SoCo Creamery named best ice cream store in western Mass.
Great Barrington — SoCo Creamery has just been selected as the Best Ice Cream Store in Western Massachusetts by Masslive.com.
Founded by Danny Mazursky, SoCo’s retail scoop shop is a very popular summer destination. SoCo produces super-premium (defined by having 14-16 percent butterfat content) ice cream, gelato, and sorbet in pints and boxes for the wholesale market with customers from the New Jersey Shore to downtown Boston.
SoCo has implemented a series of improvements over the last two years so that all of its frozen desserts are made from scratch. A candy kettle is used to make all caramel. Fudge, marshmallows and cookies and brownies for the specialty flavors are all made in SoCo’s commercial kitchen. SoCo does not use corn syrup or any artificial mixes and, earlier this spring, it removed carrageenan from all its ice creams. Similarly, a series of steps have been taken to improve service at the ice cream shop. These include aesthetic improvements, a second point of sale and increased staffing to speed up lines, and a rigorous training program to educate scoopers about SoCo’s ice creams and toppings. All scoopers take an Ice Cream 101 test to ensure they can answer the most frequently asked questions from customers.
Masslive.com launched the contest in July as an on-line survey for 20 nominated ice cream shops in Berkshire, Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin counties. Voters narrowed the contestants down to four finalists, and Masslive.com judges then visited finalists to select the winner.
–E.E.
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WordXWord Festival schedule announced
Pittsfield — A blend of poetry, spoken word, and storytelling, the WordXWord Festival returns to downtown Pittsfield August 16 – 22.
The week’s schedule includes free workshops, story slams, a poetry sCrawl, two evenings featuring the work of teen poets, an all-star feature night with five nationally recognized performance poets, and the annual WordXWord Poetry Slam finals. Guest hosts for this year’s festival are Robbie Q. Telfer and Franny Choi who will be joined by featured poets Phil Kaye, Fatimah Asghar, and Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib.
All WordXWord events and workshops are offered free to the public.
August 16: Poetry sCrawl at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, 5 p.m.; PechaKucha at the Berkshire Museum, 7 p.m.; August 17: Young+Brave teen invitational at Whitney Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.; August 18: Story Slam semifinals at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, 7 p.m.; August 19: Poetry Slam semifinals at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, 7 p.m.; August 20: 413/Youth Speak invitational at Berkshire Museum, 7 p.m.; August 21: Story Slam finals at Berkshire Museum, 6:30 p.m.; Feature Night at Berkshire Museum, 8 p.m.; August 22: Poetry Slam finals at Berkshire Museum, 6:30 p.m.; Festival finale at Berkshire Museum, 8 p.m.
Over the course of the festival week, seven free workshops will be offered including two specifically for teens and one to introduce a collaborative social media project.
For more information on all WordXWord Festival events and workshops, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or email web@wxw365.org
–E.E.
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Christine Lavin and Don White at the Guthrie Center
Great Barrington — Christine Lavin and Don White will present a night of comedy in “On the Funny Side of the Street,” August 21 at 8 p.m. at the Guthrie Center. Since 2008 the two veteran performers have brought their unique brand of clean and hilarious musical comedy to audiences across the U. S., proving night after night that comedy can be smart, friendly, and breathtakingly funny without being vulgar or pejorative.
Since emerging from the New York City singer/songwriter scene in the late 1980s, Lavin remains one of the most popular and respected performers in the genre. Her co-conspirator, Don White, was a regular comedian at Catch a Rising Star in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., in the 1990s and also immersed himself in the Boston spoken word scene.
Tickets are $25 for Guthrie Center members and $30 for nonmembers. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Guthrie Center at (413) 528-1955.
–E.E.
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Goddess Getaway weekend in Vermont
Manchester, Vt. — The Wilburton Inn invites women to celebrate at its first “Goddess Weekend Getaway” August 21 – 23.
The weekend kicks off on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. with New York City’s Brian Drutman leading a sing-along on the grand piano. Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m., Bethany Perron and Julz Irion will lead a class in the art of belly dancing followed by a Middle Eastern dance party on the lawn. Laura Silver, author of “Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food,” will be preparing homemade delicious knishes for Sunday morning breakfast. On Sunday at 10 a.m., innkeeper and psychiatrist Dr. Albert Levis will guide guests through sculptures that retrace the struggle between matriarchy and patriarchy in the ancient religions of Mexico, India, Greece, and Judea.
Lodging rates range from $150-$340 for double occupancy and include a full country. All three Goddess Weekend events are included free of charge with a weekend stay. For more information and reservations, call (802) 362-2500 or email info@wilburtoninn.com
–E.E.
