FARMINGTON — The First Friday Art Walk in downtown Farmington will return Friday, April 1, beginning at 5 p.m.

The art walks started April 3, 2015, and continued on the first Friday of each month through October. They stopped during the winter as merchants became busy through the holidays, Malcolm Porter said.

To kick off the new season, the Story Telling Guild will share its tales at Enchanted Herbs and Botanicals, owned by Porter.

SugarWood Gallery will hold its artist of the month reception as they have done for several years, he said. The reception, from 5 to 7 p.m., recognizes the work of Cynthia Cormier. 

Homestead Bakery will offer live music and other merchants are being contacted, he said.

Businesses have hosted music, poetry readings and artists during the First Friday Art Walks.

The Farmington Historical Society will remember an earlier April Fools’ Day in 1987 when the Sandy River flooded, causing significant damage to the roads, homes and bridges around it.

From 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the North Church on Academy Street, the society will host a display with information on the floods of the river from 1869 to 1987. Members have gathered items that tell the flood history of the Sandy River during those years. Pictures will be displayed. The public is invited to help the group identify where some of the photos were taken.

The Historical Society has newspaper books of the early Franklin Journal and even earlier Farmington Chronicle. The public is invited to read from the newspapers about how the overflowing banks of the Sandy River effected the Farmington area. Organizers would also like to have attendees share their flood stories.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net