Warren County Wanderings

Upcoming Events in Warren County, NJ Vol.2, No.17

Warren County Tourism Department

For more information, call 800-554-8540 or visit www.warrennet.org/warrencounty/edt/tourism.html

Music, as always, and poetry, too. Antiques and artwork. Sheep and storytelling. Trains and tours. Summer departs and fall arrives this weekend, so welcome the change of seasons in Warren County, the spot in the heart of the New Jersey Skylands that has it all for you. Happy Wandering!

Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 19-22: Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. The biennial festival offers four days of poetry readings, panel discussions, conversations on craft and a wide array of other topics, musical performances, and storytelling. The Festival is not an academic conference or a writing conference, and not a book fair. Instead, it offers the opportunity to experience poetry as a living art through the medium of the human voice, and in the voices of some of our most celebrated poets. During each of these four days dozens of simultaneous poetry-centered events take place at sites throughout historic Waterloo Village. $35/weekend pass; $60/4-day pass; Students/Seniors are $28/weekend pass; $48/4-day pass. Call 973-584-4985 or 973-887-2439 or visit www.waterloovillage.org.

Fridays, Sept. 20, 27: Late Night Jazz at The Roaring Rock Restaurant, featuring the Walt Bibinger Trio. Hear one of the area’s top jazz guitarists in this charming country restaurant. 9pm-12midnight. Kitchen stays open. The Roaring Rock, Brass Castle Road at Hartman’s Corner, Washington. Call 908-453-2322 or visit www.roaringrockrest.com.

Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 21-22: Fall Antiques Fair, Waterloo Village. One of New Jersey’s biggest outdoor antique shows held at the Waterloo Concert Field - just down the road from Waterloo Village. Find furniture, jewelry and other collectibles. $6/adults. 10am-5pm. Call 973-584-4985 or 973-887-2439 or visit www.waterloovillage.org

Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 21-22: 8th Annual Sheep & Fiber Festival. Join the Garden State Sheep Breeders as they display more than a dozen breeds of sheep plus other "fiber’’ animals (alpacas, llamas, rabbits, angora and cashmere goats), as well as Old World crafts, herding dog demonstrations, music, food, wagon rides and the largest fleece show and sale in New Jersey. 10am-5pm both days, rain or shine, Warren County Fairgrounds, Route 519, Harmony. Call 908-730-7189 or visit http://www.quintillion.com/sheepbreeders2/festival/festival.html.

Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 21-22: Festival of Music at Four Sisters Winery. Different styles of music throughout the weekend, plus wine tasting & cellar tours, wine seminars, cooking with wine demonstrations, corn maze ($3 extra), food (including Matty’s Famouns Wings and Ribs) and vendors. Rain or shine, 11am-6pm. $9/adults, $6/children. Four Sisters Winery at Matarazzo Farms, 783 County Route 519 Belvidere (White Township), six miles south of Route 80 Exit 12. Call 908-475-3671 or visit www.foursisterswinery.com.

Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 21-22: 2nd Annual Northeast Small Farm & Rural Living Expo. Learn how to run a successful small farm, whether as a career or part-time. More than 70 seminars and demonstrations on farming and rural living topics, plus a trade show and livestock exhibits featuring everything from alpacas to zebus. Also featuring bluegrass music by The Lost Ramblers. Warren County agencies are among the event’s sponsors. 9am-4pm, West End Fairgrounds, Gilbert, Pa. Call 908-475-6503 or visit www.smallfarmexpo.org.

Saturday, Sept. 21: Fall Harvest Festival at Well-Sweep Herb Farm. Featuring Betsy Williams, talented lecturer and instructor at flower shows and herbal events throughout the country. Weddings are her specialty, and you are sure to enjoy her entertaining anecdotes and novel ideas on using herbs and flowers to enhance distinctive occasions. 12noon-2:30pm. Lunch served, reservations are required, $25. Well-Sweep Herb Farm, 205 Mt. Bethel Rd. Port Murray. Call 908-852-5390 or visit www.wellsweep.com.

Saturday, Sept. 21: Phillipsburg Riverside Festival of the Arts. Artists’ exhibit, sale and contest, special exhibit of Morris Canal paintings by Dick Schisler, performers, book signings, food and views of the Forks of the Delaware. Kobble Beach on the Delaware River by the Free Bridge, Phillipsburg. 10am-7pm. Call 908-213-9100.

Saturday, Sept. 21: Civil War Torchlight Tour at Shippen Manor. The 11th New Jersey Company reenacts scenes from the home and battle fronts, staged indoors and outdoors at the museum. Shippen Manor Museum 8 Belvidere Avenue Oxford, 7-10pm. For reservations, call 908-453-4381 or visit www.wcchc.org to learn more.

Saturday, Sept. 21: Tales in the Tunnel. Storytelling in a former railroad tunnel at the Knowlton Recreation Park off Route 94, Knowlton Twp. Geared to adults and older children. Free, refreshments served, 7:30-9pm. Call 908-496-4816.

