Gregory James Gallery Holiday Selection

If you are looking for an "artful holiday" check out the holiday selection at the Gregory James Gallery -- Fine Art & the Art of Framing, located on Rte 202 in New Milford, has been offering custom picture framing and fine art exhibitions for prominent regional artists for nearly twenty years. The gallery will be exhibiting select works by gallery artists through the end of the year. The prices for original works range from $200 to $10,000.

Thomas Adkins

The Gallery artists offer a wide range of artistic styles. A few artists represented include: The late Woldemar Neufeld (1908-2002), New Preston, CT, Christopher Magadini, Croton-On-Hudson, NY, James Coe, Hannacroix, NY, Bill Rice, Warren, CT, Sheila Tintera, Jackson, WY, Thomas Adkins, Southbury, CT, Scott Zuckerman, Cornwall Bridge, CT, Ralph Della-Volpe, Millbrook, NY, Meg Lindsay, Irvington, NY, and Robert Ferrucci, Brewster, NY. 

Christopher Magadini

For more information about the Gallery artists or the Gallery’s custom picture-framing service, please call 860-354-3436 and visit GregoryJamesGallery.com. Gregory James Gallery is located at 93 Park Lane Road (Rte 202), New Milford, CT 06776.

For more information and holiday event information taking place in Litchfield Hills visit www.litchfieldhills.com.

Holiday Backstage Tour of the Palace Theatre in Waterbury

This month's backstage tour of the Palace Theatre offers patrons that have signed up a special treat...seeing the Palace decorated for the holidays.  The tour will take place Saturday, Dec. 12, from 11:00a.m. to 12:30p.m. and will explore nine decades of on stage history and backstage mystique. 

Built in 1920 and recorded in the National Register of Historic Places, the Palace Theater is known for its grand architectural design. Designed in a Renaissance Revival style, the building features an eclectic mix of Greek, Roman, Arabic and Federal motifs along with marble staircases, gilded domed ceilings, cut glass chandeliers and intricate plaster relief details that make the Palace one of the most striking performing arts spaces in the state.

Patrons attending the December tour will see the onstage winter wonderland where families participating in the Palace's "Family Fun Day" will be skating on the stage. For an additional $12, attendees can stay after the tour and take part in the afternoon's family friendly activities, which include holiday crafts, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, cupcake decorating, story time, live entertainment, and the day's main event of skating on the stage.

Each Palace Theater tour is approximately 90 minutes, kid-friendly, and led by a team of engaging volunteers well-versed in the theater's rich history, architectural design and entertaining anecdotal information. In addition to exploring the theater, Poli Club and lobby spaces, patrons will also have the opportunity to visit the star dressing rooms and view the venue's backstage murals that were painted and signed by past performers and Broadway touring companies.

The guided walking tour covers five floors of history and architecture, including grand staircases from the 1920's. While elevator access is available, guests with walking disabilities or health concerns are asked to inform the Box Office ahead of time, so that the tour guides can make the proper accommodations, or offer a modified program featuring a 30-minute tour of the main floor and a 60-minute visual presentation.

Due to the tours' increasing popularity, reservations are required in advance. Each tour is $5.00 per person and single tickets for individuals or groups of 10 or less can be purchased online at www.palacetheaterct.org. Larger groups are asked to contact the Box Office at 203-346-2000 to book their reservations.

For more holiday information on Litchfield Hills www.litchifieldhills.com

Palace Theater Hosts “Rock the Rink” Event with Skating on the Stage & Dueling Pianos

Get your “holly jollies” on this winter with dueling pianos, skating on the stage, and naughty-but-nice holiday spirits during the Palace Theater’s fun and festive ROCK THE RINK holiday party on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 6p.m. to 9p.m. Tickets to the event are $25 in advance ($30 at the door) and can be purchased online at www.palacetheaterct.org, by phone at 203-346-2000, or in person at the Box Office, 100 East Main St. in Waterbury.

