Members of Beth Israel Sisterhood are helping with all your preparations for the December holidays. They will be hosting their annual Hanukkah Gift & Book Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at Beth Israel Synagogue, 144 York St., Bangor.

Cindy Kubetz is the chairwoman of this event which, she wrote, features “a wide selection of Hanukkah gifts, Judaic items and jewelry from local artists.”

The event also features “a great array” of more than 100 books. The Sisterhood’s Caf? Kol Bo will be open for lunch.

Author Deborah Cook Marlow of Liberty will be present for a book signing.

All Souls Congregational Church music director Kay Byther Eames invites you to an Arlan A. Baillie Performance Series program of chamber music and solo works at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at the church, 10 Broadway, Bangor.

Featured will be pianist Patricia Stowell, violinist Richard Hsu and cellist Marisa Solomon.

There is no admission fee, and a reception follows the program.

John Bapst Memorial High School senior Kristyn Murphy e-mailed that she has organized a talent show featuring musically inclined area youth to raise funds for a church organ. Murphy hopes you will attend “and help support your community.”

The talent show is 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at Forest Avenue Congregational Church in Bangor.

Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to help pay for the church’s new organ.

You are invited to enjoy a holiday jazz benefit concert at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at Ellsworth United Methodist Church, 21 Hancock St.

Admission is $10 for adults or $7 with a nonperishable food donation, and $5 for children or free with a food donation. Food contributions will be donated to the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry.

Joyful Jazz features Bruce Cassaday, horns; Brian Stewart, keyboard; Don Carmichael, upright bass; Hugh Bowden, guitar; and singer Amy Briggs.

Proceeds from this concert, according to an e-mail, “benefit local families during the holiday season.”

Here’s a conference reminder for professionals working with relatives as parents from Janelle Wuoristo of Maine Kids-Kin, a program of Families and Children Together in Bangor.

Maine Kids-Kin is offering a training program for these professionals, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, at the Corrine Croteau Women’s Pavilion at St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston.

The registration fee is $20, and registration must be made by Nov. 21 by calling Wuoristo, 866-298-0896 or 941-2347, or e-mailing jwuoristo@mainekids-kin.org.

Vernette Dechaine, secretary of the St. Agnes Ladies’ Guild, wrote that Guild members will host their annual pie and bake sale from 9 a.m. until sold out Thursday, Nov. 22, at TD Banknorth in Pittsfield.

So if you don’t want to bake for Thanksgiving, you’d better get there early to get your holiday desserts.

And, if you live in the Blue Hill area and don’t want to bake for the holidays, either, you can purchase desserts at the Blue Hill Fire Department Auxiliary’s Annual Thanksgiving Pie Sale beginning at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 21, at the Blue Hill Fire Department.

Proceeds from this pie sale, Peg Robertson reported, benefit the Angel Tree Program for local children.

The Rev. Jim Plourde of St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church will lead an ecumenical Thanksgiving Eve service at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21, at Elm Street Congregational Church in Bucksport.

Elm Street Congregational Church administrative assistant Vickie Adams e-mailed that everyone is welcome to attend, and more information is available by calling the church office at 469-3333.

Kathie Conary says members of the Orland Fire Department have two activities coming up that they want you to know about.

The first is a craft fair from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, at the department to benefit the Orland Firefighters’ Fund.

Conary also wants parents, and kids, to know Santa Claus “will be here so that the kids can have a snapshot taken with him,” and that refreshments will be available too.

Anyone who wants to rent a table for the craft fair can call Conary at 469-2870.

The second activity is a blood drive from 2 to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26, at the Fire Department.

“We will be serving Susi’s Famous Cowboy Beans, steamed hot dogs and other refreshments,” Conary wrote of the blood drive, which will be conducted with the assistance of members of Orland Home Extension.

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