Greater Morristown weekend preview: Morristown’s Fall Festival turns 21

Kanna DeSanctis races down slide at the 2013 Morristown Festival on the Green. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
WHEEE!!! Kanna DeSanctis races down slide at the 2013 Morristown Festival on the Green. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Compiled by Kevin Coughlin

If you’re one of those people who loves fall, Greater Morristown offers plenty of good excuses to get outside and enjoy it this weekend.

Foremost among these is the Morristown Festival on the Green, which turns 21.

Morris Township is showcasing Speedwell Avenue shopping, too. Farmers markets continue in Morristown an Morris Plains.

You can Beat the Blerch, clean up Lake Pocahontas, and take the Turtle Tour.

For those who can’t stand a chill in the air, lots of indoor amusements beckon, as well, with names like Grover Kemble, Jackson Browne, Chick Corea and Bela Fleck.

Scroll down for more, and check our handy calendar for even more activities. See you Sunday on the Green?


THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 2015:

Grover Kemble as Jimmy Durante
Grover Kemble as Jimmy Durante

Jazz favorite Grover Kemble presents A Tribute to Jimmy Durante, at 10 am in the Morris Plains Community Center. The show is offered through the Morris School District Community School. Admission: $31.  At 51 Jim Fear Drive.

Lonely yet romantic, lighthouses continue to captivate the imagination in the age of satellite navigation. Learn all about them from author and photographer Kevin Woyce, who will speak at the Morristown & Township Library at 7 pm.  His talk, Lighthouses: Beacons of Safety and Solitude from Alexandria to Sandy Hook, is free, courtesy of the Friends of the Library. Refreshments will be served. At One Miller Road, Morristown.

The Tarrytown Lighthouse, near the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The Tarrytown Lighthouse, near the Tappan Zee Bridge.

At precisely 7:14 pm, the North Jersey Civil War Round Table  presents Prelude to the Civil War, Take That Damned Battery! John Riley and the San Patricio Battalion (St. Patrick’s Battalion), a talk by Ron Soodalter about Irish American deserters who fought for Mexico.  At the Haggerty Education Center at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 353 E. Hanover Avenue, Morris Township (opposite the Morris County Library). Donation: $5; students: Free.

Jackson Browne  (Running on Empty, The Pretender, Before the Deluge, Doctor My Eyes)  and his band come to Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center at 8 pm. Admission: $100.  The show is sold out, but it never hurts to call the box office: 973-539-8008.  At 100 South St.

Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne

 


FRIDAY, SEPT. 25:

The Morristown High School football team (1-1) hits the road, traveling to Mt. Olive for a 7 pm game. Go, Colonials!

Tom Chapin
Tom Chapin

Tom Chapin began as a family act, performing in Greenwich Village with brothers Harry and Steve and their dad Jim. See how he’s evolved, at 8pm at The Minstrel in Morris Township. With opener Matt Arons, 17.   Admission: $9, plus what the show really is worth to you. Children 12 and under, free. At 21 Normandy Heights Road.

A pair of greats--Chick Corea on piano, Bela Fleck on banjo– join forces at Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center to perform duets from their albums Two and The Enchantment. Showtime: 8 pm. Admission: $39-$79. At 100 South St. Call 973-539-8008 for more.

 

 

 

Chick Corea and Bela Fleck.
Chick Corea and Bela Fleck.

 


SATURDAY, SEPT. 26:

Beat the Blerch  invades Lewis Morris Park in Morris Township at 8 am. What exactly is a Blerch? It’s that nagging monster that cooks up excuses to stop you from running 10Ks, half-marathons and marathons like these this morning. The whole thing was cooked up by The Oatmeal, a.k.a. cartoonist Matthew Inman.  He’s scheduled to run, and sign autographs. Registration is closed, but you can heckle costumed Blerches who will be chasing runners.

 

The Blerch, as conceived by The Oatmeal, a.k.a. Matthew Inman
The Blerch, as conceived by The Oatmeal, a.k.a. Matthew Inman

Doctors don’t make house calls anymore. But zoning board members do!  Want to see democracy in action? Take the Turtle Tour at 9 am, as the board of adjustment scopes out a Turtle Road parking lot that aspires to become an apartment building. Look for the pretty balloons– marking the height of the proposed structure–and collect autographs from your favorite volunteer officials.

