Mark your calendars for October’s concerts, sales, seasonal events
October 14, 2023 | By Waterbury RoundaboutThere are many events coming up this month. Here is a list from multiple local organizations, etc. that we can pass along for your calendars.
Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 19-21: Wesley United Methodist Church Sale
Wesley United Methodist Church holds its fall Lawn and Food Sale Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 19-21 at the church at 56 South Main St.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The sale will be set up outdoors under the tent and inside the church dining room. It will feature furniture, dishes, many household items and “lots of stuff you cannot live without,” according to organizers. The collection includes a large selection of dolls in boxes. Food for sale will include the popular baked beans, cookies, pies and more.
Donations are welcome and may be left at the back door of church. No TVs computers or clothes, please. Questions? Call Skip Flanders at 802-244-5529.
Friday-Saturday, Oct. 20-21: 7th Annual Winter Clothing Distribution
The Waterbury Center Community Church is next to Cold Hollow Cider Mill. File photo
The Waterbury Center Community Church holds its 7th Annual Winter Clothing Distribution, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 20-21.
Volunteers have been collecting winter outerwear for adults and children. (Sat., Oct. 14, is the last day to donate. Put donations in the blue bin behind the church.)
All are invited to stop by to check out the selection of free, gently used winter coats, boots, snowpants, hats, gloves and more.
Hours are Friday, Oct. 20, 5-8 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 21, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The church is located at 3582 Waterbury-Stowe Road (Vermont Route 100), next to Cold Hollow Cider Mill.
Organizers thank the community for all of the donations. More information: 802-244-6286
Friday-Saturday, Oct. 20-21, at Stowe Free Library
The Stowe Free Library
Outdoor Free Movie Night: The Stowe Free Library hosts a family friendly outdoor free movie night Friday, Oct. 20, starting at 6 p.m. Bring lawn blankets, beach towels to settle in for the show. What is the movie? Think: Filmed in East Corinth, Vermont (with the sequel just filmed in July 2023), don't say his name three times or he'll appear, he wears a white and black striped suit and he's the ghost with the most! Original movie, circa 1988, staring Geena Davis, Michael Keeton and Alec Baldwin.
Howl-O-Ween event: Calling all furry and feathered friends and sidekicks - Visit the Stowe Free Library on Saturday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to noon with your pets in costume (human costumes welcome, too). Get your picture taken, have a free pet caricature drawn, participate in a costume contest for prizes and treats of course.
The Stowe Free Library is located at 90 Pond Street in Stowe. Call 802-253-6145 with questions. Library events are posted on the library's Facebook page.
UPDATED with new location - Saturday, Oct. 21: Rotary Corn Hole Tournament
The Waterbury Rotary Club invites the community to its Cornhole Tournament Fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 21, now at Brookside Primary School’s gym rather than Rusty Parker Memorial Park given the weather forecast for Saturday. The change was announced on Thursday, Oct. 19.
The event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. All ages are welcome. Sign up as two-person teams by contacting your favorite Rotarian or online at waterburyrotaryvt.org.
The fee is $30 per team in advance (register by Oct. 16); $40 per team after Oct. 16 and at the event.
Organizers say there will be prizes.
Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 21-22: Vermont Philharmonic concerts
The Vermont Philharmonic performs at the Barre Opera House. Courtesy photo
The Vermont Philharmonic opens its 65th season with concerts featuring orchestral musical connections across three centuries. Performances are Saturday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro, and Sunday, Oct. 22, at 2 p.m. at the Barre Opera House.
The program opens with Symphony No. 2 in D Major written in 1779 by Joseph Bologne, the first classical composer of African descent who reached stardom throughout Europe and was dubbed by Marie Antoinette as Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
Florence Price wrote “Ethiopia’s Shadow in America” 150 years after the Saint-Georges symphony. Its three movements depict “The Arrival of the Negro in America when first brought here as a slave,” “His resignation and faith,” and “His adaptation – a fusion of his native and acquired impulses.” An African-American graduate of the New England Conservatory in 1906, Price was underappreciated during her lifetime and for nearly 70 years after her death. In 2009 many of her more than 300 compositions were found in her abandoned summer home and are now getting attention.
The program concludes with Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony #9 “From the New World,” written in 1893 during his three-year stay in the United States. Dvorak uses elements of spirituals and Native American music. According to legend, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon to a recording of this symphony during the historic Apollo 11 mission on June 20, 1969.
Founded in 1959 by Jon Borowicz, emeritus professor of music at Norwich University, the Vermont Philharmonic is Vermont’s oldest community orchestra, composed of professional and talented amateur musicians from throughout Vermont. Since 1993, the orchestra’s home base has been the Barre Opera House and Lou Kosma has been its Music Director since 1999.
Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $5 for students. Available online at vermontphilharmonic.com or at the door.
Saturday, Oct. 21: Solaris 10th Anniversary Celebration Concert
Solaris Vocal Ensemble kicks off its new season with a 10th Anniversary Celebration Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in downtown Burlington.
This is a free concert, however, donations will be accepted at the door and given to the Vermont Flood Response & Recovery Fund organized by the Vermont Community Foundation.
In addition to Solaris, this event will feature several guest choirs, including the Aurora Chamber Singers, Bella Voce Women’s Chorus, Counterpoint Vocal Ensemble, the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington Choir and the UVM Catamount Singers.
The choirs will perform individual pieces and then combine to sing the Mack Wilberg arrangement of “Bound For the Promised Land” and “May the Circle Be Unbroken” arranged by Solaris’ own James Stewart. Local favorite, the 17-piece Joe’s Big Band, will end the program with its blend of American jazz standards.
