SAXTON B. LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
319 Route 87 Columbia, CT 06237
Phone: 860 228 0350 Fax: 860 228 1569 E-mail: staff@columbiactlibrary.org

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Keeping you up-to-date on what's happening at your library. We invite you to join in the conversation!
OCTOBER 25, 2010
Festival!
I hear it all the time. Lots of New Englander’s love fall and I’ll have to agree. It’s a beautiful time of year with the changing colors of the leaves and the clean, crisp weather. It makes you want to get out in the good outdoors and do something. Jumping intopiles of leaves is a bit beyond me these days but there’s plenty more to do with all the wonderful festivals held this time of year.

One of my favorite fall places to go is to see the Annual Scarecrow Festival on the green at the Publick House, Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Considering this was the 21st year it amazes me that people can come up with new and creative scarecrows. It’s definitely a family event and fun to visit. The scarecrows are crafted by groups, families, businesses, artisans and individuals with visitors voting for their favorites in each of several categories and prizes awarded at The Harvest Festival.

My favorite creations this year are below. The  flower is made of trace hands and includes each contributing child's name (hard to see in the photo). I wasn’t there for the vote this year so am not certain who won but they were all deserving as far as I’m concerned.








Another great event right in our own back yard is Haunted Happenings in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem claims there’s no place in the world who celebrates Halloween with such fun and magic as they do and I’d have to agree. Salem is an interesting place to visit anytime of year but October the city is besieged with visitors. Though some come to hear the story behind the 1692 trials and hangings of those accused of being witches, most are looking for the festive side of Halloween. Salem is rich in history. Besides the gruesome hangings of innocents accused of being witches, it has awesome architecture, an old maritime history, a beautiful harbor and of course, The House of Seven Gables which was built by a sea captain, John Turner by 1668. The house was the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel of the same name. Salem is home to many practicing witches but their numbers swell on October 31st when over a thousand witches come to Salem to march to Gallows Hill where the innocents were hanged. A Halloween visit is worth the trip at least once in a lifetime.

A couple of friends and I joined a bus tour out of Hampton this past weekend and joined the crowds of Halloween revelers. Here’s a picture of one of the best costumed people I saw. There were quite a few witches running around and I got a kick out of the different renditions of what witch looks like.



Last but not least I’d like to mention Roger Williams Zoo, Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular. It is, well, spectacular! Thousands of carved, illuminated pumpkins are on view throughout a winding path in the zoo. Tickets are sold separately for this event held this year
October 7 – 31, 2010, nightly, rain or shine, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. (trail closes by 11 p.m.). It is not to be missed!

Want to find somewhere to go yourself? Check out these materials available at our library.

Yankee Magazine – always lists the best of the best of what’s happening in New England.
Historic festivals : a traveler's guide by George Cantor ; with foreword by Armando Moreno.
Though this is a 1996 edition, it’s still got lots of great suggestions.



USA 101 : a guide to America's iconic places, events, and festivals by Gary McKechnie.


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