Victorian Christmas concert set in Salisbury

SALISBURY —The Salisbury Association will present their popular annual Victorian Christmas Concert on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. The performance will be held at the historic Academy Building, 24 Main Street in Salisbury.

The concert will feature: Judith Dansker, oboe and recorders; Christopher Morringiello, lute; Marcia young, soprano and Renaissance harp; and special guest artist, Alicia DePaolo, soprano. They will perform works from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods and music of the season.

Tickets are $30 and include a Victorian dessert buffet. Reservations may be made by calling the Salisbury Association: 860-4350566. Space is limited.

Goshen market continues Saturdays

GOSHEN — The Goshen Farmers Market is once again holding Sunday afternoon Holiday Markets from 1 to 4 p.m. at the St. Thomas Church Hall on North Street. The market is designed to provide local seasonal produce for the holidays, as well as quality handcrafted gifts made locally.

Gift items include handmade pens, jewelry, soaps, salves, and canned items, like relishes and infused olive oils. Handcrafted fabric and wool items will also be on sale. Coffee and a hot lunch item will be served, along with holiday goodies including exclusive Lebanese pastries and gourmet shortbreads. Gluten-free granola and muffins will be available for health-conscious snackers.

The market will be held every Sunday until Dec. 17. Some special events in December will include a pierogie-making workshop and a “Healthy Eating Through the Holidays” talk. GFM Holiday Market is still accepting vendors of quality locally produced items. See the website for details: http://goshenfarmersmarket.com/ gfm-holiday-markets/

Fundraiser benefits organ restoration

The Goshen Festival Singers’ upcoming performance on Saturday, Dec. 9 will benefit the Warren Congregational church organ restoration fund. The antique pipe organ in the church is in need of some long overdue repairs and renovations. The dinner concert is one of many fundraising activities to raise money for the necessary work on the instrument. Phase one of the organ restoration project is to replace/correct/update the blower and wind system, which has an estimated cost of $25,000, as recommended by the S.L. Huntington Co. in Stonington.

This year’s gala is being presented by the Warren Congregational Church’s Music committee, along with our cooperate sponsor, Litchfield Distillery. The dinner concert will be held Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. in the Warren Congregational Church parish hall, on 4 Sackett Hill Rd. in Warren, and includes a fourcourse gourmet dinner and a performance by the Goshen Festival Singers singing a variety of holiday tunes. The group will be directed and accompanied by Cindy Iffland on piano. Also accompanying the choir is instrumentalist Diane Taylor, from New Milford, on the flute. Tickets are $25. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations must be made by calling the Warren Congregational Church office at 860 868-7106.

Preschool program open house sessions

LITCHFIELD — Center School Preschool in Litchfield presents Way to Grow, a series of informational and interactive workshops for families interested in its preschool program for the 2018-2019 school year. Session 1 is an informational session for parents about the school’s 3-year-old and 4-year-old extended day preschool sessions.

The sesson will be held on Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. with a snow date of Dec. 5, in the Center School Gymnasium.

Session 2 is an interactive session for parents and children, where preschoolers can see the classrooms, meet the teachers and participate in preschool activities, and will be held Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. with a snow date of Dec. 12 in the Center School preschool classrooms.

For more information or to RSVP to one or both of these events, visit www.litchfieldschools.org.

Colebrook to hold holiday fair

COLEBROOK — The town of Colebrook invites residents on Saturday, Dec. 9 for a fun-filled day for the whole family. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m. with Breakfast with Santa at the Congregational Church, followed by a traditional holiday fair until 2 p.m. at the Town Hall and Community & Senior Center, 562 Colebrook Rd., Colebrook.

Unique vendors with fun gifts, Cookie Land, live trees and wreaths for sale, children’s shopping area and activities, holiday café with hot breakfast and lunch specialties, bake sale and more will be available.

For more information, visit www.townofcolebrook.org, call 860-379-3359 x 201 or email colebrookholidayfair@gmail.com.

Forum presents musical program

LITCHFIELD — The Women’s Forum of Litchfield welcomes flutist Jennifer Berman and harpist Susan Knapp Thomas to perform a special holiday concert at St. Michael’s Parish, 25 South Street, just off the Litchfield Green on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 2:30 p.m.

Jennifer Berman, flutist, began studying the flute at age 7 in Florida. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts where she received both her High School diploma and Bachelor of Music degree as a student of Philip Dunigan. She then studied at the Manhattan School of Music for her Master of Music degree. After freelancing in New York, she became a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where she was co-principal for 2 years. She moved to Connecticut in 1994, and performs with many area orchestras. She performs chamber music as a member of the Harmonia V Woodwind Quintet, a group that focuses on new and rarely heard works.

Susan Knapp Thomas, harpist, received her Bachelor’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music, and is a chamber, orchestral and solo concert artist and teacher throughout Connecticut and Southern New England. She has enjoyed a long relationship with the Hartford Symphony, and also plays regularly for the Rhode Island Philharmonic, is Principal Harpist for the Waterbury Symphony, and performed as harpist for the U.S. Coast Guard Band from 1987-2002. Thomas regularly plays shows for the Goodspeed Opera House, in addition to touring shows for the Bushnell and the Shubert Theaters in Hartford and New Haven.

The event is open to non-Forum members with a $10 fee at the door, which includes a High Tea reception. For more information call 860-567-3966 and womensforumoflitchfield.org.