Spencertown Academy celebrates the Art of the Garden
SPENCERTOWN, N.Y. — Spencertown Academy Arts Center’s 18th annual Hidden Gardens is scheduled for Saturday, June 11, with a self-guided garden tour, outdoor market, and botanical-themed art exhibition. The festivities commence on Saturday, June 4 with the Twilight in the Garden Cocktail Party and continue after the tour with a lecture by garden expert Tovah Martin on Saturday, June 18.
The Hidden Gardens: Twilight in the Garden Party will take place on Saturday, June 4, from 5–7 p.m. at Austerlitz Historical Society’s Old Austerlitz grounds (GPS: 11550 NY-22 Austerlitz, NY). The Academy’s traditional kick-off to summer will feature pre-packed baskets filled with wrapped homemade and locally sourced hors d’oeuvres and a sweet treat, as well as festive beverages, a silent auction, and live music by Rob Fisch. Tickets range from $100–$250 with an array of perks.
The centerpiece of Hidden Gardens is the self-guided tour on Saturday, June 11. The gardens will be open, rain or shine, from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Advance tickets are $35 and day-of tickets are $40. The town of Stuyvesant on the Hudson River is home to two of the gardens on the tour. On a former 200-acre dairy farm and apple orchard, an 1890s Colonial Revival home sits atop a hill offering awe-inspiring views of the Hudson River and Catskills. Contemporary architecture employed in the design of a guest house, studio, pool, pool house, and raised-bed vegetable garden contrasts dramatically with the historic original residence. A quarter mile from the river, a very different garden occupies two acres, with a naturalistic meadow, kitchen garden, shrub borders, streamside woodland shade garden, and vintage barn. Additional stops on the route feature a c.1760s farmhouse anchoring a 20-acre property with an array of rustic outbuildings and towering trees, which combine to create a charming setting for sunny and shady perennial beds and a rock garden nestled in an old barn foundation.
The Market on The Green will take place Saturday, June 11 from 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m. at the Spencertown Village Green, located at the intersection of Rtes. 203 and 7. It will include more than 15 vendors offering plants, vintage and new home and garden furnishings, pottery, birdhouses, crafts, and garden books, along with the Academy’s White Elephant Booth. The Spencertown Volunteer Firemen will serve breakfast sandwiches, grilled burgers, and hotdogs. A percentage of all sales benefit the Academy.
On Saturday, June 18 at 11 a.m., garden expert Tovah Martin will give the illustrated talk Maximizing Space in the Garden: Creating More of a Good Thing. It will focus on how to layer a garden with varied habitats, including perennial, berry, and vegetable gardens. Martin is the author of 16 books on gardening, and a writer, producer, and stylist for garden stories featured in many prominent national and regional publications and on television. Lecture tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and refreshments will be served.
—A.K.
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Bidwell House Museum Outdoors presents Introduction to Shinrin-Yoku
MONTEREY — Shinrin-yoku, also known as “forest bathing,” is a meditative practice that can deepen one’s connection with nature. Join certified field naturalist and meditation practitioner Thomas Lewis for a quiet, sedate, and mindful nature walk on the Bidwell House grounds, and up to two sit-down meditation sessions for an experience that will last up to 90 minutes. These free events will be held Sunday, June 12 at 9 a.m., and again on Sunday, June 19 at 9 a.m. For this to be a sedate and mindful experience, attendance is limited to 6 individuals over 18 years of age, per session.
—A.K.
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Osceola Park car show and picnic to be held June 18
PITTSFIELD — The annual Osceola Park Car Show and Picnic will be held Saturday, June 18 from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. at 50 Osceola St. in Pittsfield. (The rain date is Sunday, June 19.) This is a free family and pet-friendly event sponsored by the Friends of Osceola Park.
There will be antique, classic, and muscle cars, as well as street rods on display. Trophies will be given to the “Best in Show” and “Attendee Pick” vehicles. Win a prize by purchasing 50/50 raffle tickets and raffle items. Entertaining “oldies” music will be playing in the background, and all fathers will receive a special gift.
In honor of its 75th anniversary, a first-ever official Osceola Park sign will be unveiled at 12 p.m. BB’s Hot Spot Barbecue and Mr. Ding-a-Ling ice cream trucks will be on site. Bring your own chairs, tables, umbrellas, canopy tent(s), etc. to supplement those provided. There will be a portable toilet on site that is wheelchair accessible.
This gathering will also act as a reunion meeting of Osceola Park “alumni” from 12–2 p.m.
—A.K.
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Hoffmann Bird Club to host 9th-annual Hoffmann Hackers Golf Classic
LANESBOROUGH — The Hoffmann Bird Club (HBC) of Western Massachusetts announces the 9th-annual Hoffmann Hackers Golf Classic aka “The Longest Bird.” The event will take place at the Donnybrook Country Club, 775 Williamstown Rd. in Lanesborough on Friday, June 24, starting with a “shotgun start” at 4 p.m. The public is welcome to participate. The 9-hole tournament is a fundraiser for Berkshire County’s premier ornithological Society. (The rain date is July 1.)
The entry fee for the event is $48 per head, which includes placement on a team, 9 holes of golf with carts included, and an all-you-can-eat barbecue/cook-out following the event. All proceeds go to the Hoffmann Bird Club.
The format will be a “Captain and Crew” or “Best Ball,” but comes with a twist: each team of four golfers is also responsible to note as many different bird species as possible during the tournament. The number of birds identified may be deducted from that team’s final golf score. Each team is encouraged to have at least one good birder and one good golfer. There will also be prizes for “Closest to the Pin” and “Longest Drive.” Special prizes will also be awarded for “birdies” and “eagles.”
Non-golfers are encouraged to come as spectators, and may pay a fee of $14 to participate in the barbecue, which will consist of hamburgers or cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, pickles, chips, and non-carbonated soft drinks. A raffle and other fundraising activities will follow the event.
To sign up, you may request an application by emailing donnybrookgolf@earthlink.net, calling 413-499-7888, or picking one up in person at the Donnybrook Country Club. There will be a limit of 18 teams of four.
—A.K.
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Young Women in Science summer program returns
PITTSFIELD — This year marks the 22nd time that Flying Cloud Institute will offer a Young Women in Science summer program. The week-long exploration, running August 1–5, will give female-identified youth ages 9–16 the opportunity to investigate science and engineering topics, alongside peers who share a love of inquiry and discovery. This program is for all cis and trans girls, as well as non-binary people who are comfortable in a space that centers the experiences of women.
Participants will engage in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics in a professional laboratory setting, with guidance from practicing women STEM professionals. Students will be encouraged to engage with science topics — including chemistry, ecology, engineering, and physics — on a deeper, more creative level as they develop their own research design and work through hands-on projects to solve problems and explore hypotheses.
The program will be located at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, and operate from 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. COVID-19 vaccination is required. Tuition is $100 for the week-long session and financial aid is available to qualifying families. To apply, click here or call 413-645-3058 with questions.
—A.K.
