Voices for Recovery: Strengthen Families and CommunitiesRally, walk and vigil to raise awareness of opioid addiction and recovery

NORTH ADAMS, MA – On Saturday, September 23, the North Berkshire Community will gather to remember those lost, learn about resources, and celebrate recovery from addiction. The Rx Heroin Work group of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition along with the City of North Adams are holding the Voices for Recovery Rally, Walk and Vigil from 1-3:30PM. The rally and vigil will be centered at Colegrove Park, with a Recovery Walk through downtown North Adams.

The event will include informational tables representing the recovery services community such as Spectrum Health, the Brien Center, Tapestry, Clean Slate, Narcotics Anonymous, the Berkshire Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative, Al Anon, and Josh Bressette Commit to Save a Life. Children’s activities will be on hand from The Family Place and the north Berkshire Systems of Care Committee, along with live music provided by Common Folk Artists Collective. Common Folk will also have a display of art inspired by the topic of addiction and recovery, from the exhibit “To Bless the Space Between Us”.

The theme of the event, “Strengthen Families and Communities” acknowledges that families and the North Berkshire community play a major role in recovery. The impact of addiction on families will be evident at the vigil, in remarks by Pastor Dave Anderson from the North Adams First Baptist Church, and Dawn Windover who will speak about the loss of her son Derek.

The walk, led by Mayor Alcombright, will take place at 2PM through downtown North Adams. The route of the walk will be lined with signs posting information about substance use disorder, recovery services, and celebrating recovery. Walkers will pause for a standout at the intersection of Main Street and Route 8 by City Hall. T-shirts will be available for purchase.

Following the walk, participants will hear from speakers including Collin Woods, former North Adams resident now in recovery and working as a Recovery Coach at Berkshire Transition Network. Dave Risch, North Adams resident and active member of Al Anon as well as the Rx Heroin work group will speak about the role of families in recovery. Mayor Alcombright will conclude the event with words about recovery, and building a recovery community.

A highlight of the event will be the Wall of Remembrance and Recovery created by the volunteer recovery organization, Josh Bressette Commit to Save a Life. The wall will include pictures, images, poems and other statements to remember those lost to addiction. Waterman says she hopes the Wall “creates a compassion for those suffering with loss and for those struggling to recover within the community. Heroin/opioid addiction is not a moral failing, these people featured on the wall had full lives ahead of them, they were loved, cherished and needed.” The wall will also include images to celebrate people in the community in recovery from substance use disorders.

For more information, including how to order a t-shirt for the event, visit www.nbccoalition.org.

Kimball Farms Life Care hosts talk on identity theft, computer fraud on Thursday, Sept. 28

LENOX, MASS. (Sept. 20, 2017) –Kimball Farms Life Care in Lenox will host a presentation on identity theft, the Equifax security breach, computer fraud, and other scams on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. Presenters will include Ann Lynch from the office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, and Kate Alexander from Berkshire Consumer Services. Refreshments will be served. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP to Kimball Farms at...

Hey Greylock Nation! Today is Wednesday, September 20th 2017, and you’re listening to episode number 48 of the Top Left Corner. I’m your host, Jason Velazquez, and I thank you for tuning in. Today, we speak with Eric Bauer of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice about the push to place two ballot questions in front of the voters this November—a $15 minimum wage and paid family leave. We also heard from Debi Pendell about the upcoming exhibition, “Out on a Limb,” that explores the risk-taking inherent in making art, coming to the Eclipse Mill Gallery September. I found both conversations are truly fascinating, so I hope you enjoy the listen.

This episode is sponsored by The Hancock Shaker Village, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their beloved Country Fair. And by Headwater Cider, a local orchard and mill that believes hard cider is best when you grow what you press, and press you grow.

Eric Bauer on workers’ justice ballot questions on tap for November

This information appears on the website of Mass Raise Up

Why We’re Fighting for $15

Our state’s economy works best for everyone when all working people are able to meet their basic needs. This economic security depends on access to good paying jobs. But today, a full-time worker in Massachusetts earning the current minimum wage of $11 an hour makes only $22,880 a year. A minimum wage earner would have to work 94 hours every week in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment. Many workers earning the minimum wage work three or more jobs and still can’t afford the cost of groceries, housing, heating and other basic needs.

It’s time to build on our past progress and continue the minimum wage increases we’ve seen over the past few years. We’re fighting for a statewide $15 minimum wage to make sure that all workers can earn a living wage.

