Muddy Brook’s ‘investors’ win stock market game award
Great Barrington — Muddy Brook Regional Elementary School students Marti Cunningham, Maisy Seckler (first place regional winners) and Leo Kavanaugh and Julian Beadell (second place regional winners) were recognized for their investment success at the Security Industry and Financial Markets Association’s (SIFMA) Stock Market Game award ceremony in Boston, held at The Boston Globe.
The two fourth grade teams came in first and second place in the state, with virtual portfolios well over the S&P 500 average. There were 33 teams competing in the elementary division across the state this year.
According to the Stock Market Game website, “SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game is a curriculum-based program where student teams in grades 4-12 learn about the global marketplace and long-term saving and investing fundamentals by managing a hypothetical brokerage account. Up to 15,000 teachers and 600,000 students participate annually in the program. Teachers receive grade-level specific curriculum guides, lesson plans and newsletters to incorporate the program into their core mathematics, social studies, business, economics and language arts programs. Student teams invest a hypothetical $100,000 in listed stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and learn the value of saving and investing as they work together to maximize the return of their portfolio.”
“For more than a decade, the Stock Market Game has helped students from around the country grow and learn about financial literacy,” said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president & CEO. “Our industry is committed to giving students the necessary tools to build a solid foundation of information regarding investing and saving, so they can one day achieve their financial goals.”
— H.B.
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Solovay’s ‘Naked Truth’ exhibit at St. Francis Gallery
South Lee — Paul Solovay’s exhibit, “A Photographic Exploration of Truth & Dare (with the help of Barbie & Ken),” will be on display at the St. Francis Gallery, from Friday, June 13 through June 28. The artist reception is Saturday, June 13, from 4 to 7 p.m.
— D.S.
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Aging Today: Author, journalist, and editor Andrew Blechman on ‘Leisureville’
Pittsfield — The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will present a talk by author, journalist, and editor Andrew Blechman about his critically acclaimed book Leisureville: Adventures in a World Without Children. The event will take place on Thursday, June 11, at 10:45 a.m. at Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, as part of the Federation’s Connecting With Community series. Blechman delves into life in the Florida seniors-only community The Villages, and also traces the history of the age-segregated retirement phenomenon.
When his next-door neighbors in Great Barrington suddenly picked up and moved to a gated retired community in Florida called The Villages, Blechman was astonished by their stories, so went south to investigate. Larger than Manhattan, with a golf course for every day of the month, two downtowns, and its own newspaper, radio, and TV station, The Villages is a city of nearly one hundred thousand (and growing) missing only one thing: children.
Blechman is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and the New York Times, among others. His first book, Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird, was widely praised. He was elected as a selectman of Great Barrington in May 2011.
For more information, please call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360, ext. 10. The program precedes a kosher lunch at noon ($2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years of age, $7 for all others). Advance reservations are required for lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. on the day of the program.
— H.B.
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Arrowhead displays dress worn for Lafayette in 1824
Pittsfield — In 1824 the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American War of Independence, returned to the United States for a nearly two year visit. After his initial stay in New York City he traveled to Boston, Massachusetts to renew old friendships and to visit the various battleground from the Revolution and commemorate fallen heroes such as General Warren at Bunker Hill. During the ceremonies he was presented with a baby girl, Elizabeth Knapp Shaw, daughter of Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw. The girl was 28 months old. Twenty years later she would marry a returning sailor, brother of girlfriends and son of a friend of the Judge’s, Herman Melville. Her dress, worn the day she sat on Lafayette’s lap, is on display this summer and may be seen on guided tours of Arrowhead, the Melvilles’ home from 1850-1863.
The Berkshire Historical Society owns the dress worn the day she sat on Lafayette’s knee, plus this “Lafayette ribbon,” one of the souvenirs printed during his visit. The crowds wore “Lafayette ribbons,” white ribbons engraved by local printers, in towns where Lafayette receptions were to be held. He dined with the Governor of Massachusetts and spoke at the State House. A welcoming speech was given by Edward Everett, who, years later during the Civil War, would precede Lincoln at the podium at the memorial to the fallen at Gettysburg. “Greetings! Friend of our fathers!” Everett said “May you be welcome on our shores! Happy are our eyes to look upon your venerable features! Enjoy a triumph, which is reserved for neither conquerors nor monarchs, the assurance that here in all America there is not a heart which does not beat with joy and gratitude at the sound of your name.”
On Saturday, June 13, Lizzie Shaw Melville’s 195th birthday will be celebrated at Arrowhead with birthday cake and other delights. From eleven until three all women named Elizabeth or anyone who shares Lizze’s birthday (June 13) will be admitted free to house tours.
The Berkshire Historical Society at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, located at 780 Holmes Road in Pittsfield, Mass., is open seven days a week from 9:30a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with guided tours on the hour, every hour from 10 to 4. Tour price is $13 for adults, $8 for students and children. Group tours must be arranged in advance. Visit Melville’s Arrowhead Farm, see our new exhibits of art and cultural artifacts in the barn for FREE. Call 413-442-1793 for more information.
— D.S.
