Wayne County’s festival season gets an early start with Williamsburg’s Community Farm Days on Friday and Saturday, July 28-29.
Most activities are planned at Williamsburg Area Community Center, 8441 Centerville Road N. The Masonic Lodge will provide free strawberry ice cream shortcake while supplies last.
On Friday, vendors will be open and pork chops will be served. The nearby Williamsburg Nazarene Church, 8503 Pleasant St., is offering a yard sale and a free outdoor concert by Forgiven at 6 p.m. (bring seating).
Saturday’s activities kick off from 7-10 a.m. at the community center with the Lions Club’s all-you-can-eat breakfast (scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, pancakes, coffee, and juice) for $7 and $3 for ages 6-12.
Williamsburg Nazarene’s festivities include a car show and free train rides from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., a free bounce house and obstacle course from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and a school supply giveaway from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Firefighters will offer a barbecue and pork chops will be available.
A concert featuring Sean Lamb and Janet Miller Band takes place from 6-9 p.m.
For more information about the festival call 765-886-4448; for the car show, call 765-277-9131.
Museum kicks off 125th anniversary
Richmond Art Museum will begin celebrating a milestone from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, July 29, with a free gathering.
Area residents can enjoy a snapshot of the museum’s past, present and future, and hear from special guests.
Artists, trustees and city and state officials and others will recognize the anniversary at 350 Hub Etchison Parkway, Richmond.
The gathering also includes the closing reception for the Best of the Best show featuring 39 Best of Show winners of RAM’s Annual Exhibit from 1909 to 2022.
For more information, call 765-966-0256 or visit richmondartmuseum.org.
Comedy, music in a tent
One weekend of tent theater remains with “The Great Nettle Creek Players Music & Comedy Extravaganza” at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, July 27-29.
“The Extravaganza” is two shows in one, featuring a pair of short musical comedy one-acts along with a comical emcee and audience singalongs.
The first act,
“The Rest of Broadway,” is a series of 5-10 minute parodies of Broadway shows
including “Judy & the Beast,” “Less Miserable Than You” and “Beauty Shop of Horrors.”
Act Two is “Just A Bunch of Fools” with sketches and songs cultivated from actual vaudeville archives. It includes skits from Abbott & Costello, Burns & Allen, Hope & Crosby, Fannie Brice and Milton Berle, plus songs such as “Ain’t She Sweet” and “Shine on Harvest Moon.”
The tent and surrounding parking lot are next to Precision Wire, 550 E. Main St. (Indiana 38), Hagerstown.
Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors, available at the door or in advance via nettlecreekplayers.com or 765-914-7828.
Free massages, fitness sampler
A kids’ zone, free massages and fitness classes, color run 5K, healthy snacks and health fair are just some highlights of Meridian Health Services’ City Fit.
Classes allow participants to experience what a fitness class is like without the pressure or expense of a gym. Meridian and other local organizations will provide health screenings and information on healthy opportunities. Vendor booths will include gardening groups, herbal healers, local fitness and mental health centers, chiropractors, and healthcare providers.
Activities take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at Wayne County Fairgrounds, 861 Salisbury Road N., Richmond. Registration closes July 26 for the color run at eventbrite.com.
For more information, call 765-935-5390.
Live animal show
Silly Safaris will bring its live adventure show of animals from around the world to Richmond at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 29.
The Indianapolis-based entertainers mix fun and fact for all ages in more than 3,000 shows every year as they present mammals, reptiles, birds and bugs.
The show, which is free and open to all area residents, takes place at Morrisson-Reeves Library, 80 N. Sixth St.
Free quartet + pianist concerts
The Richmond-based Chanticleer String Quartet begins its 47th summer festival of free concerts around Indiana with a performance on Wednesday morning, July 26, for Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County.
Other Richmond performances include 6 p.m. July 31 at Central United Methodist Church (1425 E. Main), 2 p.m. Aug. 4 at Morrisson-Reeves Library, 10:30 a.m. Aug. 6 at Friends Fellowship Community (2030 Chester Blvd.) and 3:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at Chanticleer Farm, 944 Woods Road (just off U.S. 27, a couple miles south of Richmond). The farm concert’s rain location is St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 800 N. A St., Richmond.
Pianist and composer William Foster McDaniel, who has served as a musical director for on- and off-Broadway shows, returns to join the quartet (Caroline Klemperer Green, Stefan Xhori, Jennifer Smith and Elizabeth Gottling Mendoza).
This year’s program includes “The Grand Michel” by Michel Legrand, “Tango: Por una Cabeza” by Carlos Gardel, Fritz Kreisler’s “Liebesleid” and “Liebesfreud” (“Love’s Sorrow and Love’s Joy”), Johannes Brahms’ Quintet in F minor, and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Op. 44 No. 1 in D Major.
Additional tour locations include Indiana Landmarks Center and Arts Garden in Indianapolis, Honeywell House in Wabash and Timbercrest Community in North Manchester.
For more information, visit chanticleerquartet.com or call 917-991-2906.
A version of this article appeared in the July 26 2023 print edition of the Western Wayne News.