Wilton's Late October Starts at the Historical Society Lawn and Ends on the Town Green

The scarecrows that go up along Wilton Center's streets on Friday, October 16 all started at the same place. Each one is built on a wooden post with a laminated name plate. Participants picked those kits up at the Wilton Historical Society on October 5 and 6, and the finished scarecrows go back there on October 12 or 13 before anything reaches the village center. The Historical Society runs the same way for most of the second half of the month. Pumpkins, cider, docents at the forge and a walking tour all start at 224 Danbury Road. Wilton Center and the Town Green get the crowd on one Saturday, October 24.

The calendar below is in the order it happens, starting at the Society.

Scarecrows built on Danbury Road, displayed in Wilton Center

The Wilton Chamber of Commerce runs Scarecrow Fest with the Wilton Historical Society, the Town of Wilton, Parks and Recreation and the Department of Public Works. ASML is the community partner. Entries were capped at 50. Registration cost $40 and closed on September 24, so the set of scarecrows going up on the 16th is already decided. Builders include local businesses, nonprofits, neighborhood clubs and resident families. They stay up through October 31, with the Chamber's listing ending at 5 p.m. that day.

Camille Carriero, executive director of the Wilton Chamber of Commerce, described the event this way in the Chamber's announcement:

"The event highlights the unique charm of our town by bringing together our local merchants, civic groups, and families. The scarecrows help the village center come alive with seasonal spirit."

The scarecrows are finished at the Society, then installed in Wilton Center for two weeks.

The pumpkins come from the same front lawn

The Wilton Kiwanis pumpkin patch is on the Historical Society's front lawn every day through October 31. Weekday hours are 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. and weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This coming holiday weekend, Saturday, October 10 through Monday, October 12, is billed as the Great Pumpkin Sale, with Trackside Teen Center named as the beneficiary. That's the same weekend the scarecrows are being dropped off at the Society, so the lawn is busy before the festival season starts.

The lawn is busiest on Saturday, October 17, during the 6th Annual Great Wilton PumpkinFest, from 1 to 3 p.m. The Society's listing includes:

• Open-hearth cooking and blacksmithing in the forge, both led by docents
• Fall-themed lawn games and a pumpkin scavenger hunt across the museum campus
• Free cider and donuts
• A pumpkin decorating station, with Kiwanis selling pumpkins, small gourds and mums on the same lawn
• New this year, baby goats to pet, brought by Got Your Goat

Admission is $5 per person and free for Wilton Historical Society members. Tickets are sold online and at the door, and buying ahead speeds up check-in.

The next morning, Sunday, October 18, the Society hosts the Lambert Corners Walking Tour from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. It starts on the porch of the Historical Christmas Barn and includes cider and treats. When the page was checked, it showed two tickets left. The listing doesn't print a year, so confirm the date with the Society, and it may already be full.

October 16 to 18 is the busiest weekend

PumpkinFest is just one part of the weekend. The scarecrows go up on Friday, and over the next three days nearly every cultural group in town has something on the calendar. Here is the weekend in order:

The co-hosts of Books and a Blanket list different end times. Wilton Go Green, Wilton Land Trust and Wilton Library put it on together. The Wilton Go Green page says 10 to 11:30 a.m., and the Wilton Library calendar says 10 to 11 a.m. Go Green's page also says that if weather moves the event indoors, attendance starts with a 45-person cap. The Ambler Farm calendar gives Fright Night dates without hours or prices, so check the farm's own event pages before planning around them.

Most of this happens at Woodcock, the Library and Ambler Farm, not on the Town Green. Saturday the 17th has events from 10 in the morning through Ambler's Fright Night, but Wilton Center itself is mostly just the scarecrows that weekend.

October 24 is the day it all moves to the Town Green

The Town Green's big day is Saturday, October 24. The Wilton Chamber of Commerce, ASML and the Town of Wilton bring back the Pumpkin Parade and Trick or Treating from 2 to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Families meet at the gazebo for games and activities. Local businesses and nonprofits hand out treats around Wilton Center, and vendor spots were capped at 30.

For drivers, the most important detail is that Old Ridgefield Road is closed to cars between the Town Green and Godfrey Road during the event. Scarecrow Fest is halfway through by then, so trick-or-treaters walk the same blocks where the scarecrows from Danbury Road have been up for eight days.

The rest of that weekend is quieter and mostly outdoors:

• Fri, Oct 23: At Woodcock, Critters and Costumes! for ages 2 to 6 with a caregiver runs 10:30 a.m. to noon at $30 per child. Autumnal Outdoor Art for grades 5 to 8 runs 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at $45 per child. Ambler Farm has another Fright Night.
• Sat, Oct 24: Woodcock's Autumn Leaves and Amphibians guided hike runs 10 to 11:30 a.m. It's free, but registration is required. Ambler Farm's calendar lists both a Farm Stand and Fright Night that day, without hours.

Earlier that week, on Thursday, October 22, the Library's ASML Author Series hosts Bonnie Garmus from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Brubeck Room. At the same hour, Woodcock holds Adult Nature Crafting: Kinusaiga!, 7 to 9 p.m. at $45 per person with registration.

One sponsor name on most of the calendar

ASML's name is on many of these listings. The company is listed as community partner for Scarecrow Fest, event sponsor for the Pumpkin Parade, supporter of PumpkinFest and the named sponsor of the Library's author series. That sponsorship links the Historical Society, the Chamber and the Library in a practical way. The scarecrows, the pumpkin events and the trick-or-treating run as one calendar with three hosts, and the dates are spaced so they don't overlap.

The last week tapers off

After the parade, events thin out. The Wilton Farmers' Market has its last Wednesday of the season on October 28, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Town Green at 101 Old Ridgefield Road. It's the end of a season that started June 3. Two weeks earlier, on October 14, Wilton Go Green is collecting Halloween costume donations at the market from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Its costume exchange is today, October 8, 4 to 6 p.m. at Cannon Grange Hall, 25 Cannon Road.

On Friday, October 30, Wilton Library has two very different events in the Brubeck Room. In the morning it's the Halloween Hullabaloo Dance Party for Tots!, 10:30 to 11 a.m., for ages 1 and up with a caregiver and no registration. In the evening it's Not Your Quiet Library Night with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 7 to 10 p.m., with light snacks and refreshments. On Saturday, October 31, Ambler Farm's Farm Stand is open, and Scarecrow Fest's listing ends at 5 p.m. On Sunday, November 1, the Library hosts Blues 101: A History of the Blues from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

The Chamber holds its Wilton Center trick-or-treating on October 24, a week before Halloween. Families who want a crowd and a closed street get it on that Saturday.

Two practical notes for October. The Town's paving status as of September 28 listed Whipstick Road, Deer Run Road, Antler Lane, Fawn Place and Gilly Lane for milling and paving starting around the week of October 5, weather permitting. And Wilton Restaurant Weeks just ended. It ran September 21 through October 4 with 21 restaurants, including Craft 14, Marly's Bistro, Tavern on 7, Sly Bandit Brewing, Orem's Diner, Bangkok Republic and Toozy Patza Pizza. The full list on GOOD Morning Wilton has plenty of ideas for a late lunch after the parade lets out at 4.

Do you have questions about how Wilton's town center works through the seasons, or how a calendar like this fits your plans for next year? Randy Musiker is glad to talk it through. Let's talk about your next move. Contact Randy for a consultation.