Fairview Hospital to hold Heart Night
Great Barrington — Fairview Hospital will hold its annual Heart Night on Friday, Feb. 3, at 5 p.m. at Berkshire South Regional Community Center. Emergency department physician Adrian Elliot and cardiologist Kristen Currie will be the featured presenters on the topics of heart care in emergency situations, treatment and prevention. The event is designed to give participants working plans for heart health in the coming year. Based on the American Heart Association’s “Life’s Simple 7,” attendees will have the opportunity to jumpstart their plans with free screenings and connections to locally available resources and services.
“Life’s Simple 7”-centered activities at Heart Night will include:
—Eat Better! Dietician Robert Hoechster will offer mindful eating workshops, a mini version of Fairview’s eight-week Mindfulness-Based Eating Program. The Canyon Ranch Institute Life Enhancement Program will offer information about its 12-week program and the application process. Also attending will be a representative for Women, Infants and Children who will provide information about the program and local resources. Tastings and demonstrations will be offered by Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, Domaney’s Liquors and Fine Wines, the Monterey General Store, Price Chopper, Assembly Coffee Roasters, the Berkshire Co-Op Market, and Fairview Hospital’s food service.
— Get Active! Berkshire South will provide information on its programs and instructors Kathy Roy and Sandy French will offer mini classes for a quick workout. Fairview’s pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation teams will be available to discuss programs to improve the health of people who suffer from COPD or cardiac disease.
— Control Cholesterol! Nurses will hand out information on reducing cholesterol as well as tips and strategies for controlling it.
— Lose Weight! Berkshire South will provide free BMI screenings and discuss the results to show how the risk of such health problems as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and diabetes can be lowered.
— Control Blood Sugar! Diabetes educator Sharyl Tutela will offer free blood sugar testing and discuss ways to control blood sugar. Information about free local programs for pre-diabetes and diabetes will be available.
—Stop Smoking! Tobacco treatment is available at no charge through Berkshire Health Systems’ tobacco treatment program at Fairview.
— Manage Blood Pressure! Rich Berry, administrator the Berkshire Partnership for Health’s Get Cuffed program at Fairview, will offer free blood pressure screenings and information about the program.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to experience stress relief activities including mindfulness and breathing exercises offered by Fairview respiratory therapist Tom Fleming. Free reiki and mini massages will be offered to promote relaxation by Emily Wagner, Jessica St. John and Jonathan Weinress. For seniors, A.G.E. Triad and Fairview will offer free “Be Seen, Be Safe” high visibility safety vests to promote road safety at night. Mini CPR workshops and information about other life safety programs will be provided by Fairview respiratory therapist Jim Rintoul. Two baskets will be awarded as door prizes and all attendees will receive free mini first aid kits from Fairview.
The community is invited to support the Fairview Hospital recreation committee’s annual “Have a Heart Food Drive” to donate to local food pantries and pet shelters. For more information, contact Fairview’s community relations office at (413) 854-9609.
–E.E.
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Inaugural Mastheads writers’ residency application
Pittsfield — The Office of Cultural Development has announced the release of the Mastheads writers’ residency application. The inaugural month-long residency will take place in July when five selected writers will be paired with private studios for a month-long residency complemented by city-wide public programming and events.
Each year five writers across disciplines will be awarded residencies to include a $900 stipend, housing, daily lunch and exclusive use of one of five studios located throughout Pittsfield. The writing studios, which will be dispersed across the city at five new sites each summer and then de-installed for the remainder of the year, promote dual condition/individual introspection from a specific vantage point and connection to a large-scale urban network. The locations for the inaugural year of the project are Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Springside Park and Pittsfield High School.
The brainchild of husband-and-wife architecture team Chris Parkinson and Tessa Kelly, the Mastheads project recognizes Pittsfield’s legacy of writers of the American Renaissance including Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes.
An online application is available and the deadline to apply is Wednesday, Feb. 15. For more information, contact Jen Glockner at (413) 499-9348 or jglockner@pittsfieldch.com.
–E.E.
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Howard Cruse to present slideshow
Pittsfield — Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County will present a slideshow by artist Howard Cruse on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Berkshire Athenaeum. Cruse, the creator of the Advocate comic strip “Wendel” and the award-winning graphic novel “Stuck Rubber Baby,” will takes attendees back via slideshow to the hot-tempered 1980s of his comic strip, the treacherous South of the 1960s revealed in “Stuck Rubber Baby,” and his childhood encounter with a UFO.
For more information, contact Ed at (413) 441-6066 or ed@rainbowseniors.org.
–E.E.
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Sohn Fine Art calls for photos, sculpture for upcoming exhibit
Lenox — Sohn Fine Art Gallery is accepting submissions of photography and sculpture for its sixth annual juried exhibition to benefit the Norman Rockwell Museum. Any genre of photography can be submitted and all photographic mediums are eligible for submission. Sculptures in any medium for indoors are eligible for submission (size restrictions may apply). The exhibition will be curated and judged by Laurie Norton Moffatt, NRM’s director and CEO; Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, NRM’s deputy director and chief curator; and Jesse Kowalski, NRM’s curator of exhibitions.
The first place winner in the photography category will receive a private tour for two of NRM’s permanent collection with Kowalski, as well as a family membership to the museum for one year. The first place winner in the sculpture category will receive a private tour for two of NRM’s Peter Rockwell Sculpture Collection with a museum curator, as well as a family membership to the museum for one year. The People’s Choice Award winner in photography will receive one 24” x 36” archival pigment print of their own work, produced by Sohn Fine Art, on a substrate of their choice. The People’s Choice Award winner in Sculpture will receive an opportunity to exhibit one piece of their work, to be chosen by Sohn Fine Art, at Sohn Fine Art Gallery for July and August 2017. The second and third place winners will receive honorable mention citations and Norman Rockwell books.
The submission deadline is Saturday, Feb. 18. The exhibition will be on view at Sohn Fine Art Friday, March 31 through Monday, May 29. Approximately 20 photographs and three to 10 sculptures will be accepted into the exhibition. All work will be judged anonymously. Online submission details are available.
–E.E.
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New mobile app for Stockbridge Library
Stockbridge — The Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives, in collaboration with the C/W MARS library network, has launched a new mobile app. From any mobile phone or tablet connected to the internet, patrons can instantly tap into library resources anytime and anywhere, search the library catalog, check accounts, ask questions, find events, access ebooks and more.
To download the app, those interested may use their mobile browsers or search for C/W MARS in your mobile device’s app store and then select Stockbridge Library Association as their preferred library to connect to the catalog, events and more.
The library’s mobile app was developed by Boopsie Inc. More than 250 libraries and universities use Boopsie to increase community and campus visibility. For more information, contact the Stockbridge Library at (413) 298-5501 or info@stockbridgelibrary.org.
–E.E.
