KEYSTONE CLIPS Looking for lovers of LEGOs

Mercer County Builders Association is looking for kids with some expertise at building with LEGO blocks. It will hold its third annual LEGO House Building Contest from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Shenango Valley Mall concourse in Hermitage. U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, R-21st, is serving as honorary chairman of the event.
The house categories are best traditional and best creative and there are two age categories: 9-12 and 8 and under. There is no entry fee but space is limited.
Building kits will be provided and prizes will be awarded to the top three in each age and style category and there will be best of show awards for both age groups. Participants should register on the day of the event.
Cancer survivors: The Mercer County Unit of the American Cancer Society is looking for cancer survivors to participate in a 3.1-mile "fun raising" event at Presque Isle State Park in Erie on Saturday.
It's the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, one of only four such events being held in Pennsylvania this year. Walker registration is at 8:30 a.m. at Beach 1 and the walk begins at 10 a.m.
The event is a survivors' celebration to recognize and honor those who battle cancer. The walk will be followed by a survivors' celebration, also at Beach 1.
For more information, contact the American Cancer Society at (724) 346-3529.
Nursing loans: Nursing students who agree to work in Pennsylvania after graduation could have up to 50 percent of their student loans forgiven.
A new program offered through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency will give qualified Pennsylvania residents who graduated from an approved nursing program after July 1, 2001, up to $50,000 in loan forgiveness. They must agree to practice nursing full-time in the state for three consecutive years to qualify. The deadline to apply is Dec. 31.
For more information, call PHEAA at (800) 692-7392 or online at www.pheaa.org.
Scholarship tax credit: As part of a statewide program, Slippery Rock University has the opportunity to award Pennsylvania corporate tax credits for funding scholarships that benefit low-income students attending SRU.
SRU hopes to generate $80,000 in scholarship support for students from low-income families through the program. All program contributions must be for scholarship aid.
Similar programs are available at the other 13 universities that make up the State System of Higher Education. The tax credits will be awarded to corporations that make scholarship gifts prior to June 2002, and credits not used by a business in the year of donation may be carried forward for an additional four years.
For details, call Ruth Purcell at (724) 738-2191.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Harold Gwin, Vindicator Sharon Bureau and Laure Cioffi, New Castle Bureau.