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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
ARTS: Screening of "Vanishing of the Bees" documentary Dec. 12 at Images Cinema
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- A book publisher, a local beekeepers group and the cinema venue are combining to sponsor the screening of a new documentary, "The Vanishing of the Bees," on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 1 p.m.. The cost is five dollars.
Northern Berkshire Transition said Storey Publishing, the Northern Berkshire Beekeepers Association and Images Cinema will include a honey tasting, local honey sale and a beekeeping Q-and-A after the 90-minute film.
Called by one reviewer "the most important documentary film since Inconvenient Truth."the movie explores Colony Collapse Disorder, the global phenomenon in which honey bees suddenly abandon their hive en masse. As one beekeeper says in the film, "Bees are essential. One out of every three bites of food we eat is the result of bee pollination."
Admission proceeds will go to support the beekeepers association. For more on Vanishing of the Bees, visit the film website at http://www.vanishingbees.com/. For more on the Northern Berkshire Beekeepers Association, contact Tony Pisano at antpisano@hotmail.com or visit the association's website at nbba.wordpress.com.
For more details and to RSVP go to Northern Berkshire Transition: http://northernberkshiretransition.ning.com/events/event/show?id=6027471%3AEvent%3A926&xgi=1jyMGd4HIXhF0C&xg_source=msg_invite_event
Jamie's Choices for this week are: Monday 11/29: Olive Bread Friday 12/3: Sourdough Rye
Breakfast Buns on Friday December 3rd will be Orange Blossom
Muffins this week will be... Monday: Bran with Raisin Wednesday: Oatmeal Raspberry Friday: Oat Bran Saturday: Pumpkin Walnut
Buttermilk Currant Scones will be on Thursday and Saturday.
It's Seven Grain's turn on Monday November 29th (Whole Oat and Seven Grain trade weeks)
Small Bakery Schedule Change
Beginning this week Friday's will be a little different. Challah will join the ranks of Jamie Choice choices and Friday's line-up will be Oatmeal Sunflower, Chunky Cheddar Cheese, breakfast buns and Jamie's Choice.
A Girl for Shirley
Last Sunday, two days before her due date, our Brown Swiss Shirley gave birth to her first calf thereby making the transition from "heifer" to full-fledged Cow. Share with us you "S" girl name ideas!
Delivery for Thanksgiving
Our Jersey Flora gave birth to a bouncing girl Thursday. She is a bouncy, hoppy, skipping little lady. We're leaning towards naming her Fiona since she is so fond of her (the calf is fond of person Fiona!)
"Do you have a bottle in that pocket?"
For Your Calendar
December 18th: Berkshire Grown's Holiday Market. For more information click here.
Cricket Creek Farm Store is open seven days a week from 7AM to 8PM
WRLF hosts recycled and repurposed gift wrapping at Sheep Hill on Saturday December 11 beginning at 1:30 p.m.
The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation invites you to a unique and earth-friendly get-together on Saturday December 11th from 1:30 - 4:00 at Sheep Hill in Williamstown. Used wrapping paper, tissue, ribbon and boxes thrown away during the holidays in the USA amounts to an additional 25 million tons of trash. The "Re-Wrap afternoon" will highlight making creative wrappings, gift boxes and bags from found or repurposed materials that might otherwise be thrown away. Create beautiful origami boxes from old calendars, print wrapping paper and cards, decorate bags with sprays of nature's findings, make seasonally scented sachets and use collage technique with nature-themed images to decorate gift boxes. These family friendly projects will have a range of difficulty; some are appropriate for younger children with more difficult ones for teens and adults. The pre-holiday celebration will include popcorn, cookies, hot chocolate and a fire on the hearth. Get ready for the holidays w! hile being kind to the earth!
There is a $3 non-recycled materials charge.
Sheep Hill is the headquarters and a conservation property of the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, a non-profit, member-supported land conservation trust which works to preserve the rural New England character of the area and sponsors nature education, local history and seasonal food events throughout the year. Sheep Hill is located on Route 7 in Williamstown, approximately one mile south of the rotary. Program support provided by the Williamstown Savings Bank. For more information visit www.wrlf.org or call 458-2494.
SUBMITTED BY: Leslie Reed-Evans Executive Director Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation Sheep Hill 671 Cold Spring Road Williamstown, MA 01267
"The Traditions," excerpted from the book: "Twelve Moons of the Year," by Hal Borland / copyright, 1979, Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
By Hal Borland"This is the traditional day to give thanks. Traditions, of course, are based on customs and beliefs transmitted from generation to generation. Those we observe at Thanksgiving are mostly rural -- the bountiful harvest, the gathered family, the roasted turkey, the feast, the thankful prayer. And all with the generous land close about, a world of fields made fruitful by calloused hands. The thanks were for health and strength and independence.