Party goers that purchase tickets to the holiday-themed event will be transported to an indoor winter wonderland decorated with white lights, pine trees, snowfall and the magical opportunity to skate on the Palace Theater stage. Attendees can bring their own skates or receive a complimentary rental pair, and will take turns gliding across a 20ft by 40ft indoor rink, while stopping to pose for selfies with Santa and enjoy sweet treats, snacks, and a free signature holiday spirit.

For those who prefer to skip the skates, guests can choose to spend the night singing and sipping along to their favorite pop and holiday hits performed by Keys to the City’s dueling piano players in the theater’s orchestra lounge. Attendees are also encouraged to don their busiest and brightest holiday sweaters for a chance to win theater tickets during the night’s fun and festive Ugly Sweater Contest.

The adult only event is for guests ages 21 and older, and will take place in the evening following the theater’s “Winter Wonderland Family Fun Day,” which offers families an affordable afternoon of holiday entertainment including skating on the stage, photos with Santa, cupcake decorating, craft stations and more from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

ROCK THE RINK is presented in collaboration with the Waterbury Regional Chamber and Young Professionals of Greater Waterbury Region (Y.P.O.W.R.) and is sponsored in part by MacDermid and Powerstation Events. For tickets and event updates, visit www.palacetheaterct.org.

For more area holiday event information www.litchfieldhills.com

Holiday Express: Opening Night! at Fairfield Museum and History Center

A long awaited tradition in Fairfield County, the Holiday Express is opening tonight at the Fairfield Museum and History Center located on 370 Beach Road in Fairfield from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A Fairfield Museum holiday tradition! Kids and adults alike will delight in the magic of this wondrous display of model trains winding around a spectacularly decorated tree and through beautiful holiday scenery. Holiday Express Schedule is Weekends: Saturday, December 5 – Sunday, January 3: 10am - 4pm and Weekdays: Monday, December 7 – 23: 11am - 1pm, Holiday Vacation Hours: Thursday, December 24 – Friday, January 1: 10am - 4pm (including Christmas Eve & New Year's Eve). Closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day

On December 4, visit the museum  before or after the Fairfield Tree Lighting and be one of the first to see this year's 10th Annual Holiday Express Train Show! Refreshments and a craft activity are included. This year the Museum has been beautifully decorated by Luxevents and Co.

For more holiday information visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Wine and Chocolate Party at White Silo Farm Winery

The White Silo Farm Winery  is located on 32 Rte. 137 in the bucolic village of Sherman is hosting a Wine and Chocolate Party on December 19 to celebrate the end of the year holidays.

What better way to celebrate the holidays than with a wine and chocolate pairing featuring Guittard chocolate selections imported from all parts of the world!  A friend of the folks at White Silo,  Laura. a real chocolate expert, from Guittard will be on hand to help guide guests through the chocolate pairings and answer all your chocolate questions. They will also be serving cheese, fruit, and White Silo mustards.and jams, and other finger foods.

This year they will have 2 separate tastings at 1 PM and 3:30 PM. Spots are limited at each session to 40 guests so reserve your spot early!

Candle Light Tour of the Historic Putnum Cottage

The Putnam Hill Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is sponsoring a Candlelight Open House at Putnam Cottage located on 243 East Putnam Road in Greenwich on December 7, 2014 from 4 to 7 PM.

There will be Revolutionary soldiers, colonial music, children's crafts, holiday snacks and tours of the Cottage with costumed docents. Putnam Cottage is located at 243 East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich. For this event parking is available next door at the Junior League of Greenwich, YWCA, and across the street at Christ Church. There is also parking behind the cottage at First Church of Christ Scientist, 11 Park Place, there is a gate leading to the cottage. Admission is $5 per person and is used to assist in the preservation of the Cottage.

This bright red house on the Boston Post Road has had a long and colorful history. It was originally built in the 17th century and has grown over the years into its current size and shape. The house has long been associated with General Israel Putnam and his heroic escape from the British during the Revolutionary War. By the middle of the 19th century, the link was firmly established in the community. The house was opened to the public on the centennial of Putnam's ride and filled with relics from the colonial era. The house was opened as a museum in 1906 under the name Putnam Cottage. Generations of visitors have come to know the building by this name.

