Get Squeezed in Lenox
LENOX -- The highlight of New England’s Fall Season, the Lenox Apple Squeeze, is now celebrating its 33rd year as a Harvest Festival Weekend filled with fun. Lenox will once again host the festivities on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 22 and 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Handmade crafts, sculptures and original artworks will fill the streets, along with handmade jewelry, textiles, wood carvings, leather goods and hand-woven clothing. Enjoy food, wine, beer and delicacies from around the world as local farmers display the bounties of this year’s harvest. Apples and all imaginable apple recipes abound during a stroll through the historic village of Lenox, where hay rides, children’s activities and entertainment fill the town. For more information: 413-637-3646 or www.lenox.org.
Founders’ Weekend
LEE -- A townwide weekend celebration, Fri., Sept 21 through Sun., Sept 23, will kick off with a "Taste of Lee," as area restaurants and local food vendors line Main Street on Friday night to serve everything from clam chowder and crab cakes to pizza, butternut squash bisque, and fried dough, and continues with a "Hometown Parade" on Sat. morning, followed by the Festival Latino of the Berkshires at 4 p.m., and the Great Duck Race on Sun. Lee Founders’ Weekend is family friendly, and admission is free. More info:
McBroom returns
PITTSFIELD -- Grammy Award-winner Amanda McBroom returns for three performances with Brel in the Berkshires!, Sept. 20-23, at Spice Dragon, 297 North St.
Following two prior sold-out Barrington Stage Company engagements, McBroom will be joined by her husband, George Ball, and Michele Brourman. Together, they will bring the music of Jacques Brel to the Spice Dragon’s second floor cabaret.
Performances are Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 general admission, and $45 for VIP Tickets for the Friday, Sept. 21, performance, which includes a post-reception with the performers. Tickets are available at the Barrington Stage Box Office, 30 Union St., 413-236-8888 or barringtonstageco.org.
There will be a special performance of Brel in the Berkshires! in support of Barrington Stage Company’s award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 5 p.m., with dinners in private homes and local restaurants. The concert will be at 8 p.m., followed by a dessert and champagne reception at 9:30 p.m. Benefit tickets are $150 for dinner and concert and $100 concert only. For more information on attending this concert and supporting PMP, contact Development Associate Trevor Wise at 413-997-6116 or twise@barringtonstageco.org.
ScrabbleRouser tourney on tap
LENOX -- The Lenox Library is getting ready for its third annual ScrabbleRouser, a three-round tournament playing the Scrabble Brand Crossword Game, along with other word games. The games will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the library. Players will win prizes and bragging rights by raising the most sponsorship, earning the most points in three 30-minute games, or coming up with the most interesting "presidential" word. Last year’s high scorer was Team Kripalu.
Teams of one to four players will play one other team at a time in three-minute turns for 30 minutes, using the rules of the popular board game. Teams can be made up of friends, family or co-workers. The highest points scored over three games wins the team name on a plaque to be displayed at a location of the team’s choice for one year. Other prizes will also be awarded, making many chances to win. The highest-donating team will win the grand prize: a deluxe game of Scrabble.
Players will receive a sponsorship packet that will allow them to seek donors to sponsor them in the tournament, with a minimum suggested donation of $60 per team to play. Proceeds from the ScrabbleRouser will be used to support the library’s many services, collections and programs. Register before Sept. 21. Information: 637-2630, shawkes@lenoxlib.org.
Past and future of filmmaking
PITTSFIELD -- Berkshire Museum’s Little Cinema will screen a documentary, "Side by Side," a Tribeca Films presentation, directed by Chris Kenneally, from Friday, Sept. 21 through Monday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. The documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation and shows what artists and filmmakers have been able to accomplish with both film and digital and how their needs and innovations have helped push filmmaking in new directions. Admission is $5. The Berkshire Museum is located at 39 South St. (Route 7). For more information, visit berkshiremuseum.org, or call 413-443-7171.
