Bits & Bytes: Music Inn reunion; Building 13 open house; Medicare seminar; waste oil & paint collection

Race Brook Lodge to host Music Inn reunion and celebration

Sheffield — Music Inn Archives and Race Brook Lodge will host the 2018 gathering of Music Inn fans Saturday, Sept. 29, and Sunday, Sept. 30.

Dave Brubeck and Eugene Wright performing in the Music Barn at Music Inn. Photo courtesy Music Inn Archives

From 1950 to 1980, Music Inn was home to a dynamic music scene that became the Lenox School of Jazz, Berkshire Music Barn and the Lenox Arts Center. Great performers of jazz, folk, blues and rock came to the Berkshires, and Music Inn remains an important part of the area’s musical history. When partners Bob and Olga Weiss and David Rothstein took over the abandoned property in 1970, they discovered the spirit of the former Music Inn jazz era still resonated with a wide community of people who had played, worked and attended concerts there. Ultimately, the hippies brought a new generation of concertgoers to the hillside overlooking the Stockbridge Bowl. Now 48 years later, many are still nostalgic for the counterculture vibe of Music Inn.

“The enthusiasm for Music Inn shows no sign of slowing down, so it’s time for Music Inn people to gather again and have more fun,” said former Music Inn co-owner David Rothstein. “This year, we’ll greet our legendary sound man Dinky Dawson (stolen from the Byrds), who powered the music for many years,” he added.

Dinky Dawson running sound for John McLaughlin at Music Inn. Photo: Nancy Dawson

Several other Music Inn reunions over the years have drawn folks from around the Berkshires and across the country. In 2017, “The Life and Times of Music Inn,” held at the Duffin Theater in Lenox, drew hundreds of people who listened to a panel that included Arlo Guthrie share stories and experiences of Music Inn and the decade that changed their lives.

The weekend’s events will include a Saturday storytelling session at 3 p.m. followed by dinner at the Stagecoach Tavern. At 8 p.m. a concert and celebration with live music by Sarah Lee Guthrie and friends will take place with feature clips from the Music Inn documentary film and previous reunion footage. Sunday will feature a jazz brunch with Music Inn documentary producer and drummer George Schuller.

The events are open to the public with a suggested donation of $20. For more information, contact Race Brook Lodge at (413) 229-2916 or info@rblodge.com.

–E.E.

*     *     *

Building 13 at MASS MoCA. Photo courtesy Ferrin Contemporary

Building 13 to hold open house

North Adams — Building 13, on the campus of MASS MoCA, will host its fall open house Friday, Sept. 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. The event will coincide with the final DownStreet Art Thursday event of 2018.

Cynthia-Reeves will hold a reception for the new collage installation by Brooklyn, New York-based artist Allison Gildersleeve. Ferrin Contemporary will celebrate the opening of “Canary Syndrome,” which explores the idea that artists, like canaries in coalmines, are hypersensitive to the forces threatening human existence. The exhibit will feature art by Elizabeth Alexander, Evan Hauser, Elliott Kayser, Steven Young Lee, Beth Lipman, Livia Marin, Paul Scott, Bouke de Vries and Jason Walker. The Artist Book Foundation features “Swimmers,” recent works by Carole Feuerman, in which Feuerman’s hyperrealistic human-figure sculptures express perspectives on mundane but intensely personal activities of modern life. The Studios at MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program will feature the work of its 10 artists in residence: Becky Bailey, Shuyi Cao, Antonietta Grassi, Sareh Imani, Antonia Kuo, Kate McQuillen, Christie Neptune, Yumiko Ono, Valentina Sarfeh and Claire Watson. ROAM: A Xtina Parks Gallery is currently showing its inaugural exhibition, which encapsulates over seven years of work by its namesake Xtina Parks in a showcase of African wildlife and landscape photography.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Ferrin Contemporary at info@ferrincontemporary.com.

–E.E.

*     *     *

Salisbury Bank to hold workshop on Medicare changes

Salisbury, Conn. — On Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the community room at Noble Horizons, Salisbury Bank will offer a seminar that will focus on Medicare choices, options for eligible applicants, and what is necessary to know about the upcoming changes to Medicare in 2019 so individuals can make informed decisions during the open enrollment period that runs from Monday, Oct. 15, to Friday, Dec. 7.

Presenters Magaly Bravo and Amanda Halle work for the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, at which Bravo is the CHOICES regional director and Halle is a counselor for CHOICES and Senior Medicare Patrol with a 25-year background in medical education.

The program is free and open to the public. A light lunch will be served at noon before the program begins. Reservations are suggested but not required. For more information or to reserve a spot, contact Kevin Norton by calling (860) 453-3497, or emailing knorton@salisburybank.com and typing “MEDICARE” in the subject line.

–E.E.

*     *     *

Waste oil and paint collection scheduled

Lenox — On Saturday, Sept. 29, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., the South Berkshire Household Hazardous Waste Collaborative will hold a paint and oil collection for the 15 participating towns of Alford, Becket, Egremont, Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Marlborough, Otis, Richmond, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Tyringham and West Stockbridge. The Center for EcoTechnology will coordinate the collections.

Acceptable materials are oil-based paint, oil-based stains, paint thinners, spray paint and turpentine as well as waste motor oil. No other type of oil or fuel will be accepted, nor will latex paint. Empty cans can be recycled with scrap metal. Dried-up cans of latex paint as well as empty cans of oil-based paints, stains and solvents can be disposed of with the regular trash.

Those wishing to participate in the collection must register online or contact Thomas Jakubasz at (800)-369-3333 x142 or Thomas.Jakubasz@cetonline.org by Friday, Sept. 28. Residents from communities that are not participating should call their city or town halls for information about hazardous household product collections.

–E.E.