For more holiday event information www.visitfairfieldountyct.com

Can you smell the gingerbread in Kent Connecticut's Litchfield Hills?

The sweet scents will tease your sense of smell as you enter the quaint village of Kent CT. The rolling pins are spinning and creative minds of all ages are working hard to create over 40 Gingerbread Houses. Ovens are filled to capacity and working overtime to get ready for the ANNUAL KENT GINGERBREAD FESTIVAL beginning on November 27 and running through December 24.

Gingerbread Houses of all shapes and sizes will be on display in many of Kent's beautifully decorated shop windows until December 24. As you approach Kent you will find yourself in what looks like a movie set of the perfect little New England town, twinkling lights will guide you through the unique one of a kind shops. What an enjoyable way to do your holiday shopping. 

Everyone is invited to follow the Gingerbread Walk through town to view imaginative and ingenious gingerbread delights. Visitors can enjoy the displays as they navigate the gingerbread map and solve the mysterious riddle the Ginger Girls have cooked up this year. At the end, we need you to vote for your favorite creations. Displays are guaranteed to delight all ages!

Should you be hungry after your Gingerbread  Walk there are many temptations that will lure you, from a chocolate shop and baked goods to delicious culinary delights in one of Kent's many restaurants & cafés. 

For more holiday information and the latest on Freddie visit www.kentct.com

Alpaca creations arrive at the Privet House in New Preston

The Privet House, a charming shop located on Rte. 45 in the center of New Preston, a bucolic village below Lake Waramaug is a wonderful emporium of home goods, antiques and curiosities.  Just in time for the holiday season, the Privet House has partnered with Alicia Adams Alpaca from November 20- January 3.   Alicia Adams Alpaca specializes in the production of alpaca wool ultimately woven or knitted into personal luxuries... from throws and blankets to capes and ponchos.

Alpaca is on the verge of being rediscovered as an under-the-radar luxurious alternative to cashmere. Due to its longer fibers, it is actually softer, lighter and warmer than cashmere, a commodity whose quality has declined with the price.

 In addition to throws, blankets and pillows, Alicia Adams Alpaca turns out accessories and clothing for men, women and children. All Alicia Adams Alpaca products are made in the United States and Peru, where the firm actively supports artisan families and their communities while preserving a pre-Incan tradition that worships alpaca wool as “the gold of the Andes”.

For the Privet House, it was an easy decision to feature this fabulous lifestyle brand that is dedicated to alpaca wool. Alicia Adams Alpaca is family-owned and operated and local to the Northeast.  Best of all, it is a proponent of artisans, that supports handmade products and goods as opposed to those that are mass produced. For more information on the Privet House visit their website.

For area event information on Litchfield Hills visit their website.

Great Trains Holiday Exhibit at the Wilton Historical Society

Black Friday’s Best Deal is Time with your Children and Grandchildren . . . Wilton’s favorite train exhibit and A Christmas Carol return for a day of family fun.  Great Trains Holiday Exhibit at the Wilton Historical Society opens Friday, November 27, 12-4  

The much anticipated Great Trains Holiday Exhibit: An Interactive Wonderland will open the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 27 from 12 - 4. Dressed for the holidays, the Society’s historic 18th and 19th century buildings are transformed into a train-lovers delight with eight different train layouts winding through tiny towns with many different kinds of buildings, tunnels, cable cars, and two working Ferris Wheels! New this year: a Wilton-themed HO layout; expanded “O” gauge layout; and a working Lego train set. The interactive display enchants visitors of all ages with lots of buttons to push and knowledgeable “train engineers” on hand to “talk trains”.   In a special train room for the youngest guests, there are buttons galore plus Thomas the Tank Engine and a Brio set for hands-on fun.

