Greater Morristown weekend preview: Meet Honest Abe, celebrate Cupid, share some seeds
Posted by Kevin Coughlin on February 9, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Welcome to an extended edition of Weekend Preview. Our sampler stretches until Tuesday to accommodate Valentine’s Day.
Kudos to everyone who has planned romantic events…and a raspberry to the Morristown council for scheduling a council meeting on a night when everyone should be enjoying candlelight dinners in the town’s fine eating establishments!
If the activities listed below don’t fan the flames of your ardor, please take a romantic stroll through our handy calendar.
THURSDAY, Feb. 9:
Spies are not a modern invention. They were prevalent throughout the War for Independence, as award-winning historian John Nagy will explain in his talk, Spies in the Continental Capital, Espionage Across Pennsylvania During the American Revolution, at the North Jersey American Revolution Roundtable. The free event starts at 7:14 p.m. at Washington’s Headquarters Museum Auditorium, 30 Washington Place, in Morristown
FRIDAY, Feb. 10:
It’s Bingo Night at the Alexander Hamilton School, on 24 Mills St. in Morristown. All ages are welcome to join the fun, which starts at 6:30 pm. Bingo cards are $1, there are prizes, and you can buy pizza, drinks and baked goods–all to benefit the 5th grade yearbook.
Hungry for some steak? Check out the filet mignon in the Morristown High School cafeteria. For $40 per person you can get some protein while underwriting a yearbook-signing cruise around Manhattan by MHS seniors.
It’s only a couple of weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Get warmed up with Damn Yankees at Delbarton. The Abbey Players production can be seen at 8 pm tonight and Saturday, and at 2 pm on Sunday. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students, and are available online or at the door. The Delbarton School is three miles west of the Morristown Green on Mendham Road in Morris Township.
Get a jump on Valentine’s Day at The Minstrel in Morris Township. The Folk Project Valentines Day Extravaganza features 24 songs by 24 Projectiles, starting at 8 pm. At the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road. Admission: Adults $7, children 12 and under are free. Call 973-335-9489 for more.
Tenor Michael Amante, “King of the High C’s,” comes to Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center at 8 pm to sing Broadway and opera favorites. Soprano Marissa Famiglietti will join him at 100 South St. Tickets are $42-$57. Call 973-539-8008 for more.
Enjoy some acoustic magic from singer Jon Zlock at Hennessey’s Washington Bar, 140 Morris St., Morristown, at 10 pm. There is no cover charge.
SATURDAY, Feb. 11:
A photo scavenger hunt promises family fun from 9 am to 4:30 pm at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, at 353 East Hanover Ave. in Whippany. The cost is $10 per family; photograph every item and win prizes. Meet at the Haggerty Education Center; call 973-326-7600 for more details. Also offered on Sunday, same times.
Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean you have to skimp on locally grown grub. Slow Food Northern NJ brings the Winters Farmer’s Market to Morristown High School from noon to 4 pm. Area producers will be selling seasonal vegetables, meats and cheeses. Grow It Green Morristown’s Farmer Shaun will be there, too. A $3 donation to Slow Food is requested to benefit school garden programs.
MorristownGreen.com readers get to enjoy Paul Laud’s wickedly clever cartoons and limericks every Tuesday. What does it take to cook up these comedic feasts each week? Learn Paul’s cartooning secrets at Behind the Ink, at 2 pm at the Morris County Library, 30 East Hanover Ave., Whippany. Admission is free. Call 973-285-6930 for more.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Skyclad Gallery in Boonton celebrates Heavenly Bodies, a 10-artist exhibition of figurative art. The opening reception runs from 6 pm to 10 pm at 904 Main St. Call 551-206-3581 for details.
The Power of African American Music to Inspire is undeniable. If you insist on proof, the group Follow the Drinking Gourd (Diane Goldsmith, pianist, with Singers Ivan Woods and Shannon Hunt) will dazzle you at 7:30 pm at the Morristown United Methodist Church. It’s part of the church’s Abendmusik series, which is celebrating American music this season. Suggested donation: $15 for adults and $12 for senior citizens. Advance tickets are available ($12 adults/$10 seniors) by calling 973-538-2132. Students with ID are admitted free. The church is at 50 Park Place (on the Green) and is handicapped accessible. A reception follows the concert.
Follow the Drinking Gourd performs on Feb. 11 at the Morristown United Methodist Church. The group's name refers to a code phrase from the Underground Railroad.
Want to purge your nastiness before Valentine’s Day? Spend an evening with Lisa Lampanelli, the Queen of Mean, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center. The comedy favorite starts at 8 pm. Mature themes and language. Tickets are $57-$97; call 973-539-8008 for more.
Folk/rock pioneers POCO are playing at the Sanctuary series in Chatham at 8 pm– but the show is sold out. Better luck next time!
