By DENNY DYROFF, Staff Writer, The Times
The “Dog Days” of summer are long gone for this year. The “Dog Days’ of autumn are coming up this weekend. On November 14 and 15, the National Dog Show will be held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center (100 Station Ave., Oaks, 484-754-3976, http://nds.nationaldogshow.com).
The show’s sponsor – the Kennel Club of Philadelphia – will host two all-breed dog shows with totally separate competitions each day. The annual event is one of only a handful of “benched” events in the United States. Shows of this type present visitors with the opportunity to see the dogs up close and learn from their owners, breeders and handlers.
There will be a full schedule of events each day, including breed judging and demonstration events. The exhibitors at the show will be competing for prizes in categories featuring more than 160 different canine breeds in seven main groups — terrier, toy, working, sporting, hound, non-sporting and herding.
From 1-6 p.m. on November 15, NBC-TV will film the “Group” and “Best in Show” competitions for “The National Dog Show Presented by Purina” show which will air on Thanksgiving Day at noon immediately following the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
On November 15, there will be three special canine-based presentations in Hall D’s MetroKids Family Fun Zone — “Diving Dogs,” “Freestyle Flying Disc,” and “Agility Dogs.” The area will also feature dog-themed face painting, caricatures and more.
Admission either day is $14 for adults, $7 for children (ages 4-12) and free for children (3 and under).
Being under siege is not something you really want to do — definitely not a lot of fun. But, attending “Siege Weekend” at Fort Mifflin (Fort Mifflin and Hog Island roads, Philadelphia, 215-685-4167, www.fortmifflin.us) can be a lot of fun for the entire family.
“Siege Weekend” is an annual celebration of an event that is almost as old as our nation — an event that took place almost two-and-a-half centuries ago.
On November 14 and 15, the Olde Fort Mifflin Historical Society will celebrate the 238th Anniversary of the “Siege & Bombardment of Fort Mifflin.” There will be two days of activities commemorating the historic siege and bombardment of Fort Mifflin that took place in 1777. The event gets underway each day at 10 a.m. and continues until 4 p.m.
Fort Mifflin, which was originally called Fort Island Battery, was commissioned in 1771. It was also known as Mud Island Fort because it sits on Mud Island (also known as Deep Water Island) on the Delaware River near the Philadelphia International Airport. During the American Revolutionary War, the British Army bombarded and captured the fort as part of their conquest of Philadelphia in autumn 1777.
During the siege, 400 American soldiers held off more than 2,000 British troops and over 250 ships that had been responsible for launching an endless barrage of cannonballs into the fort. After five days of holding off the British, the American troops evacuated the fort after having successfully denied the British Navy free use of the Delaware River.
Activities at this weekend’s commemoration will depict life in the 18th century and also feature weapons demonstrations, tactical demonstrations, musket drills for youngsters and a scavenger hunt. There will be military re-enactors portraying both American and British forces as they commemorate the largest bombardment that took place in the entire American Revolution. And, Benjamin Franklin will be a special guest both days.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for children (ages 6-12).
If you’re planning on attending this year’s Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens (Route 1, Kennett Square, 610-388-1000, www.longwoodgardens.org), you better move quickly because the event is sown to its final two weekend.
Longwood Gardens celebrates autumn with its annual Chrysanthemum Festival every year. The 34th Annual Mum Fest, a top-flight exhibit featuring more than 20,000 colorful, blooming chrysanthemums in Longwood’s huge conservatory, is running now through November 22.
The horticulturalists at Longwood Gardens have grown and developed the mums into a variety of unusual forms. They have groomed chrysanthemums to resemble clouds, torches, spirals, fans, 13-foot arches and more. The stars of the show are Longwood Gardens’ “Thousand Bloom” mums.
The Thousand Bloom (known in Japan as Ozukuri) is the most exacting and difficult of all the Chrysanthemum training styles. It derives its name for the ambitious goal of a single chrysanthemum plant producing 1,000 perfect blooms.
