of Blake, who, although his parents have decided he is too young, has begged them to let him make the trip.

Although the list of specific orphanages the group will visit is incomplete, “we will be doing some performances at Camp Yolatchka, or Camp Christmas Tree,” Johnson wrote.

“This will be a fascinating place to visit, because it used to be a Communist Pioneer Youth Camp, and now it has become the first Christian summer camp in the history of Russia. The camp is in the Bryansk region, which is about 380 kilometers southwest of Moscow.”

Johnson’s Russian tutor is 18-year-old University of Maine student and fellow church member Luba Lisitsyna, whose father founded the camp.

The group leaves Bangor on June 23, with plans to return July 9.

Joining the Johnsons on the trip will be church members Brian Burt and his daughters, Katie and Kelsie, Lisa Phinney and Laura Hamm, all of Brewer, Charity Borie, Burlington, Rachel Hall, Litchfield, and Bangor residents Peter and Shannon Cook, Pam Reitsma and Patrick McCleary.

With one fund-raiser already completed, the group still is working to raise money to cover expenses.

If you can help bring the world of magic and the voice of hope to Russian youngsters, you are asked to send a donation to The Church of the Open Door, P.O. Box 177, Hampden 04444.

Checks should be made out to The Church of the Open Door.

I was very sorry to read of the death of former Bangor resident and Nova Scotia native Eleanor Veague, whom I first met in 1963, a year after her new husband, lawyer Arnold Veague, had hired me to work for the Bangor law firm of Eaton, Peabody, Bradford and Veague.

Eleanor was a lovely, refined and intelligent woman who exchanged an impressive vocation for an equally impressive avocation when she moved here and became a dedicated community volunteer.

She brought insight, dedication and enthusiasm to her work on a number of community boards and organizations and, along the way, helped make life better for people of all ages.

She was a devoted wife and caregiver, and I extend my deepest sympathies to Arnie, her family and her many, many friends.

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