The Blaire Reinhard Band brings its high-energy rock and pop repertoire to Morristown’s Famished Frog at 9:30 pm. Blaire and brother Gray recently performed with former Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen–their grandfather–and Gray shared a stage with Bruce Springsteen last month. The Frog is on 18 Washington St.; there is no cover charge but you must be 21 for the bar. Call 973.540.9601 for more.
Scenes from The Blaire Reinhard Band at the Frog in January. Please click icon below for captions.
SUNDAY, Feb. 12:
Hard to believe, but Jockey Hollow once was the fifth-largest “city” in the colonies. What did 1,200 huts mean for local farmers? Ask a Park Ranger at the Wick House, in the Morristown National Historical Park, at 10 am, 1 pm or 3 pm.
It’s Honest Abe’s birthday–and you can meet the great man. Or at least, an honest depiction of him. Civil War reenactor Bob Costello portrays President Lincoln at Morristown’s Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Our 16th president will field questions and pose for photos at the Gone for a Soldier: Jerseymen in the Civil War exhibit. Tour the Museum while you are there. Admission: Adults $8; seniors and students $6; children 6 – 12 $4. Members and children under 5 are free. The museum is at 45 Macculloch Ave. Call 973-538-2404 for more.
Abe Lincoln (Bob Costello) greets Mark Texel of the Morris County Park Commission at Macculloch Hall. Honest Abe returns on Feb. 12. Photo courtesy of Stan Freeny.
They served as soldiers, servants and spies. Learn the story of African Americans in the Revolutionary War, and meet one of General Washington’s aides, at the Ford Mansion in Morristown. Talks at 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm, at 30 Washington Place. Admission: $4 for adults.
Have a cup of tea with the the Morris County Historical Society at Acorn Hall from 1 pm to 4 pm. Learn about membership in the society, check out 19th- and early 20th century fashions modeled by the Metropolitan Ladies Society, and tour the museum and its exhibition about Morris County in World War II. While you’re there, say hello to new Morris Historical Society Director Amy Curry and new office assistant Kate Bishop. Admission is $6 ($5 for seniors, $3 for students) at 68 Morris Avenue in Morristown. Call 973-267-3465 for details.
Explore classical dance of southern India at Ragamala Dance: Sacred Earth, at 3 pm in the Mayo Performing Arts Center. Dance is performed against a backdrop of Warli paintings and Kolam rice flour drawings. Admission: $20. Call 973-539-8008 for more.
Spring is almost here… it’s time for a seed swap! Grow It Green Morristown and the Schiff Natural Lands Trust are co-hosting the swap at 4 pm, at the Schiff Nature Preserve, 339 Pleasant Valley Road, Mendham. Bring seeds. A class on “seed starting” follows at 5 pm. Admission is free.
At 6 pm it’s time for your weekly Open Drawing Session at Zebu Forno, 9 South St., Morristown. Three hours of live models, friendly instruction and pizza cost just $10. Bring your own art supplies; Chris and Danielle Merzatta provide the rest. Call 770-853-9727 for more information.
County College of Morris battles Columbia University in hockey action at 6 pm at Mennen Arena in Morris Township. Admission: $3 for adults, $2 for everyone else.
MONDAY, Feb. 13
It’s the St. Valentine’s Massacre–a jazz night at the Bickford Theatre where “the solos alone will slay you,” according to organizers. At 8 pm trombonist Herb Gardner will be joined by Randy Reinhart on cornet, Dan Levinson (clarinet and saxes), James Chirillo (guitar), Robbie Scott (drums) and Joe Hanchrow (string bass or tuba). And one of our own personal faves, singer Abbie Gardner of Red Molly, rounds out the evening. Admission is $15 in advance, $18 at the door. The Bickford is attached to the Morris Museum, in Morris Township at the intersection of Columbia Turnpike and Normandy Heights Road. Call 973 971‑3706 for more.
Jazzman Herb Gardner with daughter Abbie Gardner, of Red Molly fame. They play the Bickford on Feb. 13.
TUESDAY, Feb. 14, VALENTINE’S DAY
Satisfy your sweet tooth at The Art of Dessert, at The Artist Baker in Morristown. The savory confections start coming at 7 pm and continue for the next three hours as the shop celebrates its third anniversary at 12-16 Cattano Ave. The $35 cost per person benefits the Arts Council of the Morris Area. Call 973-267-5540 for reservations.
Merynda Adams and Christopher Collins Lee will give a Valentines concert in Feb. 14 in Madison.
There’s just something about a harp that is so… Valentine’s Day. Which explains the 7:30 pm concert by Merynda Adams at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison. The harpist will be accompanied by violinist Christopher Collins Lee, in a benefit for Morristown’s Community Soup Kitchen. While admission is free, charitable contributions will be welcomed at the door. The program is titled, Romantic Duos and will feature romantic works by Puccini, De Falla and Elgar. The church is at 4 Madison Ave.
Merynda Adams gets jazzy at Christmas:
