Spruce Run, the domestic violence project serving Penobscot County, is now in its 28th year.

As such, all of Maine can take pride in the fact that Spruce Run is one of the oldest service organizations in the United States for people affected by domestic violence.

Since 1989, Spruce Run has been host to a terrifically sweet spring fund-raiser.

The annual Gala Dessert Party and Chocolate Buffet to benefit Spruce Run is 7-9 p.m. Saturday, March 31, at the College Center Ballroom at University College on Texas Avenue in Bangor.

Tickets are $10 each, and can be purchased at the door or in advance by calling Spruce Run at 945-5102.

“The first one of these we did for our 16th birthday,” said Spruce Run community response coordinator Francine Stark, “and here we are, 12 years later.”

The only exception to the “annual” part of this event was when the organization celebrated its 20th and 25th anniversaries, she said of the two years “we skipped.”

“What I always look forward to with the chocolate party is that it is a time for all of the folks who support the work that we do to have a really good time,” Stark said.

The event is always well attended, she said, “and not everything is chocolate. There are a few other flavors allowed in there, and we always have a big bowl of fruit salad.”

The desserts are provided by area restaurants and bakeries, Stark said, “and volunteers who are great cooks in their own right bake some things that are very yummy.”

One of those special desserts, by the way, is Stark’s own “famous” baklava.

People get so into the event, she added, that they will be checking up on who is bringing what.

“They want to know if so-and-so is going to be there with something they especially like,” she said.

The event features a buffet table of desserts, a dessert-of-the-month raffle and entertainment by the young high school group Three on a Tree.

“People who come to the party fill out their ticket stubs and are automatically in the raffle to get a chocolate dessert a month for the rest of the year,” Stark said.

And, she added, “at the end, we raffle off the whole desserts we have left over, so some people go home with some awesome desserts.”

For information about this delicious fund-raiser, or about the programs and services of Spruce Run, call the number above.

Would you and your family like the opportunity to host a youngster from Japan?

You can do that through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension 4-H Exchange Program, which is now in its 11th year.

The program brings Japanese students ages 12-16 to Maine for a month beginning Saturday, July 21.

Harold Brown is the local coordinator for the national 4-H program that has brought more than 30,000 youngsters to the United States since 1972, with more than 4,000 U.S. students making return visits to Japan.

Brown wants interested Maine families to know that you don’t have to alter your normal summer routine; that the Japanese youngsters come with their own spending money; they have health insurance; and families do not have to be enrolled in a 4-H program to participate.

If you would like information about hosting a Japanese student, call your county office of the UM Cooperative Extension.

Members of Easton Project Graduation for the Easton High School Class of 2001 are asking area businesses and community members for financial support.

For several years, thanks to support of the community, the school has been able to hold an alcohol-free and chemical-free graduation party for its brand-new alumni.

Past Easton Project Graduation activities have been white-water rafting, camping and a trip to Montreal.

If you can help, make your check payable to Easton Project Graduation and mail it to Leslie Carlow/Lynn Flewelling, Easton High School, Project Graduation, P.O. Box 66, Easton 04740.

If you have questions about how you can help in other ways, call the EHS principal’s office at 488-7702 or 488-7703.

Earlier this month, the Scarborough-based Hannaford Bros. Co., in partnership with The Pillsbury Co., presented a $3,000 donation to representatives of the Children’s Miracle Network of Eastern Maine Healthcare at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

The donation represents funds raised through the company’s Customer Community Partnerships program that builds alliances between Pillsbury and grocery retailers.

That effort helps raise funds and build awareness for nonprofit organizations, such as CMN, which are dedicated to helping children.

On behalf of the Brooklin Keeping Society, secretary Joyce Barr invites the public to attend its meeting at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 29, at the Little Red Schoolhouse in Brooklin.

The program is “What Is It? Who Is It?” and the idea is for you to bring something old from home or work which is something about which you know nothing, or something you think no one else will know what the item is, or what it is used for.

The object could be an old, unmarked photograph, an old tool or an old implement.

You are invited to share your knowledge, perhaps gain some, and have fun listening to the oral history of your community.

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