What To Do: National Dog Show in Oaks

Also: Jazz By Night in Media, Comic-Con and more

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times

The phrase “going to the dogs” usually has a somewhat negative connotation — but not always. This weekend, there will be an event that has definitely “gone to the dogs” and that’s a good thing. On November 15 and 16, 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 over 150 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.

Admission either day is $14 for adults, $7 for children (ages 4-12) and free for children (3 and under).

On November 15, Media will host the 12th Anniversary Jazz by Night Celebration (State Street, Media,

610-566-5039, www.mediajazzbynight.com). The event, which is co-sponsored by WRTI 90.1 FM and the Media Business Authority, will honor Philadelphia’s legendary jazz guitarist Monnette Sudler.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 day of show with a special price of $10 for seniors on the day of the show. Live jazz music will be presented from 6 p.m.-1 a.m. on 21 stages around downtown Media. Sudler’s “Ladies Night Out Quartet” will perform from 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. at Picasso.

The roster of other top-flight jazz acts performing at the Celebration includes Bootsie Barnes Quartet, Shiron Denise & Wojamm, Karen Rodriguez Latin Ensemble, Eric Mintel Quartet, Marty Grosz with Randy Reinhart, Hot Club of Philadelphia, Reverend Chris & The High Rollers and Jay Vonada’s Organ Trio East.

Other acts slated to play Saturday evening are Joe Kenney Band, Ben Singleton Band, Sycamore Muse, Julie Charnet Trio, Ken Ulansey & Phyllis Chapell, Stephanie Klein with Terry Klinefelter, Bruce Anthony, Tom Jerome Roma, Eric Stein Trio, The Midnighters, Andrea Carlson Trio and Steven DiJoseph.

The Kennett Symphony of Chester County will sponsor its annual Instrumental Competition for Young Artists at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Kendal at Longwood Auditorium (Route 1, Kennett Square, 610-444-6363, http://www.kennettsymphony.org). The competition is limited to 16 young musicians in grades 9-12 — each of whom will perform a classical composition or movement of a larger work for solo and orchestra.

The auditions are open to the public and are free of charge. Each of the young musicians will be judged by a panel of professional musicians. Three prizes will be awarded. First prize is a $500 cash award and the opportunity for a solo performance with the Kennett Symphony, second prize is $300, and third prize is $100.

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 and 16. Passengers will take a leisurely 1.5-hour round-trip train ride up the Red Clay Valley to the tourist rail line’s Mt. Cuba Picnic Grove and 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. each day. Tickets are $14 for adults, $13 for seniors and $12 for children (ages 2-12).

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail (http://lehighvalleywinetrail.com) is presenting its annual “Nouveau Weekend” on November 15 and 16. “Nouveau Weekend” is a free event but some of the wineries charge for wine tastings. Event hours at all of the wineries are Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday from noon-5 p.m.

The nine wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail will debut the first wines from the new vintage during Nouveau Weekendthe National Dog Show will be held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. Wineries will also feature food and wine pairings for visitors to sample. Nouveau wines are bottled very young without barrel aging and, as a result, exhibit lots of fruitiness. These selections are light and fruity red wines that range from semi-dry to dry.

Participating wineries are Amore, Big Creek, Blue Mountain, Clover Hill, Franklin Hill, Galen Glen, Tolino, Vynecrest and Pinnacle Ridge.

If you’re a collector of comic books and related items — or if you want to find holiday gifts for the “kids of all ages” on your list who are collectors — you should seriously consider attending Philadelphia Comic-Con, which will be held November 16 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Clarion Hotel Conference Center (76 Industrial Highway, Essington, 856-217-5737, www.philadelphiacomic-con.com).

This weekend’s Comic-Con features a large number of top-quality vendors dealing in comics, Japanese Anime items, original artwork, non-sport trading cards, action figures and gaming cards. There will also be hourly door prizes starting at 11 a.m. with a $100 show cash giveaway. Admission to the show is $3.

Visitors to the show will be able to purchase comics ranging from vintage Superman and Green Lantern editions to brand-new Marvel and Archie issues. There will be a wide array of trading cards, including Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Twilight and Garbage Pail Kids. Dealers will also be offering the latest in toy figurines.

As a special attraction, there will be a guest appearances/autograph signings by Mike Wolfer (artist for “Friday the 13^th,” “Lady Death” and “The Curse of Ragdoll”), Paris Cullins (artist for “Blue Beetle,” “New Gods” and “Blue Devil”) and Greg Larocque (artist for “Flash” and Exile Studios).

