Author: Janet

I like to share travel deals, destinations, and travel tips!

The Spirit of the Holidays Watertown CT in Litchfield Hills

On Friday 12/10 and Saturday 12/11 Watertown/Oakville will celebrate the first annual “The Spirit of the Holidays” a town-wide event celebrating the spirit of peace, the spirit of community, the spirit of giving and the spirit of celebration and fun.

Friday night will open with a children’s walk and candlelight sign at the Gazebo. The Watertown Methodist Church will host A Night in Bethlehem and the stores will stay open late for holidays shopping with specials and hospitality.

On Saturday, more than 80 artists and craftartists will be at the Depot Square Mall; Watertown Methodist Church and the American Legion. Live music will be hosted at The Father’s House, 523 Main Street from 12noon until 7pm, along with free gift wrapping and open house. There will be open houses all over Town with great buys and refreshments. Crafts and Open Gym for children will be in several locations.

Bring the family – make this a new holiday tradition.
More information at Watertown Recreation 860-945-5246 or breen@watertownct.org

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Christmas at Torrington CT’s Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum in Litchfield Hills

Decorated in turn-of-the-century Christmas style, the elegant Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum, 192 Main Street in Torrington, will open its doors to holiday visitors beginning Saturday, December 11, 2010. The museum staff will offer guided tours of the house, built in 1900 and home to the Hotchkiss and Fyler families for more than half a century. Tours will be conducted Wednesday through Sunday and will start every half hour from 12 noon to 3:30 pm.

Christmas at the Hotchkiss-Fyler House features lavish holiday decorations typical of the early twentieth century. Garlands of greenery trim the staircase, doorways, and mantels and floral arrangements, wreaths, and poinsettias adorn the richly appointed interior. The dining room table is set for a Christmas dinner with the fine china, crystal, silverware, and linens that belonged to Gertrude Fyler Hotchkiss.

A number of Christmas trees will be on display throughout the house, including
a table-top tree in the sunroom decorated with late nineteenth and early twentieth century ornaments on loan from a private collector as well as a full-size tree in the reception room with hand-made Victorian-style ornaments and vintage trimmings from the Torrington Historical Society’s collection on its branches, antique toys gathered below.

The second floor of the house will feature items from the Society’s collection that reflect the life styles and fashions of the 1920s through the 1940s. In addition, a tree will be decorated with handmade ornaments based on early twentieth century Christmas advertisements from Torrington shops.

Admission is $7 for adults, free for members and children under 12. The house is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and on Christmas Day, December 25th. For more information, call (860) 482-8260.

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Christmas Display at the Osborne Homestead Museum Litchfield Hills CT

Derby, CT –
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP) invites you to take a
break from the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations by coming to enjoy the sights and sounds of Treasured Holiday Traditions showcased at the Osborne Homestead Museum this holiday season.

This annual seasonal event at the museum delightfully depicts scenes of customs and a way of life prior to computers, cell phones, and other more recent inventions. The museum is open for special holiday guided tours November 26 – December 19, Thursday through Sunday, 10 AM – 4 PM. The home will be even more magical on the Friday evenings of December 3, 10, and 17, when the museum will present “Twilight Tours,” highlighting the special glow of the decorations in the evening hours from 4PM to 6:30PM. Admission is FREE; donations are accepted.

Each year, as they have done for more than twenty years, volunteers create beautiful holiday displays. Talented, committed members representing the Ansonia Garden Club, the Olde Ripton Garden Club of Shelton, the Oxford Garden Club, the Naugatuck Garden Club, the Roxbury/Bridgewater Garden Club, the Derby Garden Society and the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club of Woodbury beautifully decorate this historic homestead for the winter holidays.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the museum was the home of Frances Osborne Kellogg, who lived in the house her entire life, from 1876 to 1956. Exhibits include fine art and antiques collected by her family.

The Osborne Homestead Museum is located at 500 Hawthorne Avenue, Derby, CT and is operated through the CT DEP’s Division of State Parks and Public Outreach. Group tours for adults and youth programs are available during the weekdays. For directions, further information or to schedule a group of eight visitors or more please call (203) 734-2513.

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Connecticut Ballet Company Performs the Nutcracker in Fairfield County CT

The Nutcracker Ballet is a holiday tradition in Fairfield County Connecticut and what better way to celebrate the season than to attend a performance by the Connecticut Ballet. On Saturday, December 11 at 2:00pm & 7:00pm and Sunday, December 12 at 1:00pm at the Stamford Center for the Arts’ Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic Street, Stamford the Connecticut Ballet will perform the classic full-length ballet, The Nutcracker. A special holiday discount of 50% for children ages 12 and under for the December 11th 7:00pm only was announced by the Connecticut Ballet.

Artistic Director Brett Raphael’s production has been called ‘beguiling and a feast for the eyes’ by the Connecticut Post and stars American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Julie Kent and Jose Manuel Carreño, appearing at all three public performances. The ballet also features a corps de ballet of 30 professional dancers and over 100 children from the Fairfield County region. In the spirit of giving, Connecticut Ballet request that members of the public bring a can or non-perishable food item to the performance in support of its holiday food drive. All items will be delivered directly to the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County.

Affordable tickets range from $20-$45 in price (plus a $7.00 theater surcharge) and may be reserved online at www.scalive.org or by calling the box office at 203-325-4466.