The Great Trains Holiday Exhibit will run from Friday, November 27, 2015 through Monday, January 18, 2016 on Thursdays – Saturdays, 10-4; Sundays 12-4; and Wednesdays by appointment. Admission is free for members of the Society, and $10 for non-member adults. Wilton Historical Society, 224 Danbury Road/Route 7, Wilton, CT 06897   More information at www.wiltonhistorical.org

To add to the holiday fun, A Christmas Carol One-Man Show by Dickens’ Descendant Gerald Charles Dickens will be performed  on Friday, November 27 at Wilton High School’s Clune Center at 7 p.m.   This heartwarming show-of-the-season is performed by Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great grandson of literary master Charles Dickens. Gerald, an actor and producer hailing from Oxford, England, will be performing his captivating rendition of this timeless holiday classic. Presented at 7:00 pm, the event benefits the Wilton Historical Society. Admission is $15; tickets are available at www.historicalchristmasbarn.com.

The Historical Christmas Barn is located in the historic Lambert House at 150 Danbury Road (corner of Route. 7 and Route 33), Wilton, Connecticut, and is open Monday – Saturday: 10 – 5 and Sunday 11-5.  For more holiday event information visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com.

Westport's Windows to the Past

Westport Historical Society will unveil an exhibit of photographs of historic Westport homes taken in the 1930's under the auspices of the federal Works Progress Administration.  All of the homes were at least 100 years old when photographed, making the exhibit a rare peek into the town's past. To show how the homes have changed, the WPA images will be displayed alongside photos taken today.

In all, the exhibit will include photographs of 131 dwellings. Some will be displayed in the Society's Betty R. & Ralph Sheffer Gallery and the Mollie Donovan Gallery. The remainder will be set aside in folders for visitors to look through. In addition, there will be booklets of historical information on the homes and their owners.

One of the sets of photos is of a house on Long Lots Road at the corner of Long Lots and North Avenue. Built in 1840, it was home to generations of Westport's Adams family, which traced its ancestry to a Greens Farms clergyman who met twice with George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The family tree also includes the founder of Adams Academy, which still stands on North Morningside Drive, the Sherwood triplets, clipper ship captains who plied the seven seas. More recently, this house was owned by Martha Stewart.

Window to Westport's Past and Present, runs through March 26, Mon-Fri, 10 am to 4pm, Saturday, Noon -4 pm, Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place, across from Town Hall. For more information about WHS: www.westporthistory.org. 203-222-1424.

For more area event information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

KENT’S 3RD ANNUAL CHAMPAGNE STROLL ON THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

As nostalgic as a Currier and Ives lithograph, so is the town of Kent, CT during the holidays. What better way to experience the town than to come to the 3^rd Annual Kent Holiday Champagne Stroll, November 27 & 28, 5 – 8 pm.

Considered the benchmark for all holiday strolls, the town of Kent offers 30 shops serving 30 champagnes and bubblies, and offering 30 different promotions and sales. Kent has distinctive shops operated by the owners themselves. You can find everything from stylish clothing, teas and coffees, jewelry to cowboy boots. Many of the shops are featuring special sales and promotional events. R.T. Facts will be holding a drawing of items from their unique design line. Rolling River Antiques is 20% off storewide and Fitness Matters has a special price on their training sessions. And that’s just the beginning!

Strollers begin by visiting The Swift House, 12 Maple Street, to check in and purchase a champagne flute and map to use for the evening. The map divides the town into four zones. Visit at least three businesses in each zone, get your map stamped and your name will be entered into the drawing for one of three great bottles of champagnes: a Dom Perignon 2004 valued at over $200, a Tattinger Brut Française and a Roederer “Estate” vintage. At the end of the evening, strollers are invited to stay and enjoy dinner at one of the many great  restaurants in this charming Connecticut town.

Interested parties can register on-line at www.kentstroll.com. The ticket price is $10 for advanced registration. If you purchase your ticket at the door the price is $12. For more information, contact the Kent Chamber of Commerce, 860-592-0061 or Anne McAndrew, 860-927-3377.

For more holiday event information www.litchfieldhills.com