If your holiday shopping list includes friends or family who are collectors of antiques — or if you just like to shop for antiques for yourself — there is a special event this weekend that you should check out.

The Antiques at Kimberton Show will be held at the Kimberton Fire Company (61 Fire House Lane (off Kimberton Road), Kimberton, http://antiquesatkimberton.vpweb.com) on November 15 and 16. The popular annual event will run from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday with a $5 admission fee and free parking.

The well-attended annual event will feature more than 65 dealers whose booths will occupy over 10,000 square feet of exhibition space. Visitors will be able to shop for items from a wide variety of antiques categories, including furniture, paintings, jewelry, books and historical items. Additionally, dealers will be on hand to discuss their items and chat about antiques-related topics.

The annual Main Line Antiques Show is one of the best shows of its kind in the area. The eighth annual staging of the show will be held November 15 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and November 16 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Cabrini College’s Dixon Center (610 King of Prussia Road, Radnor, 610-647-9774, www.mainlineantiquesshow.com).

The event will feature sales booths by 30 top-flight antiques dealers from all around the Mid-Atlantic region. Antiques for sale include decorative pieces, porcelains, pewter, furniture, miniatures, antique jewelry, ceramics, paintings, folk art, prints, carpets, textiles, silver, Staffordshire and more.

This year, the show will present a lecture series titled “Notable Women of the Main Line.” The lecture on Saturday will be “Living Well: Some Notable Main Line Women of the Past and Their Houses” by Jeff Groff and Sunday’s lecture will be “Start with a House, Finish with a Collection”  by Leslie Anne Miller.

General admission on Saturday and Sunday is $12 each day. The event’s beneficiary is Surrey Services for Seniors. As an added attraction, refreshments and beverages will be available in the Show Café throughout the weekend.

The 2014 Holiday Fine Craft Sale at Historic Yellow Springs (1685 Art School Road, Chester Springs, 610-827-7414, www.yellowsprings.org) is running now through November 16. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-4 p.m. on Sunday and admission is free.

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 ceramics, jewelry, glass, pottery, woodworking, painting, photography and fiber arts.

There are quite a few Christmas holiday events that have already started and are running until the end of the year.

The Historic Odessa Foundation’s 2014 Christmas Holiday Tour is one that is guaranteed to appeal to kids of all ages. The tours will be presented now through January 4 in Odessa’s historic district (Main Street, Odessa, Delaware, 302-378-4119, www.historicodessa.org).

This year, the Historic Houses of Odessa’s Corbit-Sharp House (c. 1774) will be the focal point for the literature-inspired Christmas Holiday Tours. The exhibit is inspired by the classic fairy tale “Snow White.”

The Corbit-Sharp House sets the interpretive stage for the 1812 Brothers Grimm classic children’s tale. For the tours, the house’s period rooms have been transformed into festive vignettes of the stepmother’s castle, the forbidden forest, and the seven dwarfs’ cottage.

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.

Special events and tours will be held throughout the holiday season including “Fairy Tale Time” on December 10, ‘Candlelight Tours” on December 4, 11 and 18 and “Festive Foods/Hearth Cooking Demonstration” on December 13, 20 and 27.

Now that the Christmas season has more or less arrived, 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 14 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Visitors to the Village can join Jingles the Elf and 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 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 at 6:15 p.m. on November 21 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 21 also marks the start of Peddler’s Village “Gingerbread House Competition and Display.” Slated to run through January 5, the “Gingerbread House Competition” features over $3,400 in cash prizes in such categories as Traditional, Authentic Reproduction of a Significant Building, Amateur, Unusual 3-Dimensional Creation Student (ages 13-18) and KidsOnly! (ages 12 and under).

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 8 through December 31.

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 67^th annual season and it will remain open every night through January 1 — 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 $9 for adults, $8 for seniors (65 and older) and $7 for children (ages 4-10).

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. The show will feature spectacular vocal harmonies, lively musical arrangements, impressive dancing and the music of the AMT Orchestra. Also featured will be elaborate scenery, elegant costumes and a theater decked out with holiday decorations. Tickets are $42.

The Rainbow Dinner Theatre (3065 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, 800-292-4301, www.RainbowDinnerTheatre.com) is presenting its holiday production “Burglar’s Holiday” now through December 28.

Matinee performances are every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and selected Saturdays with an 11:30 a.m. lunch and a 1 p.m. curtain. Evening performances are every Friday, Saturday and selected Thursdays with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the show following at 8 p.m. There will also be “Twilight Performances” on selected Sundays with dinner at 2:30 p.m. and the show at 4 p.m. Ticket prices range from $48-$54.