Friday, June 20, 2025

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Bits & Bytes: Concerts at the bandstand; ‘Lenox: 80 years’ exhibit; Hidden Gardens tour; ‘Forgotten Farms’ screening

“Forgotten Farms” profiles New England dairy farmers and examines the class divides in New England’s farm and food communities.

Bandstand to host summer concerts

Great Barrington — The town of Great Barrington will present a free summer concert series, which will take place on Friday evenings at 5:30 p.m. at the bandstand behind Town Hall, 334 Main St. Currently scheduled to perform are Moonshine Holler on Friday, June 16; Sandy & Sandy on Friday, June 23; Berkshire Sings and the Berkshire Ukulele Band on Friday, June 30; Bernice Lewis on Friday, July 7; Reinhardt and Ciccarelli on Friday, July 14; Lee Rogers and special guests on Friday, July 21; the Wanda Houston Band on Friday, July 28; the Eagles Trombone Ensemble on Friday, Aug. 4; and Bobby Sweet on Friday, Aug. 25. In addition to the Friday night music series, GBCC will present David Grover and Grover’s Gang at the bandstand every Saturday in July and August at 10 a.m.

For more information, contact leenan@roadrunner.com.

–E.E.

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Lenox Historical Society offers Lenox history exhibit

The dress worn by Mariette Kendall at her 1900 wedding to George M. Parker is on display at the Museum of Lenox History.
The dress worn by Mariette Kendall at her 1900 wedding to George M. Parker is on display at the Museum of Lenox History.

Lenox — The Lenox Historical Society’s Museum of Lenox History is continuing Lenox’s 250th anniversary celebration with the second of three exhibits that document Lenox life. “ Lenox: 80 Years – Wars, the Gilded Age, Inventions” focuses on a period of vast changes from the 1840s to 1920 and is on display through Saturday, Aug. 26.

Photographs, artifacts and ephemera take viewers through the end of glass and iron production in Lenox Dale into the Civil War period and beyond. Included in the collection is a wedding dress worn by Mariette Kendall when she married George M. Parker in 1900, with an original photograph of the bridal couple accompanying it. A hooked rug created by Dorothy Peters House for Lenox’s bicentennial in 1967, a copy of a 1839 woodcut of Lenox village by John Barber, is also part of the exhibit.

For more information, call Vickie at (413) 441-7902.

–E.E.

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Spencertown Academy to celebrate ‘Hidden Gardens’

May Hill, the Garden of Jack Potter and David Lebe in Ghent, New York, will be part of Spencertown Academy Arts Center's 2017 Hidden Gardens tour.
May Hill, the Garden of Jack Potter and David Lebe in Ghent, New York, will be part of Spencertown Academy Arts Center’s 2017 Hidden Gardens tour.

Spencertown, N.Y. — Spencertown Academy Arts Center’s 13th annual Hidden Gardens tour will take place Saturday, June 17, and be accompanied by an array of events for garden enthusiasts. The theme of this year’s tour is “Artful Landscapes.”

The academy’s annual Twilight in the Garden cocktail party will open the festivities on Friday, June 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Falling Waters, the historic home of John and Denise Dunne. Cocktails, sparkling beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and a light supper will be served. On Saturday, June 17 at 9 a.m., garden columnist, author and lecturer Ron Kujawski will give a talk at the academy titled “Vegetable Gardening: It’s Never Too Late to Start,” which will include information on preparing the garden for planting, planting tips, how to make up for lost time and planning for fall harvests. The self-guided tour itself will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 17, and include a private garden in Spencertown, a naturalist’s garden in Ghent, Steepletop in Austerlitz, and four additional locations in North Hillsdale: the grounds of a historic bed and breakfast; a landscape designer’s garden; an 18th-century home with edible and flower gardens; and a country house with a parterre, pond and extensive perennial and edible gardens. Also taking place on Saturday will be a garden market, a talk about native vs. invasive species, and a workshop on making hummingbird friendly planters.

Most of the events are ticketed and vary in cost. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call (518) 392-3693.

–E.E.

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Berkshire Grown to screen ‘Forgotten Farms’

Forgotten Farms posterGreat Barrington — On Monday, June 19, at 7 p.m., Berkshire Grown will present a screening of “Forgotten Farms” at the Triplex Cinema. Filmmakers Sarah Gardner and Dave Simonds will present a panel discussion after the film.

“Forgotten Farms” profiles New England dairy farmers and examines the class divides in New England’s farm and food communities. New England has lost over 10,000 conventional dairy farms in the past 50 years; about 2,000 farms remain to collectively tend 1.2 million acres of farmland and produce almost all of the milk consumed in New England. “Forgotten Farms” offers a glimpse into the past and a vision of an expanded local agriculture that could serve all of New England’s population.

For tickets and more information, call Berkshire Grown at (413) 528-0041.

–E.E.

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