Saturdays, Sept. 21&28: "Uncommon Women and Others’’ presented by the Country Gate Players. Theatrical work by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein begins with a reunion of five college friends and tells their story in a series of flashbacks. Performances are 8pm; also 2pm on Sept. 29, Country Gate Playhouse, 114 Greenwich St., Belvidere. Call 908-475-1104.

Saturday, Sept. 21: Astronomy for the Public: Astrophotography. Free lecture by Bruce Gunlach of the Morris Museum Astronomical Society, and viewing of the night sky with the United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey, Inc. at their observatory in Jenny Jump State Forest, Hope. 8-10:30pm. Call 908-755-6932 or visit http://users.erols.com/njastro.

Saturdays, Sept. 21, 28: Late Night Jazz at The Roaring Rock Restaurant, featuring the Donna Antonow Trio. Pianist/vocalist Donna Antonow brings her special brand of jazz to this cozy country bistro. 9pm-12midnight. Kitchen stays open. The Roaring Rock, Brass Castle Road at Hartman’s Corner, Washington. Call 908-453-2322 or visit www.roaringrockrest.com.

Sunday, Sept. 22: Phillipsburg Railroad Museum Open House. See a display of photos of yesterday in Warren County, railroad artifacts, a detailed scale model circus train, and ride the miniature Centerville & Southeastern Railroad. 10am-4pm, located on South Main Street, Phillipsburg, across from Joe’s Steak Shop. Call 908-859-1277 or visit www.prrh.org.

Sunday, Sept. 22: Blairstown Fall Festival. Music, art demonstrations, games, puppets, a poetry reading, food and pony rides in Blairstown’s historic downtown. Free, starts at 11am and runs throughout the day, rain or shine.

Sunday, Sept. 22: Fall Flower Walk. Welcome fall and see what’s blooming along Pequest Wildlife Management Area's woodland trails. Join biologist and Wildlife Conservation Corps member Joe Labriola on a search for wildflowers. Bring a field guide and wear comfortable walking shoes. The program is free but registration is required. 1:30pm, Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center, located near Oxford on Route 46, nine miles west of Hackettstown. Call 908-637-4125 or visit www.njfishandwildlife.com.

Sunday, Sept. 22: Artists Reception for Hillcrest Camera Club Photography Show & Nonmember Competition. Reception is 2-4 p.m, while the show runs through Nov. 1, open weekdays 9:30am-4pm. Oxford Municipal Building Gallery, 11 Green Street, Oxford. Call 908-459-5815 or visit http://community.nj.com/hillcrestcameraclub.

Sunday, Sept. 22: Oh Brother, Where Are We? The Warren County Cultural and Heritage Commission’s last, free outdoor concert of the season features this string band playing fiddle tunes and country music from the southern Appalachian mountains. 4pm. Bring blankets or lawn chairs, picnic baskets and alcohol-free coolers. Shippen Manor Museum, 8 Belvidere Ave., Oxford. Call 908-453-4381 or visit www.wcchc.org.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! (More on these events in the next edition of Warren County Wanderings):

Sept. 28: Upper Delaware Wildlife Heritage Festival at Pequest Trout Hatchery & Natural Resource Education Center, Oxford. Call 908-637-4125 or visit www.upperdelaware.org.

Sept. 28: Holiday Craft Show, Warren County Farmers’ Fairgrounds, Harmony. Call 908-475-6504.

Sept. 28: Astronomy Symposium and Star Party, Hope. Call 908-755-6932 or visit http://users.erols.com/njastro.

Oct. 4: Nobel Laureate Dr. Oscar Arias, Centenary College. Call 908-852-1400 x2238.

Oct. 4-6: Hope and Dreams Film Festival, Blair Academy, Blairstown. Visit www.hopeanddreams.org.

Oct. 5-6: Millbrook Days, Millbrook Village, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Call 908-841-9531.

Oct. 5-6: Harvest Festival, Alba Vineyard, Pohatcong. Call 908-995-7800 or visit www.albavineyard.com.

HOT TIP OF THE WEEK: Why not load up the station wagon (or the minivan or the SUV) and take the gang apple-picking? It’s fun and you’ll be ready to keep the doctor away for a bushel’s worth of days. Try these pick-your-own orchards, courtesy of the New Jersey Apple Industry Advisory Council. Many of them have bakeries as well:

If picking to you means selecting them off the farmstand shelf, tries these spots that also offer fresh apple cider:

For more information on places to stay, things to do, where to eat and other attractions in Warren County, click right to http://www.warrennet.org/warrencounty/edt/tourism.html or call the Warren County Tourism Department at 800-554-8540. We hope to see you soon.

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Art Charlton, Director
Warren County Public Information
Warren County Tourism