Why Paid Family and Medical Leave Matters

Emergencies arise for all of us at some point, but 87% of workers in New England lack access to paid leave. In Massachusetts, 1.2 million workers risk losing their jobs if they take time off work to take care of a family medical emergency or to care for a new child. Many workers who are eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act can’t afford to take unpaid time off from work in an emergency. They’re often left to choose between taking care of a child they love or keeping the job that puts food on the table.

Paid family and medical leave would allow these workers to take time to take care of their health or the health of a loved one without fear of losing their job or the risk of financial ruin. And new parents, both mothers and fathers, would be able to take time off to care for a new baby, or a newly adopted or foster child.

 

Upcoming Eclipse Mill exhibition highlights risks and rewards of artmaking

This information appeared in a released statement by the artists

North Adams, Mass. – The Eclipse Mill Gallery is excited to announce the opening of Out on a Limb, a three-person exhibition of new and in-process works by Eclipse Mill residents Debi Pendell, Sarah Sutro, and Betty Vera. The opening reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Saturday, September 30, 2017 from 6-8pm at the gallery in the Eclipse Mill Artist Lofts ...

Management at Berkshire Health Systems says the latest offer represents their “best and final,” but BMC Nurses are standing their ground over issues of staffing levels, wages, and benefits/

The following information is from a release by the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Berkshire Health Systems declined to be interviewed for this story.

Four community groups are sponsoring a public forum for BMC nurses and residents to discuss safe patient care 

PITTSFIELD, Mass.—A Community Town Hall on Tuesday night will feature registered nurses from Berkshire Medical Center sharing their concerns about patient safety at the hospital and community members discussing their experiences at BMC.

BMC Safe Patient Care Town Hall

sponsored by the Berkshire Brigades, Berkshire Central Labor Council, Indivisible Pittsfield and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.

Where: First Methodist Church, 55 Fenn Street. in Pittsfield.

When: Tuesday, Sept. 19 from 6 to 8 p.m.

 

“Community members have a right to hear directly from nurses about what is happening inside their hospital,” said RN Alex Neary, Co-Chair of the BMC MNA Bargaining Committee. “This event will give everyone in our community a chance to share their own experience and discuss how we can improve the quality of patient care at BMC.”

“We believe an open and honest public discussion about patient safety at BMC is necessary to move forward in a positive way,” said Brian P. Morrison, President of the Berkshire Central Labor Council. “Berkshire Medical Center was built and paid for by the community and with our tax dollars. The public supports BMC nurses and we urge the hospital to listen to their concerns.”

Nurses have brought their patient safety concerns forward to hospital management in various ways for years, including directly to supervisors, at labor-management meetings and during ongoing negotiations.

BMC RNs have also been documenting this problem using unsafe staffing forms. Between October 1, 2015 and August 21, 2017, nurses completed more than 430 unsafe staffing reports. The reports tell the story time and again: Hospital units short multiple nurses and/or other staff members, patients waiting for hours in the emergency department, patient falls, and critically ill infants with too few nurses to care for them. Hundreds of other incidents have gone undocumented as nurses are typically too busy caring for too many patients to write a report.

Background on Bargaining

BMC nurses are seeking a fair contract that first and foremost protects the quality of patient care. Another key issue is quality and affordable health insurance. BMC has proposed raising by 100 percent how much nurses contribute to individual health insurance premiums. Nurses in BMC’s family health insurance plans already pay 40 to 70 percent more than managers.

Negotiations began in September 2016 and include a federal mediator. More than 25 bargaining sessions have been held. On May 31, nurses rejected the hospital’s “best and final” contract offer by 82 percent. In July, nurses voted 83 percent to authorize a potential one-day strike. The 16-member RN Bargaining Committee has the authority to call for a one-day strike and issue the 10-day strike notice required under federal law.

BMC nurses have also filed three unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Berkshire Health, including  threatening to retaliate against nurses if they engage in protected activity and refusing to provide health insurance data necessary for bargaining.

The next negotiation date has been scheduled for September 27.

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We begin our show with Alexander Davis, who talks about the meetup with candidates for 1st Berkshires district state representative organized by Greylock Together. Julia Dixon discusses the state of the area’s creative economy and her new endeavor as a consultant who can help both artists and organizations with her experience and insights. We talked at length with Setsuko Winchester about the discussion, “Asian-Americans: No More Perpetual Foreigners,” as well the Yellow Bowl Project—her photo/ceramic response to the forced incarceration of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps during World War II.

