Berkshire Penny Saver

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Berkshire

Penny Saver www.berkshirepennysaver.com

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February 1, 2012

IN THIS ISSUE: Auto ....................................... 11 Business Directory .................. 7 Classiﬁeds ................................ 7

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Sudoku Puzzle ......................... 7 Help Wanted .......................... 11 Real Estate ............................... 9

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editorial email berkshire@hersamacornma.com advertising email art@hersamacornma.com Editorial Deadline: 20th at noon the month before publication. Classiﬁed Deadline: February 27, 2012 Display Deadline: February 27, 2012

Manager’s Memo

Berkshire

Penny Saver 800.234.1432 Classiﬁeds 800.234.1432 editorial email berkshire@hersamacornma.com advertising email art@hersamacornma.com

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Renee Tassone, General Manager Linda Devlin, Circulation Manager Sarah Masiero, Advertising Sales Carrie Devlin, Advertising Sales Kitty Lewis, Advertising Sales Mark Payton, Web Sales Jen Hathaway, Production Director Chris Sobolowski, Art Director Barbra Retzlaff, Graphic Artist ■

Deadline*: 20th of Prior Month *Deadlines will change due to Holidays. See special deadline notices published before major holidays.

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Submission Guidelines: Those wishing to submit event listings or editorial content may email berkshire@hersamacornma.com. ■

Notice: The Berkshire Penny Saver will not knowingly accept or publish advertising which is fraudulent or misleading in nature. The publisher reserves the sole right to edit, revise, or reject any and all advertising, with or without cause being assigned, which in the publisher’s judgement is contrary to the interests of this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. ©2008, Hersam Acorn Newspapers. All contents of the Berkshire Penny Saver News are copyrighted, and any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Martin Hersam, Chief Operating Ofﬁcer Thomas B. Nash, Publisher

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope all of you had happy, healthy Holidays. I cannot believe we have begun 2012. I hope that 2012 is going to be a good year for all of you. Let’s hope the economy continues to improve, that everyone stays healthy and that you create many wonderful memories for you and your family. Time is going by so fast. My holidays were wonderful; relaxing times spent with family and friends. This was the first year my husband and I did not buy a Christmas tree. It felt strange, almost un-American to go without a Christmas tree. Even though our girls came over Christmas day, this was the first year we did not all wake up together to open gifts. We also have two cats and I swear Renee Tassone, General Manager the younger one is Satan. He would have the tree and every ornament down with in two minutes. It was just safer and easier this year to be without. Actually, even though it felt weird before the holiday I was thankful not to have to take it down and put everything away after the holiday. I would not be surprised if next year we do the same thing. Our youngest daughter is getting married in 3 weeks, on Valentine’s Day. I still cannot believe this day is coming. I don’t think it will hit me until after it is all over. They are keeping it small and simple which makes our wallet very happy. We have always told both of our girls that we have a set amount put aside for their wedding. If it costs more, then it comes out of their pocket but anything less they will get the balance. They can use the balance to put down on a house or something like that. They were originally planning to get married in September but last month decided they would push it up. They have a beautiful relationship; it is really nice to see how well they get along. We are very happy for them. They both work together and live together and are not sick of each other yet. Reminds me of the joke Rodney Dangerfield used to tell: “my wife and I sleep in separate beds, have separate interests and hobbies and even take separate vacations...we are doing everything we can to stay together.” My parents always worked together. My father owned his own insurance agency and my mother held the office together for him. How she did that and took care of 8 kids I have no idea and I am not so sure they should have spent so much time together then but it worked out okay for them. A few years ago my brother bought the financial side of the agency (stocks, bonds and life insurance), which he called Marchand Financial and my sister purchased the insurance side of the agency (car and home), which is still called Marchand Insurance. Both businesses are based in my hometown Webster, Massachusetts. I held my first meeting for the Celiac Support group. It was held on January 19 at the VNA offices on Curran Highway in North Adams. We had a wonderful turnout, almost 50 people attended even though we got a few inches of snow that night. We had two doctors speak and it was a total success. Just goes to show there was a serious need in this area for such a group. The ages ranged from 6 to 86 years old. We had people that have not gone gluten free yet but think they need to, and people who have been gluten free for 34 years. I cannot imagine having to go gluten free 34 years ago, what did they eat? It must have been very challenging. The next meeting will be February 16 at the same location. The meetings will always be the third Thursday of every month. If you have any questions or would like to attend, please call 413-329-4710. Please remember to tell our advertisers you saw their ad in the Yankee Shopper and Berkshire Pennysaver. Please also check out the list of gift certificates we offer for sale at a 20% discount. As always we encourage your feedback. Feel free to send us your press releases to yankee@hersamacornma. com or berkshire@hersamacornma.com. Check us out online at www.ishopberkshires.com. -Renee Tassone, General Manager Berkshire Penny Saver

