Discover rocks and minerals at the historic Whiting Mills
Winstead, Conn. — The “First Annual Rock and Mineral Show” will be coming to the historic Whiting Mills on March 18th and 19th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Sponsored by SilverSpiral Creations, the show will feature 30 tables of high-end vendors displaying and selling gemstones, jewelry, fossils, rocks, crystals and minerals.
The Rock and Mineral Show is a family friendly event with chances to win door prizes. Visit the six welcome stations throughout the building for six chances to win.
The first welcome station is in studio 304, home to Jessica Rosario the resident Good Witch of the Mill community. CottageWicks creates plant-based offerings that are brewed with love and intention presenting an enchanting and otherworldly experience in ritual beauty and candle magic. Across the hall, checkout Studio 305 and meet national and international award-winning artist Tina Puckett. Her whimsical woven baskets consist of hand harvested, dyed vines and reeds brought together in Tina’s intricate designs.
Continue on to Studio 308 and find Joe Hurst of On The Rocks Norfolk. Joe’s beautiful stonework and cabochons are the product of his skilled craftsmanship and colorful personality. Next door in Studio 310 find Lynne Patnode of SilverSpiral Creations. Lynne creates each piece of handmade sterling silver jewelry, one design at a time while showcasing mother nature’s beautiful stones.
Discover other hidden gems nestled among the corners as you journey through the labyrinth. Head upstairs to Studio 408 where Debra Lill, book cover artist and shop keeper of Lill Curio Shop, will greet you with a wide range of vintage curiosities. Round the corner to Studio 512 where you can see textile designer, Julie S. Rego’s quilted batik creations which can be used as wall hangings, quilts, table runners and other decor items.
Admission is free to the public, and lunch will be available for purchase. Handicapped accessible and free parking. For more information and a list of participating vendors, please visit: https://silverspiralcreations.com/rockshow
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“Frankly Feminist” tells short stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine
Pittsfield— On Thursday, March 16 at 6:45 p.m., join in conversation facilitated by Rabbi Elyse Frishman with Lilith’s Susan Weidman Schneider, Editor in Chief, and Yona Zeldis McDonough, Fiction Editor, of their groundbreaking Jewish feminist short story collection, Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine.
This collection showcases a wide range of stories offering variegated cultures and contexts and points of view: Persian Jews; a Biblical matriarch; an Ethiopian mother in modern Israel; suburban American teens; Eastern European academics; a sexual questioner; a Jew by choice; a new immigrant escaping her Lower East Side sweatshop; a Black Jewish marcher for justice; in Vichy France, a toddler’s mother hiding out; and more.
This free Jewish Federation of the Berkshires program will be presented via Zoom. Please visit our calendar of events at jewishberkshires.org for links to the programs. This program is a part of “Jewish Literary Voices: A Federation Series in collaboration with The Jewish Book Council.”
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“MOTHER (and me)” comes to Bridge Street Theatre for three nights only
Catskill, N.Y. — “MOTHER (and me)”, written and performed by Melinda Buckley, arrives at BST, located at 44 West Bridge Street in Catskill, for three performances only – Friday and Saturday, March 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday March 19 at 2 p.m.
This alternately hilarious, touching, and ultimately uplifting one-woman show is Melinda Buckley’s personal saga of a Broadway performer shimmying her way into middle age as her own Hungarian Mama Rose begins a slow waltz with dementia. What distinguishes “Mother (and me)” is that these delicate subjects are handled with consummate skill, pizzazz and, most importantly, a healthy dose of humor.
Individual tickets for “MOTHER (and me)” are $25, with those 18 and under admitted for only $10, available here.
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Beekeepers Theater presents “What I Know Now,” read by the author
Sheffield— On March 18 at 6 p.m., at Dewey Hall, Beekeepers Theater will host a special presentation of “What I Know Now,” a new work-in-development by writer/performer Julia Motyka. This one-person play explores issues of faith, relationships, and family through the perspective of a woman facing one of life’s biggest questions.
The presentation is part of Beekeepers’ effort to showcase the spectrum of performing arts through a monthly series of spotlight events at Dewey Hall. Tickets will be available at the door for $15. The program will be followed by a social gathering for attendees and the community with wine, beer and Beekeepers merchandise available for purchase.
Beekeepers Theater proudly supports the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program, offering free admission to all WIC, EBT, and ConnectorCare cardholders. All Beekeepers presentations have captions streamed live to audience members’ personal devices.
Dewey Hall is located at 91 Main. St. in Sheffield, MA. The evening’s festivities will begin at 6 p.m. and run until approximately 10 p.m. For more information, please visit http://BeekeepersTheater.com.
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22nd annual Robotics Challenge scheduled for March 18th
Pittsfield— The 22nd annual Berkshire Robotics Challenge, hosted and sponsored by the Berkshire Innovation Center, is scheduled for Saturday, March 18, at Taconic High School. The event is free and open to the public. This year’s Challenge, “Super Powered,” features a field of 15 teams with more than 100 students from all over Berkshire County, using programmable robots to complete a variety of hypothetical missions that explore where energy comes from and how it is distributed, stored, and used.
Eric Planey, CEO of SolaBlock will provide the keynote address starting at 8:55a.m. The Challenge will be competed in four rounds between 9:20 a.m. and 11:35 a.m., with the top eight point-scorers advancing to the Great Eight Playoff at 12:05 p.m. An awards ceremony – including honors for Sportsmanship & Team Spirit, Best Mechanical Design, Most Innovative Design and Best Programming – is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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White Hart Speaker Series presents John Sayles
Salisbury, Conn. — On Wednesday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. at The White Hart Inn in Salisbury, Conn., John Sayles will read from his epic new historical novel, “Jamie MacGillivray: the Renegade’s Journey,” and talk with WAMC/NPR host Joe Donahue about his book.
It begins in the highlands of Scotland in 1746, at the Battle of Culloden, the last desperate stand of the Stuart ‘pretender’ to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his rabidly loyal supporters. Vanquished with his comrades by the forces of the Hanoverian (and Protestant) British crown, the novel’s eponymous hero, Jamie MacGillivray, narrowly escapes a roadside execution only to be recaptured by the victors and shipped to Marshalsea Prison (central to Charles Dickens’s Hard Times) where he cheats the hangman a second time before being sentenced to transportation and indentured servitude in colonial America “for the term of his natural life.” His travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor, village girl swept up on false charges by the English and also sent in chains to the New World
John Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996). He has written seven novels, the most recent being Yellow Earth (2020) and A Moment in the Sun (2011).
Joe Donahue talks to people on the radio for a living. Joe grew up in Philadelphia and has been on the area airwaves for more than 25 years. He is the host of The Round Table for WAMC Radio and a host of NPR’s The Book Show. Joe currently lives in Washington County, NY with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Brady. And yes, he reads every single book.
Register here — free, registration requested.
