Happenings
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].
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6
• A special viewing of the Blackstone Valley Festival of Trees will take place from 2- 4 p.m. at the Great Hall at Northbridge Town Hall. Our local Senior Centers, including Northbridge, Uxbridge, Douglas, Sutton, Mendon, and Upton are invited to this event. During this exclusive preview, attendees will enjoy the melodies of local musicians. During the evening, we will be having our Preview Party, where those who have purchased tickets will enjoy a special time and celebrate and honor our donors and sponsors. Tickets for this event will are on sale now.
friday & saturday, december 6 & 7
The Southbridge Garden Club will hold its annual Holiday Greens Sale at the Ruth Well Center for the Arts at 111 Main Street (Rt. 131) in Southbridge on Friday, December 6, from noon to 5 pm, and on Saturday, December 7, from 9 am to noon.
The sale will feature a variety of handcrafted items, including decorative wreaths, holiday centerpieces, door swags, and assorted decorations and greens. All items contain different types of live, fresh greens.
Saturday, December 7
• The 2024 Sutton Chain of Lights will Take Place this year from 10 am to 4 pm
Spend a day with your family and friends at the Town of Sutton’s Annual Holiday Chain of Lights Event. Free trolleys and buses will transport visitors over rolling countryside to participating locations throughout historic Sutton. Farms, unique specialty stores, church fairs, and area businesses welcome the holidays with musical entertainment, children’s activities, food, fun and Holiday characters. Route information, maps, location descriptions and brochures are available at www.suttonlights.com
• The First Congregational Church of Oxford will hold a Christmas Tea from 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Luncheon begins at 10 :30 a.m. The menu includes choice of soup (chiecke noodle, cream of broccoli or autumn bisque). Choose your entrée from meat pie with gravy, baked apple French toast, winter harvest bowl, chicken salad on a croissant or roast beef sliders. Desserts are gingerbread, apple crisp, assorted muffins and a plated trio. Assorted teas will be available. Check, cash and credit card accepted. Shop at Granny’s Attic and Gift Baskets and take home a keepsake photo.
• State Senator Ryan Fattman's (R-Sutton) annual Breakfast with Santa at Waters Farm Preservation, Inc in Sutton. Free and open to the public, but seating is limited so reservations are required.
Doors open at 9am and breakfast will be served at 9:30am. Breakfast will be followed by holiday crafts, pictures with Santa, and wagon rides around the farm, weather permitting. To reserve your tickets for the formal breakfast, please visit https://bit.ly/breakfastwithsantatickets.
• Annual Christmas Bazaar, St. Joseph’s Parish Center, 68 Central Street, Auburn. 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Come and enjoy an old fashioned Christmas Bazaar and check out the Collectibles, Attic Treasures, Jewelry, Plants, Knit Goods, Holiday Décor, Toys, Candy & Baked Items and so much more! Take a chance on one of our many raffles. There is something for everyone! Free Admission. Plenty of parking available. Handicap accessible.
• On Saturday, December 7, the Blackstone Valley Festival of Trees will be open from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. for free to the public at the Great Hall at Northbridge Town Hall. Along with the trees, there will be a scavenger hunt, prizes, and goodies for the children to enjoy. The Blackstone Valley Community Chorus will enchant audiences with a performance followed by the delightful sounds of the Whitinsville Christian School Middle School Strings.
• The Sutton Senior Center will hold its yearly Christmas Bazaar from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Gift items for all ages including beautiful gift baskets, enjoy delicious meatball grinders or homemade soup here or to go. Find out what you may win at a raffle and more!
• Free Community Christmas Party at United Church of Christ Federated from 1 – 3 p.m. Enjoy cookie decorating, crafts, face painting, games with free prizes (everyone is a winner!), a scavenger hunt, Christmas pinatas and more! Refreshments will be available and Santa will visit with gifts for all the children there! Favorite Christmas tunes will be provided by the Pulaski Brass Band. All are welcome. The church is located at 4 Church Street, Webster, across from Town Hall.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8
• Breakfast with Santa at St. Denis Church Parish Hall, 23 Manchaug Road, Douglas. From 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Adults $10, Children (6-12) $5. Enjoy Christmas movies and there’s a prize for best Ugly Sweater.