 

Greylock Together gives the public a chance to hear from the four Democratic candidates vying for the chance to face off against C

 

Meet Your 1st Berkshire Candidates

Sunday, September 10; 3:00–4:30 p.m.

Williamstown Youth Center

66 School Street, Williamstown, Mass.

 

Activist group Greylock Together has invited the candidates for the vacant 1st Berkshire seat in the Massachusetts House to come and speak about their candidacy. Everyone is invited to join us and hear each candidate make a brief pitch about how they would be the best to serve. As of right now, we will hear from all four of the declared candidates: John Barrett III, Lisa Blackmer, Stephanie Bosley, and Kevin Towle.

The event will be broadcast on Willinet. We will have three babysitters available if you need someone to watch your mini-activists, too!

You can come prepared! Over the course of the past couple of months, Greylock Together has assembled a list of goals we wish to achieve on the local, state, and national level. Each goal is supported by a supermajority of our members. While some are not immediately actionable for a state representative, we still think it’s important that our representative shares our goals and values. We have sent out a survey based on these goals to each candidate. Read their responses now.

 

Alexander Davis is an English teacher and a political activist with Greylock Together. While he’s been a political obsessive for many years, he only really got involved after attending the Women’s March on Washington. Since then, he’s been trying to do what he can. Alexander lives in Williamstown, MA with his wife and baby daughter.

 

Julia Dixon — Creative Economy Specialist

We were really excited to speak with Julia again, especially upon learning that, as a consultant, she’ll be filling a key need in the region. Now, individuals and organizations can tap into all that she has learned about the cultural landscape in a direct, highly personalized fashion. Visit her website to learn more.

Julia Dixon is an artist, writer, arts administrator, community convener, and creative economy consultant. She is working as a freelance project manager as well as an economic and business consultant based at the Eclipse Mill Artist Lofts in North Adams, Massachusetts, where she lives. Her previous full time positions include Managing Director of Berkshire Creative and Creative Economy Specialist at 1Berkshire. She is the founder and owner of BerkshireFlirt LLC, founder and host of “Creative City” on WMNB-LP 107.1FM, appointed co-founding member and chair of the North Adams Public Arts Commission, and volunteers as a student mentor. She received her BFA from Purchase College in 2005 and MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2014.

Julia sits on numerous community development and cultural committees. She is an appointed founding member and chair of the North Adams Public Arts Commission, member of the North Adams Exchange (NAX) steering group, member of MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Ce...

Greylock Together “Stand Against Hate” brings hundreds to Field Park

In this episode, we heard from some of the hundreds of people who took part in the Stand Against Hate organized by Greylock Together after the Charlottesville, VA tragedy.

We toured the new Spring Street, Williamstown shop, Purple Dragon Games., founded by Nico White.

And we had a great conversation with Tyler Wren, founder of the Farm to Fork Fondo, bringing cyclists into a closer connection with local food.

And we get an exclusive first listen to “Close to the Edge,” by our good friends the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow.

This episode is sponsored by The Hancock Shaker Village, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their beloved Country Fair. And by Headwater Cider, a local orchard and mill that believes hard cider is best when you grow what you press, and press you grow.

We also heard a snatch of “Descendants,” performed by the Rob Piltch Trio on the amazing 2016 Jazz release, Portraits in Jazz: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery, sent to us by someone connected to Ed Bickert, though we are not really clear who. We’ll be playing more from this release as we can.

Greylock Together Responds to Charlottesville, VA attack

 

Today is Thursday, August 24, 2017, and this is Episode number 46. In the immediate aftermath of the August 12th tragedy in Charlottesville, VA, local activist group Greylock Together summoned hundreds of local residents, as well as some visitors, to Field Park in Williamstown for an observance of death of longtime social justice advocate Heather Heyer and a show of solidarity against hatred and violence. Today we here some of the voices who were present that day, calling for change.

We also speak with well-known cyclist Tyler Wren, founder of the Farm to Fork Fondo, which connects athletics and local agriculture where the rubber really does meet the road.

And we profile new local Williamstown business owned by Nico White, Purple Dragon Games, a Spring Street shop that creates a social epicenter for a community of gamers who roll old-school.

First though a Greylock Glass exclusive. Americana and Bluegrass powerhouse the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow are letting us share a tune from their as-yet-unreleased EP due out in September.

