For 16 years, Cathy Anderson has run The Briar Patch, a children’s book and toy store on Central Street in Bangor.

For the past four years, Briar Patch staff and patrons have enjoyed the company of Aslan, a large orange coon cat “with no white on him, thumbs on his front paws, and a huge tail,” Anderson wrote.

Azee, as she calls him, “was a fixture known to many, in the shop and in the park, between Central and State streets.”

Unfortunately, Azee has been missing since Saturday, Oct. 25, “and there has been a steady stream of people in here, expressing their concern and sadness,” she added.

Anderson believes that “in the absence of evidence to the contrary,” as she explains it, “we feel that someone took him, intentionally.”

“We would like them to know that he is due for his rabies vaccination, and he needs periodic treatment for a virus in his mouth, which shows up as black spots.”

People who love Azee are offering a $1,000 reward for his safe return, and hope you will help him find his way back to The Briar Patch.

If you have information about Azee, visit The Briar Patch, 27 Central St., Bangor, or call 941-0255.

A Fairyland Christmas is the theme of the Hampden Congregational Church annual Christmas Fair 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at 101 Main Road North.

The silent auction features a wooden rocking horse made by Glenn Bergey that fair chairwoman Penelope Olson describes as “a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.”

The luncheon menu is hot turkey sandwiches, corn chowder, chicken soup and hot dogs.

Church youth also will conduct a flea market to raise funds for Heifer Project International.

For information, call the church office, 862-5248.

The 26th annual Christmas Craft Fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at SeDoMoCha Middle School in Dover-Foxcroft.

Fair director Eunice Finley reports more than 100 crafters will participate. Admission is free, and student council members will sell refreshments.

Baked goods, Christmas items, Hampden Historical Society memorabilia and a raffle featuring a kayak, heating fuel, a monk’s cloth afghan and a gift basket, are part of the HHS Christmas Bazaar 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Kinsley House, 83 Main Road South.

Next week, Paula Newcomb reports, the HHS will hold a minifair 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Nov. 29, at the same location.

Nancy Bourgon and members of Elm Street Congregational Church in Bucksport invite you to its annual Christmas Fair 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, as they celebrate their 200th anniversary year.

Items include painted wooden crafts, baked goods, candy, cutlery, attic treasures, the fair’s famous cookie walk and a luncheon prepared by the men of the church.

From Bill Soule of Orono we learn the Eastern Maine Model Railroad Club’s 27th annual Model Train Show and Sale is 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer.

Admission is $3 per person and free for children under age 12.

Model trains will be on display and for sale; the train doctor will be available; and the club’s large, HO-scale modular layout will be operating.

For more information about the club or this event, call Soule, 866-4060, or e-mail soule@maine.edu.

Nancy Grant invites you to the annual AFS Auction beginning with a silent auction at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, in the Orono High School cafeteria.

Chili, corn bread, ice cream, dessert and beverage will be $5 per person.

Dave Ames will raise the gavel at 5:30 p.m. for the live auction featuring a helicopter ride over Orono, a coastal lobster feed, sports tickets, dinner parties and a boat ride down the Penobscot.

For information, call Grant, 866-4542.

Cross Roads Ministries executive director Brenda Davis will be recognized for completing her second annual Maine Credit Union League Ending Hunger Walking Tour at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, at Penobscot County Federal Credit Union in Old Town.

Covering approximately 500 miles and visiting 45 communities from Madawaska to Sanford, Davis hopes to raise $10,000 on the walk, which is one highlight of Ending Hunger Month.

Since 1990, the MCUL Campaign for Ending Hunger has raised more than $1.32 million to help end hunger in Maine.

Local media and athletic notables are preparing for the Hospice of Eastern Maine Celebrity Bake Sale 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, on the second floor of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Proceeds benefit families of Hospice of Eastern Maine.

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