Trick-or-Treat Trail is Saturday in Afton

The Afton Area Business Association is playing host to the third annual "Trick or Treat Trail" from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Kids are invited to follow St. Croix Trail through the historic town of Afton from Sail Away Café to Selma's Ice Cream Parlour for this free Halloween event.

Children can visit 18 participating shops, businesses and restaurants to collect treats plus enjoy fall activities such as pumpkin decorating, Halloween crafts, a spooky art studio, ghostly games, free hot cocoa more. New this year, Selma's Ice "Scream" Parlour is hosting a kids' scream contest at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Children will show off their loudest shrieks and screeches for the chance to win free ice cream.

Complete schedules are available at participating merchants. This non-scary event is best suited for children ages 10 and under. Costumes are encouraged.

Afterwards, families are invited to take a fall drive to Afton's apple orchards, preserves and nurseries. For more information, visit www.exploreafton.com.

The East Metro Symphony Orchestra (EMSO) opens its 2013-2014 season with "Concertos with Friends II," a concert featuring students and faculty from Woodbury's K & S Conservatory of Music as soloists.

This informal program will take place at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 14107 Hudson Road S. in Afton.

Concertos with Friends II will include music students Kathleen Kullman, performing movements from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major, and Garrett Verhoeven, performing Telemann's Oboe Concerto in F Minor. Music faculty member Chaz Fautch will perform a movement from Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1; Greg Kajiwara will perform Weber's Concertino for Clarinet; and Corissa Leonard will sing Mozart's "Deh vieni, non tardar" from "The Marriage of Figaro." And EMSO members Joyce Bjorkland and Janet Lange will perform a movement from Danzi's Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon.

Tickets, available at the door, are $10 for adults, $6 for students and seniors. Children 13 and younger are free. A coffee and cookie reception will be held following the performance.

EMSO is a community-orchestra based in Woodbury led by music director and conductor Dr. Elizabeth Prielozny Barnes and concertmaster Michal Sobieski. The orchestra performs five concerts per season in the Twin Cities east metropolitan area, in collaboration with local artists and organizations. For more information go to www.emsorch.org or www.facebook.com/emsorch.

Representatives of the Johnsdale Paranormal Group will give a presentation on investigating paranormal phenomena at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Washington County Historical Society's Warden's House Museum, 602 N. Main St., Stillwater.

Over the past two years, the Johnsdale Paranormal Group has been investigating famously haunted locales such as the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky, First Avenue in Minneapolis and the Warden's House. During their presentation, founder Justin Miner and his associates will delve into the evidence they've uncovered at these sites, but will also explain exactly what goes into a "ghost hunt," and they will showcase their state-of-the-art equipment.

This event is free and open to the public.

For sale will be several of the best Minnesota ghost story books, including Michael Norman's "Nearly Departed," the "Ghost Stories of Minnesota" by Gina Teel, and "Minnesota Road Guide of Haunted Locations" by Chad Lewis and Terry Fisk.

Contact Sean Pallas at spallas.wchs@gmail.com or 651-439-5956 with questions regarding this event or to schedule a tour of the museum.

If you're looking to sample wines produced from this fall's harvest, numerous unfermented varieties will be available for tasting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. this weekend, Oct. 19-20, at the Federweisser & Roter Rauscher Festival at several local wineries.

Festivalgoers who visit all five wineries — Cannon River Winery, 421 Mill St. W., Cannon Falls; Falconer Vineyards and Winery, 3572 Old Tyler Road, Red Wing; Northern Vineyards Winery, 223 Main St., N. Stillwater; Saint Croix Vineyards, 6428 Manning Av. N., Stillwater; and WineHaven, 9757 292nd St., Chisago City — and complete a wine trail passport will receive a complimentary glass of wine. Saint Croix Vineyards will have live music from 1-4 p.m.

For more information, visit http://www.3riverswinetrail.com/wine-trail-events.

Organist Bill Chouinard will present the ninth annual "Tricks and Treats with the Mighty Organ" at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 900 Stillwater Road, Mahtomedi.

The performance, with added special lighting and effects, is designed with young listeners in mind, and children are invited to come in costume and join in a parade inside the room.

Jim Anderson, Libor Jany