A festive Nutcracker Gala benefit will take place in the Upper Ballroom of the Palace Theatre following the Saturday, December 11th 7:00pm evening performance. Marcia Selden Catering will provide delectable dinner-by-the-bite and patrons will dance to the inspiring rhythms of the Silver Streaks Band. For gala information, call 203-964-1211. Lead production sponsor for The Nutcracker is Xerox Corporation and Nutcracker Gala sponsor is HSBC Bank. For more info, call Connecticut Ballet at 203-964-1211 or visit www.connecticutballet.com.

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Bethlehem’s Christmas Town Festival Marks 30th Anniversary in the Litchfield Hills

They call this little town of Bethlehem “Christmas Town”, and with good reason. The annual Christmas Town Festival, scheduled for December 3 and 4, celebrates its 30th birthday this year as one of New England’s favorite celebrations. Thousands travel to this small village in the Litchfield Hills every year to mail holiday cards with a special Bethlehem greeting. The town’s historic Bellamy-Ferriday House opens to visitors for the occasion, and Bethlehem boasts a rare Christmas jewel, a museum-quality 18th century crèche on view in a vintage barn at the Abbey of Regina Laudis

30th Anniversary Celebration

This year’s special birthday celebration starts on Friday night at 6 p.m. when Santa turns on the lights on the towering 75-foot tree on the village green, with festive background music by the Region 14 choirs and bands, talented local groups. On Saturday, the gaily- decorated quaint buildings around the green will brim with over 70 art and craft exhibitors and there will be good food galore. Strolling carolers and musicians from the First Church Bell Choir will keep things lively, hayrides will be offered in front of First Church and Santa will be waiting at the firehouse to pose for pictures with young friends. Collectors can garner this year’s unique annual Christmas Town pewter ornament, sold only during the Festival.

The Bethlehem post office will open for special hours during the festival, Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The idea of mailing cards from Bethlehem dates to 1938, when a local Postmaster, the late Earl Johnson, realized that people were coming to town just to mail their cards. He designed a “cachet,” a special rubber stamp featuring a tree and lettering that said “From the Little Town of Bethlehem, Christmas greetings.” New cachets have been added each year since. More than 60 are now available and over 200,000 cards are now mailed each year from this small town post office.

Historic Home Tours

Bethlehem’s beautiful eighteenth century Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden also will open on Saturday, lavishly decorated for the holidays. Guides will be on hand to give tours and the family-friendly program will include games, prizes and surprises for children. Special entertainment is planned by The Sweetest Key, an all-female a cappella group, with a concert at noon and caroling from 1 to 2 pm. Refreshments and hot cider will be offered in the Visitor’s Center.

Magnificent Crèche

Another eighteenth century treasure is the crèche housed in a barn on the 400-acre property of the Abbey of Regina Laudis. The recently restored Neapolitan crèche is similar to the famous crèche in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and came from the same donor, Loretta Hines Howard. It is a remarkable creation containing 68 figures 14 to 16 inches high dressed in their original elaborate costumes. Along with the Holy Family, the figures vividly portray children, women bearing gifts, merchants, peddlers, angels, the Three Kings, and peasants with their farm animals. The Crèche is thought to have belonged to Victor Amadeus the Second, King of Sardinia, and is believed to have been presented to him on the occasion of his coronation in 1720. It is open free to visitors daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Christmas Town Festival will be held at the junction of Rte. 61 and Rte. 132 in Bethlehem on Friday, December 3rd from 5 to10 p.m., and Saturday. Dec. 4th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free parking is available at the Bethlehem Fairgrounds on Route 61, where free shuttle buses will take visitors to and from the Festival. For additional information, see

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The PT Barnum Museum Celebrates the Holidays Mark Twain Style

The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport CT is celebrating the 200th birthday of Phineas Taylor Barnum, born July 5, 1810 in Bethel CT by chronicling the life and times of this extraordinary showman who once served as the Mayor of Bridgeport. For a complete listing of anniversary year events celebrating this amazing – and sometimes outrageous – showman, civic leader and politician, visit http://www.barnum-museum.org. The original museum building, owned by the City of Bridgeport is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Barnum Museum has planned a special holiday presentation, Christmas with the Clemens Family that will take place at The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport CT on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m.

Patti Philippon, Chief Curator at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford will regale guests with tales about the Samuel Langhorne Clemens family, better known as the family of hailed American novelist Mark Twain. This special program will describe the friendship between Clemens and P.T. Barnum and then take a look at the intricate details of the way the Clemens family celebrated Christmas at Nook Farm in Hartford.

Philippon will enlighten the audience with Mark Twain’s tales of holiday celebrations that took place in the Clemens family home and show images of the glorious Victorian era holiday decorations at the museum in Hartford. Hear some engaging quotes from Twain and the wonderful tales which he told his children while they gathered around the fireplace. Tea, hot chocolate and cookies will be served to warm your holiday spirit!

Holiday visitors to the museum will also be able to view the David Millen “Celebrating the Spirit of P.T. Barnum! Energy, Balance, Vitality” sculpture exhibition and a display of the original artwork created by the winners of the annual Kennedy Center “Unique Perspective 2011 Calendar.” The Kennedy Center publishes a full color calendar featuring artwork created by artists with disabilities. The calendars, along with other unique and memorable holiday gifts, are for sale in the Barnum Museum store.

Admission for these programs: Adults, Seniors and College Students: $5, $2, Children 4 – 17: $5, Under 4: Free. Events take place Dec. 4-16. please visit the website for exact times.

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