Putney Craft Tour Named Top Ten Vermont Winter Event

Say You Saw it in The Monadnock Shopper News, November 12 – November 18, 2014
Putney Craft Tour Named Top Ten
Vermont Winter Event
Partners With Putney Foodshelf
Nancy Calicchio’s art, at left, and Julia Brandis Glassworks, stained glass
panels and lamps, at right/
Windham County in southern Vermont is a place rich with artistic vision,
talent, and craftsmanship. It boasts five
popular craft and artisan open studio
tours spaced at different times of the
year. The granddaddy is the Putney
Craft Tour, which will have its 36th anniversary Thanksgiving weekend. It’s
the oldest continuous crafts tour in the
US and has served as a prototype for
tours all over the country.
New this year, the tour is partnering with the Putney Foodshelf by using
art to support food for those who are
in need. Each studio on the tour will
have an object for sale with proceeds
going to the Foodshelf. The tour is also
a participant in American Craft Week,
a nationwide celebration of American
Craft and has been nominated as a
Top Ten Winter Event by the Vermont
Chamber of Commerce.
The Putney Craft Tour is more
than a once a year event. “Many of the
studios are open year-round, some by
appointment, and the tour wants to be
a resource for our community in ways
that we can. Using our art to support
our neighbors and young people in
need is a way for us to give something
back,” says Nancy Calicchio, artist on
the tour who spearheaded the project.
The tour takes place November
28th, 29th, and 30th from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. each day when 26 artists enthusiastically prepare their working studios
for visits by community members and
out-of-town guests, seeking to provide
experiences that are informative, interesting, and fun.
putney, page 25
Monadnock Buy Local, an alliance
of 151 locally owned and independent businesses in southwestern New
Hampshire, is launching its 4th annual
Shift Your Shopping Holiday Campaign
in the Monadnock Region. From now
through Wednesday, December 31st,
Monadnock Buy Local encourages residents to choose local and independent
businesses for more of their holiday
purchases.
Studies show that spending dollars
at locally owned businesses generates
two to three times as much economic
activity in a community compared
Catch The Spirit Tour Thanksgiving Weekend
This year’s Catch the Spirit Tour, planned for
Thanksgiving weekend, plans to be extra special with
added events at this year.
Four country shops will be decorated with the
sights and smells of the holiday season and welcome
customers with refreshments and a complimentary
gift. Receive a tour map at your first stop. Complete
the tour visiting each shop to be entered in a drawing
for a sleigh brimming with gifts.
Special events start with a visit from Father Christmas Friday afternoon from noon to 4 p.m. at Hollow
Oak Farm in Sullivan.
Fresh greens and wreaths will be available for
sale at Old Glory Antiques of Fitzwilliam for all of
the tour days and weather permitting, a blacksmith
will be demonstrating his craft. Fawn’d Memories of
Rindge will host make-your-own s’mores Saturday
afternoon from 1 to 6 p.m. On Sunday from 11 a.m.
to 4 p.m., Harvest Thyme Herbs of Dublin will have
demonstrations and tastings by Whole Harmony
Tea Company, specializing in handcrafted organic
medicinal teas.
Tour dates are Friday, November 28th and Saturday, November 29th from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and
Sunday, November 30th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fawn’d Memories is located at 398 Route 202 in
Rindge; Harvest Thyme Herbs is at 91 Dooe Road in
Dublin; Old Glory Antiques is at 13 Route 12 South in
Father Christmas will visit Friday from noon to
Fitzwilliam; and Hollow Oak Farm is at 108 Centre 4 p.m. (Photo by Home in New England)
Street in Sullivan.
The Orchard School’s 19th Annual Craft Fair And Café
The Orchard School will offer a chance to support
the school and buy holiday gifts at its traditional Craft
Fair and Café fund-raising event. The 19th Annual
Craft Fair will take place at the Walpole Town Hall
on Friday, November 21st from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and
Saturday, November 22nd from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
It will feature more than 40 locally and nationally
known professional artisans. All of the crafters live
and work within a 40-mile radius of Walpole, bringing locally and sustainably produced options to the
conscious shopper.
A sampling of the crafted work includes silver
jewelry, wool items, handmade wooden toys and
crafts, pottery, fine beaded jewelry, traditional straw
ornaments, flannel and wool shirts and dresses,
photography, woodwork, metal work, carvings,
and more.
to money spent at a national chain.
Visitors may relax and enjoy dinner or lunch in the
Successful Shift Your Shopping efforts
across North America would result in
billions of dollars of economic impact.
This year's Shift Your Shopping
Home Healthcare, Hospice & Community Sercelebration includes:
vices have announced its 19th annual Poinsettia and
“Shop For Good”
Amaryllis sale to raise funds for Hospice at HCS.
Participating independent businessThe program provides comfort, care, and support
es will give a portion of purchases to a
to over 400 patients and their families throughout
school or charity of customers’ choosing
southwestern New Hampshire.
during one or more “Shop For Good”
These beautiful, florist-quality poinsettias are
days this holiday season: causetown.
available in red, pink, and white in the followorg/campaign/ShopForGood.
Monadnock Buy Local Launches 4th Annual
Shift Your Shopping Holiday Campaign
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café, featuring homemade chili and quiche featuring
Orchard Hill Breadworks Bakery bread, followed by
dessert. All proceeds from the café will benefit The
Orchard School’s educational programs. Local musicians will entertain on Saturday.
On Saturday, visitors may park at Walpole Middle
School and take a shuttle courtesy of Kroka Expeditions and the Walpole Village School to avoid traffic
and parking issues. Four other events are happening
on the Walpole Green: The Walpole Thanksgiving
Farmers’ Market, St. John’s Christmas on the Green
holiday bazaar, The First Congregational Church’s
Mistletoe Mart and Walpole Village School’s Sugar
Plum Village. All events are offering door prizes. Up
the road a bit, Marlow’s Christmas on the Pond is
also taking place.
For more details, call 603-835-2495 or visit www.
theorchardschool.org.
Hospice At Hcs Poinsettia And Amaryllis Sale
shopping, page 25
Activities For Children At Monadnock
Waldorf School’s Crafts Fair
While known for the sale of handcrafts, raffle baskets, silent auction
and more, on Saturday, November
15th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monadnock Waldorf School’s Crafts Fair and
Festival will offer a number of familyoriented events. The fair takes place
at the elementary school at 98 South
Lincoln Street in Keene. Admission is
free. Children are invited to make craft
items at no charge. There are modest
fees for other activities.
The Cobb Meadow Puppeteers will
offer three performances of Rumplestiltskin, as told by the Brothers Grimm.
The Puppeteers travel all over New
England and the Northeast, performing for school and community groups
delighting children and children at
heart. The troupe’s silk marionettes and
Cobb Meadow Puppeteers practice sets are hand-crafted by members of the
Rumplestiltskin for Monadnock Wal- troupe. Performances are scheduled at
dorf School’s Crafts Fair November 11 a.m., noon, and 1:30 p.m.
15th.
waldorf, page 23
ing sizes: six-inch singles with six to eight blooms
($12.95); seven-inch doubles with 12 to 15 blooms
($18.95); and eight-inch triples with 18 to 25 blooms
($28.50). Amaryllis kits are also available again this
year for $11.75 each and also available in white, red,
or pink.
Poinsettia, page 25