North Adams Happenings: May 18-24

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North Adams Happenings: 
May 18 - May 24

Brought to you by the MCLA Berkshire Cultural Resource Center
and the North Adams Office of Tourism & Community Events
 

Save the Date

May 28th
Luna
MASS MoCA | 1040 MASS MoCA Way
413-662-2111
8:30 PM
$25/Advance, $32/Day Of, $40 Preferred
for more information

“One of indie rock’s most beloved live acts.” — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone
Storied indie rock quartet Luna—led by Dean Wareham, seen most recently at MASS MoCA as one-half of Dean & Britta—returns after a 10-year hiatus. With its 1999-era lineup, (Wareham, Britta Phillips, Sean Eden, and Lee Wall), the band sounds as strong as ever and is back with a sweet vengeance to open our summer season.
 

Wednesday May 18

Battle of the Bartenders
Grazie | 26 Marshall St.
413-664-0044
5-8 PM
Free
for more information

Join us for a great time, supporting a great cause. The Berkshire REALTORS Charitable Task Force has arranged a countywide fun team competition to raise money for PopCares, providng support for those battling cancer in Northern Berkshire. Come with tip money to support your favorite “celebrity” bartenders:
5:00 p.m. Maureen Baran, Adams Community Bank
5:30 p.m. Kevin Bopp Attorney, Attorney-at-Law
6:00 p.m. Rebecca Gold Cellana & Jason Dohaney, Burnham Gold & Mountain One Investors
6:30 p.m. Kevin Foley, Connors Brothers
7:00 p.m. Jeff Grandchamp, Grinnell Partners Attorneys
7:30 p.m. Duffy Judge, Greylock Insurance

BFAIR Chamber Nite
BFAIR Satellite Office | 26 Roberts Drive
413-499-1600
5 – 7 PM
Free
for more information

BFAIR (Berkshire Family & Individual Resources, Inc.) will host a Berkshire Chamber Nite at their satellite campus on 26 Roberts Drive. The event, a joint effort with 1Berkshire, will allow attendees to tour the new campus, learn about programming, and hear about BFAIR’s expansion within the Berkshires and beyond.  Artwork from program participants that work with CATA (Community Access to the Arts) will be showcased. Refreshments will be catered by Mezze and a cash bar will be available by Kelly’s Package Store. To register for the event, visit www.1berkshire.com.

 

Thursday May 19

Project In Situ: The Round
MASS MoCA | 1040 Mass MoCA Way
413-662-2111
Every 15 minutes between 4 – 8:45 PM
$5/members, $10/general
for more information

French duo Project In Situ, created by choreographers Martin Chaput and Martial Chazallon, presents an experimental, site-specific work combining movement, technology, participatory theater, and sound installation, a performative answer to The Space Between, a museum-wide exhibition focused on transitional spaces. Each audience member receives earbuds to use with cell phones, to listen to audio recordings that uncover a choreographed journey through MASS MoCA. Departures take place every 15 minutes between 4pm and 8:45pm. The performance is approximately 70 minutes long. Purchase tickets by phone.
Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts and made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from six New England state arts agencies.

THIRDsday Comedy Open Mic
49 Main St
wearecommonfolk@gmail.com
7 – 10 PM
Free
for more information

Hosted by Seth Brown. The capriciously nomadic THIRDsday Comedy Open Mic is moving to yet another temporary location! Join us on May 19th at exPress Gallery, on Main Street in North Adams just next to Gallery 51. We're back to a 7pm start to make sure comedians coming from farther afield can get home before turning into pumpkins. THIRDsday Comedy Open Mic is, as always, completely FREE. Come enjoy some laughs, bring some friends, and be merry, in the merry merry month of May!