The Morris Plains Farmers Market is back for its 13th season, every Saturday through Oct. 10, 2015, from 9 am to 2 pm.  It’s on the Merchant Block, at the Speedwell Avenue extension, just before the train trestle.

If you’re between ages 14-20, and are curious about a career in law, get your habeas corpus over to the County College of Morris campus in Morristown from 9 am to 12:30 pm. The Morris County Bar Foundation will presents judges, attorneys, law enforcement professionals and paralegals to explain career options. Admission: Free.  Register here.  At 30 Schuyler Place.

It’s National Public Lands Day. Why not celebrate by helping clean up Footes Pond and Lake Pocahontas, as part of Morristown’s Park Improvement Day? “Activities will include litter pick-ups, invasive species removal, brush and tree limb collections and general area sprucing-up,” says Kathleen Margiotta, who asks that you contact her so she can coordinate tasks.  Call 973-644-4363 for details.

Check out the third annual Shop Speedwell Open House, between 11 am and 2 pm. Explore Morris Township shops and restaurants between Mill Road and Hanover Avenue, and enjoy food, drinks, coupons and giveaways.

Shop SpeedwellThe Morris Museum presents Latino Americans: 500 Years of History, Pride and Prejudice, at 1 pm. A screening of the fifth episode of the Latino Americans series will be followed by a discussion led by Dr. Maria Picallo and Dr. Stuart Siegelman of the Community College of Morris. Free, with Museum admission: $10 for adults and $7 for children, students and senior citizens; free for Museum members. At 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township. Call (973) 971-3700 for more.

 


SUNDAY, SEPT. 27:

The Morristown Farmers Market celebrates its 25th season, from 8:30 am to 2 pm every Sunday through Nov. 22, 2015, in municipal lot 10. That’s behind the Morristown Post Office, accessible via Morris Street or Dumont Place.  Organized by the Morristown Partnership, the market features 16 area farms and specialty vendors, with entertainment offered once per month.

The Morristown Festival on the Green turns 21: Celebrate from from noon to 5 pm, rain or shine.  Check out 160 exhibitors, 22 food vendors and entertainment spanning three stages, a kiddie park and the historic Morristown Green. Municipal parking garages and street meters are free.  Acts include the Stone Soup Symphony Orchestra, the SteppingSTONE Band (a winner at the 2015 Morristown’s Got Talent show), the TropyBand Orquesta, and many more. Test your soccer skills with members of the New York Red Bulls Street Team Freestylers. See our preview.  The festival is organized by the Morristown Partnership.

The 2013 Morristown Festival on the Green. Photo by Jeff Sovelove
A scene from the 2013 Morristown Festival on the Green. Photo by Jeff Sovelove

 

Thomas Nast proves that 175 is the new 150. Photo by Stan Freeney.Thomas Nast proves that 175 is the new 150. Photo by Stan Freeny.
Thomas Nast proves that 175 is the new 150. Photo by Stan Freeny.

You know what they say– 175 is the new 150. Bring the kids to the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum  to celebrate cartoonist Thomas Nast’s 175th birthday, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Special activities for children include creating Nast character masks and designing a giant card. Curator Ryan Hyman also will answer questions about rare works by the man credited with giving us such icons as Santa Claus, Uncle Sam, the Democratic Donkey, and the Republican Elephant. Admission: Adults $8; Seniors and students $6; Children 6 – 12, $4. Members and children under 5 are free. At 45 Macculloch Ave. in Morristown. Call 973-538-2404 for more.

The Harmonium Choral Society hosts Vocal Health for Singing and
Public Speaking, with clinicians C. Hurt and Ann Rooney, from 2 pm to 5 pm at Grace Episcopal Church, 4 Madison Ave. at Kings Road in Madison.
Seats are limited, advanced registration is required. Admission: $35, includes light refreshments.

Hear works recorded and played by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Rudolf Friml and Fritz Kreisler on the Ampico Reproducing Piano, in the Guinness Collection  of the Morris Museum at 3 pm.  Tickets: $15, includes light refreshments. Registration required. At 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township. Call (973) 971-3700 for more.

 

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