Your guide to the heart of Litchfield County:
Discover local stories, hidden gems, and must-know events.

Get ready for a culinary and cultural adventure as Washington Restaurant Week 2025 kicks off on Friday, April 4th, and runs through Sunday, April 13th in Washington, CT. Locals and visitors alike are invited to indulge in exceptional dining experiences at the town’s most beloved restaurants.

Enjoy specially curated prix fixe menus, exclusive culinary offerings, and signature cocktails at Washington’s vibrant dining scene. From farm-to-table cuisine to elevated comfort food, this 10-day event showcases the talent and creativity of our local chefs. Plus, enjoy a side of culture with arts events and community activities happening throughout Washington, in the heart of Litchfield County.

Plan Your Culinary Adventure: Explore participating restaurants, browse special menus, and plan your perfect dining experience at ExploreWashingtonCT.com/eat. Whether you’re a foodie looking to try something new or simply craving a delicious night out, Washington Restaurant Week has something for everyone.

This year’s list of must-visit dining destinations includes: Community Table, GW Tavern, Hopkins Inn, Hopkins Vineyard, Marty’s Cafe, Mayflower Inn & Spa, The 202 Tavern, The Owl Wine & Food Bar, The Pantry, The Po Cafe, The Smithy Cafe at 9 Main, Spring Hill Vineyards, The White Horse Country Pub & Restaurant, and Washington Pizza House.

Win Big with the Washington Restaurant Week Instagram Contest! Leading up to the event, there will be a contest with giveaways of gift certificates worth hundreds of dollars that can be redeemed at local restaurants. Stay tuned for contest details by following the Town of Washington’s Instagram account, @explorewashingtonct.

Savor the Arts: Enjoy a dynamic lineup of art exhibits, live music, and performances at select venues, perfectly curated to pair with the special menus offered by these notable restaurants and eateries.

Don’t Miss Out! Mark your calendar, make your reservations, and get ready to celebrate Washington’s culinary and cultural artistry. For more information, contests, and sneak peeks, follow along on Instagram at @ExploreWashingtonCT.

Washington Restaurant Week 2025 is an annual event brought to the community by the Town of Washington, the Washington Business Association, and the Washington Arts Council.

For more information, visit explorewashingtonct.com/eat and follow @explorewashingtonct on Instagram to enter giveaways at participating restaurants.

All around Washington
https://explorewashingtonct.com/eat

Adventures in Ecological Horticulture Sunday, May 4 @ 12 PM
Who doesn’t love butterflies? Habitat cultivation is a vital component of garden design and management in the anthropocene. But traditional landscaping practices rarely take biodiversity into consideration. For ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin, biodiversity is central to caring for land. In her 10 years as Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Rebecca oversaw 85 acres of diverse, organic landscapes, all managed to support birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms. She will take lessons from her work at Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Brooklyn Museum, rural Connecticut, and decades of research to share how those of us who are fortunate enough to care for land, can do it beautifully and ecologically. (Lunch and refreshments included.)
Single Ticket – $75.00
Double Ticket – $125

Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust
Van Vleck Farm & Nature Sanctuary
5 Church Hill Road
Woodbury, CT 06798
https://app.etapestry.com/cart/FlandersNatureCenter/default/category.php?ref=897.0.1468237871

Calling All Gilmore Girls Fans!

The Hickory Stick Bookshop is delighted to welcome back award-winning author Ann Hood, editor of “Life’s Short, Talk Fast: Fifteen Writers on Why We Can’t Stop Watching Gilmore Girls”. Ann, along with two of the other authors of the book, will be here signing copies of “Life’s Short, Talk Fast” and talking to Gilmore Girls fans about everything Gilmore on Saturday, April 12th 10th from 2 – 4 pm.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Fifteen leading writers explore what Gilmore Girls means to them in this delightful celebration of a contemporary TV classic.

Fast-talking, warm-hearted, and endlessly rewatchable, Gilmore Girls has bonded real-life mothers and daughters since 2000, when its iconic pilot introduced us to Lorelai, Rory, and their idyllic Connecticut town of Stars Hollow. More than twenty years later, it has become one of the most streamed TV shows, ever.

In an anthology as intimate and quick-witted as Gilmore Girls itself, best-selling author Ann Hood invites fifteen writers to investigate their personal relationships to the show. (“It’s a show? It’s a lifestyle. It’s a religion.”) Joanna Rakoff considers how Emily Gilmore helped her understand her own mother; Sanjena Sathian sees herself–and Asian American defiance–in Lane Kim; Freya North connects with her son through the show; Francesco Sedita discovers an antidote to pandemic loneliness; Nina de Gramont offers a comic ode to the unreality of Stars Hollow. For anyone who identifies as Team Logan, Team Jess, or even Team Dean, “Life’s Short, Talk Fast” reveals what Gilmore Girls tells us about ourselves–and why it matters.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ann Hood is the author of more than a dozen books of memoir and fiction, including the best-selling novels The Book That Matters Most, The Red Thread, and The Knitting Circle. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and New York.

