MULTICULTURAL FUN

Partnerships in Learning and Creative Exploration, also known as PLACE, is having its annual Multicultural Children's festival at Town Center Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 2 at Town Center Park, 2783 Dixwell Ave, Hamden. If it rains, it will be at the Hamden Middle School next door.

There will be all kinds of demonstrations, arts and crafts, musical acts, a moon bounce, costume characters and more, like Bhoga Yoga, Brenna Traditional Thai Dance and the Konjo! African dance troupe. The Whitney Players and Play with Grace will be there to, as will Yale Jashan Bhangra and Shane Long with Native American traditions.

Info? 203-288-8600 or http://www.placechildrensmuseum.org/.

READY FOR BREAKFAST?

In an effort to raise money for ovarian cancer research, Paula Butler, in conjunction with the Carmel Council No. 3605 Knights of Columbus, is having a fund-raising breakfast on Sunday.

"Teal Time Breakfast Buffet" will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 2630 Whitney Ave. in Hamden. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and children under 14. Children under 5 can get in for free.

Paula Butler, a 13-year ovarian cancer survivor from Hamden, is organizing the breakfast with the assistance of the Knights.

Money raised is going to the Discovery to Cure, a Smilow Cancer Hospital program that combats women’s reproductive cancers with a three-pronged approach, combining early detection, exceptional clinical care, and development of novel treatments. September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Paula believes that not enough people know about ovarian cancer. Thirteen years ago, they thought she had a large cyst in her ovary but it was a 13mm malignant tumor. If she hadn't asked certain questions about hormones the doctor wanted to give her to decrease the size, then she wouldn't have had surgery right away.

"I wanted to find a way to give back to Yale," she said.

MENTIONING THIS AGAIN

The fifth annual Furr Ball to raise money for Halfway Home Rescue is from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday at Fantasia, 404 Washington Ave., North Haven.

Halfway Home Rescue founder Stephanie Mselli said the benefit dinner-dance is one of the ways the organization raises money to save the lives of abused, abandoned and homeless animals. It relies solely on donations. The organization provides trap-neuter-return services for feral cats in New Haven County and animals deemed unadoptable live in the organization’s sanctuary, Maselli said.

The 2008 New York Veterinarian of the Year Robert Reisman is the guest speaker. Reisman is the medical coordinator of animal cruelty cases at the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital.

To purchase tickets, which are $35 a person, call 203-985-8338.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK

The Hamden Library system and the American Library Association are recognizing the phenomenon of banned and challenged books with a week-long event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week, library officials said. The week  stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings.

The top 10 most frequently challenged book of the past year were: 1. "TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle; 2. "And Tango Makes Three" by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson; 3. "The Perks of Being A Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky; 4. "To Kill A Mockingbird," by Harper Lee; 5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer; 6. "Catcher in the Rye," by J.D. Salinger; 7. "My Sister’s Keeper," by Jodi Picoult; 8. "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things," by Carolyn Mackler;

9. "The Color Purple," Alice Walker; 10. "The Chocolate War," by Robert Cormier.

Call 203-287-2680 for additional information or for library hours and locations.

BORROW AND BAKE

The North Haven Library, 17 Elm St., announces a new service available to the public. Cake pans and cookie cutters are available to borrow with your library card. Pans include themed pans such as Sponge Bob, Mickey Mouse, Enchanted Castle, Scooby Doo, plus shaped pans such as heart and bundt pans. The loan period for these pans is one week. For more information, search "cake pans" on the library’s website northhavenlibrary.net or call 203-239-5803.