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Weekend Outlook: First Friday, Live Music, and More

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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Berkshire County is hosting a variety of events this weekend including First Friday festivities, comedy, live music, and more.
 
Editor's Pick 
 
First Friday 
Downtown North Adams
Time: 5 to 9 p.m. 
 
Downtown businesses will extend their hours and host art receptions, and other special events, focused on the theme "I love North Adams." Events include live music and mocktails, an opening for the "Glow Show," a First Friday After Party, and more. 
 
Lineup here
 
Friday
 
Dark and Light Installation Opening Reception
Hotel on North, Pittsfield
Time: 5 to 8 p.m. 
 
Meet Clock Tower Artist Mark Mellinger during an opening reception. Mellinger has an eclectic background that informs his work, including woodworking, biology research, electron microscopy and psychology. 
 
He is drawn to the physicality of the materials such as the "lusciousness of paint, the earthiness of rust, [and] the delicacy of tissue paper."
 
Mellinger also encourages visits at his studio in the Eagle Building.
 
More information here
 
Glow Show
Future Lab(s) Gallery, North Adams 
Time:
 
The gallery is opening its doors and waking up winter with this inaugural event. The idea started out as an "idea to make a glow in the dark art temple in the dead of winter. " 
 
During the free event, look at art by work that makes the gallery glow. It features work by local gay artists Eric Wallen and Ricky Darell Barton, and tunes by DJ Dub TC.
 
More information here
 
First Friday Dance Party
Bright Ideas Brewery, North Adams 
Time: 8 to 11 p.m. 
 
The brewery will be having a party as part of the city's First Friday Festivities. During this free event for all ages there will be tune by DJ's Dub TC, Elixer, and DJ iamsam 
 
More information here.  
 
Ray Gifford Band Performance 
VFW Post 996 North Adams
Time: 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. 
 
The country and rock band will be performing. Information here
 
Saturday 
 
Q-MoB: Broadway Cabaret Goes to the Movies 
Dewey Hall, Sheffield
Time: 7 p.m. 
 
A group of Broadway performers who move to the area during the pandemic banded together to create the "Broadway Cabaret." They are celebrating their third year together with a show featuring selections from "Anything Goes," "Amelie," "An American In Paris," "West Side Story," "The Wizard of Oz," "A Chorus Line," and more. 
 
Tickets cost $30 and can be purchased at Christ Trinity Church. Register with Q-MoB and purchase your tickets here
 
Comedy on Tap
Bright Ideas Brewery, North Adams 
Time: 7:30 p.m. 
 
Laugh over a drink at Bright Ideas located on the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts campus. 
 
Headlining the event will be Sammy Anzer, known from Kevin Hart's LOL Network, Skankfest, and tours across the country. The night will also feature performances by New York City comedian Robyn Jaffe. 
 
Tickets are $15. More information here
 
Winter Botany Workshop
Sheep Hill, 671 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown
Time: 9 to 11 a.m.
 
Join Robin Sears to explore and identify some of these vestiges of spring and summer wildflowers. Come with curiosity and outdoor clothes, but an excellent resource is the book "Weeds in Winter" by Lauren Brown. Hosted by the Rural Lands Foundation. 
 
Cost is $15; $10 for foundation members. Register here; more information here
 
 
Tame the Rooster Performance 
The Proprietor’s Lodge, Pittsfield 
Time: 8 to 11 p.m. 
 
New York's capital region seven-piece modern country band, Tame the Rooster will be performing. Tickets cost $10. More information here
 
Public Ice Skating 
Boys and Girls Club, Pittsfield 
Time: 3 to 4:30 p.m. 
 
The first 100 people through the door during the public skate at the Boys & Girls Club will receive free admission for skating as well as free skate rentals. More information here
 
Family Friendly Winter Walk 
Mount Greylock Visitor Center, Lanesborough
Time: 1 to 3 p.m. 
 
Take a mindful walk led by guide Sandy Wilson and experience the nature of the mountain. The free experience incorporates elements of forest bathing, mindful breathing, nature connection, and more. 
 
More information here
 
Rev Tor's 11th Annual Dead of Winter Jam
Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield
Time: 7:30 p.m.
 
Berkshire Theatre Group is hosting a mid-winter celebration to honor 59 years of Grateful Dead music. 
 
The event will be hosted by Rev Tor's Dead Man's Waltz and features performances by Mark Mercier (Max Creek), Michael Butler (Bearly Dead), Force (The Alchemystics), Wanda Houston (The Rejuvenators) and Mike Wood (Rebel Alliance).
 
Tickets for the jam are $25. More information here.
 
Sunday
 
First Sunday Free Clark 
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Time: 1 to 4 p.m. 
 
The Clark Art is offering free admission to the galleries, special exhibitions, and activities. 
 
Visitors will also be able to decorate their own teacup and create a delicious tea blend in a tea bag to take home. The event also includes tea tastings offered by local tea shop Hearts Pace and a 2 p.m. tour of the tea sets, spoons, and pots in the Clark's collection of decorative arts.
 
This event is free with museum admission. More information here
 
Mist Blue Trio Performance 
PortaVia, Dalton
Time: 1 to 4 p.m. 
 
Berkshire based blues band Misty Blues Trio will be performing. More information on the band here. Performance information here
 
Multiple Days
 
For the LOVE OF ART Exhibit
Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield
Feb 2. to Feb 9 
 
The center will be opening its newest exhibit this Friday at 5 p.m. The exhibit features midway senior portfolios, drawings & paintings, photography, and ceramics works by high school artists. More information here

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Community Hero: Noelle Howland

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

Noelle Howland is committed to keeping alive the late Pittsfield ACO Eleanor Sonsini's mission of helping animals ... albeit farther north in North Adams.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — No Paws Left Behind Executive Director Noelle Howland has been selected as the November Community Hero of the Month. 
 
The Community Hero of the Month series honors individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact in their community. The series sponsor, Haddad Auto, has extended this initiative for one more month.
 
Howland breathed new life into the mission of the former Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter, which closed in August 2023. 
 
The shelter in Pittsfield operated under the mission established by Eleanor Sonsini, a local animal rights activist and longtime animal control officer in Pittsfield, to be a no-kill shelter committed to finding surrendered and abandoned pets new forever homes. 
 
Howland's love for animals, dedication to their well-being, and expertise in animal behavior and training and shelter management brought this mission to new heights at No Paws Left Behind, a new shelter for dogs located at 69 Hodges Cross Road. 
 
"I want people to understand that I know it's hard to surrender. So, my biggest thing is [making sure] people know that, of course, we're not judging you. We're here to help you," Howland said. 
 
When Sonsini announced its closing, Howland, who was the shelter's manager, worked to save it, launching fundraising initiatives. However, the previous board decided to close the shelter down and agreed to let Howland open her own shelter using their mission. 
 
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