Compiled by Katrina Langer and Kevin Coughlin
This is one of those eclectic Greater Morristown weekends without any discernible themes.
Sample wines or yoga poses.
Go from Punk to Pink, or Folk to Baroque.
Take your doggy for a dash. Let Broadway bound to you.
Scroll down for more details… and check our handy calendar for even more great options!
THURSDAY, OCT. 2, 2014
Watch some great ballroom dancing–while supporting some great ladies–at Dancing With the Survivors. This joint production of The Pink Fund and Morristown’s Fred Astaire Dance Studio will pair local breast cancer survivors with professional dancers. It runs from 7 pm to 10 pm at Beyer Ford, 170 Ridgedale Ave. in Morristown. Tickets are $75, available online from The Pink Fund, a nonprofit that supports expenses for women undergoing breast cancer treatment.
Enjoy free refreshments at the Morristown & Township Library …but no slam dancing! At 7 pm, authors Amy Yates Wuelfing and Steve DiLodovico will discuss their book, No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes, about the ’80s and ’90s music scene at the City Gardens nightclub in Trenton. Many seminal and not-so-seminal acts from Punk to Metal, Ska and Reggae, New Wave and Alternative, passed through that legendary space. Also coming to the talk: Randy Now, the promoter at City Gardens and Ron Gregorio, a punk ‘zine publisher and photographer. Jon Stewart once tended bar at this club; here is Amy on The Daily Show. The library is at One Miller Road in Morristown.
Morristown High School’s football varsity (2-1) travels to Roxbury for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Treat yourself to some naughty fun at the Morris Museum: Sophie Tucker: Last of the Red Hot Mamas starts the musical double-entendres at 7:30 pm. Admission is $10. At 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township. Call (973) 971-3700 for more.
FRIDAY, OCT. 3:
Quicksilver da Camera Concert features violinists Robert Mealy and Julie Andrijeski playing Baroque music composed for 17th-century Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. Chat with the artists at 7:15 pm; the concert starts at 8 pm, at the Concert Hall at Drew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison. Tickets: $20, $10 with a valid educational ID. Call 713-894-3325 for more.
Singer/songwriter Sloan Wainwright shows off her mastery of multiple musical styles at The Minstrel in Morris Township, at 8 pm. She comes from folk royalty, a clan that counts Loudon Wainwright, Kate McGarrigle, and Suzzy Roche among its revered names. Opening for her is The Wag, a three-piece pop rock band with harmonies reminiscent of Crosby Stills & Nash, the Beatles, or Simon & Garfunkel. At the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township. Admission: $9 on your way in, and what you think the show really was worth on your way out. Children 12 and under are free.
SATURDAY, OCT. 4:
Take a hike. Better yet, take two. The New Jersey Conservation Foundation will lead a walk through the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Harding Township at 9 am, followed by a bird walk at the Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center in Chester Township at 3 pm. A lunch break is scheduled in between. The Great Swamp outing meets at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center at 32 Pleasant Plains Road. Foundation staff biologist Dr. Emile DeVito and biologist Blaine Rothauser, a New Jersey Conservation volunteer, will guide hikers through a limited-access “management area.” The bird walk meets at the Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center, 170 Longview Road, Chester Township (GPS address is 11 Longview Road, Far Hills). Both hikes are rain or shine, and advance reservations are required. Bring binoculars, camera and water – but no dogs! Register here for the Great Swamp hike, and here for the Bamboo Brook bird walk. Questions? Contact Bill Lynch, 908-997-0725.
The Morris County Tourism Bureau hosts an hour-long walking tour of the Whippany Burying Ground and First Presbyterian Church, at 10 am. The graveyard and church date to 1718; both are firsts for the county. Local historian Don Kiddoo will share stories about Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers and the earliest Morris County settlers. The tour begins in the Burying Yard on Route 10 East, just east of Troy Hills Road, and proceeds to the Church on Route 10 West. Free parking is at JR Cigar at 301 Route 10 East. Limited walking. Tickets are $15 each. Please mail your pre-payment to MCTB, 6 Court St., Morristown, to hold your reservation. Tours may also be booked online at or by calling 973-631-5151.
The Grand Harvest Wine Festival comes to the Fosterfields Living Historical Farm on Kahdena Road in Morris Township from noon to 5 pm. Organized by the Garden State Wine Growers Association, the festival will showcase 20 New Jersey wineries. There will be wine tastings, food, guest speakers, live music and kids activities, too. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate.
Does our society over-emphasize sports? Do team games teach kids the right lessons? A traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian explores these issues at the Morris Museum in Morris Township through Nov. 16, 2014. Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America is part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program, which invites online participation. The Museum is at 6 Normandy Heights Road (at the corner of Columbia Turnpike) and is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm and Sunday, noon to 5 pm. Admission to the Museum is $10 for adults and $7 for children, students and senior citizens. Free for Museum members. For more, call (973) 971-3700.
SUNDAY, OCT. 5:
Get your pet blessed, at St Peter’s Episcopal Church on South Street in Morristown, at the 8 am, 9 am or 11:15 am services.
The Morristown Farmers Market is back for its 24th season, courtesy of the Morristown Partnership and its sponsors. From 8:30 am to 2 pm, you can find produce from North Jersey farms, baked goods, and more, in municipal parking lot 10, behind the post office. Lots of entertainment and wellness events will be sprinkled throughout the year. The Farmers Market is open on Sundays through the end of November.
Pretty up your pooch, to benefit The Seeing Eye. The Seeing Eye Doggy Dash starts with registration at 11 am, a walk at noon and a pageant at 1 pm. Dogs (and owners) will compete in categories for best costume, best trick, most obedient, and more. Your pet can sit for a canine caricature, while your kids get their faces painted. There also will be Seeing Eye guide dog demonstrations, 50/50 drawings, and raffles. And yes, all dogs can do a one-mile walk, to raise funds for people who are blind or visually impaired. The staging area is the corner of Maple Avenue and DeHart Street in downtown Morristown. Registration to walk is $35 at the event. Children between 5 and 12 can register for $25, and children under 5 are free. The first 300 adult registrants will receive a goodie bag. The pageant fee is $5 per dog, per category. Please bring proof of rabies vaccination to the event.
Ready to get a jump-start on your fitness goals? Wellness: Mo-Town returns in 2014, and will showcase more than 35 health and wellness providers and nonprofits. The free event runs from noon to 5 pm on the Vail Mansion lawn and is sponsored by Be Well Morristown. Meet an assortment of medicine, nutrition, and fitness practitioners, and sample free health screenings, spa treatments, dance classes, music and other activities. All vendor fees and donations will benefit Sustainable Morristown and Bike & Walk Morristown.
MONDAY, OCT. 6:
Behind The Voice was The Composer. Frank Sinatra recorded more songs by Jimmy Van Heusen (Come Fly with Me, and Love and Marriage) than by anyone else. Explore that legacy with Broadway stars Norm Lewis and Sierra Boggess (both from The Little Mermaid and The Phantom of the Opera) at Drew University. Swinging on a Star: The Music of Jimmy Van Heusen starts at 7:30 pm, in the Concert Hall at the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts. Tickets are $50, or $40 per person for groups of 10 or more. Admission is $15 for patrons with a current educational ID. Please call 973-408-3917 for purchases, or buy them online.
