Cookbooks always make terrific holiday gifts, and this one contains something extra you might not expect.

Dot Clark has announced that the Brewer Stitchers of the Greater Bangor Chapter of the American Sewing Guild has produced “Sew, You Can Cook!”

“This cookbook has delightful recipes and great sewing tips throughout the pages, all by local sewers,” Clark wrote.

She believes the book would be great “for young and more advanced sewers, as well as novice cooks and seasoned chefs.”

The books are $10, plus postage. Proceeds will be used by the Brewer Stitchers to make articles for those in need in our area.

For information, call Sherrill Libby, 884-7239, or Betty Arnold, 848-5181.

If you are way Down East, be sure to visit the first Community Festival and Craft Fair sponsored by the eighth grade of Robbinston Grade School 9 a.m.-3 p.m. today at the school on Route 1 in that very easterly Washington County community.

From free fingerprinting for children by members of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department to blood pressure checks and services, to information from the Robbinston Historical Society and Head Start, this event has it all.

Local artists and crafters, the Wildcat Cafe’s homemade chili, hot dogs and desserts, raffles, and a face-painting booth for the young at heart are all part of this new festival these young people have organized for members of their community.

Susan Wishkoski of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor invites you to its Country Auction and Harvest Gathering at 5:30 tonight at 120 Park St., Bangor. Admission is $5 for pizza, salad, dessert and the opportunity to make your own cider.

A silent auction will be followed by a live auction at 7 p.m., and music will be provided by Paul Riechmann, Seth Grondin and Payson Nichols.

Two Stephen King autographed books, a wood stove, and a vintage bicycle are included in the auction.

Visitors and newcomers are welcome to the St. Croix Valley Amateur Radio Club breakfast meeting at 7 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at Wickachee Restaurant in Calais.

Ann Carter reports you are also welcome to the club’s monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, in the activities room of Calais Methodist Homes on Palmer Street.

This is National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse of Boone, N.C., headed by Franklin Graham.

The local collection site for the project is Calvary Chapel in Orrington. Individuals and organizations are urged to fill empty shoe boxes with toys, school supplies, hygiene items, photos and personal letters for children in need throughout the world.

Last year, the church collected 4,347 boxes from this area. The goal for 2005 is 5,000 boxes.

Your contributions can be brought to Calvary Chapel, 154 River Road, from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, Nov. 14-18; 8-10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19; noon-2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20; and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21.

For more information, call 991-9555.

The 28th annual Children’s Book Drive of the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development, in partnership with Old Town-Orono Kiwanis Club and established by Dean Robert Cobb, is now in progress.

New books for needy toddlers to teens – gift-wrapped if possible and marked for a particular age level – can be left through noon Friday, Dec. 9, at Cobb’s office, 151 Shibles Hall, on the UMaine campus in Orono.

During Children’s Book Week, Nov. 14-20, the UMaine bookstore in Memorial Union is also serving as a collection site and offering 25 percent off purchases of children’s books. The store will contribute a book of equal value for each purchase.

Reservations are still available for the Katahdin Area Council, Boy Scouts of America annual Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Bangor Civic Center.

Individual tickets are $150, and tables are $1,000.

This year’s honorees are Norman Ledwin and Irving Kagan of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, and Sister Mary Norberta and Edward Darling of St. Joseph Healthcare.

For information or reservations, call Dianne Swanson, 866-2241.

Master Gardener volunteer Kay Wilkins will present a “Report on the Community Garden Project” for Woodlawn Museum in Ellsworth at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at the Hancock County Cooperative Extension office, Boggy Brook Road in Ellsworth.

Refreshments will be served, and the public is invited.

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