Whether you are young in age or just young at heart, you can’t beat Halloween for spooky fun. And you can’t beat Greater Morristown for Halloween happenings.
You can attend a 19th century funeral and tour a 19th century graveyard. Swamp-walk in costume. Go skating in costume. Parade in costume. Bowl with pumpkins. Illuminate pumpkins. Listen to ghost stories. Flirt with Spiritualism.
There’s a Harvest Festival, too, and Johnny Mathis at the Mayo. Wish the Simon Gallery a Happy Birthday.
The possibilities are so abundant, it’s frightening! Crave even more thrills and chills? See our handy calendar.
THURSDAY, OCT. 25, 2012:
Nobody knows for sure who kicked the first soccer ball in the United States, but Harrison, Kearny and Newark have been dubbed “the cradle of American soccer,” and Kearny is known as “Soccer Town, U.S.A.” Get the scoop about soccer in the Garden State from historian Thomas McCabe at the Morristown and Morris Township Library, at 7 pm. Admission is free. The library is at 1 Miller Road in Morristown; call 973-538-6161 for more.
In the age of Google Maps and smart phones, it’s hard to imagine flying blind. But that’s what the Union Army was doing at the start of the Civil War. The growth of cartography–map-making–helped turned the tide. Rabbi Michael Friedman, a Yale-educated expert on the Civil War, will describe the role of maps in the historic conflict at the monthly meeting of the North Jersey Civil War Round Table. The meeting starts at 7:14 m at the Haggerty Education Center at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 53 E. Hanover Ave. in Morris Township, opposite the Morris County Library. Admission is $5. First-time guests and students attend for free.
FRIDAY, OCT. 26:
What better time than Halloween season to drop in on a 19t- century funeral? Attend the 1864 wake of Stephen Vail at Historic Speedwell in Morristown, from 6 pm to 9 pm. Follow the horse-drawn hearse, learn why wakes were held at home and see what traditions were involved. Historic Speedwell is at 333 Speedwell Ave. Public parking is at the corner or Cory Road and Speedwell. Admission is FREE, but registration is required. For more information, or to register, call: 973-285-6550.
Join the hoot owls and coyotes for a Spooky Swamp Walk through the Great Swamp, from 6 pm to 7:30 pm, starting at the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s Conservation Management Area, 1 Tiger Lily Lane, Harding. Cost is free, donations gratefully accepted. Costumes welcome! Call 973-538-3500 x22 for more.
The Simon Gallery, a fixture in Morristown’s art scene, is turning Sweet 16. Help Harry and Mary Ellen Simon celebrate from 6 pm to 9 pm at 48 Bank St. Call 973-538-5456 for details.
The trio Finest Kind will tap into tunes from England, Canada and the U.S., and genres ranging from Western Swing to Sacred Harp to Tin Pan Alley, at The Minstrel in Morris Township. Opener Jody Kruskal, meanwhile, will do things you never thought possible with a concertina! Showtime is 8 pm and admission is $7 (under 12 is free, at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road. Call 973-335-9489 for more.
Join rockin’ music, lights and games during Friday Night Skate’s Halloween Bash with DJ Earl from 8 pm to 10 pm at Mennen Sports Arena on Hanover Avenue in Morris Township. Earl will be giving out prizes such as lava lamps, T-shirts and more. Wearing a costume will provide you with extra chances to win a prize. The cost is $7 for regular admission and $3.50 for skate rental. For more information, call 97 3-326-7651 or visit www.morrisparks.net.
Whether it’s a romantic ballad or music from the Great American Songbook, Johnny Mathis engages audiences with his silky vocals and elegant stage presence that have made him one of the most popular crooners of the past 50 years. See him at 8 pm at the Mayo Performing Arts Center at 100 South St., Morristown. Tickets cost $85 to $150.
SATURDAY, OCT. 27:
Morristown High School’s football team (1-6) looks get back on track at home against Mendham at 1 pm. Go Colonials!