February 1, 2012

Innovative Turtle Island Quartet to Play Berkshire Theatre Group is very excited to announce that the clasagain hit what at first might seem a difficult target. A salute to the quarsical/jazz fusion trendsetters Turtle Island Quartet will celebrate the tet for giving us a vigorous and scintillating reworking of the music of music of Jimi Hendrix with their dynamic Have You Ever Been...? proJimi Hendrix.” gram on Friday, February 17th at 8 pm at The Colonial Theatre. This Referred to by Yo-Yo Ma as “a unified voice that truly breaks new innovative classical quartet defies musical definition by reaching across ground—authentic and passionate—a reflection of some of the most musical genres and creating a sound never heard before. creative music-making today,” Turtle Island Quartet will use their musiTickets to Turtle Island Quartet are $20-$45 and may be purchased cal prowess and ingenuity and to amaze audiences of all ages. Whether in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street or by calling you love classical or are devoted to Hendrix, Turtle Island Quartet will (413) 997-4444 or online at www.thecolonialtheatre.org. The Ticket have you spellbound. Office is open Monday-Friday 10am–5pm, Saturdays 10am–2pm or on About Berkshire Theatre Group any performance day from 10am until intermission. The Colonial Theatre, founded in 1903, and Berkshire Theatre Through their exploration of jazz, classical, American vernacular and Festival, founded in 1928, are two of the oldest cultural organizations world music styles, the Turtle Island Quartet has taken its audiences on in the Berkshires. Having united in November of 2010 under the a journey through many musical genres, eras, and places—the American helm of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, these two institulandscape, Latin America, Europe and India to name a few. Now, the two tions are providing the Berkshires and beyond with the finest in live time Grammy® winning quartet is tackling works by legendary guitarist, theatre, music, dance and the visual arts on four stages in Stockbridge, songwriter and performer Jimi Hendrix as well as other compositions MA, Pittsfield, MA and Lenox, MA. The Fitzpatrick Main Stage (408 reflective of and inspired by Hendrix’s music including Turtle Island seats), cataloged by the National Register of Historic Places, was Quartet founder David Balakrishnan’s new composition “Tree of Life.” originally designed and built by Stanford White as the Stockbridge At the peak of his creative powers in the late 1960s, Jimi Hendrix Casino in 1888. The intimate Unicorn Theatre (122 seats) is a home redefined the potential of not only the guitar but the entire genre of for emerging artists and new theatrical ideas. The Colonial in Pittsfield rock. Armed with an unprecedented combination of technical skills (800 seats) re-opened in August of 2006, following a $21 million resand compositional insight, he drew a blueprint that continues to chaltoration, and boasts pristine acoustics, classic gilded age architecture lenge guitarists in particular and musicians of all stripes more than four and state-of-the-art technical systems. BTG also performs at the newly decades later. built outdoor Neil Ellenoff stage at the Mount. Together they serve over Turtle Island Quartet’s ongoing mission of exploration and innova100,000 patrons per year and reach over 10,000 students through their tion was most recently exemplified in their Grammy® winning 2007 educational and outreach programs. For more information on BTF call recording, A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane, in which the (413) 298-5536 and quartet reinterprets the music of one of the most pivotal figures in the on The Colonial call history of jazz by injecting it with their own signature rhythmic innova(413) 448-8084. To purchase tions and multicultural influences. tickets, call (413) 997-4444 or Three years later, Turtle Island Quartet—whose current lineup (413) 298-5576 or go online to includes Balakrishnan along with co-founder cellist Mark Summer, www.berkshiretheatre.org. violinist Mads Tolling and newcomer violist Jeremy Kittel—pushed the edge of their stylistic comfort zone a step further with their latest recording, Have You �� Ever Been...?, an exploration of Serving Berkshire �� the music of Hendrix coupled County Since 1945 �� with Balakrishnan’s Tree Of �� Life. “...A stellar recording and Homeowners / achievement,” says guitarist Andy �� Business • New �� Summers, one of the many high�� Contractors Market profile heirs to the Hendrix leg�� acy through his work with the Auto • Boats • Flood �� Police and beyond, and author of �� Life • Long-Term Care the liner notes to Have You Ever Been...? Fax: 413-243-4622 �� “Translating the music of Jimi 71 Main Street, Lee Hendrix’s visceral electric guitar �� music into the vernacular of the classical string quartet seems �� like an improbable idea,” Andy �� Summers goes on to say, “Yet on �� Frank A. Consolati this remarkable recording, the Jeff J. Consolati Turtle Island Quartet...has once

