‘One Good Year’ documentary at Mason Library
Great Barrington — The Friends of the Great Barrington Libraries will screen the 2014 documentary film “One Good Year” on Saturday, April 1, at 7:45 p.m. at the Mason Library. The evening will focus on the status of adult/recreational marijuana use, legalized in Massachusetts in November 2016 but not available for sale until some time in 2018. The film is recommended for those aged 21 and over.
The film is an intimate portrait of four medical marijuana growers and their unique community behind the Redwood Curtain in the remote hills of Humboldt County, California. While “Humboldt” has become synonymous the world over with high-grade marijuana, the outside world knows little about the farmers themselves and their lives, history, dreams and hopes for the future. To make “One Good Year”, filmmaker Mikal Jakubal spent a year living in and filming the off-the-grid marijuana farming and homesteading community.
The library doors will open at 7 p.m. with a free wine and cheese social. At 7:30 p.m., a member of the Great Barrington Police Department will facilitate a question-and-answer session on current marijuana regulations. The film will begin at 7:45 p.m. and runs for 80 minutes. Cultivation advice and more socializing will continue from 9:15 until 10 p.m. For more information, call the library at (413) 528-2403. The program does not reflect endorsement or advocacy for any particular point of view by the library or the town of Great Barrington.
–E.E.
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Multicultural BRIDGE to screen ‘Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness’
Great Barrington — On Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m., Multicultural BRIDGE will present a screening of “Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness” at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Patrice O’Neill, the film’s executive producer, will introduce the film and facilitate a post-screening question-and-answer session.
“Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness” is a one-hour documentary about a town coming together to take action after anti-immigrant violence devastates the community. The story follows Mayor Paul Pontieri and Patchogue, New York, residents as they openly address the underlying causes of a violent murder, work to heal divisions, and begin taking steps to ensure everyone in their village will be safe and respected.
As co-founder of the Oakland, California-based nonprofit strategic media production company the Working Group, O’Neill has produced successful national series on PBS for 15 years, using a multiplatform approach that utilizes documentary film, social networking, outreach and organizing efforts to encourage dialogue and spur action.
The screening is free an open to the public. For more information, contact the Mahaiwe box office at (413) 528-0100.
–E.E.
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Lee Library to host quilt show
Lee — The Lee Library and Pumpkin Patch Quilts will present a quilt show in the library’s J. Peter Scolforo Gallery during the month of April. An opening reception will be held Tuesday, April 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. Visitors are invited to enjoy traditional and contemporary quilts as well as a variety of quilting techniques. This year’s quilt show is dedicated to teacher and quilt artist Vibeke Wilder, whose quilts gained recognition and commendations and hang in homes and businesses locally and out of state. For more information, contact the Lee Library at (413) 243-0385 or lee@cwmars.org.
–E.E.
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Club Helsinki Hudson to present Chuck Prophet, the Bottle Rockets
Hudson, N.Y. — Chuck Prophet will bring his band the Mission Express to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, March 31, at 9 p.m. Alt-country group the Bottle Rockets share the bill.
Prophet embraces a host of traditional and classic sounds including country, soul and folk rock. His new album “Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins” includes the song “Bad Year for Rock and Roll,” a timely homage to the rock greats lost in 2016. In recent years, Prophet’s music has been featured in several hit television series including HBO‘s “True Blood,” Showtime‘s “Californication,” and FX‘s “Sons of Anarchy.” He also co-wrote all the songs on Alejandro Escovedo‘s critically acclaimed 2008 album “Real Animal.”
Since the mid-1990s, the Bottle Rockets have been making a unique brand of populist, Midwestern, brawny rock ‘n’ roll. Part of the alt-country explosion of the 90s, the Bottle Rockets list Woody Guthrie, Neil Young and the Replacements as key influences.
For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the club at (518) 828-4800.
–E.E.
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Spencertown Academy Arts Center announces Young Writers’ Contest
Spencertown, N.Y. — Spencertown Academy Arts Center has announced its third annual Young Writers’ Contest. The contest is open to writers in grades 9 through 12 who are attending school, homeschooled in, or residents of Columbia County or Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Contest judges include published authors, book editors and other publishing professionals. The top three winners in each category will receive cash prizes of $200, $150 and $100 respectively. The first-place winners will be invited to read their stories at the academy’s annual Festival of Books over Labor Day weekend.
“This year, in addition to the short story category, we’re adding a new category for best nonfiction essay or memoir,” said Kelly Kynion, coordinator of the contest. “This is to allow students who are busy preparing college applications to refer to personal essays as material for their entry. We will also give appreciation awards to the English teachers of the first-prize winners.”
The deadline for submissions is Monday, May 1. Stories can be on any subject matter with a maximum length of 4,000 words. Nonfiction essays or memoirs can be about anything from students’ personal life experiences and must also be a maximum length of 4,000 words. All submissions must be formatted in 12-point type, be double spaced, and have 1-inch margins on standard 8 ½-by-11 page size. Entries must not have previously been accepted for publication nor have won a prize.
Entrants are requested to email submissions including their names, ages and schools and note if the entry is a short story or nonfiction/essay or memoir to story@spencertownacademy.org.
–E.E.
