Sunday, November 10, is Cliché Day, a celebration of those commonly used phrases that, for better or worse, seem to spread like wildfire. Picking them out as you read or listen to a speaker is easier than shooting fish in a barrel, and the handful we cite here are just a drop in the bucket.
If you're a weekend warrior in The Pursuit of something to cool that Saturday night fever, we've got enough recommendations to last you a month of Sundays.
The suggestions below are more fun than a barrel of... well, you know.
Okay, happy campers, Hope Lodge, Fort Washington, is celebrating the 236th anniversary of the Continental Army's encampment in the Whitemarsh hills. Re-enactors will establish British and American camps, perform military drills, recreate skirmishes and sell reproduction goods from Colonial-style sutlers (civilians who supplied goods to armies). The program runs both Saturday and Sunday (November 2-3), and missing it would definitely make you a wet blanket.
Crafty folks looking for a creative workshop have a cut-and-dried decision to make on November 2. The Mennonite Heritage Center presents scherenschnitte, the art of paper cutting. Scherenschnitte, a German word for scissors cutting, was a popular Pennsylvania German craft in which intricate designs were cut with a scissors or a knife. If you are a fan of 18th and 19th century handmade art, staying home would be the unkindest cut of all.
If you're feeling overwhelmed by your workweek, you may just have too many irons in the fire. The program on November 1 at Pottsgrove Manor will teach you the ins and outs of Colonial-era iron production and distribution. Topics include the evolution of a multi-forge, multi-furnace operation that made the Potts family one of the most successful ironmasters of their day. Stressing over a lack of things to do on Saturday, the day of this presentation, is like carrying coals to Newcastle.
Here's some food for thought: Come hear about the first Thanksgiving, from a Native American perspective. The Historical Society of Montgomery County hosts food historian Susan McLellan Plaisted, taking the person of "Moonwater Woman," in a free discussion November 3. Light refreshments will also be served, once attendees are finished talking turkey.
We draw the curtain on our weekend look-ahead with this reminder: It ain't over ‘til the fat lady sings. There will be plenty of singing onstage at the Bomberger Auditorium at Ursinus College. The curtain goes up November 2 on the opera Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell in a free concert performance. The story, adapted from The Aeneid by Virgil, involves the marriage between two monarchs and the meddling of an evil sorceress and her witches. Score one for opera fans, to whom this news will be music to their ears.
Montgomery County is a bed of roses when it comes to history, culture, events and fun. Our recommendations here are cooler than the underside of the pillow. And if that talk of beds and pillows puts the bee in your bonnet to take a hotel room and make a weekend getaway out of the activities here, it's as easy as falling off a log. Check out our list of recommended accommodations.