Al Stewart and his musical partner Dave Nachmanoff will bring their brand of folk rock to the Sanctuary Concerts stage at 8 pm. Their most recent album, Uncorked, was recorded live and takes a trip through Stewart’s musical back pages, both in terms of the musical catalog (they did have nearly 20 albums’ worth of songs to pick from), and in terms of performance style. Tickets cost $25 to the show at 240 Southern Boulevard in Chatham. For details, call 973-376-4946.
The Community band performs at Morristown’s Dublin Pub on Pine Street at 10 pm. Costumes welcome!
SUNDAY, OCT. 28:
The Morristown Farmers Market runs every Sunday from 8:30 am to 2 pm through Nov. 18. Each weekend, at least 15 vendors sell their best foods. Everything is in Parking Lot 10, between Morris Street and Dumont Place.
Don your costume and come enjoy a “historic haunting.” Listen to terrifying ghost stories and enjoy a variety of Halloween fun and games at Historic Speedwell in Morristown. Activities are from noon to 4 pm. For more information, call 973-285-6550.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on South Street in Morristown will host a free Fall Harvest Festival featuring pony rides, face painting, bulb planting and more from 10 am. to 1:30 pm. Volunteers from 4-H will be on hand with animals for visitors to meet and learn about, including rabbits, Seeing Eye puppies and reptiles. Children can navigate a maze and test their skills at games such as gourd hockey, pumpkin bowling and a beanbag toss. They can express their creativity at the crafts table, painting miniature pumpkins and tackling other artistic projects. In the garden, kids can plant daffodil bulbs. Those looking for a little bling can get a temporary tattoo and visit the face painters. And when festival-goers get hungry, they can decorate cookies and enjoy other snacks, including healthy treats from Chef Melody of The Main Event.
By the Victorian era, the ancient rituals of All Hallows’ Eve had evolved into a holiday celebrated by children and adults alike. A special exhibit at Acorn Hall will explain popular games played at Victorian Halloween parties. It will also highlight the 19th-century Spiritualist movement. Spiritualism asserted that spirits of the dead can and do communicate with the living. Spiritualism developed and reached its peak between the 1840s and the 1920s. It was most enthusiastically embraced and led by women, putting it at odds with established religions. The exhibit, which will run from October 1 to November 4, is included in the price of a tour ($6 adults, $5 seniors, $3 students, free for kids younger than 12) of Acorn Hall, 68 Morris Ave., Morristown.
Meanwhile, the Morris County Historical Society will hold its annual meeting at 12:30 pm at Acorn Hall, which will remain open for tours from 1-4 pm. The business meeting, which is open to the public, will include a brief presentation on the society’s activities and growth during the past year. Board members and officers will be elected. Nominated to membership on the Board of Trustees for four-year terms are Ed Englebart of Pequannock and Barry Cameron of Hackettstown. Bob Donaldson of Denville is up for re-election to a four-year term as trustee. Sylvia DeMonte-Bayard of Randolph is up for election for a two-year term as secretary. There is currently a vacancy for the two-year position of treasurer. All society members in good standing as of Sept. 28 may vote. The meeting will be followed by light refreshments and a chance to meet the society’s staff members. For more information, call 973-267-3465.
From 1 pm to 3:30 pm, Fosterfields Living Historical Farm on Kahdena Road in Morris Township brings you back in time to revisit how Halloween was once celebrated in the 20th century. Decorate Halloween cookies, play games, and enjoy a scavenger hunt around the farm. For more information, call 973-326-7645.
The Artist Baker will present “a whole lotta happy eatin'” from 2 pm to 5 pm with a five-course barbecue to benefit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Weather permitting, the event will be held outside. Sweet tea and spiced raspberry lemonade will be provided. Guests are asked to bring any stronger spirits they wish to drink. Cost is $85 and all proceeds benefit the Foodbank. Artist Baker owner Andrea Lekberg is working with Executive Chef Paul Kapner of the FoodBank to create the menu; a vegetarian menu will be available also. Space is limited; reserve a spot by calling 973-267-5540. Space is limited. Cost is $85; make checks payable to: Community FoodBank of New Jersey.