Bring your phone or camera for photos! Santa will be in his workshop, not in the main hall with the breakfast diners. Each family will have the opportunity to meet Santa and pose for pictures in a quiet, comfortable space. Visit saintdenischurch.com/santa
• The Very Merry Dickens Carolers will bring the music of the holiday season to the Samuel Slater Experience museum at 5 p.m. A professional group of a cappella singers, the Very Merry Dickens Carolers look the part in period costumes. Their repertoire of 4-part harmony features a variety of styles, including traditional, swing, and jazz. Holiday refreshments are included in the price of admission. Tickets can be purchased online at https://samuelslaterexperience.org, by phone at 508-461-2911, or at the box office during regular open hours. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Come spent a little time indulging in the holiday spirit on Webster’s recreated “Main Street” at the Samuel Slater Experience museum, 31 Ray Street, Webster.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14
• Jingle Jaunt 5K, Sutton Town Common at 10:30 a.m. - Registration: $22 Race Day Packet Pick Up 9:15-10 :15 a.m. Mail checks to: First Congregational Church, 307 Boston Road, Sutton MA 01590
No day of registration. Sign up early, there may be a limit this year.
T-Shirts for registrations received by November 28 or race closure Awards: First three males and females in 13 different age groups.
Refreshments available. Wear some bells!
Sorry, no strollers, roller blades, bicycles, walkers, wheel chairs or pets.
Contact: 508-865-0198, [email protected], or [email protected]
• Cookies and Carols at 4 p.m. at the United Presbyterian Church of Whitinsville, in the church’s sanctuary, 51 Cottage Street, Whitinsville. Everyone -kids and adults- is invited to this annual event. We will kick off the Advent Season with the singing of Advent and Christmas Carols led by a guest organ player William Cudmore and pianist Eileen Straub. William Cudmore has played for the Woo Sox. Eileen Straub is the church’s Minister of Music. We will have activities for the kids and the singing of seasonal songs. The event will be capped by the eating of cookies and the drinking of punch. All are invited!
• The Douglas Downtown Winter Stroll will take place from 4-7 p.m. with participation of organizations and businesses throughout Douglas. Do some holiday shopping, listen to carolers, explore the Museum and take part in special events and visit the Orchard, get your trees and wreaths, grab an app or meal...best of all, take in the holiday lights on Main Street all the way up to the Common! The doors at the Simon Fairfield Public Library will be open! Come on in and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus. But before you have your picture taken, maybe first you can pen your Christmas wishes to Santa to drop in our special mailbox to the North Pole! You can also have your face painted, sponsored by LindseySarah Realty. Down in our Children’s Room, John Porcino will be providing “A Heck of a Way to Stay
Warm” mini-shows of music and storytelling. And the Winter Stroll wouldn’t be complete without a craft project, some yummy snacks, hot cocoa and cider!
• The Sutton Historical Society will participate in the second annual Manchaug Stroll, 9 Main Street, (valfa.com/event/manchaug-stroll) from 4 pm – 8 pm, sharing the history of Manchaug Village and the holiday customs of the French-Canadian immigrants who lived and worked in the Village.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20
• The Webster Senior Center will hold its annual Christmas party for Webster seniors at 12 p.m., 5 Church Street. Catered luncheon by Mac’s and live music by Steve Lyons. Contact the Senior Center for your ticket, 508-949-3845.
• The Birch Alley Brass Ensemble will present a concert at Valley Chapel in Uxbridge on Friday, December 20th at 7 P.M. The brass ensemble, directed by William Moffett, is made up of 35 student and professional musicians from area towns including Uxbridge, Northbridge, Upton, Hopedale,
Mendon and Milford. This concert will feature Christmas music from around the world and is free and open to the public. This will be the 13th annual performance. The concert is funded in part by the Uxbridge, Milford and Hopedale Cultural Councils.
SAturday, December 21
• Celebrate the Winter Solstice with “Christmas in New England,” hosted by the Grass Roots Coffeehouse and the Rockdale Congregational Church. “Christmas in New England” has been performing concerts for over 20 years, at RCC since 2007. Karen Wilber, Amy Gallatin, Roger Williams, JD Williams, Dave Orlomoski, Krissy & Bob Dick will present a night of traditional, contemporary, original Christmas and Holiday/Seasonal songs.
The concert will take place in sanctuary of the Rockdale Cong. Church, 42 Fowler Road, Northbridge, MA. Prior to the show, come have a bowl of soup or chili, and at intermission have dessert. Proceeds go to the Church. Also we’ll have our Cookie Walk at intermission. Buy a box for $10 and fill it up with cookies baked by the congregation.
Admission to the show is $15 at the door only. Doors will be open at 6:30. Seating is at a first come/first serve basis.
Third Wednesday of each Month
• Coin Show at the VFW Post 1385. 13 Cross Road, Uxbridge. 3-7 p.m. Free Admission, Free Appraisals