413-243-0105 413-243-0109

February 1, 2012

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FROM MY CORNER

by Susan J. Coons ...lunch time... I’ve been thinking of enjoyable lunches from my past upon hearing about the bankruptcy of the Hostess Company. In the 1950s Wonder Bread, with the brightly colored balloons on the white wrapper, was the sponsor of Howdy Doody and Weber Bread, in the blue and white-checkered wrapper, sponsored The Cisco Kid on television. I was about 10 years old. I came home for lunch until I was in Junior High School. That is, except when it was raining. Oh, did I loved rainy days! First of all I could wear my favorite red and blue plaid slacks with flowered suspenders and a white blouse. Sixty years ago young ladies were not allowed to wear slacks to school unless there was inclement weather. And...I was able to eat at school with my friends! Another big Yay! My lunch box was a smaller version of my grandpa’s. His was big and black, mine was small and green. A thermos fit into the lid with a clip, and the bottom held a sandwich, fruit and cookies. I loved to open and close my lunchbox. It smelled so good! Ah... �� the aroma �� of bologna ��

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sammiches made with Wonder Bread...good, soft Wonder Bread! In the 1970s and early 80s, when we were living in Pasadena, California, my husband frequently shopped at a large indoor farmers’ market in downtown Los Angeles at the foot of Angel’s Flight. He always came home with at least two large packages of Twinkies and several Hostess Cupcakes. He had a very seriously sweet tooth. Twinkies were never on my shopping list because I knew he would take care of that! I’ve probably only had about six Twinkies in my whole life. The Twinkies never lasted long enough in the cupboard for lunches the next day. I never put junk food in the kids’ lunch because basically, we just couldn’t afford it. So they had boring lunches with sandwiches, fruit, cookies or cake and they had to buy their milk at school. Both of the kids had lunch boxes when they were young. John had a Hot Wheels lunch box. They came home for lunch when they attended Field Elementary School. I looked forward to having lunch with them every day. I’m pretty sure that I’ve written about school lunches before, weather it was about the lunch box, lunch bag, designer lunch bag versus the brown, ugly bag, kids trading their lunches and what Moms hope their kids are doing with their lunch. I was proctoring tests given by the State of New York in the 1990s at Shenendehowa High School. The campus is beautiful. One can get lost there. But I do remember a hallway with several vending

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Pianist Fred Hersch Performs at Williams The Williams College Department of Music presents pianist Fred Hersch in concert on Friday, Feb. 3 at 8:00 p.m. in Chapin Hall on the Williams campus. A master class with Mr. Hersch takes place the same day at 1:00 p.m. These free events are open to the public. Proclaimed by Vanity Fair magazine, “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade or so,” Fred Hersch balances his internationally recognized instrumental skills with significant achievements as a composer, bandleader, and theatrical conceptualist, as well as remaining an in-demand collaborator with other noted bandleaders and vocalists. As a solo pianist (he was the first artist in the 75-year history of New York’s legendary Village Vanguard to play week-long engagements as a solo pianist - his second featured run is documented on the 2011 release, Alone at the Vanguard); as leader of a widely praised trio whose Whirl found its way onto numerous 2010 best-recordings-of-the-year lists; and as the impetus behind the ambitious 2011 production, “My Coma Dreams,” a full-evening work for 11 instruments, actor/singer and animation/multimedia -- Mr. Hersch has fully lived up to the approbation of the New York Times who, in a featured Sunday Magazine article, praised him as “singular among the trailblazers of their art, a largely unsung innovator of this borderless, individualistic jazz – a jazz for the 21st century.” He is nominated for two 2012 Grammy Awards for Alone at the Vanguard - for Best Jazz Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo; these are his fourth and fifth nominations. In addition to his more than three-dozen recordings as a leader/coleader, his numerous awards include a 2003 Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for composition, and a Grammy® nomination for Best Instrumental Composition, as well as two Grammy® nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance. Mr. Hersch has featured himself as either a solo performer or at the helm of varied small ensembles, which in addition to his trio, include a quintet, as well as his “Pocket Orchestra” featuring an unconventional line-up of piano, trumpet, voice, and percussion. Mr. Hersch is considered to be the most prolific and celebrated solo jazz pianist of his generation. In 2006, Palmetto released the solo CD Fred Hersch in Amsterdam: Live at the Bimhuis and 2009 welcomed his eighth solo disc, Fred Hersch Plays Jobim, cited as one of the year’s Top Ten jazz releases by NPR and the Wall Street Journal. Alone won the “Coup de Coeur” de l’Académie Charles Cros in France and 2011 also saw Mr. Hersch place 4th in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll and win as Jazz Pianist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. Mr. Hersch’s career as a performer has been greatly enhanced by his composing activities, a vital part of nearly all of his live concerts and recordings. In 2003, Mr. Hersch created Leaves of Grass (Palmetto Records), a large-scale setting of Walt Whitman’s poetry for two voices (Kurt Elling and Kate McGarry) and an instrumental octet; the work was presented in March 2005 in a sold-out performance at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of a six-city US tour. More than 70 of his jazz compositions have been recorded by Mr. Hersch and by numerous other artists. Mr. Hersch has collaborated with an astonishing rage of instrumentalists and vocalists throughout worlds of jazz (Joe Henderson, Charlie Haden, Art Farmer, Stan Getz, and Bill Frisell); classical (Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Christopher O’Riley); and Broadway (Audra McDonald). Long admired for his sympathetic work with singers, Mr. Hersch has