This event is free and open to the public. If you are unable to attend this event, you may reserve signed copies of “Life’s Short, Talk Fast” by calling The Hickory Stick Bookshop at (860) 868 0525, or shop our website 24/7 at www.hickorystickbookshop.com.

The Hickory Stick Bookshop
2 Green Hill Rd
Washington Depot
CT 06794
https://hickorystickbookshop.com/event/2025-04-12/ann-hood-book-signing

On Friday, April 4th at 5:30 pm the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village will host a Celebration of Poetry in honor of National Poetry Month!

Participants are invited to read their own poems or pieces by their favorite poets. Each reader will have 5 to 10 minutes to share.

All ages are welcome to participate. Drinks and snacks will be served.

David M. Hunt Library
63 Main Street
Falls Village, CT 06031

Celebration of Poetry

Acclaimed pianist Andrew Armstrong will present a concert with works of Beethoven and
Prokofiev on Sunday, April 27th, in the Woodbury-Bethlehem Community Music Foundation
(WBCMF) sponsored Chamber Concert Series. The concert will take place at 3:00 P.M., at the
First Congregational Church, 214 Main Street South, in Woodbury, CT. Tickets are available for
$30.00 at www.wbcmusicfoundation.org, or at the door the day of the concert for $35.00. There
will be a reception with Andrew immediately following the concert.

Mr. Armstrong, an area favorite, continues to be praised for his passionate expression and
dazzling technique. He has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and
the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy
Center, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic.

Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have seen him perform a sprawling repertoire
of more than 50 concertos with orchestra. In addition to his thriving chamber music series in
Beaufort (USCB Chamber Music) and Columbia, SC (SC Philharmonic’s Andy & Friends), New
Canaan, CT (New Canaan Chamber Music), and at the Fabbri Mansion, an intimate 1609 Italian
Renaissance Library that seats only 80, in New York City (Fabbri Chamber Concerts), Andrew
will direct special chamber music performances this season in Charleston and Kiawah Island, SC
and in Glens Falls, NY. Finally, Andrew launches two new chamber music series this 24-25
season. In Greenville, SC, Sigal Music Museum presents Andy & Friends will present evening
performances as well as daytime workshops and masterclasses at the remarkable public arts high
school, the Fine Arts Center. And the inaugural season of Andrew’s new chamber series, A Little
Night Music at Tuckerman Hall in Worcester, MA is especially close to his heart, since this city
is where Andrew Armstrong lives happily with his wife Esty, their three children Jack (18), Elise
(13), and Gabriel (7), and their two dogs Comet and Dooker.

It is with great excitement that the WBCMF welcomes the return of Mr. Armstrong to Woodbury.

His sense of humor, combined with his extraordinary talent, will be sure to thrill all audience
members as he concludes the 2024-2025 Chamber Concert Series season. For more information
concerning the purchase of individual tickets to the Chamber Concert Series please visit the
WBCMF website, at www.wbcmusicfoundation.org

The concert will take place at 3:00 P.M., at the
First Congregational Church, 214 Main Street South, in Woodbury, CT. Tickets are available for
$30.00 at www.wbcmusicfoundation.org, or at the door the day of the concert for $35.00.

http://www.wbcmusicfoundation.org

Crescendo presents their last concert of the 2024¬-25 season, offering two performances of a rarely heard early Baroque work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra: Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo (Representation of Soul and Body) by Emilio de’ Cavalieri. This musical drama in three acts was composed in 1600 and is the first musical work of its kind. Written and published at a turning point in musical history, the beginning of the revolutionary Baroque era, this work is considered both an opera and an oratorio. Among a cast of allegorical figures, the two main characters Soul and Body argue about the meaning of their existence. They are tempted to enjoy material goods by Pleasure, World, and Worldly Life, and urged to pursue a virtuous life by Counsel, Intellect, and the Guardian Angel. The conflict also includes visions of Hell, with the appearance of the Damned Souls, and of heaven in the voices of the Blessed Souls and the Angels. Also on the program are two short balletti by Cavalieri and his contemporary Cristofano Malvezzi, composed for the marriage of their patrons Ferdinand I of Medici and Christina of Lorraine. Malvezzi’s piece features thirty voices, divided into seven choirs, creating an auditory climax for this performance.

The cast of soloists includes internationally and nationally renowned early music specialists from Montreal, Canada to New York City. Soprano Paulina Francisco, Anima, “delivers a strong performance [and] showcases her clarity, control and her agility” (The Washington Post). Baritone Anicet Castel, Corpo, has performed with famous European Baroque ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert d’Astrée, Le Poème Harmonique, and Accentus. Bass-baritone Paul Max Tipton, Mondo, is a soloist for Bach Collegium Japan and has been described as “a dignified and beautiful singer” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Tenor Pablo Bustos, Intelletto, “sang elegantly, with his own brilliant set of flourishes in the da capo” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer). The cast also includes baritone Jermaine Woodard Jr., Consiglio; countertenor Benjamin Rauch, Piacere; mezzo soprano Salomé Sandoval, Angel Custode; and soprano Jennifer Tyo Oberto, Vita Mondana. The award-winning Crescendo Chorus of thirty-five singers includes both amateur and professional singers of the tri-state area. They are joined by Crescendo Period Instrument Orchestra, an ensemble of fourteen period instrument players from New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Bloomington, IN.