 

Friday May 20

Project In Situ: The Round
MASS MoCA | 1040 Mass MoCA Way
413-662-2111
Every 15 minutes between 4 – 8:45 PM
$5/members, $10/general
for more information

French duo Project In Situ, created by choreographers Martin Chaput and Martial Chazallon, presents an experimental, site-specific work combining movement, technology, participatory theater, and sound installation, a performative answer to The Space Between, a museum-wide exhibition focused on transitional spaces. Each audience member receives earbuds to use with cell phones, to listen to audio recordings that uncover a choreographed journey through MASS MoCA. Departures take place every 15 minutes between 4pm and 8:45pm. The performance is approximately 70 minutes long. Purchase tickets by phone.
Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts and made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from six New England state arts agencies.

Family Fun Night
NB YMCA | 22 Brickyard Ct.
413-663-6529
6 PM
Free
for more information

Its that time again, for the May Family Fun Night! A family friendly event, including pizza, flag football, basketball, arts and crafts, gym activities, karaoke, raffle and more! Come join us for some family fun!
 

Relay for Life of Northern Berkshire
Noel Field
(404) 327-6560
6 PM (Friday) – Noon (Saturday)
for more information


Our 2016 RFL Theme is: "Cruising the Road To Recovery."
The American Cancer Society Relay For Life event is a life-changing experience that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to Celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, Remember loved ones lost, and Fight Back against the disease.
Join us for our 11th Relay For Life of Northern Berkshire as we celebrate the survivors in our community, remember those who are no longer with us and fight back against a diesease that has deeply affected our community.
 

Ye' Olde openmic
The Parlor Café | 303 Ashland St
(413) 346-4279
7 - 9 PM
Free
for more information

Open mic night at the Parlor Café. Sign-up at the bar starts at 7PM. Due to unsustainable demands of licensing -> this really isn't a thing anymore, well, maybe a little bit. If we did do something on a Friday night amongst friends, it would surely only contain the music that the "industry" doesn't own.They would try to tell us we needed one anyways because we can "never be too sure" and we "would be responsible if they did". Terms at the door would definitely be that you couldn't.

 

 

Saturday May 14

Relay for Life of Northern Berkshire
Noel Field
(404) 327-6560
6 PM (Friday) – Noon (Saturday)
for more information

Our 2016 RFL Theme is: "Cruising the Road To Recovery."
The American Cancer Society Relay For Life event is a life-changing experience that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to Celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, Remember loved ones lost, and Fight Back against the disease.
Join us for our 11th Relay For Life of Northern Berkshire as we celebrate the survivors in our community, remember those who are no longer with us and fight back against a diesease that has deeply affected our community.
 

 

Sunday May 22

Art About Town
Main Street Crosswalk Painting

Main St.
413-664-6180
8:30 AM – 2 PM
Free. (Pls regiser to participate)
for more information

Traffic will be altered on Main Street from 8:30 AM until about 2 PM while Art About Town volunteers take on the creative task of repainting the Main Street crosswalks with colorful designs. There will be one lane of traffic available on each side on Main Street during this time, except from 10:30-11:30 am when all of Main Street will be closed to vehicles for 1 hour.
 

Monday May 23

Our Children, Ourselves
210 State Street
413-664-4821
10 – 11 AM
Free
for more information

A FREE group for parents with children who have special needs or delays. Join other parents to share resources, challenges and joys.  Snacks will be provided. Transportation and child care available. Please call 664-4821 to register for child care and or transportation. This group is focused on parents with children ages birth to eight years.
Figure Drawing Collective
Makers' Mill
73 Main Street
(413) 749-2073
7-9PM
$5/members, $10/drop-in
for more information

Be part of the figure drawing collective at Makers’ Mill. Sessions run every Monday and will focus on long poses, and include a warm up consisting of several short poses.
We’ll be bringing in local models and a local, figure drawing instructor who will drop-in as available. Get in as at the ground level to shape the direction this collective takes. Bring your own lap board, paper, pencils, and creative energy!
 

Opportunities

Deadline May 31st.

Thinking about making the move to North Adams? There has never been a better time to join our creative community! A4A's North Adams Project is offering incentives and special programming for artists who relocate to North Adams before the end of 2016. See website for details and build your artistic practice in our happening hometown!