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Berkshire Penny Saver

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Liam Geddes and Friends

Irish Recording Artist Liam Geddes and Friends with Marissa Massery will perform in concert on Saturday, February 4 at 7 p.m. at Barrington Stage Company, Union St., Pittsfield to benefit the St.Joseph’s High School Sports Team trip this summer to Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland, Pittsfield’s Sister City. Reserved tickets at $25 and $20 are available at www.barringtonstageco.org or by calling 413-2368888. Sponsored by St.Joseph High School and the Pittsfield Irish Sister City Committee.

From my Corner

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machines. At that time they contained soft drinks, and snack packages. I had the opportunity to have lunch in the Burr and Burton Academy Cafeteria when I was a member of the Manchester Rotary Club. WOW! It reminded me of Clifton’s Cafeteria on Pershing Square in Los Angeles. (I don’t know if they’re there any longer, but it was a great place to eat years ago, and offered a diverse assortment of main dishes, salads, desserts, and more.) I was listening to Superintendent of Schools Katherine McClure on WBTN last Tuesday afternoon when she and her guests were talking about nutrition and school menus. kids now have such a wonderful opportunity to eat healthy. They have a choice in their lunch of a main dish, second dish, dessert, beverage, etc. I think it’s great. About my lunch? Frankly, when I bring my lunch to work, I can’t help but to eat it around 10:30 or 11. I know how good it will be! No Twinkies, no soft bread and no bologna!

Pianist Fred Hersch

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joined with such notable jazz vocalists as Nancy King, Norma Winstone, and Kurt Elling. He has received commissions from The Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the Doris Duke Foundation, The Miller Theatre at Columbia University, The Gramercy Trio, and The Brooklyn Youth Chorus. A disc of his through-composed works, Fred Hersch: Concert Music 2001-2006, has been released by Naxos Records; these works are published by the prestigious firm Edition Peters. He has been awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship, grants from Chamber Music America, The National Endowment for the Arts, and Meet the Composer, and seven composition residencies at The MacDowell Colony. In addition to a wide variety of National Public Radio programs including Fresh Air, Jazz Set, Studio 360, and Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, Mr. Hersch has also appeared on CBS Sunday Morning with Dr. Billy Taylor. A committed educator, Mr. Hersch has taught at The New School and Manhattan School of Music, and conducted a Professional Training Workshop for Young Musicians at The Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall in 2008. He is currently a visiting professor at Western Michigan University and on the Jazz Studies faculty of The New England Conservatory. A passionate spokesman and fund-raiser for AIDS services and education agencies since 1993, Mr. Hersch has produced and performed on four benefit recordings and in numerous concerts for charities including Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS and Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS that have raised over $250,000 to date. He has also been the keynote speaker and performer at international medical conferences in the U.S. and Europe. The Williams College Department of Music is pleased to present an artist of Mr. Hersch’s stature as part of its Visiting Artist series. In addition to his concert, Mr. Hersch is also offering a master class for Williams students, which is open to the public. This is a chance to experience the interaction between master and student, providing a fascinating window into the world of musicians. http://music.williams.edu. Concert hotline: 413-597-3146.

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Now Registering New Students for Classes and Lessons

Music for Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers Introduction to Suzuki•Suzuki Lessons BMS Orchestra•Jazz Ensemble•Chamber Ensembles• Flute Choir•Guitar Club•Cabaret Workshop for Adults

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Piano•Strings • Brass • Winds Voice•Percussion•Theory•Composition

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* Photos by Sue Geller

30 Wendell Avenue • Pittsfield, MA• 413-442-1411 Berkshiremusicschool.org 6

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