A pre-concert talk will be held on Saturday, April 26 at 2:00 PM at Trinity Church. Crescendo’s Founding Artistic Director Christine Gevert will explain the background of Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione. The talk will also be live streamed on Zoom. Details will be available on Crescendo’s website: www.crescendomusic.org.

Support for these concerts has been provided to Crescendo by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature. We also thank NBT Bank and WMNR Fine Arts Radio for their support.

The performances are on Saturday, May 10 at 6:00 PM at Trinity Church, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville, CT, and on Sunday, May 11 at 4:00 PM at Saint James Place, 352 Main St., Great Barrington, MA. Tickets range from $10 to $75, and are available online at www.crescendomusic.org or on a first-come-first-served basis at the door, 45 minutes prior to the concerts.

Trinity Church, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville, CT

Crescendo Home

Books for adults, children, and young adults. Fiction, non-fiction, vintage, coffee table books, graphic novels, sci-fi/fantasy, and other categories. Also available will be jigsaw puzzles and a variety of gift items. Cash, check, or Venmo accepted. Friday May 2: $5 admission 10:00am-11:00am / Free admission 11:00am-4:30pm. Saturday May 3: Free admission 9:00am-4:30pm.
All proceeds from the sale support library programs.

Memorial Room, New Milford Public Library
24 Main Street, New Milford, CT 06776

It’s all happening! The Colonial Theatre and National Iron Bank present a free community screening of Cameron Crowe’s 2000 ripped-from-real-life comedy-drama Almost Famous on Fri. April 4th at 7pm. Relive the tour-bus-tell-all cult classic that tells a loosely fictionalized tale of the writer-director’s experience covering bands like The Allman Brothers as a teenage writer for Rolling Stone. Kick your ‘70s Band-Aid style into gear and get on the bus for this free community film Reserve your free tickets today at canaancolonial.com
Event Location

Colonial Theatre, 27 Railroad St., North Canaan, CT 06018

https://canaancolonial.com/public-events

At long last, the trip of a lifetime has arrived—REFLECTIONS OF ITALY!

Looking for more information? Join us for our NO obligation / commitment travel presentation!
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 / 6:00 pm
Morris Senior Center / 109-21 East Street, Morris

Join us as we travel to the beautiful country of ITALY in the Spring of 2026. A visit to experience the culture, architecture and cuisine of Italy seems to be on everyone’s Bucket List. We’re thrilled to offer you the opportunity to check it off of your List!

Reflections of Italy is the perfect tour, covering ALL of the most popular destinations in the country: Rome, Florence and Venice and OH so much more! It is a superb itinerary if you’ve never been to Italy or even for our more seasoned travelers. No one can get enough of Italy!
Morris Community Activities (Morris Beach and Recreation / Morris Senior Center) have partnered with AAA Northeast / Collette Tours to bring you this once is a lifetime experience. You will enjoy 10 days / 9 nights in Italy.

Some of the highlights of your experience include, but are not limited to: ROME, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, Assisi, Perugia, Cortona, FLORENCE, Chianti Winery and Cooking Class, VENICE, Murano Island, Lake Como and so much more!
We’ll be staying overnight in Rome, Perugia, Florence, Venice and Como.
Your tour includes 12 meals: 8 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners. The pasta! Oh the pasta!!

This adventure includes your round trip air fare from a New York City airport along with ALL of your transfers including transportation to and from the airport from the Morris Town Hall. It also includes hotel accommodations, 12 meals along with activity / museum entry fees, a tour guide that remains with the group for the entire trip and more! Some gratuities are not included.

Travel dates are April 15 – April 24, 2026. Cost per person, double occupancy—$5,299. Single / triple rates are available upon request.

Would you like a copy of our color brochure? We’d be happy to send you one! Simply email us at Activities@townofmorrisct.com.
Ready to book? Reach out to us at Activities@townofmorrisct.com or directly to our travel partner, Karen Basilone of AAA Northeast at kbasilone@aaanortheast.com.
OR click the link below to register directly on our customized website for this adventure!
https://gateway.memberchoicevacations.com/link/1299317

Limited seating available – don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to travel with those from your own Community!

Morris Senior Center
109-21 East Street
Morris, CT 06763
https://www.morrisct.gov/entities/beach-recreation

Boating season is around the corner!

Let us help you get ready for a SAFE Summer with CT DEEP’s Boating Safety Course. Earn your combination Safe Boating / Personal Watercraft License in just two weeknights! (Must attend both classes in full.)

Course is open to all members of our Community age 12 and older.

May 5 & 7, 2025
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Course held at the Community Room at the Morris Senior Center.

$20.00 per person, Morris residents
$25.00 per person, non – residents
Checks made payable to Morris Beach and Recreation, please.

*Obtain your Conservation ID# prior to first class.*

Email us at Activities@morrisct.gov to register or to obtain more information!

Morris Senior Center
109-21 East Street
Morris, CT 06763
https://www.morrisct.gov/entities/beach-recreation