5 Things to Do in the Region

This weekend is expected to be a crisp, cool couple of days. Get out and do something in the area; there is much—including pre-Halloween celebrations—to see, learn, accomplish and enjoy!

1. Now, our first highlighted event isn't a Halloween event, per se, but the bargains you'll find just may frighten you. The Sugarloaf Crafts Festival returns to the Garden State Exhibit Center at 50 Atrium Drive in Somerset and runs Friday through Sunday. Now in its 39th year, the festival invites art enthusiasts to meet the jury-selected artists and buy unique artisan crafted pottery, sculpture, glass, jewelry, fashion, leather, wood, metal, furniture, home accessories, photography and fine art. Gourmet food will be available, along with craft demos, live music and interactive children’s entertainment. Get info at www.sugarloafcrafts.com or call 800-210-9900. Free parking is available on site. The show runs Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Tickets are $8 online and $10 at the door for adults and free for kids under 12. 
2. Put on your best costume and take the kids to experience Halloween at the Hive at the Chester Springs Shopping Center, 237 Route 206. On Saturday, starting at 2 p.m., The Hive, run by the Morris County Arts Workshop, holds its third annual Halloween workshop for families in a creative and safe environment. Thirteen “spooky stations” will give the whole family lots of holiday-themed activities to try, including arts and crafts, storytelling, ghoulish games, a reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and—ooooh, spooky!—the Wheel of Misfortune. Children ages three to 10 can attend from 2 to 5 p.m., and youngsters from age 11 to 15 can hang out from 6 to 10 p.m. Admission is $8 per child. Find out more here. 
3. Let your kids try their hand at making scary art at a Halloween Cartooning Workshop this weekend. If you love to draw cartoons, then the Creators Workshop art school is the place to be on Saturday from 2-3 p.m. This free and fun-filled cartooning workshop in Wayne is for children ages 6-16, and the kids will learn basic cartooning skills including drawing classic Halloween monsters and even Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin! Refreshments will be served and costumes are optional, but welcome. Sign up online at www.Creatorsworkshop.com , call 973-720-0001 or send email to mikemalzone@gmail.com. And while admission is free, organizers ask participants to bring a can of dog or cat food to be donated to A.D.O.P.T.
4. What better time to tour a cemetery than All Hallows? Bring the whole family—or at least the brave members of the clan—for the eerily delightful thrill of Graveyard, Ghosts and Gallows that is worth the drive for Halloween fans, history nuts and art admirers. The Sussex County Historical Society sponsors the holiday event, which features graveyard tours Saturday at 111 a.m. and 3 p.m. Among the highlights is the cemetery's oldest grave, where a child was buried in 1770, a section where 19th-century African-Americans ended up segregated for perpetuity and the burial plots of Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War veterans. At 1:30 p.m., professor Jeff Williamson will give a presentation about the Victorian Way of Death. To experience the spoooooky, educational holiday event, RSVP by calling 973-383-6010. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids and free for historical society members. The society is at 82 Main St. in Newton.
5. This weekend's fifth spotlighted event has nothing to do with any holiday: Human trafficking, while certainly a dark, scary practice, is nothing of which to make light. That's why men and women will gather in Morristown Sunday for a Rally Against Modern-Day Slavery. The New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking member Sue Rosenthal notes that human trafficking does happen in this area, due to its proximity to the Interstate 95 corridor. So, from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, people will stand to protest its practice in New Jersey. Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty will speak, and all are welcome to add their voices to the cry against this modern horror. For more information, contact the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking at crc@jfedgmw.org or 973-929-3087.