If you can’t make it to the special dinner on Jamestown Island Thursday night, you have another option on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to learn about the most recent discoveries at James Fort during the 2011 field season. This special day will include historic trades demonstrations, ranger and archaeologist tours, and kids’ activities. Admission is $10 for adults, free for children under 16.
Enjoy beautiful scenery and learn more about Jamestown and the Civil War at a special dinner on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. The program begins at 5:00 p.m. and includes a picnic dinner. Historic Jamestowne’s web site says you’ll “explore the story of Fort Pocahontas, one of five Civil War-era forts constructed on Jamestown Island … hear first-person accounts of Confederate soldiers stationed at the fort … and enjoy an update with Jamestown Rediscovery Senior Archaeologist Dave Givens on the most recent findings from the fort’s excavated bomb shelter.”
There’s no shortage of fun things to do this weekend! The Italian Festival is being held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8 & 9 at Walsingham Academy, 1100 Jamestown Road in Williamsburg from 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. They’ll have wine tastings, great food, and entertainment.
There’s an admission fee, in addition to the cost of the food, because this is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Colonial Italian American Organization. This group funds $2,000 scholarships for 4 high school students annually, as well as providing grants to other local educational charities.
Admission:
If you’re still hungry when you leave the Hickory Neck Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 8, there’s a convenient solution for you. Just up the road, the James City-Bruton Volunteer Fire Department in Toano is holding its annual Fall Fish Fry from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Meet the volunteer fire fighters and see the trucks and equipment they use to protect us and our property. Tickets are $10/adults, $5/kids under 12. The spread includes fried flounder, baked beans, cole slaw, hush puppies, water, iced tea, or coffee.
The 11th Annual Hickory Neck Family Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2011 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is great fun for the whole family while raising funds for local charities including Grove Christian Outreach Center, SpiritWorks Foundation, Faith in Action, Angels of Mercy, H.E.L.P., and others.
Enjoy homemade BBQ and other luncheon favorites followed by treats from the “Amazin Grazin” bakery and gourmet items sale. There are lots of children’s activities while you enjoy live music. Browse the Arts & Crafts show or find a treasure at Attic Antiques.
The Silent Auction offers incredible bargains including gifts certificates to local shops, restaurants, golf venues and many other great values. Tours of the historic chapel are available. For additional information call (757) 566-0276 or visit www.hickoryneck.org/festival. (Disclosure: Williamsburg Native is a member of Hickory Neck Episcopal Church)
If you love Italian painting, consider attending the Muscarelle Museum‘s “3rd Thursdays” lectures this fall. Art historian John T. Spike, the distinguished scholar in residence at the College of William & Mary, will explore the topics listed below.
The lectures are included with the regular $5 admission to the museum on the campus of the College of William and Mary, or you might consider becoming a member if you want to attend all three. After 5:00 p.m. you can park in the faculty & staff lot next to the museum with no worries.
5:30 p.m., Thursday, September 15, 2011
Caravaggio’s Ambiguities
The brilliant 17th century Italian painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), depicted religious themes in contemporary settings with a style based in visible reality. Habitually transgressing the boundary between the sacred and the profane, Caravaggio is renowned as one of the greatest religious painters of all time. His early successes, however, were also based on his genius for treating themes of deception, trickery, and disguise. Like his contemporary, Shakespeare, Caravaggio combined realism with artifice in ways that have resulted in a puzzling diversity of interpretations. In this lecture, Caravaggio’s delight in calculated ambiguities is viewed in its cultural context.
5:30 p.m., Thursday, October 13, 2011
Young Michelangelo: The Path to the Sistine
From the apprentice who at the age of thirteen draws copies that are indistinguishable from his master’s originals; to the miracle of the Pietà; to the completion of the David, a task considered impossible; to the young man’s return to Rome at the age of 33 to undertake the vast ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Young Michelangelo probes the formative years of a genius, underscoring his personal rivalries and fascination with the eternal contrasts of pagan/sacred, perfect/imperfect, colossal and impossible.
5:30 p.m., Thursday, November 17, 2011
Secret Messages of Faith: Fra Angelico’s Frescoes at San Marco
Called Angelico for his exquisite depictions of paradise, the paintings of the 15th century Dominican friar, Fra Angelico, have been beloved for centuries. The more than 40 frescoes Fra Angelico painted to decorate the walls of the monastery of San Marco remain one of the highlights for any visitor to Florence. Arranged out of sequence in comparison to the Biblical narrative, the fresco program has long frustrated scholarly interpretation. In this lecture, Spike unravels their secret messages, showing that Fra Angelico drew upon the mystical writings of the early church fathers to describe a non-linear journey towards union with God.
This silly fundraiser takes place from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 4. Go for the races, stay for the great food – Berret’s is on Williamsburg Native’s Top 10 list. Sponsor a crab for $10, $25, or $50 to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Prizes will be awarded for the fastest, the cutest, and the best named crab in each race.
This is the last movie of the season and a great way to end a day of fun in the historic area. The outdoor movie begins at dusk. Take a lawn chair or blanket to relax in front of the inflatable screen. Sponsors provide the cotton candy. Enjoy the flick even more with an ice cream treat from Baskin-Robbins or frozen yogurt from Berry Body, both on Prince George St.
The Deloreans promise to rock the ‘Burg “80’s style” at their September 10th Pipe Concert , 7:00 – 11:00 p.m at Matoaka Lake Ampitheatre. Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 for students. Proceeds benefit the PIPE fund (Providing Indoor Plumbing for Everyone) at Housing Partnerships. Gate opens at 6:30 p.m. No outside food or drink allowed; concessions available.
"Am I Not a Man and a Brother?" Anti-slavery campaign medallion by Josiah Wedgwood, 1787, photo courtesy of Wikipedia
“In Pursuit of Equality” is a series of presentations August 13 – 14, 2011 at Historic Jamestowne (on the island) and Colonial Williamsburg that will explore the stories, struggles, and triumphs of colonial Africans and African-Americans. With programs such as ”Faces of Rebellion” and “The Curse of Ham,” you’ll be challenged to think deeply about America’s complicated history of race and class. Themes of this special two-day event will include:
* the paradox of a democratic society denying rights and liberties to African Americans
* issues of personal identity
* society’s perceptions of race
* the continuance of a thriving culture from Africa to the colonies
Call 1-800-HISTORY for more information.
