“Our River,” art by Joanna Gabler
North Adams — Artist Joanna Gabler has formed a deep connection with the area’s forests, mountains and rivers. As she planned her recent move to North Adams, she pondered the potential beauty of a Hoosic River flowing through the city freely. She could envision the connection between North Adams’s Hoosic and the unfettered streams in the surrounding mountains.
She thought that practical measures should be taken to bring the river back and that the Hoosic River Revival is the organization to carry this out. For this exhibition dedicated to the river, she invited and has partnered with Judy Grinnell, the Revival’s president, who will include an informational component in the exhibition, so that visitors who have enjoyed Gabler’s river visions can learn about the practical work necessary to make the Hoosic a living part of North Adams.
An exhibit of Gabler’s work, a collection of digital transcapes entitled “Our River,” can be seen at DownStreet Art’s C Gallery in North Adams July 30 – August 23 with an opening reception on July 30 frpm 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
–E.E.
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Sen. Downing urges residents to seek out unclaimed property
Boston — In partnership with the Unclaimed Property Division of the Massachusetts State Treasurer’s Office and State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing (D- Pittsfield) is reminding residents of his district to search for their names within the Division’s records.
The Division’s website allows users to search for property and make claims. This past year over $112 million was reunited with over 45,000 residents, businesses, and charities in the Commonwealth. Unclaimed property can take the form of uncashed checks, forgotten checking and savings accounts, stocks, dividends, insurance policy proceeds, and contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes. Most accounts are considered abandoned and are turned over to the Commonwealth after three years of inactivity.
For more information regarding unclaimed property, contact the Unclaimed Property Division at 888-344-MASS (6277). Normal business hours are Monday-Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.
Downing notes that any citizen who is currently owed more than $250 worth of unclaimed property will soon receive a letter with specific instructions on how to reclaim their property from the Treasury.
–E.E.
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Ventfort Hall talk on Berkshire presidential visits
Lenox — Robert Asplund will salute “Hail to the Chief: Presidential Visits to the Berkshires” at a Tea & Talk at Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum on Tuesday, July 28 at 4 p.m., followed by a Victorian tea.
According to Asplund, the Berkshires has been a favorite destination for American presidents throughout our nation’s history. The natural beauty of the area attracted our nation’s Chief Executives who came as hikers, hunters, and fishermen. There is the story of Edith Wharton’s friend, President Theodore Roosevelt, speaking in bloodstained clothes on the porch of the Curtis Hotel after a collision with a trolley on the road from Pittsfield. There was also the Berkshire social event when President Grant’s daughter married an attaché assigned to the Spanish embassy in Washington, D. C. Presidents Arthur and McKinley visited summer cottagers and attended local churches.
Asplund and his wife summer in Lenox at the Field Cottage, the summer Austrian Embassy during the Gilded Age. He is the Clerk of the Commonwealth of Virginia House of Delegates’ Science and Technology Committee.
Tickets for the Tea & Talk are $22 for advance reservations and $27 day of the event. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited. For information or reservations contact Ventfort Hall at (413) 637-3206 or info@gildedage.org.
–E.E.