Fundraisers

Ongoing – June 11
 
CSA Share Raffle Fundraiser for the North Adams Farmers Market
Now through June 11 – Purchase a ticket for a chance to win a full season share of fresh local veggies from either Square Roots Farm or Many Forks Farm, valued at $500-550!!  Tickets $20 each and are available for purchase by calling 413-664-6180 or email: tourism@northadams-ma.gov or messaging the North Adams Farmers Market facebook page.


Friday May 20
Josh Bressett Commit 2 Save A Life – Wine Glass Paint & Sip Benefit
American Legion | 91 American Legion Dr.
413-205-8346
6 PM
$35/person
for more information

Join us on 5/20/16 at the American Legion, 91 American Legion Dr, North Adams for a Wine Glass Paint & Sip fundraiser to benefit the Josh Bressett Commit to Save a Life Org. You'll learn how to paint 2 stunning "Golden Lighthouse" wine glasses using metallic gold paint. All materials and donation included for $35. 


Monday May 23
Adams Lassie League Spaghetti Supper
Bounti Fare | 200 Howland Ave. | Adams
413-743-0193
4:30 – 7 PM
$9/adults, $7/seniors & kids under 10
for more information

Take-out is available. We will have a bake sale, Chinese auction, lottery tree and other raffles. Tickets available from any player or at the door.

 

 

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Amphibious Toads Procreate in Perplexing Amplexus

By Tor HanseniBerkshires columnist
 

Toads lay their eggs in the spring along the edges of waterways. Photos by Tor Hansen.
My first impressions of toads came about when my father Len Hansen rented a seaside house high on a sand dune in North Truro, Cape Cod back in 1954. 
 
With Cape Cod Bay stretching out to the west, and Twinefield so abundant in wildflowers to the east, North Truro became a naturalist's dream, where I could search for sea shells at the seashore, or chase beetles and butterflies with my trusty green butterfly net. 
 
Twinefield was a treasure trove for wildlife — a vast glacial rolling sandplain shaped by successive glaciers, its sandy soil rich in silicon, thus able to stimulate growth for a diverse biota. A place where in successive years I would expand my insect collection to fill cigar boxes with every order of insects abounding in beach plum, ox-eye daisy and milkweed. During our brief summer vacation there, we boys would exclaim in our excitement, "Oh here is another hoppy toad," one of many Fowler's toads (Bufo woodhousei fowleri ) that inhabited the moist surroundings, at home in the Ammophyla beach grass, thickets of beach plum, bayberry, and black cherry bushes. 
 
They sparkled in rich colors of green amber on beige and reddish tinted warts. Most anurans have those glistening eyes, gold on black irises so beguiling around the dark pupils. Today I reflect on a favorite analogy, the riveting eye suggests a solar eclipse in pictorial aura.
 
In the distinct toad majority in the Outer Cape, Fowler's toads turned up in the most unusual of places. When we Hansens first moved in to rent Riding Lights, we would wash the sand and salt from our feet in the outdoor shower where toads would be drinking and basking in the moisture near my feet. As dusk fades into darkness, the happy surprise would gather under the night lights where moths were fluttering about the front door and the toads would snatch bugs with outstretched tongue.
 
In later years, mother Eleanor added much needed color and variety to Grace's original garden. Our smallest and perhaps most acrobatic butterflies are the skippers, flitting and somersaulting to alight and drink heartily the nectar abounding at yellow sickle-leaved coreopsis and succulent pink live forever sedums of autumn. These hearty late bloomers signaled oases for many fall migrants including painted ladies, red admirals and of course monarchs on there odyssey to over-winter in Mexico. 
 
Our newly found next-door neighbors, the Bergmarks, added a lot to share our zeal for this undiscovered country, and while still in our teens, Billy Atwood, who today is a nuclear physicist in California, suggested we should include the Baltimore checkerspot in our survey, as he too had a keen interest in insects. Still unfamiliar to me then, in later years I would come across a thriving colony in Twinefield, that yielded a rare phenotype checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton p. superba) that I wrote about featured in The Cape Naturalist ( Museum of Natural History, Brewster Cape Cod 1991). 
 
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