Susan Purser, left, Elaine Russell, center and Sandie Gambill, right, admire a tree on display. (Gayle Shomer/CorneliusNews.net)

The North Mecklenburg Woman’s Club hosted its annual “Over the Tabletop” design fundraiser at the Peninsula Club in Cornelius Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8-9. The competition highlights the skills of local designers, businesses and creative people with holiday tablescapes, trees and vignettes for competition and for sale. Read the full story

Kadi Fit in the Oak Street Mill will host an Artisan Marketplace Day on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Oak Street Mill in downtown Cornelius. The day will include local artisans, global crafts, children’s crafts and activities, African dance demonstrations, and live music all day. It’s a benefit for the Kilgoris Project, which supports children in rural Kenya.

The event runs 10am-9pm at Kadi Fit, 19725 Oak St., www.kadifit.com. They’ll also have wine, beer and coffee all day.

Sale items include jewelry, accessories, handbags, home décor items, children’s clothing and other artistry gathered from across Africa and around the world. Many of the Kenyan items are handmade by Upendo, the Kilgoris Project’s women’s co-op.

Local artisans from Lake Norman and the Charlotte region also will have work available for purchase. A wide selection of bakery items, wine, beer and Kenyan coffee will be offered, and live music will run throughout the day.

Kadi Fit owner Katie Dixon has donated the use of her studio for the Marketplace.

The Kilgoris Project is a non-profit run by Huntersville resident Tia McNelly and her extended family. All funds raised will go directly toward the Kilgoris Project’s schools, feeding programs, economic development and clean water initiatives. kilgoris.org

Area businesses and residents are organizing to help victims of Hurricane Sandy in the northeast with events and collections this week, including benefit nights at local restaurants, a Sunday Jogging for Jersey 5K, and trucks full of supplies that are being filled in Davidson and Cornelius. Read the full story

Rob Bennett raised more than $4,000 for Habitat for Humanity in the contest.

Rob Bennett of Cornelius was the top fund raiser in Our Towns Habitat for Humanity’s Biggest Cheese in Town 2012 competition. The crown was bestowed on Oct. 26 at the “Cheese Ball,” a reception in Cornelius at Kadi Fit.

Mr. Bennett owns My Aloha Paddle Sports and Fitness. He was among 14 contestants in the event, each of whom was trying to raise at least $1,000 for Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Bennett, 45, was able to attract enough donors and sponsors to raise just over $4,000 through two Aloha Cup events. Read the full story

The maze is cut from a 7-acre cornfield at Historic Rural Hill in Huntersville. (Gayle Shomer/CorneliusNews.net)

HUNTERSVILLE - Historic Rural Hill marks the final weekend of this year’s Amazing Maize Maze with a canned food drive for the Angels and Sparrows Soup Kitchen. Bring a donation of canned food and get a buck off your admission.

The maze, on a 7-acres cornfield off Neck Road in Huntersville, will be open Friday through Sunday, Nov. 2-4, from 10am to 5pm. And if you’re looking for an adventure, try the nighttime flashlight maze Friday and Saturday beginning at 6pm (last tickets sold to those in line by 9). Read the full story

The Community Arts Project plans a “CAPtoberfest” fundraiser on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at the Birkdale Fox and Hound. Come enjoy beer, food & prizes, all to benefit the non-profit arts project, which is in the Cornelius Arts Center in the Oak Street Mill. Read the full story

Girl Scout Troops in Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson will be heading out Saturday, Oct. 13, to collect canned goods for the area’s two Loaves & Fishes food pantries. The girls are hoping neighbors will donate “A Can If You Can” to help feed the hungry in their communities. Read the full story

The grounds of the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson were a multi-ring circus Saturday for the center’s 4th annual Fire barbecue festival and 5K run. Fire is the center’s biggest community event of the year, and a major fundraiser for services that range from the Learn Works after school program to free health and dental clinics to food and counseling services. Cornelius Commissioner Lynette Rinker was among the judges for the barbecue competition. Read more and see photos on DavidsonNews.net.