COMMUNITY BRIEFS

‘Dinner with Man’Amko’ reset to July

The fundraising “Dinner with the Man’Amko” has been rescheduled from June 17, 2005 to July 22, 2005 but due to availability of the Garapan Central Park, the fundraising has been moved to July 23, 2005, from 6pm to 10pm.

Booths available for 2005 Summer Festival

The Carolinian Affairs Office, in collaboration with the Chamolinian Cultural Village, is proud to announce the 2005 Summer Festival, which will be held from July 6 until Aug. 30, 2005, at the Chamolinian Cultural Village ground in Garapan. Booths are available to any nonprofit organization interested to raise fund during the festival.

For more information, stop by or call the Carolinian Affairs Office at 234-6383 to 2346385.

Toll free phone service for veterans

The regional office of the Honolulu Veterans Administration announced Saturday that veterans throughout the U.S. territories in the Pacific—the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa—and the island of Oahu in Hawaii will be able to dial the national benefits toll-free number, 1-800-827-1000, to obtain general benefits information and the status of benefit payments.

The number will also enable veterans residing on Oahu, Guam, American Samoa, and the CNMI, to access the wide range of benefits information that is available on the national menu. Neighbor island veterans in Hawaii have had access to this national toll-free number for years.

The new number is expected to be operational on July 1, 2005. Medical appointments at the Honolulu VA Medical Center can still be arranged toll-free from most areas by dialing 1-800-214-1306.

Other frequently called toll-free numbers that are available to veterans are:

* VA Education Program 888-442-4551

* Home Loan Eligibility 888-487-1970

* VA Life Insurance 800-669-8477

* VA Health Enrollment 877-222-8387

* CHAMPVA 800-733-8387

* Gulf War or Agent Orange 800-749-8387

* Telecom Device for the Deaf 800-829-4833

EcoArts’ Battle of the Bands deadline

The 2005 EcoArts Festival committee wishes to remind interested parties that registration forms for the Battle of the Bands are now available at the Division of Environmental Quality office in Gualo Rai. The forms should be submitted to DEQ no later than 4:30pm on July 22, 2005.

The Battle of the Bands will be held on July 29, 2005 from 6:30pm to 11pm at the American Memorial Park Amphitheater as part of the 2005 EcoArts Festival.

Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in three categories.

Judging of the band will be based on originality, musicianship, stage presence, crowd response and overall performance.

For more information, contact Angel S. Hocog of the Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture at 322-9983/83 or Abdon Kaipat of the Division of Environmental Quality at 664-8529. (PR)

Visminda’s raffle draw postponed

The coronation and raffle draw of the Visayas Mindanao Association’s “Mrs. VISMINDA 2005” has been postponed to July 2, 2005

The coronation night’s entrance/dinner tickets shall be available soon. Contact any Visminda officers for details at (670) 322-0691 or (670)234-6529 [available after office hours].