And I’m guessing they’ll be performing this deeply moving track, “Close to the Edge,” which they’ve asked me to share with you right here on the Top Left Corner.

We’ve got a link to the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow’s website in the shownotes, and I really want you to make contact with them there, and sign up for their occasional newsletter, so that you can be the first to find out as soon as that EP drops next month.

Let’s go now to Field Park in Williamstown, August 12th and hear some of what was on the minds and in the hearts of those who gathered to Stand Against Hate. We ran first into frequent guest of various GG shows, artist, musician, promoter and activist Karl Mullen.

Geraldine Shen, who directs Greylock Together, explained why there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation on the group’s part to call people to Stand Against Hate.

Wendy Penner has been with Greylock Together since its origin back in November, and talked about the need for local responses to events tied into national conflicts.

Purple Dragon Games Events:

Wednesday: Magic Standard Constructed, $5 entry, Round 1 begins 6:00 p.m.

Immigration Detainers

The bland phrase conjures up little emotion for people with no reason to believe that they, or loved ones, risk deportation due to immigration status. To countless families in the United States, however, the two words, “immigration detainers,” (also known as “ICE Holds”), plug in to a nightmare of vulnerability that tears at families and communities. We speak with Brooke Mead of the Berkshire Immigrant Center and Laura Rótolo of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts about Governor Baker’s proposed legislation that would ratchet the mechanisms of deportation up a gear or two.

Berkshire Immigrant Center

(from BIC website)

Director of the Berkshire Immigrant Center, Brooke Mead, was formerly a high school Spanish teacher and holds her Masters degree in Spanish from Middlebury College. She has lived in Venezuela and Mexico and, having been an immigrant herself, brings with her the cultural understanding and sensitivity necessary to work with the immigrant and refugee population.

The mission of the Berkshire Immigrant Center is to assist individuals and families in making the economic, psychological and cultural adjustment to a new land, not only by meeting basic needs, but also by helping them to become active participants in our community. The Center also aims to build bridges of understanding and cooperation across cultures, to fight racism and discrimination in all forms, and to advocate for the rights of immigrants from all backgrounds.

The Center offers comprehensive services for individuals from more than 80 countries to promote civic engagement, facilitate cultural integration, and assist in navigating the complex U.S. immigration system.

 

Additional resources:

Slate’s very good article on the subject.

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition

UNIDOS

ACLU of Massachusetts

(from ACLUM website)

Laura Rótolo is staff counsel and community advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts where she focuses on issues relating to immigrants.

She joined the ACLU of Massachusetts in 2007, first as a human rights fellow studying immigration detention conditions. Currently, Laura works to create policies that safeguard fundamental rights, as well as challenge policies that do not. As a Latina and an immigrant from Argentina, she advocates within Latino immigrant communities in Massachusetts.

Laura is a graduate of Tufts University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and American University’s Washington College of Law.

The ACLU of Massachusetts, this week, released the following statement concerning Governor Charlie Baker’s proposed legislation to “empower” local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities via immigration detainers:

Governor Baker’s proposed legislation in response to last week’s groundbreaking ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court on ICE detainers is constitutionally suspect because it attempts to authorize state and local law enforcement to detain people without due process.

Picasso: Encounters looks at artist’s experimentation and collaboration in printmaking

Picasso’s prints and paintings on view at the Clark Art Institute Until August 27

 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—Picasso: Encounters, on view at the Clark Art Institute June 4–August 27, investigates how Pablo Picasso’s (1881–1973) creative collaborations fueled and strengthened his art, challenging the notion of Picasso as an artist alone with his craft. The exhibition addresses his full stylistic range, the narrative themes that drove his creative process, the often-neglected issue of the collaboration inherent in print production, and the muses that inspired him, including Fernande Olivier, Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot, and Jacqueline Roque.

Organized by the Clark with the exceptional support of the Musée national Picasso–Paris, Picasso: Encounters is comprised of thirty-five large-scale prints from private and public collections and three paintings including his seminal Self-Portrait (end of 1901) and the renowned Portrait of Dora Maar (1937), both on loan from the Musée national Picasso–Paris.

Picasso: Encounters includes a series of four unpublished linocut trial proofs modeled after Édouard Manet’s 1863 painting, Luncheon on the Grass, offering a unique perspective on the artist’s and printer’s process. The four proofs on view were eventually combined to create the final linocut, which is also shown in the exhibition.

