Friends and neighbors of the Forrest-Webber family of Surry, and the Surry Community Improvement Association, are hosting a benefit spaghetti supper for the family, from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, in the Civic Center at Surry Elementary School.

“The public is cordially invited” to attend, Ruth Yerkes wrote.

The admission donation is $6 for adults and $3 for children, and reservations are not necessary but can be made by calling Kathy Pelletier at 667-1849.

Greg Forrest works for “a Surry village company,” Yerkes wrote, and “his partner, Hannah Webber, is known through her service as a member of the Surry Conservation Committee.”

Their children, Baxter and Katie, attend Surry Elementary School.

Yerkes explained a medical emergency caused Forrest to spend several days in the intensive care unit at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, and that situation “has overwhelmed the family’s current resources,” which is why “friends have rallied to their support.

“With its tradition of rising to the needs of local families,” Yerkes added, “SCIA is pleased to be included” in this effort.

Musical entertainment for the benefit features “Maine Weather,” Yerkes wrote of the “local band which prides itself on presenting as eclectic a repertoire as our state’s wonderfully-changeable weather.”

If you are unable to attend, but want to help, donations can be sent to the Greg Forrest Medical Benefit Fund, Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, P.O. Box 269, Ellsworth 04605.

For more information, call Pelletier at the above number.

Here’s a reminder from Karen Cashman that the kickoff for the 15th annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life event in Old Town begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, “generously hosted” by the Bangor Banquet and Conference Center at 701 Hogan Road.

Cashman reports “the evening will feature a celebratory buffet dinner, information on how to get a team involved in Relay, and a luminaria remembrance ceremony.”

In an earlier column, Susan Clifford of the ACS office in Topsham, encouraged “anyone interested in joining the planning committee, becoming a team captain, volunteering, or just finding out more about Relay for Life of Old Town,” to attend this event.

The Old Town Relay for Life runs from 6 p.m. Friday, May 30, to noon Saturday, May 31, making this “the first year the Relay will be going from a 24-hour event to an 18-hour event,” Cashman wrote.

Last year, the Old Town Relay for Life “raised more than $200,000 for local programs of cancer research, education, advocacy and patient services, including transportation for cancer patients and one-on-one support for women with breast cancer,” Cashman wrote.

For more information about Relay for Life, to learn how to volunteer, or to RSVP for the Old Town Relay for Life kickoff event, call Mike Hart, ACS community executive for development, at 989-0332.

For more information about the ACS, call 800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

Jing Zhang, president of the Bangor Chinese School, Chinese Language and Culture Center in Bangor, cordially invites you to attend a Chinese New Year party from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Campus Center in Peabody Hall on the Husson College campus in Bangor.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children, and you are asked to RSVP by Thursday, Jan. 24, by calling Zhang at 990-0710 or e-mailing zhangjing2000@yahoo.com.

Zhang wrote that attendees will have the opportunity to “enjoy New Year food and Chinese New Year shopping; learn the Chinese culture;” and receive information about the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

You will also be able to watch BCS students perform Chinese programs, including the Chinese dragon dance, and hear Chinese New Year stories.

Also offered will be calligraphy, children’s crafts and paper-cut, making dumplings and performances of Erhu, flute, TaiQi and Gongfu, and you will learn three Chinese songs: “Happy New Year; Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes; and Find a Good Friend.”

For more information, call the number or write the e-mail address above.

Mary Thomas e-mailed the Bangor Daily News to inform readers that a Benefit Supper is planned for Cheryl White and her children of Milford, who lost their home to fire.

The fundraiser is a Spaghetti Dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Milford Community Center.

The requested admission, at the door, will be your generous donation to assist this family in its hour of need.

Thomas thanks you in advance for your help and support.

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