Thursday, November 7, 2024

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

Bits & Bytes: $100k grant for VIM; Pittsfield CityJazz Festival; Pogrebin at Knosh & Knowledge; ‘Cellblock Visions’ at Berkshire Waldorf High School; Botanical Garden Harvest Festival

In spite of expanded government health insurance coverage, demands for the services of VIM’s free clinic have been growing.

Fitzpatrick Trust awards $100,000 to VIM Berkshires

Great Barrington — The board of the Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick Trust has awarded a $100,000 grant to Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires (VIM) to expand its clinical and administrative space.

“We applaud VIM’s amazing team of volunteer health professionals who provide free quality health care in the Berkshires to those who qualify,” said Robert Trask, Fitzpatrick Trust Managing Trustee.

In spite of expanded government health insurance coverage, demands for the services of VIM’s free clinic have been growing. VIM’s board of trustees is conducting a capital campaign to pay for expansion into space adjoining the current clinic at 777 Main St., adjacent to Great Barrington Bagel and across from the Big Y. “We are extremely grateful for this vote of confidence in VIM Berkshires,” said Arthur Peisner, chair of the VIM Board of Trustees. “With the generous help of the Fitzpatrick Trust and other loyal supporters, we are getting close to our goal of $250,000 for the renovation, which will increase our work area by more than 65 percent and allow for more efficient clinic operations.”

According to Jeff Bliss, VIM’s Director of Development, VIM hopes to raise $40,000 this fall to meet the goal of the Capital Campaign. “The generous support of local foundations such as the Fitzpatrick Trust, along with gifts from our board members and major donors, has raised 80 percent of our goal. Now we need to call on the greater community to put us over the top and ensure the viability of the clinic for years to come,” said Bliss.

Architect Martha Montgomery of Montgomery ARK will design VIM’s addition and Allegrone Construction will build the new space. VIM hopes to begin construction within the next few weeks and occupy the new space by late fall.

–E.E.

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Randy Brecker, Frank Vignola, Greg Hopkins headline 11th annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival

Brecker1 front bell
Trumpeter Randy Brecker.

Pittsfield — Berkshires Jazz, Inc. has announced the lineup for the 11th annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival which will run October 9-18. The lineup includes a pairing of six-time Grammy winner Randy Brecker with the Greg Hopkins Jazz Orchestra, a return engagement by guitar virtuoso Frank Vignola, the annual “jazz crawl,” a new discovery in the organization’s Jazz Prodigy series, and more. Most of the festival’s events are free.

The festival will kick off with Jazz About Town, the annual jazz crawl featuring local musicians in restaurants and lounges throughout Pittsfield’s Upstreet Cultural District. Festivities will continue with the mid-week Jazz Prodigy concert at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14 featuring 12-year-old pianist Esteban Castro at the Berkshire Athenaeum. The sounds of jazz guitar will fill Baba Louie’s back room on Friday, October 16 at 7 p.m. in the person of Frank Vignola. Vignola will also conduct a private clinic for students at Reid Middle School, and a free public masterclass at Wood Brothers Music on Saturday, October 17 at 11 a.m. Randy Brecker will appear as a guest soloist with the Greg Hopkins Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, October 17 at 8 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre. In addition to the headline performers, two student groups will appear that evening: the jazz ensembles from Herberg Middle School and Rock On! Young Musicians Workshop.

For more information, email web@Berkshiresjazz.org

–E.E.

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Author Letty Cottin Pogrebin to discuss her latest novel

Letty Cottin Pogrebin Mike Lovett
Author Letty Cottin Pogrebin. Photo: Mike Lovett.

Great Barrington — On Friday, October 9, Knosh & Knowledge will host writer Letty Cottin Pogrebin, co-founder of Ms. Magazine and author of the recent novel Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate. This Jewish Federation of the Berkshires program will take place at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire and will be followed by a catered lunch.

Pogrebin’s talk is titled “What Do We Mean By Jewish Continuity? And Must Intermarriage Necessarily Be a Threat to Jewish Survival?” She’ll discuss the topic while referencing her novel, Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate, which tells the story of Zack Levy, the son of Holocaust survivors looking for love and Jewish identity in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s. Before their deaths, Zack’s parents invoke the Holocaust in asking him to promise that he will marry only within the faith and that his children will be raised Jewish. Despite his own disengagement from Judaism, he accedes to their wishes – and complications ensue.  

The program begins at 10:45 a.m. and is open to the public. The talk will be followed by a buffet. Admission is $11 and includes the lunch. Participants may attend the program only for $5. Advance reservations for lunch are required. To make reservations, call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360, ext. 10 or email jfb.officemanager@verizon.net

–E.E.

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‘Cellblock Visions’ art talk at Berkshire Waldorf High School

Phyllis Kornfeld Linda Fry
Author Phyllis Cornfield. Photo: Linda Fry.

Stockbridge — On Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m., Berkshire Waldorf High School will present “Cellblock Visions,” a talk by artist and teacher Phyllis Kornfeld.

Phyllis Kornfeld is the author of “Cellblock Visions: Prison
Art in America.” In her 
presentation she will discuss the art made in prison and the
incarcerated men and women who create it. For 32 years she has been working with people confined in correctional institutions around the country and is the founder of several public projects whereby prison artists donate their artwork to benefit people in need.

There is a suggested donation of $10. Please leave parking at the high school for those who need extra accommodation and park on Main Street in Stockbridge or in the lot behind the St. Paul’s children’s center. For more information call the school at (413) 298-3800.

–E.E.

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Berkshire Botanical Garden celebrates 81st Harvest Festival

Stockbridge — Berkshire Botanical Garden‘s annual Harvest Festival will take place on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11. Over its 81-year run, the Harvest Festival, a fundraiser for the Garden’s educational programs, has become one of Berkshire County’s most beloved fall traditions. This year the Garden is collaborating with Chesterwood with shuttle buses running between the two sites. Parking at Chesterwood is ideally sited for Festival visitors coming to the event from regions south of the Garden.

Join in the fun and celebrate autumn with popular family activities, continuous live entertainment, more than 100 food and craft vendors, a farmers’ market, a silent auction, a giant tag sale, and a spectacular plant and bulb sale as well as a Haunted House. Garden parking is free. Adult admission is $5 and free for children under 12. The event runs both days from 10 a.m. to 5 pm.

See the Berkshire Edge calendar for more information or call the Garden at (413) 298-3926.

–E.E.

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