The method for growing the Thousand Bloom originated in China and Japan more than 200 years ago. It is a dying art form with only a few growers in the entire world skilled in the techniques needed to grow this special plant.
Admission to Longwood Gardens is $20 for adults, $17 for seniors (62+) and $10 for students (ages 5-18).
On November 14, Media will host its Second Saturday Art Stroll (State Street, Media, mediaartscouncil.org). The event, which is sponsored by the Media Arts Council, is free and open to the public.
On the second Saturday of every month, more than 40 businesses on State Street and downtown side streets in Media stay open late as part of a free arts event. From 6-9 p.m., shops, galleries and cafes host local musicians and/or display the work of local artists. Visitors can stroll the friendly streets of Media and use the Council’s guide map to find music, art and participating shops.
In addition to the activities in the business district, there will are openings and concerts staged at the MAC’s Art Center and Gallery (609-B West State Street) each 2nd Saturday. Openings are held from 4-6 p.m. and concerts begin at 7 p.m. The public is welcome and concerts are BYOB.
The Wilmington & Western Railroad (2201 Newport Gap Pike, Wilmington, DE, 302-998-1930, www.wwrr.com) is running its “Mt. Cuba Meteor Trains” with special excursions scheduled for November 15. Passengers will take a leisurely 1.5-hour round-trip train ride up the Red Clay Valley.
The train will travel to the tourist rail line’s Mt. Cuba Picnic Grove and riders will be able to see the remnants of the area’s fall foliage along the way. There will be a half-hour layover for passengers to enjoy a picnic lunch or take a stroll in the grove’s natural surroundings.
Trains depart at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $14 for adults, $13 for seniors and $12 for children (ages 2-12).
Want to do something really different this weekend?
How about taking part in a “Punch Needle Class?”
You can learn how to do punch needle on November 14 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at LancasterHistory.org (4 West King Street, Lancaster, 717-392-4633, www.LancasterHistory.org). Participants will be able to choose from six holiday designs to create their product, and, by the end of class, leave with a finished project and the supplies necessary to complete other designs later.
There will be a 45-minute break for lunch. The cost of the class is $75 — $20 for the class itself and $55 for supplies. Participants can bring their own supplies and pay only $20 for the class. Supplies will include hoop, needle, fabric, design, template, and thread.
Even though Thanksgiving has yet to arrive, the Christmas season has already arrived.
The Historic Odessa Foundation’s 2015 Christmas Holiday Tour is one that is guaranteed to appeal to kids of all ages. The tours will be presented now through December 31 in Odessa’s historic district (Main Street, Odessa, Delaware, 302-378-4119, www.historicodessa.org). The Historic Houses of Odessa’s National Historic Register Wilson-Warner House has been transformed into vignettes inspired by Lewis Carroll’s famous book, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
This year marks the 150th anniversary of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” which was published in time for Christmas in 1865. Visitors to the Historic Houses of Odessa will be transported into Alice’s dream, which gets “curiouser and curiouser” through each of the period rooms of the foundation’s 246-year-old Wilson-Warner House made. Lewis Carroll’s original manuscript was presented by the author as “A Christmas gift to a dear child [Alice Liddell] in memory of a summer day.”
Another popular attraction is the “Storybook Trees Exhibit,” which is a festive display of Christmas trees that reflect books and works of children’s literature. The trees have been decorated by local families, schools and organizations.
All of the Historic Odessa Foundation’s properties will be open and on display for the holiday season. A special feature will be the “Holiday Highlights from Christmas Past Photography Exhibit.”
Special events and tours will be held throughout the holiday season including “Curator Christmas Exhibit Presentation” on November 12, “Fairy Tale Time” on December 2, ‘Candlelight Tours” on December 3 and 10, the “Mad Hatter Tea Party” on December 13 and “Festive Foods/Hearth Cooking Demonstration” on December 12 and 19.
