Halloween party coming Oct. 27; oral history project offered
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY The Montgomery Center for the Arts at the 1860 House is planning several major events in the coming weeks, ranging from a Halloween party for residents to an evening over coffee to an oral history project to review the center’s accomplishments over the past decade.
The arts center will welcome guests for a "Ghoulishly Fun Halloween Party" 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27.
Guests will be invited to explore the 150-year-old 1860 house, which will be transformed into a haunted mansion. In addition, guests can play pumpkin bowling and other Halloween games.
A "spooky" scavenger hunt will take place as well to search for prizes. Or visitors can make their own masks, create trick-or-treat bags and spooky jewelry.
An original puppet show will be performed by the center’s October Puppet Fest Class.
Prizes will be awarded for the most original costumes.
Call the center at (609) 921-3272 to receive advance tickets.
In addition, the center is attempting to compile a history of the past 10 years in order to tell a story about the impact the Montgomery Center for the Arts has had on the lives of its patrons, contributors and the Montgomery community.
The center is looking for people interested in learning about conducting oral history interviews. The center is also seeking individuals who want to share their stories about Montgomery Center for the Arts from its founding in 1995 to present day.
Additionally, the center is seeking suggestions for events and activities for the next 10 years and beyond.
As part of the process, the center on Oct. 21 is offering an Introduction to Oral History program and a description of the center’s Oral History Community Project. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon. The project will be ongoing with other dates and times to be announced.
For more information, contact the Oral History Project Advisory Committee at (609) 683-8130.
The center is also inviting the public to "An Evening With … The Art of Coffee and Carpets" 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 10.
Those interested can join the center for an evening featuring David Waldman, a master roaster at Rojo’s Roastery in Lambertville, and Arturo Pasha of Pasha Rugs in Lambertville.
"We have such a diverse crowd of members and residents in both Montgomery and Princeton who travel to Lambertville for arts and food we thought we’d bring some of these specialties closer to home, so that local residents could sample some of the finest fairly traded and certified organic estate grown coffee beans in the world, produced by small independent microlot growers," said Margie Aretz, president of the center’s board of directors.
The evening will begin with Mr. Waldman discussing the roasting process, and offering a tasting of several varieties of his estate-grown beans, all of which will be available for purchase. Various blends will be offered, including Panama Lerida Estate, Guatemala Huehuetenango Asobagri Cooperative and Kenya AA Kinoro.
In the 1860 house, surrounded by Tulu, Pray and Sumak rugs, Mr. Pasha will present the culture of Persian and Turkish rugs. Mr. Pasha will speak at length about the different weaves, as well as show saddle bags, dowry bags and floor pillows from different countries of origin.
The cost of the event is $30 per person for members and $35 for non-members. Space is limited. To make reservations, call Montgomery Center for the Arts at (609) 921-3272. The center is located at 124 Montgomery Road.

