Fort Loudoun Day: Winchester’s French and Indian War Foundation invites you to their annual celebration and hoisting of the British flag at Fort Loudoun. Taking place Saturday, May 19th, the event is a great educational event for children and adults, with tours of the Ft. Loudoun site and a formal program and ceremony.  The event will include tours of the site of Fort Loudoun, the well blasted by George Washington and his men, and terrific photo opportunities with reenactors.  Music and light refreshments will also be provided.  The event is free and open to the public.
Winchester Little Theatre Presents: The Porch: The Winchester Little Theatre continues its 2011-2012 season this weekend with “The Porch” by Jack Neary and directed by Sara Gomez. The production has performances on the 17th through the 20th.  Tickets are available now from their box office and their website for $18.75 for adults, $16.75 for seniors, and $14.75 for students.

Live Music Schedule:

-Friday, May 18th

• DJ Freedom Ortiz @ Brewbaker’s Restaurant – 10pm to 1:30am
• Moondog Medicine Show @ Piccadilly Public House – 9pm to 1am

-Saturday, May 19th

• Moondog Medicine Show @ Piccadilly Public House – 9pm to 1am
• The Jokers @ Brewbaker’s Restaurant – 10pm to 1:30am
• The Vyndetta @ Below the Fringe – 8pm to 10pm

The event will include tours of the site of Fort Loudoun, the well blasted by George Washington and his men, and terrific photo opportunities with reenactors.  Music and light refreshments will also be provided.

Fort Loudoun Day is free and open to the public.

Event Schedule:

• 10:00 am First Tour of the Grounds Led by Norman Baker
• 11:00 am Speaker Dr. Jack McAllister
• 11:45 am Daniel Morgan Essay Contest Winner Presentation
• 12:00 pm Flag Raising

The walk takes about 90 minutes and requires a walk of over a mile. Hear the history of the 5 cemeteries found here; see the graves of some of our more famous, and a few infamous, ancestors; see inside the Rouss Mausoleum.

The tour, which begins at the gatehouse shown here,  is free and open to the public with no reservations necessary.

Old Town Winchester is celebrating National Preservation Month by co-sponsoring the “Uncovering Your Hidden Gems” Photo Contest with Preservation of Historic Winchester and the Winchester Star.

If you don’t live in an older home with interior details easily available to you, Old Town Winchester offers an excellent variety of architectural details in a small area and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will find something here that excites you!

To get some further ideas and guidelines, please visit the 2012 contest page.  For any questions, please contact PHW, (540) 667-3577 or phwi@verizon.net. And remember: have fun!

Plot Summary from WLT: Watch five amusing and all too familiar seniors spend Labor Day weekend together in this hilarious comedy — a tale of enduring friendships and sobering revelations.

“As colorful as relatives at a family reunion, The Porch is to eastern Massachusetts what Steel Magnolias is to northwest Louisiana.” – Broadway World

Tickets are available now from their box office and their website for $18.75 for adults, $16.75 for seniors, and $14.75 for students.

Film summary from IMDb.com: A documentary about the evolution of the depiction of First Nations people in film, from the silent era to today. Featuring clips from hundreds of films, candid interviews with famous Native and non-Native directors, writers and actors, Reel Injun traces how the image of First Nations people in cinema have influenced the understanding and misunderstanding of their culture and history.

“We are looking for approximately 100 “extras” to play the part of a crowd attending a small town celebration for an Army Sodier who is being singled out as a “Hero.”  We will have balloons, American flags and confetti for the crowd in order to emulate a parade.  In real life, this would be a family event, so families are welcome to come.

The commercial is for a series being created to increase awareness of sexual harassment & assault, as well as the steps that civilians and soldiers can take to prevent them from happening.  The spots will be shown at a nationwide concert series being sponsored by SHARP, as well as on their website.

We will have doughnuts and coffee at 8:30am for those that want to arive early.  We’ll begin the shoot at 9am.  After the shoot, at around 1pm, we’ll have pizza for those that want to stick around.

Please help us to get the word out by telling your friends, posting the url for this notice on your social media networks, etc.  Help us get the word out!”

Those interested in participating should RSVP using Eventbrite page.

Picture by SFC Gordon Lamb.

The Grand Feature Parade starts on Cork Street, then windes through Old Town Winchester before ending up near John Handley High School.  Local and professional vendors, bars, restaurants and stores sell a wide variety of foods and beverages – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

The first Torchlight and Mummer’s Parade in 1929 stepped off at 8 p.m. with each of the Winchester Fire Departments participating. Each Firefighter carried a flaming torch. From its humble beginning it is now the largest and one of the oldest annual Firefighters’ Parades in the world.

For a map of the parade route, click here.