The First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington is located at 152 Pearl St. in Burlington. Solaris also will perform a holiday concert in Waterbury on Dec. 17. More information online at solarisensemble.org.
Sunday, Oct. 22: Ben & Jerry’s Pumpkin Giveaway
Staff at Ben & Jerry's Waterbury plant swap pumpkins, ice cream and Halloween treats for food and cash donations for the local food shelf each year. File photo courtesy Ben & Jerry's
The staff at Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury will hold its annual Pumpkin Giveaway on Sunday, Oct. 22.
The event is set to start at 8:30 a.m. at the Waterbury plant, and it will end when the pumpkin supply is gone.
Set up as a drive-through, community members are invited to line up for free pumpkins, Halloween goodie bags for kids, and pints of ice cream, of course. Follow the signs.
The event is free of charge, however, organizers ask that attendees bring a non-perishable food item or a monetary donation for the Waterbury food shelf, recently renamed the Waterbury Common Market.
Ben & Jerry’s staff have held the event for more than 30 years.
Sat.-Sun., Oct. 21-22: Film screenings of ‘The Farm Boy’
Film poster courtesy image
On its screening tour around Vermont, Waterbury filmmaker and farmer George Woodard's latest feature film “The Farm Boy” heads to the Mad River Valley with two showings at the Valley Players Theater in Waitsfield.
Set in 1944, “The Farm Boy” is a black-and-white feature film loosely based on the real-life story of Woodard’s parents. The main character is Calvin Dillard, who drives a milk truck for his father. He meets, courts and marries a girl from a neighboring farm and is immediately sent to war in Europe. Dillard’s mechanical skills prove to be his salvation during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge.
Filmed in black and white using wide-angle lenses and conventional camera techniques of that time period, “The Farm Boy” was shot mostly on Woodard’s farm in Waterbury Center.
“It is a story about trust, integrity, and standing behind your word. A story of a time when war took young men away from their homes and returned them as heroes” ~ from the filmmaker
The Saturday screening is at 6:30 p.m., Oct. 21; the Sunday showtime is 2 p.m. Both shows will have a question-answer time following the film with Woodard and producer Joan Brace O’Neal. Tickets are $10 at the door (cash/check only). The Valley Players Theater is located at 4254 Main St. (Vermont Rt. 100), Waitsfield.
More information is online at hangingmudflapproductions.com.
Sunday, Oct. 22: Opening reception for White Meeting House art show
Untitled art work by Kelley Taft on exhibit at the Waterbury Congregational Church. Courtesy image
A new art exhibit titled “Bridging Contrast” opens with a free reception starting at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22, at the Waterbury Congregational Church White Meeting House featuring a body of work by Kelley Taft of Duxbury. The show will be on view through November.
The exhibit contains 30 works using mixed media and assemblage pieces and viewers are asked to share their feedback. Visit the show afterward Tuesday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for self-guided viewing. Enter through the side door and go upstairs following the signs.
Wednesday, Oct. 25: Friends of Waterbury Reservoir Annual Meeting
Loons on the Waterbury Reservoir this summer. Photo by Gordon Miller
The Friends of the Waterbury Reservoir invite the community to their 2023 Annual Meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct.25, at the Blush Hill Country Club, 141 Lonesome Trail Drive.
The featured speaker will be Eric Hanson, director of the Vermont Loon Conservation Project and Preservation Program. Hanson is a nationally respected loon biologist who will share photos, updates, and stories about these beloved birds.
Also on the program is Ben Foltin, chief “floating ranger” at the Waterbury Reservoir, who can provide insights into the 2023 season including flood impacts, camping reports, equipment initiatives, and plans for the future.
This summer’s Invasive Species Greeters will present results of the 2023 season and information about invasive species in the reservoir.
All are invited to attend this free event that starts with a social gathering and cash bar at 5:45 p.m.
The group also will hold a raffle fundraiser at the event. So far prizes include an NRS Ninja Personal Floatation Device donated by Umiak, a 10-visit punch card to the Vermont State Parks, a dry bag for camping and other donated items. Email waterburyres@gmail.com with any questions.
Saturday, Oct. 28: Fall Craft Sale at Waterbury Area Senior Center
The annual Fall Craft and Vendor Sale to benefit the Waterbury Area Senior Center is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28.
Visit the senior center at 14 Stowe Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sale features local crafters and commercial vendors along with a bake sale by Chef Donna, Gale and the senior center crew. There’s a 50/50 raffle and a raffle basket with tickets for $1 each or seven for $5.
Saturday, Oct. 28: Farr’s Field hosts Montpelier restaurant Oktoberfest
Downtown Montpelier restaurants are collaborating with Montpelier Alive to present an Oktoberfest benefit with local beer, German food, and music at Farr’s Field in Waterbury on Saturday, Oct. 28, from noon to 4 p.m., rain or shine.
All of the proceeds will be used to help Montpelier downtown restaurants rebuild, buy equipment, and replace lost summer income due to the July flooding.
Participating restaurants include: Rabble Rouser Chocolate, Hippie Chickpea, Chill Gelato, Langdon Street Tavern, Three Penny Taproom, Positive Pie, Oakes & Evelyn, Julio's Cantina, Enna International Deli, Capitol Grounds, Yellow Mustard Deli, Namaste, Charlie O’s World Famous, and K Sherpa House.
Tickets are available online at sevendaystickets.com. Prices are $20 for adults; $10 for kids under 18; $35 covers adult admission, a commemorative pint glass, one beer ticket.