Take your mind off Frankenstorm with a friendlier Spooktacular: The 1931 horror classic Dracula, with a live soundtrack by the 50-piece Musica Morristown orchestra! It’s at Dolan Hall at the College of St. Elizabeth in Madison. A pre-show lecture starts at 2:15, and the performance begins at 3 pm. The program also includes Tchaikovsky’s haunting Pathetique symphony. Tickets are $25 to $50; K12 students are $12. Call 973-408-3978.
Morristown’s 70th annual Halloween Parade begins at 3 pm at Morristown High School, courtesy of Mayor Tim Dougherty’s recreation advisory committee and the town recreation department. The high school marching band will play, and prizes will be awarded for scariest, best-looking and most original costumes. Oh, yes, there will be candy. For ages 4 and younger; 5 to 7; 8 to 10; and 11 and older.
Who is buried in St. Peter’s graveyard, and how did they get there? Find out on the Fall Historical Graveyard Tour, from 5 pm to 6 pm. Bonnie-Lynn Nadzeika, former director of Morris County Historical Society and author of local history, will be joined by David Breslauer, former director of Macculloch Hall Museum, to lead visitors to both sides of the graveyard. Alfred Vail, father of the telegraph, now rests at St. Peter’s. So do many members of the Ford family, whose home served as George Washington’s winter headquarters for part of the Revolutionary War. And of course, George and Louisa Macculloch can’t be overlooked. They were crucial to the founding of St. Peter’s in Morristown. The tour starts on the Miller Road side of the church. Tickets are $12 each; please call for reservations: 973 631-5151. Mail checks to the Morris County Tourism Bureau, 6 Court St., Morristown.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Bring your carved pumpkin to the Vail Mansion reflecting pool at 110 South St., Morristown, at 5 pm for the third annual Pumpkin Illumination. Emceeing this year is NBC-TV meteorologist Janice Huff–who could prove pretty handy if Hurricane Sandy heads our way! Julie Pasqual will lead storytelling from 5:15 pm to 6 pm. Pro artists will stage a pumpkin carve-off at 5:30 pm. Mayor Tim Dougherty and First Lady Mary Dougherty will announce the most artistic pumpkin at 6 pm. And then, at 6:15 pm…marvel at the glowing illumination reflected in the pool. Brought to you by the Arts Council of the Morris Area.
Morristown’s Sunday Night Portrait Drawing Sessions have returned to ArtSpace at 14 Elm Street. Sessions run from 6 pm to 9 pm and feature live models and camaraderie for $10
Enjoy classic tales of ghostly fiction from W.W. Jacobs, Edgar Allen Poe, H.R. Wakefield and F. Marion Crawford, adapted by the Horse Trade Theatre Group as it presents RadioTheatre: Ghost Stories! at 7 pm at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown. RadioTheatre is not an authentic re-creation of old time radio shows. Rather, it is inspired by the artistry created during the Golden Years of Radio, when sound was king and storytelling — along with great voices, music and sound effects– and the individual imaginations of its audiences — were the primary ingredients used to provide a memorable, live, theatrical experience. Ghost Stories! will be held in conjunction with the Pumpkin Illumination festivities held at the Vail Mansion reflecting pool at 6:30 pm. This event may be too scary for children younger than 10. Tickets cost $12 to $20.
THE WEEK AHEAD:
Pet owners can learn about New Jersey’s “doggie seat belt” law at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the Morris County Library, at 30 E. Hanover Ave. in Whippany. Call 973-285-6930 for more information.
Take the kids trick or treating in downtown Morristown from 3 pm to 5 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 31–Halloween. Shops will hand out candy in an annual event organized by the Morristown Partnership.
Sharon Sheridan contributed to this report.
