Thursday, May 15, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

BITS & BYTES: Author of ‘Accidental Gangster’ talk; ‘Journey of a Young Filmmaker’; Bidwell House Museum fundraiser; annual Small Works Collection; holiday auction

Lauren Clark Fine Art is hosting a Small Works Collection, opening December 3, perfect for finding beautiful and unique Holiday gifts.
Accidental Gangster by Harriet Goodman Grayson. Image courtesy of the author and the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.

Harriet Goodman Grayson to give talk

Pittsfield— On Thursday, December 1 at 6:45 p.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will host author Harriet Goodman Grayson, author of “Accidental Gangster,” in a talk over Zoom.

Accidental Gangster is based on true events—Harriet’s tales of her grandfather Goldy and her great-grandfather’s days of running booze for Jewish gangster Dutch Schultz through the Rockaways. Relive the madcap days of prohibition through the story of a fisherman recruited by Schultz to help him transport booze as he walked a thin tightrope avoiding both the federal police as well as rival gangs.

Harriet Goodman Grayson is an accomplished writer of non-fiction and fiction having published academic papers, been a columnist for a woman’s monthly as well as writing a column on small business for a newspaper syndicate. Under the pen name Anastasia Goodman, she writes the Sasha Perlov Mystery Series. Harriet has also written a novel called Rockaway Riptides based on true events.

This free Jewish Federation of the Berkshires program will be presented via Zoom. Please visit the calendar of events page at jewishberkshires.org for more information.

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Yonah Sadeh. Image courtesy of Yonah Sadeh and the Hunt Library.

‘Journey of a Young Filmmaker’ follows local Yonah Sadeh

Falls Village— On Thursday, December 1st at 6 p.m. the David M. Hunt Library will host “Journey of a Young Filmmaker” with Falls Village resident Yonah Sadeh. The audience will be invited to ask questions following the films.

A film student at Bard College, Sadeh has produced films showcasing local farms, community art projects, student fiction works, and local issues such as affordable housing. He will talk about his love of film and the process of becoming a filmmaker, and will share two of his films, “Housing our Neighbors”, a documentary short recently created for the Falls Village Housing Trust, and “Lament”, a narrative fiction piece that Yonah wrote and directed in 2021. Yonah Sadeh’s film “In Our Backyard” was awarded first place in the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative’s “Bridging Divides, Healing Communities” youth film challenge in 2021.

For more information, call 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org.  63 Main Street, Falls Village CT 06031.

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Penthouse Mansarda, located by Lake Como, Italy. Image courtesy of the Bidwell House Museum.

Auction for a stay in Italy to benefit the Bidwell House Museum

Monterey— The Bidwell House Museum is holding an online fundraising auction to benefit the museum beginning on December 1 at 9 a.m. and will end at December 8 at midnight.

The auction will consist of the auctioning off of a stay in Italy. A friend of the Museum has offered her home on Lake Como, named Penthouse Mansarda, for a number of week-long stays in 2023. This beautiful property has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and a lakefront living and dining room.

There are multiple weeks available throughout 2023 and all bidding will take place online here. Bidding will begin at $2,999 for the week and all amounts over $2375 will represent financial support for the Museum. The bidding is for a week-long stay at the Penthouse Mansarda. The winning bidder will be responsible for a $175 cleaning fee to be paid at the end of their stay, and all other costs (including airfare) are the responsibility of the bidder.

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Hand Built Porcelain by Jerry Bennett. Image courtesy of the artist and Lauren Clark Fine Art.

Annual Small Works Collection is perfect for holiday gifts

Great Barrington— Lauren Clark Fine Art presents their Annual Small Works Collection opening Saturday, December 3. This Annual Small Works Collection has beautiful, unique, and local pieces of art perfect for gifting this holiday season. A reception for the artists will be held on December 3 from 4 to 6 p.m.

This year’s roster includes Jo Barry, Richard Britell, Abby Dubow, David Eddy, Ann Getsinger, Julio Granda, Trish Hurley, Terry Wise, and Larry Zingale.

The Lauren Clark Fine Art Gallery, located at 684 Main Street, Great Barrington, is open Monday, Thursday, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday and Sunday 12 to 4 p.m.

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Holiday auction to support the Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County

Pittsfield— Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County are having a Holiday Auction starting on November 28 and ending on December 11 at 10 p.m. Auction items include gift baskets, gift certificates and other items.

Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County is a community non-profit dedicated to helping adults gain the literary skills they need to communicate effectively, empowering them to reach their goals. Their Trained Volunteers provide confidential, free, one-on-one tutoring to adult learners in basic reading and writing, and in conversational English for speakers of other languages.

The highest bidder at the end of the auction will be the winner of the item.  You will automatically be notified if you are the winning bidder.  Payment can be made through Pay Pal or by sending a check to LVBC.  Information regarding payment is given when you process your winning bid. Bidding is only open to people living in Berkshire County as the items will be delivered to you by LVBC board members, so they will need your contact information to make arrangements to ensure that you receive your item in a timely manner.

View the items on auction here.

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