"Looking back now, in a land whose people are largely urban, the day may seem to have only token meaning. And yet, in it's origins the word 'thank' meant 'think' and surely one day out of the year is not too much to think back and remember. The day of thanks goes back to a little band of immigrants fighting a strange wilderness, painfully getting a foothold there. They had little enough to be thankful for, yet they were grateful for survival and hoped for better days beyond the winter that was closing in. They had faith and belief and even dreams, though those dreams could not encompass what has come after them.
"Thanksgiving is more than a feast. It always was. It is the recognition of the providence, the work, the hope and dreams that are in our very blood and being. It is thanks for the traditions themselves. "So the traditions are as important as the thanks themselves. The symbols are not without meaning, for they rest on the land's own bounty, on work and achievement, on obligations as well as rights. Nobody has outmoded harvest, or plenty, or gratitude."
A brief review of attempts to build biomass plants in Western Massachusetts. What can we learn from this?
Susan Dunn writes:
I just heard on NPR that there is going to be the exact same kind of Biomass woodburning plant in Springfield as the one proposed in Pownal, and that the head of the Massachusetts Environmental Agency declined to do a full environmental review. And Springfield residents already seem to have a disproportionate number of asthma patients. It's totally outrageous. Here's the story on WFCR: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wfcr/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1728708/WFCR.Local.News/Springfield.Incinerator.Moves.Forward
Below, some articles on the Springfield proposal, and others in the region, taken from the above WFCR website. Note the dates and the progression of community activism throughout the last two years on this issue. Also note that the media, especially radio and the newspapers, have followed this issue closely. We should work to get the same media attention in our region. Finally, note the role being played by local and state officials and the MA legislature and governor.
Residents to Sue State Over Environmental Impact of Proposed Greenfield Biomass Plant
Sorting the "Grassroots" from the "Astroturf" with Biomass Citizens Groups
Tina Antolini(2009-09-08)
AMHERST, MA(wfcr) - Some grassroots groups may have their roots elsewhere... A Boston Globe report this week revealed that a community group that's been organizing in support of a proposed biomass power plant in Russell, Massachusetts was founded with the help of a consulting firm hired by the plant's developer. Russell First is made up of local residents, but Globe environmental reporter Beth Daley told WFCR's Tina Antolini she noticed something that struck her as a little out of the ordinary, when reporting more generally about the pros and cons of Russell Biomass.
To read Beth Daley's report "Power Plant Developer Financed Citizen's Group Activity," go here:
Tina Antolini, Jill Kaufman, Fred Bever(2009-09-24)
AMHERST, MA(wfcr) - Who isn't in search of clean, cheap energy? Policy makers, residents and investors around the region are, and they are taking a close look at biomass energy, that is, burning low-grade wood or other plant materials for high-tech electricity generation.
See this website by Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield, a grassroots organization dedicated to stopping the proposed biomass incinerator in Springfield MA..
http://www.springfieldincinerator.info/ . Here is an excerpt from that site: "What they [the biomass developers] are saying here is, although EPA is going to start regulating CO2 as a pollutant, and even biogenic CO2, they are going to evade this because they plan on starting construction before the EPA implementation date {July 2011]. Obviously Epsilon Associates needs to fast-track their incineration proposal to make it happen. . . .In addition, their proposal claims this incinerator will be carbon-neutral because it will use nonforest wood material. This woody biomass, however, is already claimed by other users. If they take away this woody biomass from current users, more trees will have to be cut to ensure the current supply. So how can this incinerator call itself carbon-neutral if it will harm our forest resources and landscape by ultimately requiring the cutting of forest land, as the Manomet Study has already made clear. And what happens when there is no longer enough woody biomass? Biomass plants in NH are now suing each other over dwindling wood reserves, and most "wood chip" biomass plants in Maine have converted to construction and demolition incinerators because of low fuel stock. Shouldn't we expect the same to happen in Springfield?"
Bennington Banner: Pownal-Williamstown bioamass groups hire attorney
Writing in The Bennington Banner, reporter Keith Whitcomb Jr. says the Concerned Citizens of Pownal and Williamstown have joined to hire a Vermont attorney to represent them at a Nov. 19 permitting hearing on a proposed biomass electric-generating plant. In addition, the groups have set a meeting for Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. at the First Congregational Church in Williamstown.