This weekend, you can also get a look at German holiday traditions at a special event in Delaware.
The German Christmas Festival, which is also known as Christkindl Markt, will take place November 14 at the Delaware Saengerbund (49 Salem Church Road, Newark, Delaware, 302-366-9454, www.delawaresaengerbund.org). The free event is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. and continue through 4 p.m.
The kitchen will open at 11 a.m. and feature a wide array of German cakes and pastries along with a variety of hot food and sandwich items. The Bauernstube (restaurant) will be open all day with food and beverages. A number of vendor booths will be set up at the festival featuring imported candy, handmade articles, German Christmas items and ornaments, bakery items, a White Elephant sale and a children’s gift shop.
Live entertainment will be presented all day with dance performances by the Children’s Enzian Volkstanzgruppe at 1:30 p.m. and seasonal music by Enzian Musikanten throughout the day. Santa is scheduled to arrive between 2:30 and 3 p.m.
Now that Christmas activities have begun, Peddler’s Village (Routes 202 and 263, Lahaska, 215-794-4000, http://peddlersvillage.com) is starting its celebration and that means there will be a lot of activity at the site over the next few weeks. Peddler’s Village’s “Kick Off to the Holidays” will take place on November 13 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Visitors to the Village can join special guest Mrs. Claus for festive fun and mini-lightings in a different Village neighborhood each night leading up to the Village-wide Grand Illumination Celebration on November 21. Village shops will be open until 9 p.m. with a distinctive assortment of merchandise, special promotions and refreshments.
The Grand Illumination Celebration, which is scheduled for November 20, will showcase thousands of tiny white lights outlining the Village’s buildings, colorful lights with less-than-common colors (teal, peach, and fuscia) adorning the trees and shrubs and a landscaped backdrop featuring a group of reindeer glowing in white light. Santa will arrive to turn on the lights and officially mark the beginning of the event. After the lights go on, visitors will be treated to free cider and toasted marshmallows.
November 20 also marks the start of Peddler’s Village “Gingerbread House Competition and Display.” Slated to run through January 2, the “Gingerbread House Competition” features over $2,000 in cash prizes in such categories as Traditional and Authentic Reproduction of a Significant Building.
Nemours Mansion & Gardens (Route 141 South, Alapocas Drive, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-651-6912, www.nemoursmansion.org) is welcoming visitors for the Christmas holidays with special holiday-themed tours. The three-hour tours are held Tuesdays through Sundays and run from November 7 through January 3.
Originally constructed in 1910, Nemours Mansion is one of Delaware’s grandest buildings and includes the largest formal French garden in North America. The house was the residence of Alfred I. DuPont and is presented as a “home” rather than a “museum”. It contains more than 70 rooms over five floors that occupy 47,000 square feet. Its unique furnishings include rare French 18th century furniture.
During the holiday period, the guided tours will include several stories of the house and part of the gardens. Many of the rooms featured in the tour will be decorated as they would have been when DuPont resided there in the early 1900s while some will retain their traditional period decorations.
Tickets for the tour at Nemours are $15.
Koziar’s Christmas Village (782 Christmas Village Road, Bernville, 610-488-1110, www.koziarschristmasvillage.com) has started its 68th annual season and it will remain open every night through January 2 — including Christmas Eve, Christmas Night, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Night.
The village is a visual wonderland with a large amount of holiday displays and special attractions including “Santa’s Post Office,” “Christmas in the Jungle,” “Toy Maker and his Toy Shop” and “Christmas in Other Lands. Other attractions are a huge model train display, a toy shop, a country kitchen, indoor and outdoor Christmas displays. Admission to Christmas Village is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors (65 and older) and $8 for children (ages 4-10).
From a theatrical standpoint, the holiday season has definitely arrived in Lancaster County.