Music heard on this show

Thank you to the following brilliant artists for their musical contributions:

Eliza Edens, who opens for Sarah Lee Guthrie and who blew us away with her March 2017 EP Low Light, from whence the song, “Balaclava” came.

Sarah Lee Guthrie, who will be performing July 1 at the new Shaker Barn Music, Summer Series, at Hancock Shaker Village.

Jeewon Park playing Frederic Chopin’s “Prelude No. 5 in D major, op. 28” on the Alma-Tadema piano; courtesy The Clark Art Institute

Orchestrating Elegance: Alma-Tadema and Design

Elaborate design, exquisite craftsmanship in furniture, paintings, sculpture,

and decorative arts of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

And, as resurgent interest in Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (British, born Netherlands 1836–1912) raises appreciation and interest in his work for a new generation, the Clark Art Institute offers new insight into one of the painter’s most successful and distinctive artistic endeavors—the design of a music room for the New York mansion of financier, art collector, and philanthropist Henry Gurdon Marquand (1819–1902). Orchestrating Elegance: Alma-Tadema and Design, curated by Kathleen M. Morris and Alexis Goodin, reunites twelve of nineteen pieces from the original furniture suite, along with paintings, ceramics, textiles, and sculpture from the room for the first time since Marquand’s estate was auctioned in 1903. The Clark’s ornately decorated Steinway piano, acquired in 1997, is the centerpiece of the exhibition.

A Gilded Age Evening at the Clark

 

Gilded Age elegance and exquisite cuisine combine to create an unforgettable evening at the Clark. Guests will enjoy a private,

Today is Thursday June 22, 2017—I’m your host, Jason Velázquez, and I thank you for tuning in to this episode, Number 43, of the Top Left Corner!

On our show today, we welcome Kenneth Mercure, who is one of the principal organizers of the Pride event going on in Pittsfield on Saturday. This is the first ever such event in terms of size, reach, and intersectionality. We spoke with Kenneth by Skype not only about the event, but also about the historical dimensions of the LGBTQ community in the Berkshires and some of the challenges still faced in 2017. He also provides some common sense advice, based on his own experiences, about coming out, safety, and some of the resources available for gays, lesbians and others trying to navigate a gender landscape that still poses risks.

Mentioned on this show

 

Berkshire Pride Official Website

Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County

Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition

Berkshire Theatre Group

From Berkshire Pride’s Facebook Page

The 1st annual public LGBTQ PRIDE event for Berkshire County, to be held in Pittsfield, MA on June 24th, 2017. The event theme this year is “Creating Community”. Festivities, Speakers, Community Resource Fair, Entertainment and more! More details to come, this will be a family-friendly celebration. Please visit our page and send a message or email us at [email protected], if you are interested in being a vendor, entertainer, volunteer or if you are non-profit or community group who would like have table at our resource fair. BE THERE AND BE QUEER! MAY THE RAINBOW BE WITH YOU! Invite and share as much as you can!

 

Berkshire Pride is a community alliance composed of individuals representing diverse organizations and projects whose goal is to promote LGBTQI equality via community organizing by implementing educational and support projects that empower LGBTQI people and enable a dialog about such issues in the community. Berkshire Pride is a freeform project with the goal of providing a platform for individuals and community organizations who want to make the Berkshires an even better, more inclusive and more welcoming place to visit and live for all people. Berkshire Pride is not meant as a replacement or additional organization. It is a launching point where already existing and new organizations can come together with non-affiliated community organizers and work together.

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Concert with Dom Flemons in the 1910 Barn kicks off Berkshire season of American roots music at Hancock Shaker Village

(Hancock Shaker Village, official release)

HANCOCK, Mass.—When Grammy-award winning Dom Flemons kicks off Hancock Shaker Village’s new Shaker Barn Music series on June 16, he’s continuing a long tradition of music by the Shakers, whose musical roots run deep, with a musical heritage that led to the creation of more than 10,000 American folk songs.

A musician, singer-songwriter, and slam poet, Flemons is a founder of the storied Carolina Chocolate Drops, an African-American string band that won a Grammy for its 2010 album Genuine Negro Jig.  Today, Flemons tours throughout the US and internationally as “The American Songster,” mixing traditional music forms with a contemporary approach to create new sounds.  Flemons mesmerizes audiences as he draws from a wide range of styles, including ragtime, Piedmont blues, spirituals, Southern traditional, string band, fife and drum, and jug band music. “Onstage he’s an absolute blast, charming and funny, full of energy,” wrote No Depression Magazine.

