Take a chance to win a Harley!

Have you ever wanted to win a Harley -- and to cruise the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut amid the beautiful firecolors of fall?  If this is a dream of yours then take a chance with the clever raffle offered by the New England Carousel Museum (http://www.thecarouselmuseum.org) in Bristol.

The New England Carousel Museum draws the winning ticket for the lucky winner of its annual raffle on November 19,2016 at 7 pm! The 2500 tickets that benefit  the Carousel Museum are running out, fast ---  to avoid disappointment  buy your tickets today...it might be your lucky day!

For only $20.00 per ticket, you have a chance at this year's first prize,a splendid 2016 Harley Davidson FLHX Street Glide motorcycle.  The second prize is a 5' x 8' trailer, and the third prize is a $100.00 gift certificate redeemable at Yankee Harley Davidson in Bristol. Everyone is welcome to join them for the drawing but the winner need not be present. The winner is called immediately upon completion of the drawing.

Tickets can be purchased on line by visiting their homepage (http://www.thecarouselmuseum.org), just scroll down the page and download the raffle form.  Fill out the form and send it along with your check for $20 to: The New England Carousel Museum, 95 Riverside Avenue, Bristol, CT 06010 to receive your ticket and a chance to win a Harley Davidson FLHX Street Glide motorcycle! Make sure to make your check payable to the Carousel Museum!

The Museum is located at 95 Riverside Avenue, Route 72 in Bristol. For more information, call the Carousel Museum at (860) 585-5411. Fax: 860-314-0483, E-mail: info@thecarouselmuseum.org, Web site: www.thecarouselmuseum.org.

For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com

About the New England Carousel Museum

The New England Carousel Museum was founded as a nonprofit educational organization in 1990, in Bristol, Connecticut. Visitors to the Museum will tour two floors of fascinating displays, exhibits and galleries including: The New England Carousel Museum, The Museum of Fire History, The Fine Art Gallery and The Greek Museum of Art and History. In season the New England Carousel Museum also manages the historic Bushnell Park Carousel in Hartford CT.

Story Barn: Lost in Translation @ Greenwich Historical Society

In connection with its current exhibition An Eye to the East: The Inspiration of Japan, the Greenwich Historical Society's fall Story Barn will revolve around the theme "Lost in Translation," featuring stories based on the concept that even our simplest attempts at communications can sometimes go awry. This event is taking place on November 17; doors open at 7 p.m. and the presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. 

One of the Historical Society's most popular programs, Story Barn offers an evening of true personal stories served up in a cabaret-like setting without benefit of notes or screens. Emceed by Moth story coach, Nantucket Comedy Festival cofounder and comedienne Bonnie Levison, the progam offers fun, thought-provoking entertainment that puts a decidedly contemporary spin on oral history.

Like life, storytellers offer up a variety of experiences based on a given theme, many with a decidedly Greenwich twist. In the past, topics have run the gamut from youthful misadventure, to a dastardly bridegroom, a grand dame's after-hours Christmas shopping expedition and a preteen's 1960s quest for tight chinos (think 'West Side Story') at some of Greenwich's toniest emporiums. Protagonists need not be human: Stories have also featured a very ungrateful chipmunk, a supernatural parrot and a law-breaking woodchuck.

The cost of this event is $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers and reservation by contacting 203-869-6899 Ext. is strongly encouraged. Beer, wine and light refreshments are included in the price of admission.

Annual Sundown Ski Patrol SKI SWAP, November 4-6, 2016

As the weather turns colder, December and Ski season will be here before you know it. To be prepared to hit the slopes this year, check out the annual Sundown Ski Patrol Ski Swap that is taking place on November 4 (Friday) through November 6 (Sunday), at Ski Sundown in New Hartford, CT located at 126 Ratlum Road, off Routes 44 and 219. This swap is the longest running and one of the largest in New England.

Sell your outgrown ski/snowboard jackets and pants, skis, snowboards, and boots! Buy new and gently used clothing and equipment! There are great deals to be had on Kids, Youth and Adult items.

Swap Hours are Friday, November 4 from 4pm-9pm, Saturday, November 5 from 10am – 8pm, and Sunday, November 6 from 10am-4pm.

