SPOTLIGHT PICK
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‘Tis the season
hypnotist, an illusionist, a blacksmith, sheep-shearing and sheep-herding displays, a petting zoo, a jousting tournament, freestyle motocross, a mechanical man (the word “robot” must’ve been taken), and the usual assortment of pulls — tractor, horse and oxen (they tried to get the pigs to do it, but the harnesses kept sliding off). And there wasn’t much interest in either the goat pull or the chicken pull. But the whole thing’s a bundle of fun nonetheless — where else are you gonna find motocross and pig racing in the same 
place (but hopefully not on the same track)? Maybe next year they can combine some of these things — and have events like jousting hypnotists, sheep-herding blacksmiths and demolition sheep-shearing. If nothing else, it gets your kids acclimated to barnyard smells and rural behavior. It all happens on the Spencer Fairgrounds (40 Smithville Road), from Saturday through Monday. For admission prices, schedules and more information, call 508-867-6877 or visit spencerfair.org.FRIDAY
A year in the life of our fair community is the focus of an exhibit by photographer Mike Nyman, whose lens captured Worcester and its surrounding area over the course of 12 months. Titled One Year in Worcester County, the show is currently on display in the Administration Building at Quinsigamond Community College (670 West Boylston St.), weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 8. The look-see is free. For more information, visit This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
SATURDAY
There’s something about old photographs that makes us wistful and nostalgic, particularly if these images are colored in those warm shades of brown known as sepia tones. Visitors to the Worcester Art Museum (55 Salisbury St.) get to experience these bygone days via an exhibit called Sepia Memories: Nineteenth Century Photographs. Glimpses of a schooner’s deck, a busy street in Canton, China, and the deserted commons of New England towns reveal worlds long vanished. Some of the earliest photographic landscapes of the Egyptian desert and the jungles of India hang near views of Boston, New York and Paris. Images of both the Crimean and American Civil wars, along with portraits of authors, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Walt Whitman, are also on display. This installation of about 60 works from the art museum’s collection, created from about 1840 to 1900, will transport visitors to times gone by and exotic places. The exhibit will remain on display through Nov. 30. For more information, call 508-799-4406 or visit worcesterart.org.
SUNDAY
It’s Labor Day Weekend (yeah, don’t remind us — there’s still a lot of summer left, though), which is good, because it would be silly to have the Annual Labor Day Polish Picnic on some other weekend. This is always a good time, at the PACC in Webster (37 Harris St.) It all starts at noon to day and goes until 6 p.m. In addition to an abundance of Polish and American food, The Pulaski Brass Band will perform outdoors from noon until 2 p.m. Then, from 2-6 p.m., The Maestro Men will let ‘er rip in the PACC Hall (for $8 per person — they must be good). For more information, call 508-943-9716.