Shaker Barn Music: Dom Flemons

Friday, June 16; doors 7:00 p.m.

(Opening act: Long Journey)

1910 Barn, Hancock Shaker Village

1843 West Housatonic Street

Pittsfield, Mass.

Tickets $15 in advance/$20 day of show

Call 413.443.0188 x115, or order online

In 2016, Flemons performed at Carnegie Hall as part of a Lead Belly tribute, and also at the opening ceremonies for the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.  In 2016 he also paired with legendary British guitarist Martin Simpson on the album Selection of Ever Popular Favourites.  His newest album, which will be released through Smithsonian Folkways, celebrates the stories and songs of black cowboys, who played an important role in the American West.  Flemons has a podcast called American Songsters Radio in conjunction with North Carolina Public Radio.

A Phoenix Native, Flemons’ involvement with music began by playing percussion in his high school band.  After picking up the guitar and harmonica, he began to play coffee houses and became a regular on the Arizona folk music scene.  During that period Flemons wrote his own songs and produced 25 albums of singer-songwriters and slam poets, including six albums of his own.  A multi-instrumentalist, Flemons plays banjo, guitar, harmonica, fife, bones, bass drum, snare drum, and quills, in addition to singing.  His banjo repertoire includes not only clawhammer but also tenor and three-finger styles of playing.  As a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, he was able to explore his interest in bringing traditional music to new audiences.

“Flemons has been a torchbearer in contemporary American roots music,” wrote The Boston Globe, “blending his love of old-time styles with a scholarly interest in their history.”

Opening for Flemons on June 16 is Long Journey, a duo of Amrita Lash and Karl Mullen, whose harmonies are as sweet and fierce as bourbon on a summer night.  Hailing from Williamstown, MA, Long Journey coined the term “fierce folk” to describe their powerful sound.  The textured and soaring harmonies of Mullen and Lash take original and traditional songs exploring love, yearning, life, death, and everything in between to unexpected places.  Their debut album was released in 2016 and a second album is scheduled for release in September.

 

Dom Flemons is the first concert in Hancock Shaker Village’s Shaker Barn Music series, dedicated to American roots music.  Bringing an exciting roster of emerging and national mus...

The Hoping Machine

We spoke first with Antonia Buckley, one of the creative minds behind the Hoping Machine, a new project of the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass. The effort is a collaboration among “a group of activists and songwriters coming together to generate hope, identify challenges, and collect ideas and resources for a stronger community,” and perhaps to address some of the many issues related to the current political climate of fear and stupidity.

The Hoping Machine meets weekly at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass.; photo courtesy the Hoping Machine, via Facebook.

Memorial Day Weekend, North Adams style

We were lucky to get Suzy Helme, North Adams Director of Community Events, on the phone during one of the brief moments she was able to sit in the last week. The incredible work she’s put into this weekend only seems to have sharpened her enthusiasm for the festivities.

From the Explore North Adams website:

This summer the North Adams Exchange (NAX) — a private-public collaboration of the City of North Adams; downtown merchants and local community members; and the North Adams Partnership, focused on increasing foot traffic between Main Street and MASS MoCA — will light up the downtown with synchronized light beacons atop four church steeples and the museum’s iconic Clocktower.  Additional initiatives will provide art, commerce, and social enterprises throughout the city, all designed to extend and deepen visitor experiences across the downtown shopping district during the first season of MASS MoCA’s Phase III expansion, which opens on May 28.

Save Olsen Farm!

We went on location in Lanesborough to the Olsen Farm, owned by Christopher Wheeler and Kristen Toole. Due to a weighty debt load in the wake of the death of Christopher’s father, the fate of this legacy farm hangs in the balance. Visit the farm blog to find out more about this young couple and check out their GoFundMe page to learn how you can help.

Sensing that the situation faced by Christopher and Kristen is hardly unique, we sought out someone who could shine a little light on the types of challenges and opportunities faced by young farmers today. We found just the right person in Sophie Ackoff, National Field Director for the National Young Farmers Coalition, based in Hudson, NY.

Sophie leads their grassroots campaign work, helping young farmers across the country make their voices heard in the federal policy process. She also manages the chapter network, corporate partnership program and membership program. Sophie studied biology and environmental studies at Wesleyan University and has farmed on several CSA farms in the Hudson Valley of New York.

 

https://github.com/360Controller/360Controller/releases/tag/v0.14-unofficial

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