HAPPENINGS!
Visits with Santa are part of the experience connected with the Festival of Illumination and Winter Wonderland at Southwick’s Zoo, this month.
NOTE: Community bulletin board-type items are welcome for inclusion in the Happenings! section of the Xpress newspapers. Please allow enough lead time for publication. Email your calendar or event notice to [email protected].
ONGOING
• The “Arsenal of Democracy” exhibit at the American Heritage Museum, 568 Main St., Hudson, celebrates the phrase FDR coined during a radio broadcast on December 29, 1940, to signal that the then-still-neutral United States would use all of its industrial might to build the weapons needed by the last struggling democracies to save themselves from fascism. The American Heritage Museum is open Wednesday-Sunday.
• “Walking Through the Woods on a Foggy Day in December,” photographs by Bettie Carlson, are on display and available for purchase throughout the month at Booklovers’ Gourmet, 72 E. Main St., Webster. In an artist’s statement, Ms. Carlson says “winter, the time when all the leaves have fallen from the trees and the flowers have died and the colors have gone from the land—or have they? It is just that the colors are more subtle than in summertime? Not everything is dead. Most are just waiting for spring when they will rise again. But on a foggy day in December, I discovered plenty of color—and saw fantastic shapes in the decaying wood and leaves that I would not have encountered in summertime; and the fog created a veil to embrace it all.” Email [email protected] for further info.
• Southwick’s Zoo’s combination extravaganza featuring both the Festival of Illumination (with a “Once Upon a Time” theme) and Winter Wonderland display of spectacular holiday lights and handcrafted Chinese lanterns continues Wednesday-Sunday through December 31st, at 2 Southwick St., Mendon. Tickets to the Festival include a visit with Santa (until December 24th) and a free train ride through the Enchanted Forest. Dine at Galliford’s Restaurant & Tavern while on the grounds. Go to https://southwickszoo.com for full details.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
• The Birch Alley Brass Ensemble will present a free concert of Christmas music from around the world at 7:00 p.m. at Valley Chapel, 14 Hunter Road, Uxbridge. Directed by William Moffett, the ensemble is made up of thirty-five student and professional musicians from area towns including Uxbridge, Upton, Hopedale, Mendon and Milford. This is the 11th annual version of the concert, which is made possible by the Mendon, Milford and Hopedale Cultural Councils.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17
• Booklovers’ Gourmet, 72 E. Main St., Webster, will host a Pop-Up Book Fair featuring authors represented by the T. Fielding-Lowe Co. with copies of children’s books, fiction and inspirational titles available for purchase from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. For more information call 508-949-6232 or email [email protected].
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18
• Blue Christmas Service, 3:00 pm
United Church of Christ, Fed.
4 Church St., Webster
Thursday, DECEMBER 22
A CULE Yule Holiday Strum Along
6:30-7:15, Sibley Reading Area (main floor). Free and open to all. Registration is not required. Cider and cookies will be provided!
Charlton Public Library, 40 Main St., Charlton
CHRISTMAS DAY
• Parishioners and volunteers from the Blackstone Valley United Methodist Church, 61 Linwood Ave., Whitinsville, invite members of the community to a traditional turkey dinner consisting of such holiday favorites as potatoes, vegetables, squash, stuffing and cranberry sauce from noon to 2:00 p.m. Parking is available behind the church and is accessible from Church St. The meal is open to all free of charge. For more information, call the church office at 508-234-2275.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 8
• The New England Country Music Club presents Al Carter at the Progressive Club, 18 Whitin St., Uxbridge. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. with dancing and live entertainment from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10
• Make your own holiday spice mix with therapy gardens, 1:00 P.M.
Come learn how to make pumpkin spice, mulling spices for wine or cider, and other recipes for holiday spice blends. Bring home your own blend of Holiday spice mixture along with recipes. Class is $5 per person. RSVP is required call us or stop by the Millbury Senior Center! 508-865-9154
