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Chef Frank LaRagione, in the kitchen at First Baptist Church of Pittsfield, will serve his annual St. Patrick's Dinner on Saturday evening. Photo by Judith Lerner.

Berkshire Tidbits: Maple Syrup, Early St. Paddy's Day

By Judith LernerSpecial to iBerkshires
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On Sunday, March 13, from 3 to 5 p. m., chef Julie Gale, owner of At the Table Cooking School in Hillsdale, N. Y., will interpret the classic brunch as part of the Cooking at The Chef's Shop series, 31 Railroad St. in Great Barrington, 413-528-0135. She will be making homemade gravlax, eggs Benedict and bread pudding with whiskey sauce.

The cost is class is $60 per person for a single class, $150 for a series of three. Payment is required in advance with a 48 hour cancellation policy. The Chef's Shop offers students a 10-percent discount on purchases made on a class day. Call or Email@TheChefsShop.com, to reserve a place.

 

Chef Frank LaRagione will serve his annual early St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage dinner at First Baptist Church, 88 South St. in Pittsfield, on Saturday evening, March 12, from 4 to 6. LaRagione makes his own Irish soda bread and he and his wife, Lynn, make homemade dessert. Call them at 413-442-8592 for reservations. You can order LaRagione's bread to take home, as well.

 

The latest on Jae Chung's new Thai and Vietnamese restaurant, Vong's, in Pittsfield, is that it will open the week of March 14. Chung said he is waiting for a few things and moving the furniture in.

 

On Saturday afternoon, March 12, at 2, Berkshire Co-op Market in Great Barrington, will mark the start of its 2016 Farm Tour season with the annual visit to Mead's Maple Syrup in Canaan, Conn. It's a pretty impressive combination of super up-to-date syrup evaporator fed with wood by hand and real farmers, Jude and Winter Mead, hosting guests to watch their operation. Then, the co-op makes pancakes — including gluten-free options — right there in the sugarhouse, and the guests eat them with the fresh syrup. All very 21st century rural Berkshires.

Call the co-op, 413-528-9697, Ext.10, for more information or to sign up for this free event; find directions here.

 

You can expect to see familiar farmers and local artisanal food producers at Downtown Pittsfield Winter Farmers Market at Lighthouse Café in the basement of the Boys & Girls Club, 16 Melville St., this Saturday, March 12, between 9 and 1.

Assembly Coffee Roasters, Balderdash Cellars, Caroline's Scottish Shortbread, Country Seasonings, Cricket Creek Farm, Dandelion Hill Farm, Elmartin Farm, Matt's Cookie Bars, Mountain Girl Farm, North Yeast Bakery, Square Roots Farm, Trusted Roots Farm, White Goose Gardens and Windy Ridge Farm will be there.

Artisans Green Meads Farm Herbals, Jake Czaja, Milltown Beadworks, MVB Printmaker, Things That Work and West End Boutique will be selling their wares.

There will, again, be a youth booth where Pittsfield High School students from its Farm and Garden program will have seasonal handmade treats; Kate Wiles, 18, will show her nature and Berkshire photography; 11-year-old Ava Garlington and 12-year-old Aurora Benson will have chocolate-covered Assembly Coffee Roasters coffee beans, dog biscuits and cutting boards; and 6-year-old Sasha Lawton will have scarves and felted necklaces.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Jordan Franklin will be performing from 11 to 1.

The easiest way to find the market is to enter through the big blue doors at the back of the building from the parking lot closest to the former Notre Dame Church.


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Simon's Rock Awarded Freedom to Read Grant

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Bard College at Simon's Rock was awarded a Freedom to Read Grant by the Newburger Schwartz Family Foundation. 
 
The grant was awarded to support the Alumni Library and Bard Queer Leadership Project in building a more robust collection of queer scholarship, starting a Queer Book Club, and hosting Drag Story Time events in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires.
 
According to a press release:
 
In response to current educational threats with book bans affecting schools and libraries across the country and further proposed legislation against LGBTQ+ people's access to basic rights and education, Simon's Rock is actively seeking to create inclusive and equitable spaces for queer individuals. 
 
The Bard Queer Leadership Project and Alumni Library will utilize the grant funding to expand the library's current collection of queer books in order to fully enable the longevity of the Queer Book Club and the Bard Queer Leadership Project. The Queer Book Club will be an intergenerational space, open to local middle school students through rainbow seniors and will partner with local community organizations, to discuss queer books and learn about LGBTQ+ issues and experiences. Bard Queer Leadership Project students will eventually help lead this initiative as part of their leadership project training. 
 
The Queer Book Club will host their first meeting on April 6 at 3:00 p.m. at the Alumni Library, with following meetings on April 27 and May 11. This semester, the selected books are "Obie is Man Enough" and "He/She/They," both by Schuyler Bailar, inspirational speaker and first openly transgender NCAA Division swimmer, who was a guest speaker in the inaugural Queer Leaders Vision Forum in fall 2023 at Simon's Rock. Schuyler Bailar will return to campus for a book signing and pool party at the Kilpatrick Athletic Center on April 19 at 7:00 p.m. Participants in the Queer Book Club will receive a free copy of either book of their choice. 
 
The first Drag Story Time will be on Saturday, March 30 at 2:00 p.m. at the Simon's Rock Alumni Library and is open to all LGBTQ+ affirming individuals. The event is in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires with local drag queens JV and Poppy DaBubbly. The second Drag Story Time will be Saturday, April 27 with drag queen Poppy DaBubbly and drag king Sativo Green.
 
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