Briefs

Day of caring: This year's United Way Day of Caring will be a food drive to benefit residents in Tompkins County. The United Way of Tompkins County (UWTC) asks for donations of nonperishable food items, canned goods, dry goods, personal care and household items. Donations are to be dropped off on the United Way Livermore Building's front porch at 313 N. Aurora St. in Ithaca from Sept. 8 to Sept. 11. Wish-list items include canned meats and vegetables, one-box meals, instant potatoes, pasta, spaghetti sauce, coffee, tea, peanut butter, diapers, liquid laundry detergent, 30-gallon trash bags, soap, shampoo, conditioner, toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, feminine hygiene products and toothbrushes. For more information, contact UWTC at 272-6286 or e-mail acolt@uwtc.org.

Volunteers needed: Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service invites caring, committed Cornell faculty and staff to join the next crisis counselor training group, beginning Sept. 5. No experience is necessary. Call Paul or Judy at 272-1505, or send e-mail to SPCS2@juno.com for more information.

For art's sake: A baker's dozen of Ithaca's finest male artists, arts administrators and patrons of the arts have themselves become art, baring all for a pin-up calendar, "Bare Naked Gentlemen: A Revealing Look at Art-loving Men of Ithaca." The proceeds will benefit Ithaca's Community School of Music and Art (CSMA). Friday, Sept. 5, at 5:45 p.m., CSMA will release the calendars at the school's 330 E. State St. location. The date is also Ithaca's "Gallery Night," an event that brings art lovers downtown to enjoy the work of local artists at nearly a dozen galleries. Who are the painters, musicians, poets, performance artists, arts administrators and art patrons who vied for the opportunity to reveal all for this month-by-month calendar, photographed by award-winning regional photographer Jon Reis and designed by Chris Kelly? Well, for now, the models' identities are a secret -- but on Sept. 5, the brown paper wrapper comes off. Among the models are two Cornell professors. The calendars will be on sale at CSMA on Sept. 5 and at outlets throughout the city. Many of the models will attend the opening (clothed), to sign copies of the calendar.

Master Beekeeper Program: The Cornell Master Beekeeper Program will conduct its one-day Apprentice Level Fall Workshop in Ithaca Saturday, Sept. 27. This is a comprehensive course covering fall and winter honey bee management; honey extraction and processing; as well as IPM for bee pests and parasites. The cost of the course is $75. This includes a workshop manual to complement the lecture. Classes run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and include one hour of field work. For more information, call 255-3280 or visit http://www.masterbeekeeper.org.