5 things to do in McHenry County: Smashing pumpkins, indoor farmers markets and a Sinatra experience

Cary’s Pumpkin Roll and Pumpkin Smash will be held 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, at Lions Park, 1200 Silver Lake Road. The event is free.

1. If the squirrels haven’t done the job, opportunities to demolish – and recycle – your pumpkins in style are coming to Cary and Lake in the Hills.

Cary’s Pumpkin Roll and Pumpkin Smash will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday at Lions Park, 1200 Silver Lake Road. The event is free.

For information, including registration, go to carypark.com.

Lake in the Hills’ Punkin Chunkin will take place 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Sunset Park, 5200 Miller Road, with on-site registration beginning at 12:45 p.m. The day-of cost is $5 for Lake in the Hills residents or $7 for nonresidents. Tickets are $2 less if bought in advance.

Registration can be completed at bit.ly/3gzFzeb.

2. Farmers markets are moving indoors for the season.

The Farmers Market+ At The Dole kicks off its winter season Sunday, moving inside the historic Dole Mansion, 401 Country Club Road in Crystal Lake.

It runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays through April.

Huntley’s monthly farmers market will follow suit, starting Nov. 12.

It will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. the second Saturday of each month through May, first at the Huntley Legion Hall, 11712 Coral St., and then starting in January, to Fellowship Hall at 1st Congregational Church Huntley, 11628 E. Main St.

The Woodstock and Cary farmers markets already have made the switch.

The Woodstock market is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. select Saturdays – including this one – through April at the McHenry County Fairgrounds, Building D.

The Cary Winter Farmers Market runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first and third Sunday of each month through April at Algonquin Township’s Building B, 3702 Route 14 in Crystal Lake.

3. The Green Living Expo will return to McHenry County College in Crystal Lake on Saturday.

The in-person event runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to community members interested in doing business with local eco-friendly professionals and those wanting to educate themselves about topics such as local food options, energy savings and sustainable principles for daily life.

Among the topics presenters and vendors will cover are residential and community solar options, how to include native plants in residential landscaping, how to reuse and recycle hard-to-recycle items, beekeeping, ways to save money on gas and electric bills, and how to have a cleaner and healthier home.

Attendees will be able to check out native fish in the 2,500-gallon fish tank, play with sustainable toys, compost their pumpkin and other fall décor, eat food from vegan and vegetarian food trucks, and shop for holiday gifts.

4. Get “The Sinatra Experience” with Dave Halston at the Woodstock Opera House at one of two shows Saturday.

Tickets are available for both the 3 and 7:30 p.m. shows for $43.

The show will feature a “zesty lineup of Frank Sinatra’s most popular songs,” according to the show description. Halston will perform the original music arrangements to bring the Sinatra sound and swagger to the stage.

For information or to buy tickets, go to woodstockoperahouse.com.

5. Harvest Time In 1858 returns noon to 4 p.m. Sunday to the Powers-Walker House in Glacial Park, Route 31 and Harts Road near Ringwood.

Visitors can try their hand at corn shelling, grinding corn into flour, or making a corn husk or yarn doll. Witness harvest activities like the baking of bread in the wood-burning cookstove and grinding herbs for winter use.

Tour the historic farmhouse to learn more about its restoration and visit with a cavalry sergeant and his horse as they demonstrate the weapons of the era used to protect frontier lands.

For information, go to MCCDistrict.org.

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