Once again, Cathy Anderson asks you to assist a program seeking books for children.

The Briar Patch is sponsoring an Angel Tree to provide books for children attending the coming Family Connections holiday party, Anderson wrote.

Family Connections is a program of Bangor’s Families and Children Together, providing services to families of grandparents, aunts and uncles who are raising grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

In past years, program director Barbara Kates explained, funds were available at the agency to purchase books for that party.

However, those funds are not available this year, so Anderson established the Angel Tree.

“She has contributed in the past and is continuing to do that,” Kates said of Anderson, who always gave the program a discount on its book purchases.

“It’s wonderful,” Kates said of Anderson’s assistance through the years. “What’s really nice is that Cathy helps us to pick out books that are fairly recent. The kids are thrilled to get them. It is a wonderful gift and encourages literacy at the same time.”

To help obtain those books, this year Anderson is asking her customers to purchase a book at 20 percent off and then receive 20 percent off a purchase for themselves.

“The books are all paperbacks and have been pre-selected for specific children,” Anderson explained.

The Briar Patch Angel Tree program runs through this month, right up to the holiday party Sunday, Nov. 28, at the Ramada Inn, which Kates said donates space for this event that attracts up to 100 people.

So next time you’re in downtown Bangor, stop at The Briar Patch at 27 Central St. and help make this Family Connections holiday party even more meaningful because of your generous contribution.

A 15-inch German violin maker nutcracker made by Holzkunst Christian Ulbricht and purchased from Ingrid’s German Gift Shop in Bangor is being raffled by Friends of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra as part of its “Nutcracker Store” fund-raiser.

The nutcracker is on display through November at the BSO office, 51A Main St.

Tickets are $1 each or six for $5 and can be purchased at the BSO office, from friends board members and at BSO concerts Sunday, Nov. 7; Saturday, Dec. 4; and Sunday, Dec. 5, at Maine Center for the Arts.

The winning ticket will be drawn Monday, Dec. 6.

The nutcracker can be viewed at www.bangorsymphony.com.

For more information, call the BSO, 942-5555.

The Maine Highlands is sponsoring a fall wine tasting event Friday, Nov. 12, at River Drivers Restaurant in Millinocket.

The $50-per-person cost includes a five-course dinner and five half-glasses of wine.

Maine Highlands marketing coordinator Paul Hilchey-Chandler reports Cyr Northstar Tours will provide free motorcoach transportation.

Bus 1 will depart at 3:45 p.m. from the Chamber of Commerce in Greenville; at 4:30 from the Chamber of Commerce in Dover-Foxcroft; and 5 from Brownville.

Bus 2 leaves at 3:30 p.m. from the Chamber of Commerce in Newport, 4 from One Cumberland Place in Bangor; 4:20 from Cyr Bus in Old Town; and 5 from the Chamber of Commerce in Lincoln.

Both buses are scheduled to arrive at the restaurant between 5:45 and 6 p.m.

To make your reservation, call Hilchey-Chandler at (800) 91-MOOSE.

The Maine Highlands is the nonprofit, state-designated, tourism marketing entity for Penobscot and Piscataquis counties that promotes the region to travelers and helps spur economic development through tourism.

Sheila Lufkin and Donna Boyle are co-chairing the Traditional Holiday Fair, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at the “Church on the Bend,” the North Brewer-Eddington United Methodist Church, 31 Main Road in Eddington.

A tradition since the ’40s, the fair features home-canned products, baked goods, handcrafted items and lunch and, this year, a theme wreath silent auction.

Up to 70 church members are expected to assist at the fair, and many others have been making crafts “year-round, to make our fair so very special,” the women wrote.

They also want you to know “early birds” will be “greeted in front of the church with coffee and doughnut holes” to keep you warm but, while they are glad you are there, you still can’t get in until 9 a.m.

Finally, Lufkin and Boyle extend “a special thank you to all who participate, and those who come.”

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