Area ski shops will also be bringing inventory for sale.

Cash and Checks will be accepted (no credit cards). An ATM is available in the lodge.

The Ski Sundown Ski Patrol is a non-profit organization dedicated to the medical care for the skiing public at Ski Sundown in New Hartford, Ct. The annual Ski Swap is the primary fund raising event for the year to provide funds for medical supplies and training.

For more information visit the Ski Sundown Ski Patrol website: www.skisundownnsp.org. To sign up for an monthly newsletter on what to see and do in Litchfield Hills visit www.litchfieldhills.com

Danger Came Smiling @ Franklin Street Artworks

For the exhibition Danger Came Smiling: Feminist art and popular music historian Maria Elena Buszek brings together work by contemporary artists who use popular music as a medium, subject, and reference point for activist messages. The show, which will be on view through– January 1, 2017, takes the title of an album by the pioneering, unabashedly feminist punk band Ludus, led by artist Linder Sterling, whose career—emerging in the first wave of punk in the 1970s—reflects the approaches in this exhibition.

By the late 1970s, visual artists like Robert Longo, Barbara Kruger, and Jean-Michel Basquiat started bands, and musicians like DEVO, Talking Heads, and Ann Magnuson treated their music as performance art, blurring the lines between popular music and visual art in ways that have profoundly affected contemporary art ever since.  The “No Wave” culture that emerged in this era is rife with examples: performers were as likely to present their work at the Danceteria as the Whitney Museum, and venues like Club 57, The Pyramid, and the Mudd Club and galleries like Fun, Gracie Mansion, and Artists Space all hosted both exhibitions and concerts, where popular music was emerging as its own “new medium.”

Years later, writer and Mudd Club habitué Kathy Acker would advise the young feminist art student Kathleen Hanna: “If you want people to hear what you’re doing…you should be in a band.”  Hanna proceeded to become a prime mover in what soon became known as the Riot Grrrl movement by way of her band Bikini Kill, and continues performing agit-pop in bands like Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin.

Hanna’s career is just the most visible of subsequent generations of feminist artists inspired by popular music, which this exhibition will address through the work of artists like Wynne Greenwood, Eleanor King, Shizu Saldamando, and Xaviera Simmons, who use punk, hip-hop, electronica, and jazz as part of their studio practice, and a reflection of their politics. 

The Franklin Street Works café will also include an audio portion that serves as a “curated mixtape” of music that relates to the artists and history on display in the exhibition.

The gallery is open Tues. - Sun. 12 noon to 5 p.m. and is located on 45 Franklin Street in Stamford.  There are 3-hour parking meters just outside the entrance to the gallery on Franklin Street that are free after 6 p.m., and 25 cents per 15 minutes before 6 p.m. There is also a lot with an attendant on Franklin Street just a couple of doors down on the right side of the street (closer to Broad Street) from Franklin Street Works. Rates are variable. There are also a number of parking garages nearby. The nearest are:Target  Entrance on Broad; $1 for the first 2 hours, then $2/hour, $11/day. Summer Street Garage Entrances on Lower Summer, Broad or Washington Blvd. Northbound;  $1/hour, $9/day, there is also an evening rate of $3/evening  Sat. & Sun. are free until 5pm.

For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Flags of Valor in New Milford

In honor of Veterans,  and in the memory of our Military Veterans and those men and women actively serving our country today, the Kiwanis Club Foundation of Greater Danbury, Inc. will erect the Kiwanis Flags of Valor on the New Milford Historical Society and the Town of New Milford's lawn at the north end of the Green. 

The Field of Valor will include at least 300 full size (3 foot by 5 foot) made in the USA American flags and will be on display from November 5 through December 3, 2016. All are invited to sponsor anyone they would like to HONOR with one of these keepsake flags. Your Honoree and sponsor name will be proudly displayed on a yellow ribbon with each flag. Major sponsors will be identified with on-site signage and up to ten flags for their honorees.

All proceeds from the $30 sponsorship support the efforts and the programs of the Kiwanis Club Foundation of Greater Danbury, Inc, 501c. Our programs include; Bringing Up Grades, High School Key Clubs in 6 towns and the Eliminate Program, College Scholarships. We are a volunteer organization whose mission is "To serve the children of the world, one community at a time." Find more information about Kiwanis or the Flags of Valor on our website www.kiwanisct.com or email ltorganizing.Linda@gmail.com.

