Community Make Day
Pittsfield — On Saturday, Nov. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m., Crispina ffrench will present the annual Community Make Day in the Makerspace at Shire City Sanctuary. People from around the county are invited to learn how to create garlands and wreaths out of recycled fabrics to spark creative repurposing during the holiday season. All decorations made will be used to decorate Shire City Sanctuary for the upcoming 10th annual Holiday Shindy to be held Saturday, Dec. 10, and Sunday, Dec. 11. There is no fee for Community Make Day and all ages are welcome. Attendees are encouraged to bring brightly colored fabrics to create with, the older and “tackier” the better! Hot, spiced apple cider and cider doughnuts will be served. For more information, contact Shire City Sanctuary at (413) 236-9600 or shirecitysanctuary@gmail.com.
–E.E.
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Greenhouse constructed to support FoodNet
Pittsfield — FoodNet, a local food support system begun by Community ReStart in 2009, has provided up to 21,000 pounds per year of fresh produce to food pantries and meal sites in Berkshire County. The produce is provided free to low-income residents who cannot afford it. To increase productivity, a greenhouse needed to be constructed and Community Restart board member and volunteer Jack Henderson, along with a group of volunteers from the Berkshire Young Professionals and a Faulkner Street neighbor, reassembled a donated greenhouse this summer at Community ReStart’s Faulkner Street garden. Heading up the project was Patrick Danahey assisted by Devin Shea, Sheila Hidalgo, Michael Coppinger and Catherine Coppinger.
–E.E.
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CEWM to present composer Hannah Lash
Hudson, N.Y. — On Sunday, Nov. 20, at 3 p.m., Close Encounters With Music (CEWM) will present the next installment of its “Conversations With…” series, a discussion with composer Hannah Lash titled “A Studio of Her Own,” at the Hudson Opera House.
Lash obtained her Ph.D. in composition from Harvard University in 2010. She has held teaching positions at Harvard and Alfred universities, and currently serves on the composition faculty at Yale University School of Music. Her works have been commissioned by orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. Lash has received honors and prizes including the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, a Charles Ives scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Fromm Foundation commission, a fellowship from the Yaddo artists’ colony, and the Naumburg Foundation prize in composition. She is married to actor Stephen Routman.
Tickets are $15 and include light refreshments. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact CEWM at (800) 843-0778 or cewmusic@aol.com.
–E.E.
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‘The Wit and Wisdom of Jewish Humor’
Pittsfield — On Thursday, Nov. 17, at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will present educator, writer and raconteur Dick Macht for “The Wit and Wisdom of Jewish Humor,” a free program at Congregation Knesset Israel.
Macht will present the wisdom and wit of ‘Jewish humor’ and, while explaining humor, he will lighten the load by communicating insights that drape laughter on the logic of despair. With a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. from Duke University, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University, Macht has taught Israeli, Yiddish, and German literature as well as Jewish mysticism at the college level. He has also been an instructor of drama and acting at a number of academic venues.
For more information, call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360 x10.
–E.E.
