CALL TO READERS

Tell us about your holiday event

The Democrat-Herald and Gazette-Times are seeking submissions for the annual Holiday Gift Book.

The Gift Book includes holiday events that occur between Thanksgiving and Jan. 1, 2008. Bazaars and other events that were in the 2007 Holiday Bazaar Guide are not eligible.

Include the name of the event, dates, times, location, a brief description and contact information. If your event appeared in previous years' Gift Books, please submit updated information.

Listings can be e-mailed to news@dhonline.com; faxed to (541) 926-4799; or mailed to Attn: Heather Crabtree, Albany Democrat-Herald, P.O. Box 130, Albany, OR 97321.

The deadline is Wednesday.

ALBANY

Tobacco cessation class planned

Prepare yourself to participate in this year's Great American Smokeout on Nov. 15 by attending a free tobacco cessation class.

"Options for Quitting Tobacco," a discussion of quitting methods and local quitting support, will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Samaritan Albany Cancer Resource Center Community Room, 400 Hickory St. N.W.

Patty Crawford will present local resources available to those wanting to quit tobacco use, such as tobacco cessation classes and the Oregon Quit Line. The class will also explore various techniques for quitting, including hypnotherapy and prescription medication. Crawford, the employee wellness coordinator for Samaritan, is an American Cancer Society certified Fresh Start facilitator and has more than seven years of tobacco cessation education experience.

Preregistration is not required. For more information, call the Samaritan Albany Cancer Resource Center at 812-5888.

MID-VALLEY

Grants available for home repairs

The Community Services Consortium has received funds to assist qualified low- and moderate-income homeowners with home repair needs. No-interest, deferred-payment housing rehabilitation loans are available to homeowners in Linn County within Albany city limits or in the Lyons-Mill City area, and in Benton County anywhere outside Corvallis city limits.

The loans are for needs such as roofing, heating and electrical systems, plumbing, foundations, structural work, dry rot repair, handicap accessibility and other conditions affecting health, safety and livability. No monthly payments are required, and the loans are not due and payable until the property is sold, transferred or vacated.

Interested homeowners with annual household incomes at or below the guidelines listed below are encouraged to contact Jeni Wells-Whitney at CSC's Community Housing Services office in Corvallis, 758-2636 or jwwhitney@csc.gen.or.us.

To be eligible, you must have an annual household income lower than (Benton/Linn): one person, $38,150/$29,900; two persons, $43,600/$34,150; three persons, $49,050/$38,450; four persons, $54,500/$42,700; five persons, $58,850/$46,100; six persons, $63,200/$49,550; seven persons, $67,600/$52,950; eight persons, $71,950/$56,350.

Democrat-Herald