OLLI University Day to explore race, class, gender issues in sports
Great Barrington — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College will hold its University Day, thie year titled “The Culture of Sports: Race, Class and Gender” Wednesday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Bard College at Simon’s Rock’s Daniel Arts Center.
The day will begin with Boston University and UMass Boston professor Anne Blaschke speaking on “Title IX, Women’s Team Sports and Advocacy.” She will be followed by Springfield College sports journalism professor Dennis Gildea, who will speak on “The Evolution of Social Class and Race as Key Themes in Young Adult Sports Fiction.”
After lunch, attendees will hear from a “Sports and the Berkshires” panel featuring internationally ranked boxer, artist and Berkshire Boxing Club co-founder Geneve Brossard on her experience breaking barriers in the sport; Phil Massery on the history of baseball in the Berkshires; and YES for Change founders Brandon Dory and Patrick Gordon on sports, college and social mobility. The day will end with a performance by the Voices Spoken Word Ensemble, highlighting the voices of athletes who have challenged barriers of class, race, gender and religion over the past 100 years.
Registration is $40 for OLLI at BCC members; $55 for the general public; and free for youth ages 18 and under, college students, and faculty and staff of Simon’s Rock and BCC. The cost includes lunch plus morning and afternoon refreshments. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College at (413) 236-2190 or olli@berkshirecc.edu.
–E.E.
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West Stockbridge Chamber Players to perform benefit Harvest Concert
West Stockbridge — The West Stockbridge Chamber Players will present their annual Harvest Concert Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2 p.m. at the Old Town Hall, 9 Main St. A reception will follow the concert.
Featured players will be artistic director Catherine Hudgins on clarinet, Linda Toote on flute, Andrea Bonsignore on oboe, Richard Ranti on bassoon, Sheila Fiekowsky on violin and Daniel Getz on viola. The program will include Jacques Ibert’s Cinq Pièces en Trio; Eugene Bozza’s Trois pièces pour une musique de nuit; Randall Thompson’s Suite (for Oboe, Clarinet, and Viola); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Duo in B-flat for Violin and Viola, K.424; and Jean Francaix’s Quatuor.
Tickets are $35. Proceeds will benefit the restoration campaign of the Old Town Hall. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar, call (413) 232-5055 or visit West Stockbridge businesses displaying blue music notes in their windows.
–E.E.
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Ancram Opera House to present Crystal Radio Sessions Upstate
Ancram, N.Y. — Ancram Opera House will host Crystal Radio Sessions Upstate, an evening of short stories by well-known and emerging writers, Saturday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m.
Crystal Radio Sessions Upstate is the new outpost of the downtown New York City reading series showcasing the fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and personal essays of both established and emerging writers. This event was curated by Crystal Radio Sessions co-founder Millerton-based writer Ashley Mayne. Reading the stories will be AOH veteran actors Brian Demar Jones (“The Brothers Size”) and James Occhino (“In Praise of Elephants”), and New York City/Chatham based actor Kim Sykes. The featured stories and writers are:
- “Uncle Jim Called,” by Tony-Award winning playwright David Rabe. It’s one thing to miss the loved ones we’ve lost, and another to have them show up.
- “One Heard Road,” by Hudson Valley writer Harris Lahti. A coming-of-age story about flipping houses, the animals of upstate New York and other grotesque things.
- “Bashful Yeti Tree Sculpture,” by novelist Courtney Maum. A crumbling marriage is observed from the point of view of a Bashful Yeti garden sculpture ordered during happier times from an in-flight magazine.
- “Muktad,” by writer Rhea Dhanbhoora. Two short stories about the dead, the dying and the customs surrounding traditional Zoroastrian sky burials.
Tickets are $25. For tickets and information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Ancram Opera House at (518) 329-0114 or info@ancramoperahouse.org.
–E.E.
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Berkshire South to host arts & crafts festival
Great Barrington — Berkshire South Regional Community Center will host its fourth annual arts and crafts festival Saturday, Nov. 2, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in its Jaffe Auditorium.
The festival is a pre-holiday market featuring contemporary artisans, crafters and food producers with goods such as pottery, jewelry, handmade glassworks, fiber, leather and locally forged art. Some of this year’s vendor’s include Knox Trail Forge, Only in My Dreams Events, Olsen Farm, Penelope’s Voice of Reason, Sunmeadow Alpacas, Kent Glass Work, Pippa Lea by the Sea, the Dolphin Studio, Janet Reich Elsbach with her book “Extra Helping,” and more. From 10 to 11:30 a.m., children up to age 12 can play for free in Berkshire South’s new bounce house.
For more information, contact Berkshire South at (413) 528-2810 x32 or galexander@berkshiresouth.org.
–E.E.
