Since last spring, members of the Old Town Grange No. 52 have been working to raise $5,000 to purchase a “Hazard House” to donate to the Old Town Fire Department “for use in teaching the hazards of fire and safety” in homes, wrote Grange secretary Yvette Herbert of Passadumkeag.

“After the terrible fires [in California last year] and 9-11, we feel strongly that this project will be very worthwhile,” she explained.

To date, she told me this week, the Grange has close to $1,000 of the amount it needs, and its members are still seeking contributions and business support.

“The Hazard House is a very small building that looks just like a house,” Herbert said. “It has electrical things in it and a way to show kids how to get in and out of the house. It has a cover and it fits onto the back of pickup truck.”

Herbert said when the OTFD finally has the Hazard House, its members plan take it to several communities in the area, not just Old Town.

“We do hope businesses in town will help support this project and help us raise the money,” Herbert added.

Grange members are planning other fund-raising events like a fair and a yard sale “later on this summer, when the weather improves,” Herbert said.

But, in the meantime, she hopes you will consider making a donation to the Hazard House.

You can make a check out to Hazard House and mail it to Bangor Savings Bank, 265 Main St., Old Town, 04468.

“We hope the community will feel as strongly as we do that this will be a great asset to our Old Town Fire Department for use in training our young children in the hazards of a fire in the home,'” Herbert said.

If you have questions about the project, you are welcome to call Herbert at 732-6194.

Carrie Blouin, an instructor and program development specialist with the Intensive English Institute at the University of Maine in Orono, has a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in a truly Japanese experience.

The institute is seeking local families to host Japanese students from Saturday, Feb. 21, through Friday, March 12.

The students, who attend Hirosaki University in northern Japan, are coming here for a three-week language and culture program.

“They will be in classes all day during the week and have a weekend trip planned for Quebec,” Blouin wrote.

Host families receive a stipend of $440 to help defray food, transportation and entertainment expenses.

“This is a great chance to share American culture and learn about Japanese culture,” Blouin added. We have hosted this program over the past years, and it has always been a great success. Students are friendly, mature and very interested in practicing their English skills.”

If you are interested in participating in this experience, call Chris Mares at 581-3821.

All March of Dimes volunteers are invited to attend the Maine State Chapter March of Dimes 2004 Annual Meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 10, at Keeley’s Banquet Center, 178 Warren Ave., Portland.

The cost of the dinner, which features a presentation by Maine first lady Karen Baldacci, is $20 per person.

Also on the agenda is the announcement of Healthier Babies grant award recipients for 2004, a Recognition and Awards ceremony, the WalkAmerica 2004 kickoff and a presentation on Smoking and Pregnancy by Kelley Bowden and Cate Gaynor.

Reservations must be made by Friday, Jan. 30.

For more information, or to make a reservation, call March of Dimes Maine Chapter (800) 668-5678 or 878-1199, write March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, Unit #8, 60 Gray Road, Falmouth 04104 or email pconley@marchofdimes.com.

A Bangor Daily News story just before Christmas told of the gratitude Mari-Ellen Hansen of Monson felt for the stranger who found her wallet and turned it in to the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department in Dover-Foxcroft.

For Mari-Ellen and Greg Hansen, December was a month of many thank yous.

Earlier that month, they had written the NEWS to thank members of their family and their church, their friends and local restaurant and store owners “who were kind enough to donate food” for a benefit supper for the family.

The community came to the family’s aid because Greg Hansen has been ill and unable to work and, for that, and all the many blessings they have received lately, the Hansens, once again, say, “Thank you.”

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