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.â€
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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Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for Restaurant
Late last month, the Conservation Commission greenlit some tree pruning on the property. New windows and a new door can be seen in the front of the building.
"It's a substantial renovation that's currently underway here," Brent White of White Engineering said, speaking on behalf of the applicant and owner, Huajie Zhu.
A fire gutted the longtime Wahconah Street supermarket in 2023, and the following year, Zhu purchased the property for $460,000 two years ago to build a restaurant with hibachi in the existing footprint of the more than 100-year-old building.
White explained that the project has been ongoing for over a year, and the Community Development Board granted the property a waiver to reduce the minimum required number of parking spaces so that additional spaces aren't needed.
He noted that, looking at the site plan, there is very little room to do so. A mirror will be installed near the sharp turn on Bel Air Avenue to alleviate traffic concerns.
Pruning will be done on trees in the southeast corner of the existing paved parking lot, as a number of branches are hanging over. The new owners also intend to patch, sealcoat, and re-stripe the parking lot.
A fire tore through the building less than an hour after the supermarket closed for the day three years ago. An automatic sprinkler system is required for the new use.
Cassidy Flynn scattered five hits in a complete-game effort in the circle as Lenox upset top-seeded Hoosac Valley, 3-2, in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament. click for more
Brayden Durant struck out seven and walked one in a complete-game effort on the mound Saturday to pitch the Drury baseball team to a 6-0 win over Keefe Tech in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament at Joe Wolfe Field. click for more
Jason Codey struck out 13, walked two and allowed just an infield single as the Generals earned a 7-1 win over Wahconah to claim their third straight regional title. click for more
Gracelyn Wright struck out eight, and Genevieve Lagess went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in as the Hurricanes beat Monson, 17-3, to claim their first Western Mass title in four years. click for more
For the boys, Ward Bianchi helped lead the way with a win in the shot put and a second place in the javelin as the Mounties finished 16 points ahead of runner-up Pittsfield (pending the results of the pole vault, which were unavailable at 11 p.m. Friday night). click for more
