Brewer Youth Theatre is tackling the longest running musical in the history of American theater when the curtain goes up on “The Fantasticks” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16; Friday, Nov. 17; and Saturday, Nov. 18, at Brewer Middle School, 5 Somerset St.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

“This is a wonderful musical,” director Rich Kimball said.

“It ran 42 years with over 17,000 performances. It’s just a wonderful show with a terrific cast of only eight people who’ve worked very, very hard to pull it all together. It should be a lot of fun.”

The show stars Jamie Bartol and Lexi Marceron as the boy and girl; Elysa Woodhead and Kristin Brown as the mothers; Matt McLaughlin as El Gallo; Angela Patterson as The Mute; and Anthony Severance and Dan Colageo as the old actors, Henry and Mortimer.

Clayton Smith is the music director.

Two cast members, Bartol and Marceron, recently traveled to New York City, Kimball said, “and saw the show in its revival and met Tom Jones, the writer who originated one of the roles and is back in the revival some 45 years later.

“They had a nice meeting with him, and it was pretty fun for them to actually get a chance to talk to the guy who created the show.”

Kimball said the show’s author “was very supportive and interested in what they were doing.”

The public is invited to attend a benefit spaghetti dinner from 5 to 7 tonight, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Old Town.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under.

Proceeds benefit the Ryan Worcester Annual Scholarship Fund.

Worcester was a 17-year-old Old Town High School senior when he died in an automobile accident in October 2005.

The ninth annual Holiday Fair, hosted by Waldo County General Hospital’s Community Wellness Program, will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, in the WCGH Education Center, 118 Northport Ave., Belfast.

Participating artists and crafters include seamstresses Rose Dudley and Maudine Cunningham; Susan Rogers, who makes handmade soap, lotion and lip gloss; Joy Diachenko, Maine photographer; and the Kenyan Aina Moja craft collective.

The fundraiser benefits the WCGH Wellness Program and other departments.

Walter Boomsma wrote that Valley Grange No. 144 is inviting current and former Grange members, as well as members of the community, to share a special open house and homecoming beginning with a potluck supper at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at the Grange on Guilford Center Road in Guilford.

The program of sharing begins at 7 p.m. and features a harvest festival of things to be thankful for.

Chartered in 1875, Valley Grange has been joined by other granges and includes families from Blanchard to Milo.

The event includes recollections of days past, highlights of community service programs, information about Grange membership and recognition of member achievements.

For more information about this program or the Grange, call Boomsma, 876-4131, or Mary Annis, 564-0820.

Janet Parker reports the Shirley Community Church Second Annual Christmas Crafts Fair & Luncheon will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov.18, at Shirley town hall.

Admission is free and a soup and sandwich luncheon will be available for $5. The soup menu includes fiddlehead stew; seafood, fish or corn chowder; and chili.

In addition to crafts and food, you’ll be able to purchase fresh, handmade Christmas wreaths.

From Jo Cooper, director of Faith in Action in Ellsworth, comes word that the 2006 Festival of Choirs begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at First Congregational Church of Ellsworth.

The choirs include the Orono area Women with Wings and Hancock County choirs St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Lamoine Baptist Church, Union Congregational Church of Ellsworth Falls, Union Congregational Church of Hancock and First Congregational Church of Ellsworth.

Each choir will perform alone and then join together for the finale.

A freewill offering to help support the work of Faith in Action will be taken at the door.

Faith in Action partners with faith congregations and community agencies to assist the elderly in Hancock County by offering free volunteer services so senior citizens can remain independent and in their own homes as long as possible.

For more information about its services, or the concert, call 664-6016.

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