Wilcox is speaker at Tuesday Club of Stockbridge
Stockbridge — Richard Bidwell Wilcox, the retired and widely admired town police chief and avid historian of all things Stockbridge, will be the featured speaker at the Tuesday Club of Stockbridge, meeting March 17 at 2 p.m. in the Jonathan Edwards room of the First Congregational Church.
The title of his remarks is “The Life and Times of Dr. Oliver Partridge,” the second physician to live in Stockbridge.
Born in 1751, Partridge came to Stockbridge in 1771 from Hatfield, Mass., and took up residence on Prospect Hill in the Mission House, with Dr. Erastus Sergeant, the town’s first doctor, who had married his sister, Elizabeth.
“Partridge lived there for 77 years, and practiced medicine until he was 95 years old,” Wilcox explained, “and he was a great friend of the Stockbridge Indians.”
Partridge was also active in town affairs.
Wilcox himself comes from an original Stockbridge family, related to the Sedgwick’s, Sergeant’s, and Bidwell’s.
Appropriate, then, that he should be the speaker to the Tuesday Club, comprised only of women, that has been meeting consistently since its founding in 1892.
“There’s a joke in our family that we’re not natives, but we bought land from the natives,” he quips.
— D.S.
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RYSP benefit at Evergreen
Great Barrington — Evergreen, the handcrafts and gift emporium at 291 Main St., Great Barrington, will be hosting a fundraiser for Railroad Street Youth Project Thursday March 19th from 5:30- 8 p.m.
“Shop and support!” urges Evergreen owner Barbara Watkins.
— D.S.
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Converse with Sen. Downing in West Stockbridge
West Stockbridge — State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing (D-Pittsfield) will host his next Coffee & Conversation public forum at West Stockbridge Town Hall, 21 State Line Road, on Monday, March 16 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Senator Downing says he wants to be accessible to all of his constituents, and hosts monthly Coffee & Conversation open forums with his district staff, in rotating towns across his sprawling Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden district.
Downing says he welcomes questions, comments and ideas about state government.
Free coffee and refreshments will be served.
For more details on the Senator’s Coffee & Conversation program, please visit Downing’s online office at www.SenatorDowning.com and click on “Upcoming Events.”
— H.B.
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Gudeon, Sternberg book release party at Mason Library
Great Barrington – Award-winning children’s book author Julie Sternberg of Brooklyn, N.Y., and illustrator Adam Gudeon of Great Barrington, are celebrating the release of their latest publication, “Bedtime at Bessie and Lil’s,” at the Mason Library, Saturday, March 21, at 1:30 p.m.
Sternberg will read from her book, and will join Gudeon in discussing the writer’s and illustrator’s process.
There will be children’s art activity and snacks during the book release party.
Julie Sternberg is the award-winning author of the best-selling Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and its sequels, Like Bug Juice on a Burger and Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake, as well as Friendship Over: The Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine, which received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Formerly a public interest lawyer, Julie is a graduate of the New School’s MFA program in
Creative Writing, with a concentration in writing for children. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. For more information, please visit her website: juliesternberg.com
Adam Gudeon is the author and illustrator of the picture book Me and Meow, which received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, and Ping Wants to Play, a Holiday House I Like to Read© book. He attended the Pratt School of Art & Design in Brooklyn, New York.
— D.S.