American Artisan Show in Wilton

Once again the Wilton Historical Society is hosting the renowned American Artisan Show on Saturday, November 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, November 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year marks the 31st year of this popular annual event that is being held at the Wilton Historical Society located on 224 Danbury Rd. in Wilton. The admission is is $10 per person; young adults under 18 are free.

There will be more than forty artisans whose creations  will be fittingly set in the Society's charming 18th and 19th century buildings. The artisans are from across the country and will present arts, crafts and designs that have been part of American fine handwork since the 18th century.

Items for sale will include: Shaker-style furniture, pottery, baskets, candles, quilts, Windsor chairs, rugs, floor cloths, art, tavern signs, fine jewelry – and even beautifully turned pepper mills and custom made dollhouses; best of all, they are available for purchase just in time for gift giving session or for a special treat for yourself.  Unusual items such as art furniture by Troy Brook Visions, Sailor's Valentines, Redware, tramp art and wearable works of art composed of unusual combinations of textiles are just a few of the things available. 

For a complete list of artisans visit their website.

Take a walk around historic Torrington with new audio tour

There is nothing more refreshing than a walk on a brisk day in a small city that offers great window shopping -- shopping and interesting architecture along the way. To improve on this experience, the Torrington Historical Society has installed of 21 audio tour signs in Historic Downtown Torrington.

The audio tour signs are permanently placed on each of 21 historic buildings and sites highlighted on the tour route. Each sign has a unique QR (quick response) code that can be read using a smartphone and will connect the user to an audio recording about the history of each building and site. The QR codes are located on 8 x 10 inch signs attached to each building on the tour or on sign posts near the sidewalk in front of featured sites; the audio is about two minutes long.

The audio tour allows residents and visitors to learn about the history of these sites that gives Downtown Torrington it's unique character and charm. 

Although the tour can be started at any of the 21 features attractions, it has been designed to begin with the Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum at 192 Main Street where free parking is available. The audio tour is a partial loop of about ½ mile. The Tour starts with the Hotchkiss- Fyler House Museum at 192 Main Street and progresses down Main Street to Center Square also known as the Five Points Intersection.  At this point, the tour makes a short side trip up East Main Street as far as the Venetian Restaurant and then  doubles back to the center of town.  At this point, the tour crosses the Naugatuck River on Center Bridge and continues onto Coe Memorial Park and the Torrington Library.  In the final stretch, the tour re-crosses Center Bridge and goes up Water Street and turns right onto Prospect Street where it ends at the Allen G. Brady House located at 258 Prospect St.

For a complete list of featured sites visit www.walktour.info. To sign up for a monthly newsletter on things to do and see in Litchfield Hills visit www.litchfieldhills.com

Victorian Tea - From Downton Abbey to Camelot

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will host its annual Victorian Tea on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. This event will feature a talk by textiles, fashion merchandising, and design expert Susan J. Jerome titled, From Downton Abbey to Camelot, at 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, CT.

Susan J. Jerome is Collections Manager at the University of Rhode Island Historic Textile and Costume Collection. Her talk will explore how the highly popular television show, Downton Abbey, illustrates the clothing worn by the aristocracy during the first years of the 20^th century, while Jacqueline Kennedy reigned over a modern American gentry in a parallel Camelot, inspiring designers even as social forces re-defined fashion’s inspirations. The Mansion’s Victorian Tea will feature a traditional English tea menu by Susan Kane Catering and a hat contest with prizes.

This fascinating talk on clothing fit for royalty, surrounded by the timeless splendor of this iconic National Historic Landmark, is a perfect pairing to a quintessential English tea and an afternoon not to be missed and sure to brighten an afternoon in November. 

Tickets for the Tea are $35 for members and $45 for non-members. Proceeds will support the Museum’s artistic, cultural and educational programs. For Victorian Tea reservations please contact: info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, 203-838-9799.

To sign up for a monthly newsletter on all there is to see and do in Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County visit To sign up for a monthly newsletter on all there is to see and do in Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County visit www.fairfieldcountyct.comhttp://www.fairfieldcountyct.com