Vermont Public Service Board has scheduled a Joint Prehearing Conference for the BWE Pownal and Fairhaven projects in Montpelier on November 19. Read the announcement here. The Board's review of the two projects will be conducted separately at later dates.
Open house at Sheep Hill on Saturday Nov. 20 from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The public is invited to an Open House at Sheep Hill in Williamstown on Saturday November 20 from 2:30 to 4 PM. Sheep Hill is a conservation property and the headquarters of the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation. Leslie Reed-Evans, Executive Director of the WRLF, states: "It is often difficult for people to stop in at Sheep Hill during the week and so we like to offer weekend hours through open houses throughout the year. Visitors can view the art exhibit now hanging at Sheep Hill, see the barn restoration progress, or take a late fall hike, weather permitting. It's a nice way to open the building to the public on a weekend." All sales of artwork in the exhibit, which includes paintings and photographs, directly support the WRLF. Hot cider and other fall treats, as well as activities for children, will be offered and WRLF's photo note cards will be available for sale.
The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation is a non-profit, member-supported land conservation trust which works to preserve the rural New England character of the area and sponsors nature education, local history and seasonal food events throughout the year. Sheep Hill is located on Route 7 south in Williamstown, approximately one mile south of the rotary. Program support provided by the Williamstown Savings Bank. For more information visit www.wrlf.org or call 458-2494.
SUBMITTED BY: Leslie Reed-Evans Executive Director Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation Sheep Hill 671 Cold Spring Road Williamstown, MA 01267
Mt. Greylock thespians ready "Love's Labour's Lost," for Friday and Saturday shows
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Mount Greylock Regional High School is presenting "Love's Labour's Lost," one of William Shakespeare's comedies this Friday and Saturday night's at 7 p.m. at the school here. Tickets at the door are $5 for students and seniors and $8 for adults.
The play, directed by Shakespeare & Company's Jonathan Croy and Conor Moroney, is a delightfully clever romp through a land of masquerade balls and mistaken identities, unrequited love and double entendres. It is a celebration of not only the crazy ways people act when falling in and out of love and lust, but also an exploration of the sacrifices people will make for love.
Set in fairytale-like eighteenth century France, the play tells the story of the King of Navarre and three of his lords, self-important men who decide to spend three years eating six meals a week, sleeping three hours a night, and forgoing women, all in order to devote themselves to study. Of course, a princess and her three ladies arrive, and soon the men fall in love.
The story weaves its way through both delight and tragedy, each moment tumbling after the next in a flawless sequence. "Love's Labour's Lost" is one of 10 plays being created by local high schools in conjunction with Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, as a part of the Fall Festival of Shakespeare.
In its 22nd year, the festival sends professionals from Shakespeare and Company to work with high-school students in acting, set design, costuming, lighting, and general training.
"It's not like any other theater program because you get to work with professional actors and directors, and you do really good plays," said junior Hannah Paul, who plays Rosaline, one of the ladies. "This year's cast works really well together; everyone in Shakespeare loves to do it, so it gives the play a really good energy."
ARTS: Exhibit: "Vibrant Colors" by Leo Mazzeo and Scott Taylor at Chapters Bookstore
SOURCE: Leo Mazzo
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Leo Mazzeo and Scott Taylor, both artists who have studios in the Art On No artists collaborative located at 311 North Street, Pittsfield, will be showing work together at Chapters Bookstore, 78 North Street, Pittsfield, MA, beginning just before Thanksgiving and continuing for the month of December.
The exhibit, from Nov. 24 through Dec. 31, is entitled "Vibrant Colors" and will feature the artists' boldly colorful work in acrylics and oils. An opening reception will be held on Friday, December 3, 5-7 PM.
Mazzeo and Taylor, both artists who have studios in the Art On No artists' collaborative in Pittsfield easily found a common thread and unity with their brightly colored work. After a season of showing their work together as part of the Art On No Open Studio events, it seemed a logical progression to join forces for a show of their own; each with his own methods and style, but unified in a desire to bring vibrancy to any wall. Mazzeo's recent work in oil is defined by a cadmium red medium underpainting, giving his pieces warmth, brilliance, and depth. Taylor's very colorful acrylics have reached the status of local icons.
The show at Chapters is free and open to the public and may be viewed anytime during regular store hours. Appointments with the artists may be arranged for by contacting Mazzeo at 413-281-6665 and Taylor at 413-443-4660.
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