The American Music Theatre (2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, 800-0 648-4102, www.AMTshows.com) has its holiday show running now through December 30 and the Rainbow Dinner Theatre (3065 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, 800-292-4301, www.rainbowcomedy.com) is presenting its holiday production now through December 27.
The AMT’s 2015 show “Deck the Halls” is an all-new presentation of favorite sacred and secular holiday songs performed by professional artists from across the country. The show will feature spectacular vocal harmonies, elaborate scenery, lively musical arrangements, impressive dancing, the music of the AMT Orchestra, elegant costumes and a theater decked out with holiday decorations.
The show will have both matinee and evening performances each week with the addition of 10:30 a.m. performances on Sundays throughout December. Show length is two hours and 15 minutes with a short intermission. Tickets are $42 for adults and $21 for children.
The Rainbow Comedy Theatre in Paradise is presenting its holiday production “Goodnight Mrs. Puffin” with matinee performances are every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and selected Saturdays and evening performances are every Friday, Saturday and selected Thursdays. Ticket prices range from $48-$54.
For those of you who want to get an early start with your holiday shopping, there are plenty of options this weekend with a number of craft shows, art shows and antiques shows on the calendar.
The 2015 Holiday Fine Craft Sale at Historic Yellow Springs (1685 Art School Road, Chester Springs, 610-827-7414, www.yellowsprings.org) November 13-15 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each day
The event features a huge selection of artwork and crafts created by many of the area’s top-flight artists and artisans. Some of the featured genres are woodworking, painting, ceramics, jewelry, glass, pottery, photography and fiber arts.
The Chester Springs Studio is a vibrant arts center at Historic Yellow Springs. Founded in 1978 as an offshoot of Historic Yellow Springs, the Studio grew in reputation as a nationally-known home for the visual arts, particularly in the areas of painting and ceramics.
Admission to the popular annual event is $5.
When it comes to craft shows in the Mid-Atlantic region, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show is the biggest, one of the oldest and definitely one of the best. 
The 39th Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show will be held now through November 15 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (12th and Arch streets, Philadelphia, 215-684-7930, http://pmacraftshow.org). The well-attended juried show and sale of contemporary craft, which had over 1,000 applicants, includes 195 of the finest and most respected craft artists in the United States.
Visitors to the show will be able to meet the craft artists, discuss the artisans’ work and purchase their crafts. The show will feature crafts in a variety of categories, including paper, leather, furniture, clay, glass, baskets, jewelry, fiber wearable, metal, wood, mixed media and fiber-decorative works.
In just under 40 years the show has grown from 125 to 195 of the finest craft artists in the nation selected through a highly competitive jury process. This dynamic and premier show has always been in the forefront of craft education by presenting symposia, on-site artist demonstrations, collection and studio tours, room settings of craft furniture and accessories, and student exhibitions.
In 2001 a guest artist program was added whereby artists from a single country are selected to participate. Countries that have participated thus far include Japan, England, Ireland, Germany, Finland, Canada, Israel, Korea, Scotland and Lithuania. In an effort to promote craft education, the 2015 Craft Show will devote its guest artists program to emerging artists.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show is presented annually by the Women’s Committee and Craft Show Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the benefit of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Funds raised are used to purchase works of art and craft for the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to fund conservation and publication projects and to support exhibitions and education programs.
Tickets for adults are $15 for one day and $20 for a two-day ticket. Children will be admitted for $5. Show hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Friday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday.
The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen’s Fine Craft Fair, which is being held November 14 and 15 at the Lancaster Convention Center (25 South Queen Street, Lancaster, 717-431-8706, www.pacrafts.org), features a roster of top-quality and very diverse artisans.
The fair will feature approximately 150 master artisans representing a wide variety of fine crafts including jewelry, quilts, basketry, pottery, clothing, sculpture, wood turning and more. Each artisan specializes in work that is functional, aesthetic or both. There will be thousands of works on display — all of which were created one at a time.
Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $8 for adults and children (17 and under) will be admitted free.