Divided America
LENOX -- "Is America Divided? The 2012 Election" will be the first lecture of Lenox Library’s sixth season of lectures by notable commentators in the arts, science, politics and the humanities, beginning Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. The lecture will be given by Michael Hannahan, Ph.D., director of the Civic Initiative at the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts. He has worked for political parties, managed campaigns and political consulting firms, and served as senior adviser to former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift. He was last at the library to speak about the 2008 presidential election.
The free lectures are held one Sunday per month from September to April at 4 p.m. in the library’s historic Sedgwick Reading Room. For more information: 413-637-2630 or shawkes@lenoxlib.org.
Third Friday ‘Improv Night’
LEE -- The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe will bring their special mix of improv comedy to the Spectrum Playhouse on Friday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. RBIT is a comedy improv group that has been delighting audiences with its own brand of non-scripted comedic mayhem since June 2001. Performing a mix of theater games reminiscent of the TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," the group models its work on the teachings of renowned theater games/improvisation instructor Keith Johnstone. Through audience participation, RBIT’s mission is to create entertaining scenes that explore the boundaries of theater improvisation.
Spectrum Playhouse is at 20 Franklin St. Tickets are $12 cash or check ($6 students) at the door. To pre-order tickets or for more information: berkshireimprov.com, 413-394-5023, ext. 12.
Plein-air class Sept. 25
STOCKBRIDGE -- Artist Don Colley will conduct an afternoon of plein-air sketching at Norman Rockwell Museum, on Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 1 to 3 p.m. Colley regularly teaches Faber-Castell workshops at accredited art schools across the country. Participants should bring a sketchbook and drawing tools and come prepared to draw. The event is free with museum admission; however, space is limited, so pre-registration is recommended. More information: 413-931-2252.
Health & Wellness Fair
PITTSFIELD - Hancock Shaker Village and Berkshire Health Systems are teaming up to present The Health & Wellness Fair on Saturday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Village. The event will feature talks on health topics ranging from back safety to Vitamin D benefits, a vendor tent with representatives from local wellness-focused organizations and a blood drive.
Concurrent with The Health & Wellness Fair will be the Hancock Shaker Village 50 Ultramarathon, presented in association with race director Michael Menard, which will be the first-ever ultra running event held in the Berkshires. The Hancock Shaker Village 50 Ultramarathon is a 50-mile race that will begin and end at the Village and travel through the Pittsfield State Forest. Registration for the race closes on Wednesday, Sept. 19. The fee is $100. To sign up, visit http://ultrasignup.com/register.
The health and wellness of individuals were topics of great importance to the Shakers. Hancock Shaker Village President Linda Steigleder notes, "Shakers addressed their own medical needs whenever possible. They created the Order of Physicians and Nurses within their Villages. Also, the outside world looked to the Shakers for new treatments and alternative ways of healing, just as our society today is prone to considering non-traditional methods."
The Health & Wellness Fair Lecture Schedule:
n 11 a.m.: "Back Safety" by Jessica Buchinski, DPT
n Noon: "Healthy Habits/Patient Advocacy" by Maureen Daniels, M Ed.
n 1 p.m.: "Learn the Signs the symptoms of Heart Attack & Stroke" by Darlene Boyce, NP
n 2 p.m.: "Benefits of Vitamin D" by Larry Spatz, MD
The Health & Wellness Fair is free, and admission to the Village is not required for these activities. Blood drive donors will receive a free pass to the museum. To make an appointment to donate blood, please call Lauren at 413-447-2597, ext. 2.
The Village is located on Route 20 in Pittsfield, just west of the junction of Routes 20 and 41. For GPS purposes, the Village is located at 34 Lebanon Mountain Road, Hancock, or enter 1843 W. Housatonic St., Pittsfield, then proceed 1/2 mile farther West on Route 20 to the parking lot.
For more information, visit www.hancockshakervillage.org.
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