Lots of ribbons are handed out each year during the Prince William County Fair. Blue ribbons, yellow ribbons and several other awards are given for everything from crafts to animals. One group in particular seemed to do very well with entries this year – those from the county's senior centers.

The Manassas Museum offers great free programs for residents and visitors. Below are these events.

Virginia Is For Lovers suggests ten places to find the best fall colors as the leaves turn to to red, gold, yellow and orange. Some are near. Some are far.

Geometric paintings by David Levy of New Jersey, who began painting more than 40 years ago as a Lehigh University student, are on exhibit in Colgan Hall at the Manassas Campus of Northern Virginia Community College until Sept. 25. Levy will discuss his paintings during a reception on Sept. 25 at 12:15 p.m. in the Colgan Hall exhibit space. The exhibition called “Engineered Abstraction” and reception are free and open to the public.

House of Mercy in Manassas near Gainesville is looking for volunteers to take a two-hour shift to pack meals to feed the poor during its annual meal-packing event on Saturday, Oct. 7, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The goal is at least 85,000 meals.

Deadline is Oct. 15 for the Nearby Nature Photo Contest, sponsored by the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. The contest is open to all non-professional photographers, with prizes for adults in two categories: “The land and water around us” and “urban nature,” and for a separate youth category.

Prince William Conservation Alliance's "Under the Stars" fundraiser on Sunday, Oct. 15, from 6 to 9 p.m., will feature a silent auction and five seven-minute presentations from local naturalists, at the Nokesville home of Cindy Smith and Rick Lindsay.

There will be a free organ recital by Linda Wilberger Egan, Minister of Music at Historic Pohick Church, on Saturday, September 30th at 11:30 AM. The recital on the Noack Pipe Organ with 16 stops, 18 ranks, and 948 pipes will include selections from J. S. Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, and other music from the 18th to 20th Century.

There are a number of events and special programs in September at several of Prince William County's historic properties where people can learn about and experience the county's past.

Virginia National Ballet and Gainesville Ballet School will present their fifth annual production of The Nutcracker at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on Friday, Nov. 24, at 2 and 7 p.m., featuring a cast of award winning dancers from Brazil, Japan, and the USA, along with the Junior Company and students of Gainesville Ballet School.