Reorganized four years ago, the 12-year-old Bangor Area Children’s Choirs, which include the Treble Choir and Youth Choral, will conduct choir auditions for new members from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22, and Thursday, Sept. 23, at All Souls Congregational Church on Broadway in Bangor.

Director Michele Hall reports the first choir rehearsal for the 2004-2005 season is 4-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28, at the church.

The choir schedule includes the “Nutcracker” performance with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and Robinson School of Ballet this December, in which first-year choir members do not participate; a formal winter concert in January; the state choir festival in March; performances at school assemblies in April; and also a final concert that month.

Youth Choral events include an October appearance at the Bangor Museum and Center for History, a February cabaret evening and a weekend trip “for fun and relaxation with a little bit of work,” at the end of April, Hall wrote.

Singers must be no younger than 9 years old and no older than 16 as of Friday, Oct. 1, and while there is a yearly tuition of $200, financial assistance is available through choir scholarship funds.

Auditions for new members are a two-day process, Hall explained, and those who try out are asked not to prepare any music since each singer performs the same audition.

The individual audition is Wednesday, Sept. 22, and callbacks will be made that evening.

Those singers contacted for the callback attend a group audition the following day and are notified of the results by 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24.

Last year, choir members represented 12 towns and 17 schools in the Bangor area.

For more information, call Hall at 947-2023.

OHI is hosting a Longaberger Basket Bingo with doors opening at 11 a.m. and games beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at the Brewer Eagles Club. The club’s members are volunteering their time and facility for the fund-raiser.

OHI assists people with disabilities to live productively in their communities, and is raising funds to take 40 individuals to Disney World.

Each game will have a basket prize, reports OHI’s Duane Hall.

Also, two top staffers filled baskets in a challenge to see whose basket sells the most cards. The loser must come to work one day with blue hair!

Admission is $10 for 15 games, with an additional cost for the challenge.

For information, call Hall at 848-5804, ext. 119.

AARP’s national president, Marie Smith, is making her first trip to our area, and you are invited to welcome her as she discusses “Social Security: Our Future to Protect; Our Children’s Future to Secure.”

Sponsored by AARP and the Eastern Area Agency on Aging, Smith will address the proposed changes in Social Security beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, at Spectacular Events, 395 Griffin Road, Bangor.

Refreshments will be served, but in order to attend you must preregister.

Registrations may be made by calling (800) 432-7812.

For more than five years, Oriental Jade Restaurant in Bangor has offered its dinner buffet fund-raiser program for school groups and nonprofit organizations.

Co-owner Lillian Lo wants those groups to know that September is the perfect month to host one of these events, since most bookings come later in the year.

Adult representatives of high school, middle school, sports, church and other nonprofit groups should call and book their fund-raiser as soon as possible to obtain the most current available opening.

The owners take a small percentage of the profits for tax purposes, but give a generous percentage of the balance to the host organization. Often, a group can raise more than $1,000.

Book your Oriental Jade dinner fund-raiser by calling 947-6969.

Camden Garden Club members invite to you Beverly Reese Church’s presentation of Tablescapes: Creative Entertaining at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, at MBNA’s Ginley Hall on Route 1 in Northport.

Church, an author, designer, businesswoman and lecturer, travels throughout the country speaking on entertaining.

Preferred seating admission for the luncheon, slide show, magical demonstration, book sale and silent auction is $100, and includes a $65 tax-deductible donation to Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

Regular seating admission is $50 and includes a $15 tax-deductible donation to MCHT.

To order tickets, call Sally Fernald at 236-4502 or Sue Crowe at 236-2668.

Membership rates for the Special Garden Club available at the Samoset Resort in Rockport by calling (877) 880-8857.

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