Upcoming events: Art show at Chester Baptist; senior luncheon; 20th New Voices at Misty Valley; writing, genealogy workshops at Rock Library; fund-raisers for Long Trail actors troupe, Pingree Park

For more upcoming events, click here for The Chester Telegraph calendar. To be included in our Upcoming events briefs, email Susan Lampe-Wilson at calendar@www.chestertelegraph.org. Photos welcome. No PDFs, please.

Jan. 17: Scribes of Hope II at Chester Baptist

On Friday evening from 6:30 to 9 p.m., Jan. 17, Chester Baptist invites the community to the opening reception of an exhibit titled Scribes of Hope II at groundedforLIFE on the lower floor of the Chester Baptist Church at 162 Main St. The artwork is on loan from Christians in Visual Arts, an organization whose mission is to bring together serious faith with serious art.
Scribes of Hope II was contributed by internationally known artists and curated by noted calligrapher Timothy Botts. The artwork represents a wide spectrum of contemporary artistic renditions of the ancient words of scripture, hymns and prayers.
The exhibit will be open from 6:30–9 p.m. Friday evenings through Feb. 1. For more information on grounded4LIFE visit its Facebook page or its website www.grounded4LIFEvt.org. Groups are welcome by special arrangement, by calling 875-2638.

Jan 20: Chester Senior Citizens luncheon meeting

The Chester Senior Citizens Club’s monthly luncheon meeting is at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20, at Chester Baptist Church, 162 Main St. Attendees will play board games and Bingo. The meeting is open to area seniors who are asked to bring dish to share, a place setting and a friend. For those who need a ride, call 875-6242.

Jan. 25: Misty Valley Books presents 20th New Voices

Misty Valley Books’ annual New Voices event takes place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, at the First Universalist Church in Chester’s Stone Village. The 20th anniversary New Voices will present five debut authors and their works. Seating is limited. Tickets are $10 and are available at the bookstore on the Green in Chester. This year’s group includes writers whose debut subjects are crime, love, Africa and Pakistan.

This year’s authors and their works are:

• Rebecca Walker, Ade 
• Elaine Neil Orr, A Different Sun
• Shahan Mufti, The Faithful Scribe
• Rhonda Riley, The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope 
• Peter Swanson, The Girl With a Clock for a Heart

New Voices is a program that has attracted national attention, and a number of Misty Valley New Voices – including Dennis Lehane, Colum McCann, Arthur Golden, Gregory Maguire, Jennifer Egan, Alex Berenson, Heidi Durrow and Dr. Eben Alexander — have gone on to considerable fame.
In addition to the readings at the Stone Church, the public is invited to cross-country ski or snowshoe with the authors at Grafton Ponds on Saturday morning, meet the authors at a reception after the readings and then have drinks and/or dinner with the authors at the Fullerton Inn, on the Green. Contact Grafton Ponds for their trail fee and the Fullerton for the prix fix cost of the full-course meal.
For more information or to purchase tickets, stop by Misty Valley Books, call the Bookstore at 802 875-3400, visit www.mvbooks.com, or go to Facebook.

Feb 1: Creative writing, genealogy workshops at Rockingham Library

The Rockingham Free Public Library, 65 Westminster St. in Bellows Falls, will offer two free programs in February. One brings writer Elayne Clift in to teach participants memory inspired creative writing; the other lead by Wayne Blanchard who will guide people through tracing family genealogy.

“Light in Winter: Creative Writing Grounded in Memory” with Elayne Clift will meet 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 at the library.
This creative non-fiction workshop will look inward for material and will guide participants to craft short pieces that could lead to larger works. Voluntary sharing will offer opportunities for refinement and suggest “the gift of the piece.”
Beginning 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Feb. 5 the library will host a five-week class on genealogy in the third floor meeting room in the library. All sessions meet from 10 a.m. to noon.

The class schedule for the five-Wednesday program follows:

• Feb. 5: Organizing Your Research

• Feb. 12: Using Ancestry Library Edition to search the U.S. Census

• Feb. 19: Local histories – Using Heritage Quest

• Feb. 26: Using AmericanAncestors.org

• March 5: Creating a Genealogical Sketch

Wayne Blanchard has attended seminars at the New England Historic and Genealogical Society in Boston and researched, wrote and published, “From the Great Migration to the Greatest Generation.”
Open to the public, seats are limited and preregistration is required. For more information and to sign up for either program visit the library, call 802-463-4270, email sam@rockinghamlibrary.org, or go to www.rockinghamlibrary.org.

Feb. 7: Treat Williams in ‘Love Letters’ for Long Trail troupe fund-raiser

The Long Trail School Actors Anonymous troupe presents actor Treat Williams in a reprise of his Broadway role in A. R. Gurney’s Love Letters.
Jayne Atkinson will appear opposite Williams in the Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama. The single performance will be held at the Dorset Playhouse at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7. Tickets are $45 and $85.
Proceeds from the event will benefit Long Trail’s Actors Anonymous troupe as its raises funds to attend the international Fringe Theatre Festival held
each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.  The 14 young actors and director Tracey Wesley from Long Trail School earned this highly prized invitation last
spring and will perform on the international stage in August.

Theatergoers will be treated to a champagne reception with Williams and Atkinson following the play.

To purchase tickets in advance for this single performance (strongly recommended), call the Dorset Playhouse at  802-867-5777.

Dedication millstone at Pingree Park in Londonderry. Chester Telegraph photo.

 Feb 14: Valentine’s benefit for Pingree Park revitalization

At 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14, Dr. T and the Versatiles will bring its rock, R&B and soul music to Magic Mountain in Londonderry to benefit the Pingree Park Revitalization Project. Tickets are $8 per person or $15 per couple.

The event is sponsored by the Londonderry Town Parks Board and will be held at the Black Line Tavern in the Base Lodge. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance at the Green Mountain Pharmacy in the Mountain Marketplace in Londonderry

Food and drink are not included in admission.

Dr. T and the Versatiles, with musicians from Southern Vermont and Western Massachusetts, play a variety of great tunes from the ’60s and ’70s. The band was formed by chiropractor Terry Ryan of Springfield. The band features Meredith Robinson of Chicopee, MA, as lead vocalist.
Ryan and Robinson will be joined by Ed Cohen on trumpet, Joan Timberlake on sax, Liz Ryan on trombone, Al Kuchas on guitar, Steve Osterlund on bass, Dan Williams on keyboards, Brian Morris on percussion and Mick Arace on drums.
The Parks Board has been fund raising since August 2013 to help rebuild the playground, resurface the tennis court and build a dog park at Pingree Park. The first $22,000 raised will be used to match a $22,000 grant that was awarded to Pingree Park by the state of Vermont. The Mountain Towns Community has raised $19,633.89 in support of this project.
For more on Pingree Park’s revitalization read this article in The Chester Telegraph.
– Compiled by Susan Lampe-Wilson