Arts notes

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Photo exhibit WILLIAMSTOWN — A solo exhibition of color photographs by Cheryl Sacks will be on view in the Harrison Gallery, 39 Spring St., from Saturday, Jan. 31, through March 3. There will be a reception with the artist on Jan. 31, from 4 to 7 p.m. The public is invited. Sacks, who lives in Lanesboro, turned from a 15-year career in computer programming to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a photographer. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a master’s in computer science, she worked for Interleaf, where she sold her first photographs in an employee talent open house. After a layoff forced her to make a mid-life decision, she chose to forsake the corporate track to “follow her bliss” and made photography her full-time career. Her photographs have also been exhibited in galleries in Cambridge and Nantucket. Harrison Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5. Information: 458-1700 or www.theharrisongallery.com . Children’s theater SHEFFIELD — Barrington Stage Company will accept students for its KidsAct! program through Jan. 30. Two eight-week courses for children 8 to 10 and 11 to 13 will begin on Jan. 30, from 3 to 5 p.m., and Jan. 31, 10 a.m. to noon, at the company’s StudioSpace in Sheffield. Theater professionals lead small classes focused on improvisational skills, theater games, character studies, monologue and scene work, mask work, plus dance and movement. No theater experience is necessary. Each course culminates in a special production written and performed by students and open to friends and family. Tuition is $175 per child. Space is limited. Limited scholarships are available for which applicants must apply. Information: Director of Education Mike Dowling, 528-8806. Drifters perform PITTSFIELD — The legendary oldies group The Drifters will perform as part of “Solid Gold Saturday Night” at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7. The Drifters have sold over 80 million records in the United States alone; only The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Bee Gees have sold more. Some of the group’s million-selling hits include “Under The Boardwalk,” “On Broadway,” “Up On The Roof,” “Save The Last Dance For Me,” “There Goes My Baby” and “This Magic Moment.” The Drifters were inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 on the same ballot as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and The Supremes. The group has performed for four presidents, the queen of England and at the Great Wall of China. It continues to tour worldwide today. The Berkshire County music and variety group The Earth Angels will open for The Drifters. The group will perform a preview of its new show. After The Drifters performance, WUPE disc jockey Dave Isby will spin golden oldies for dancing. Advance tickets are $25 and are available at the Crowne Plaza Hotel sales office, 553-2180; WUPE radio studio, 499-1100; and Wood Bros. Music, 447-7478. Tickets will also be available at the door while they last. The doors will open at 6:30. Information: WUPE, 499-1100. Knesset cabaret PITTSFIELD — Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, will present an evening of cabaret love songs featuring the vocal and instrumental talents of Berkshire County musicians Sherri James Buxton, Jeff Cook, Jeff Siegel and Jerry Blum on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. Buxton, who began singing professionally at the age of 17 as The Girl in the off-Broadway production of The Fantastiks, will headline the evening’s performance. She has performed on Broadway and in summer stock at The Philadelphia Civic Light Opera and Kansas City Starlight. She is on the voice faculty at the Berkshire Music School and leads the children’s chorus at Congregation Knesset Israel. The evening will also feature surprise guests, and the setting will be an intimate cabaret-style venue, with candlelit tables, fine wines and specialty cheeses. Tickets are $15 per person. Reservations: 443-2134. ‘Maple Madness’ WILLIAMSTOWN — “Maple Madness” will be the theme for an afternoon program at the Clark Art Institute on Sunday, Feb. 1, from 1 to 4 p.m. Maple-sugar-inspired live entertainment, including folk music, a puppet show, snowshoeing, maple granola making, gallery talks and art making, will celebrate the Clark’s current exhibition “Sugaring Off: The Maple Sugar Paintings of Eastman Johnson.” Admission is free. Folk singer and dulcimer player Margaret MacArthur will perform traditional farm songs from Vermont at 1 p.m. The Tanglewood Marionettes will present the “maple sugar” version of “Hansel and Gretel” at 3 p.m. At 1, 1:45, 2:30, and 3:15, Jennifer Trainer Thompson will demonstrate maple granola making. Thompson is author of “Very Maple Syrup” and has won numerous awards for her cookbooks. Throughout the afternoon, weather permitting, visitors may snowshoe around the Clark campus to look for sugar maples and other trees. Art-making activities will include making jewelry and other crafts from sap tubing, and leaf-rubbing pictures. Gallery talks about the exhibition will be offered at 1:15 and 2:15. The exhibition reunites a series of paintings by Eastman Johnson representing maple-sugar-making traditions in New England. The exhibition will be on view from Jan. 18 through April 18 and will later travel to the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif. The Clark will offer a second family day related to the exhibition on Sunday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and an open house throughout the February school vacation week, Feb. 16 to 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. Information: 458-2303 or www.clarkart.edu . Art lecture BENNINGTON, Vt. — Bennington Museum Curator Stephen Perkins will present “Fine Art in America — From Colonial Times to the Modern Era,” on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. The lecture is intended as a beginner’s overview of American art and artists, covering portraiture, landscape and sculpture. Works from the museum’s collections, including paintings by Ralph Earl, Ammi Phillips and Erastus Salisbury Field, will be examined and discussed. Perkins has been curator at the Bennington Museum since 2001. The lecture, to be held in the museum’s Ada Paresky Education Center, is free and open to the public. The Bennington Museum is at 75 Main St. (Route 9), 1 mile west of the intersection of Routes 7 and 9. Information: 802-447-1571 or www.benningtonmuseum.org Kora master SHELBURNE FALLS — Mamadou Diabate, a master of the kora, a 21-stringed West African harp, will perform as part of the Hilltown Folk Intimate Series at Shelburne Falls Yoga, by the Potholes, on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. Diabate, descended from a long line of Manding musician-storytellers, the jeli, sometimes referred to by the French term griot, keepers of the musical and oral lore of West African culture, combines the traditional Mali style with others, teaming up with acoustic guitarist Walter Strauss in performances that present the music of several centuries and continents. Diabate’s first album, “Tunga,” was described as having “set a high standard, drawing on the richness of West African culture while reaching forward to explore new terrain,” and Diabate’s “flair for making this ancient instrument sound as though it was invented yesterday” was highly praised. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door, and are available at World Eye Bookshop and Lapis Mountain. Infomation: Gayle Olson, 625-2580.
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Pittsfield Officials: Unlimited Trash Not Sustainable, Toters Offer Cost-Savings

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Unlimited trash pickup is not sustainable and will lead to higher taxes, city officials say.

Mayor Peter Marchetti began public outreach on Monday on the proposed five-year contract with Casella Waste Management for solid waste and recyclables. Older residents packed into the Ralph J. Froio Senior Center for the first of three community meetings.

On the table is a move to automated pickup utilizing 48-gallon toters, which would be at no cost to residents unless they require additional toters and would save the city $80,000 per year.

The goal is to execute a contract by July 1, the start of the fiscal year.

"Trash collection is not free. You're already paying for it as part of your taxes that you pay. In this administration, in this proposal there is no 'I'm looking to create a trash tax,''' Marchetti said, explaining that trash pickup for fiscal year 2025 is around $5.1 million and has doubled since he first served on the council in 2002.

"So we need to find a way to stem the cost of trash."

Some of the seniors praised the new plan while others had concerns, asking questions like "What is going to happen to the trash cans we have now?" "What if I live in rural Pittsfield and have a long driveway?" and "What happens if my toter is stolen?"

"I've lived in a lot of other places and know this is a big innovation that is taking place over the last 20,30 years," one resident said. "It's worked in most places. It's much better than throwing bags of garbage on the side of the road."

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