The public is invited to attend the 17th annual Great Chocolate Escape from noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at the American Legion Hall on Central Street in Millinocket.

The event, which features a wide assortment of homemade sweets of the chocolate, nonchocolate and diabetic variety, as well as a baked-goods table, benefits the Katahdin Area Support Group.

Admission is a $5 donation.

You can take chances on raffle items, and you might even win a door prize.

Jackie McAdam of Millinocket is president of KASG, which, she explained, is a volunteer organization that helps people with serious illnesses, particularly those critically in need of treatment or other types of assistance.

For years, KASG has been helping patients in communities in the Millinocket area with a variety of needs from the loan of medical equipment to transportation to treatment centers.

For more information about this event, or about the work of the Katahdin Area Support Group, call McAdam at 723-9253.

Parents and guardians of children in preschool through high school with mental illnesses are invited to attend a free 12-week education class, “Living with Childhood Mental Illness.”

Sponsored by NAMI Bangor, the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the classes will be held 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning Feb. 11, and running through April 28, in the Penobscot Room of Acadia Hospital on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor.

Space is limited, and a phone interview is necessary for registration, so call 945-5152 today, if you would like to attend.

Members of the Book Group of the American Association of University Women invite the public to hear Dr. Trudy Irene Scee discuss her recent work, “The Inmates and The Asylum: The Bangor Children’s Home” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb.11, at the Orono Public Library on Goodridge Drive.

Only four days remain until some lucky person will win the Diamond Ring Raffle, a fund-raiser for Health Services Foundation, which is affiliated with Houlton Regional Hospital.

This year’s ring is a 1.47-carat princess-cut stone valued at $7,250.

Tickets still remain for the drawing, which takes place at 5 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Courtyard Cafe on Main Street in Houlton.

Tickets are just $20 each, and can be obtained by calling HSF at 532-2900.

And, if you are a automobile racing fan, while you’re calling about the diamond drawing, remember HSF is conducting a NASCAR raffle in which the winner will receive a trip for two to the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race in May in Charlotte, N.C.

The winning package includes airfare, hotel accommodations for five days and four nights, and $500 in spending money.

The drawing for that raffle is 1 p.m. Sunday, April 4, at the Houlton Chamber of Commerce Home and Garden Show.

NASCAR raffle tickets can be obtained by calling the number above.

Proceeds from both fund-raisers will help with the expansion of the pediatrics facility at HRH.

Writing on behalf of his sons Matthew and Patrick Denger who have the disease, Brian Denger of Biddeford reminds readers that Feb. 8-14 is DMD Awareness week.

DMS is Duchenne muscular dystrophy and, according to Brian Denger, “is the most common lethal childhood genetic disorder.”

The Denger family is pleased that “some in Congress have taken a leadership role in fighting on our behalf, including Sen. Susan Collins,” and he is also grateful for the “continued support” of Sen. Olympia Snowe, Rep. Michael Michaud and Rep. Tom Allen.

According to Denger, one of every 3,500 boys is affected by DMD, which robs them “of their independence as this disorder eats away at their muscles,” eventually leading to death “from heart problems in their early 20s.”

Denger adds he is thankful that “families have been able to raise awareness of this disorder and increase the priority given to it by the National Institutes of Health and Congress.”

Maine author and historian William “Bill” Sawtell has completed “Old LaGrange Volume 1” and is now compiling material for “Old LaGrange Volume 2.”

Anyone who would like to contribute to this book “is encouraged to contact me,” he said.

Sawtell is seeking old photographs, articles or interviews, among other materials.

His address is P.O. Box 272, Brownville 04414, or you can e-mail rtell@kynd.net.

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