St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
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Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.
Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
iBerkshires will be meeting with local medical experts Monday. Have a question you'd like answered on this issue? Send it info@iberkshires.com with "mammogram" in the subject line.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — David Plouffe, campaign manager of Obama for America, will deliver the public policy lecture "Building a Grassroots Movement in the 21st Century" on Wednesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Church Street Center.
The event is free and open to the public. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Funded by the Ruth Proud Charitable Trust, the public policy forum complements MCLA's new major in political science and public policy. A lecture by renowned journalist and author Bob Woodward kicked off the major during the fall 2008 semester.
John DeRosa, administrator of the Ruth Proud Charitable Trust, said the Woodward and Plouffe lectures had the shared purpose to connect students to the world and to broader thinking through the exchange and debate of ideas.
"Students will learn firsthand from David Plouffe how concepts and information discussed in their political science and public policy classes were and continue to be applied by a successful practitioner of American politics," DeRosa said.
The Obama campaign leadership built a masterful grassroots movement of 13 million people that is reshaping itself in an effort to become a key voice in future public policy initiatives. The campaign's success is a model for any organization that needs to deliver a message and mobilize its own members.
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign fundamentally changed the way political campaigns are conducted through the use of the Internet and new technologies. After winning the election, President Obama called Plouffe "the unsung hero" who built the best political campaign in the history of the United States. Plouffe is widely credited with masterminding the winning strategy and building a team that delivered unprecedented results in the historic presidential election.
Plouffe and the rest of the campaign's leadership team counted on their volunteer base to not only take ownership of the campaign, but also compel a nation to make history.
At MCLA, Plouffe will discuss his approach to overall grassroots strategy development and tactical implementation, as well as how to harness technologies to connect a dispersed group of people, engaging them to act, make phone calls, volunteer and persuade their neighbors with a sense of purpose and passion.
As executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 1999-2000, Plouffe led a focused national campaign that moved a record $95 million to House of Representatives campaigns across the United States, and helped add to the party's membership in the House of Representatives.
Prior to joining the DCCC, Plouffe was Democratic leader Richard Gephardt's deputy chief of staff in 1997-1998. He joined Gephardt after managing the successful campaign to fill Bill Bradley's seat in the Senate for Bob Torricelli.
He served as the campaign director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1995, joining the DSCC after managing a U.S. Senate race in Delaware in 1994 for Delaware Attorney General Charles M. Oberly against U.S. Sen. William V. Roth Jr.
Plouffe also successfully managed U.S. Rep. John W. Olver's first re-election bid in 1992 and was a state field director for Sen. Tom Harkin's presidential campaign in the 1992 cycle, after being a deputy field director in Harkin's successful 1990 U.S. Senate race.
Plouffe joined AKP Message & Media in the winter 2000, and became a named partner of the firm upon returning in February 2004 after serving as a top strategist to Gephardt in his presidential bid.
