In Washington, this Colonial estate sits on over 46 acres and has protected views over the prestigious Hidden Valley Land Trust. The manor boasts an elegant interior design with an entrance foyer, eat-in kitchen, formal dining room, living room with fireplace, a library, six bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. Outside there is a massive 82-foot stone terrace with a plunge pool and encircling gardens overlooking the gently sloping landscape. Also included is a separate studio with kitchenette, in-law apartment, caretaker’s cottage, and a two-car garage. Listed for $3.491 million by William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty

Built in 1974, this home in Taghkanic has seen many improvements: a brand-new kitchen with stainless steel appliances, high-efficiency boiler, hot water heater, and gunite saltwater pool. The residence is situated on 176 acres with views of open meadows, woodlands, and the Catskill Mountain range. There are three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living room with views, dining room and wood-burning fireplace. Surrounded by mature maples and oaks with new specimen tree plantings, the property has many existing trails and land suitable for horses. Listed for $1.6 million by Gary DiMauro Real Estate.

Lisa Green reports from Pittsfield. The guitar is such a ubiquitous instrument that one tends to take it for granted. Until, that is, one takes in the Berkshire Museum’s current exhibition: “Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked the World.” The traveling collection, on loan from the National Guitar Museum, opened on Friday, May 19 with a debut party that featured music by the Berkshire Jazz Collective [at left] and food from Just Kickin’ It Bar-Be-Que. On display are 80 specimens of guitars (and guitar-like instruments) — many of them rare and antique. The exhibit also includes stations examining the science of sound, plenty of hands-on interactive stations, and videos and photographs of famous guitarists in history. The exhibit runs through Sept. 4.

Museum director Van Shields, board member Missy Scarafoni , Jen Hines and Steve Oakes; Maryellen Vincent and David Vincent with David Harrington of Lee Bank.

Jim Wojtaszek of Greylock Federal Credit Union, the exhibit’s sponsor, with Debbie Wojtaszek, who says her husband is “an awesome guitar player.”

Amy Bozek with Leah Thompson of BART Charter Public School; Alison Farkas and Matthew Farkas of October Mountain Financial Advisors.

Veronica Martin and Daniel Underhill.

Taking a special interest in the Fender Stratocaster are luthiers Darren Rahilly and Don Sweener, who own Firepit Guitars in Pittsfield; Ted Burdick, Chloe Geffken and Caroline Tegeler.

Matthew McLain serenades his colleagues from Greylock Federal: Meghan McGrath, Jordyn Mason and Kellie Canino.


Matt Scarafoni, president and founder of Scarafoni Financial Group and Dave Neubert; Ted DiPietro, a musician who works at General Dynamics and Alisa Costa, the initiative director at Working Cities Pittsfield.

The world’s largest guitar, certified by Guinness World Records, is 43.5 feet long and 16 feet wide.

Sunny Bettley releases the red-tailed hawk.

By CB Wismar

It’s an incredible thrill… a pure adrenaline rush… and it’s over in an instant.

The elegant bird, in this case a juvenile red-tailed hawk, has been in the care of the rehabilitation unit at Audubon Sharon for over a month. It’s about to be released.

Sunny Bettley, wildlife rehabilitation and outreach specialist at the Sharon Audubon Center, has supervised the raptor’s recovery from injuries that were the result of being hit by a car on the back roads of Lime Rock. 

“He had some head trauma and was really thin,” Bettley says as she reaches into the carrying case with heavy leather welding gloves and carefully extracts the patient. “As he gained strength, the bruises healed.”

Bettley is calm, almost serene, as the powerful bird sees the open sky for the first time in a month. “We let him gain strength in the fly cage,” she says, “then it was off to ‘mouse school.’”

Only when the rehabilitated bird can fend for itself, hunt and forage for its own food, will the center staff affect its release. “We provide quiet, heat and hydration to the birds, and pain medication if they have fractures,” Bettley explains.

The outreach specialist supervises the 30-plus volunteers who undergo extensive training before they deal directly with the birds. Great care is taken to not let the patient birds “habituate” and learn to rely on their caregivers.

“Stress is the number one killer of birds in captivity,” says Bettley, so the center works diligently to minimize the trauma of captivity and speed the healing process.

With no fanfare, just a gentle release, she lets the hawk move into the prevailing breeze, then watches as the young red-tail turns, soars, finds its bearings and settles into the top branch of a nearby oak. The moment of release, when the hawk regains its freedom, is pure magic… and over in the blink of an eye.

In the past year, over 750 animals — predominantly birds — have been brought into the rehabilitation unit at Audubon Sharon’s main center on Route 4. Quickly diagnosed and triaged, the “patients” are assigned cages and treated, carefully and respectfully, until they are ready for release.

Sean Grace

“Some of the animals have been too badly injured,” says Sean Grace, the center director who also serves as team leader for Eastern Forests. “And some will never be able to survive on their own.” Outplacement and careful selection of nature centers that can accept the birds is another activity of Audubon Sharon.

Unsurprisingly, the facility’s comprehensive services come at an impressive cost. “We’ve been fortunate to get grants from organizations such as the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation,” Grace says. “And the generosity of our community of friends is very important, as well.”

The annual Raptors and Riesling fundraising reception that benefits the rehabilitation program at Audubon Sharon will be held Sunday, May 28. Guests will enjoy the social aspects of the reception, but also will be able to explore the Center grounds and see, firsthand, the work being done there. 

The Center manages over 3,000 acres of wild lands in the Northwest corner of Connecticut and offers 10 miles of hiking trails. Educational programming is tied to area schools, and is supplemented by a summer camp and traveling programs. More than 5,000 students each year experience the conservation and rehabilitation work of the Center.

Walking back through the open field, Bettley and Grace look up to a cloudless sky and watch their latest release begin the great, looping turns of a hawk hunting for its prey. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” asks Grace, as they watch their skilled handiwork blend back into nature.

Audubon Sharon Center
325 Cornwall Bridge Rd., Sharon, CT
(860) 364-0520
For information and tickets to Raptors and Riesling, click here.

Jamie Larson reports from Pine Plains. The Pine Plains Memorial Hall was once a huge part of the town’s history. On Saturday, May 20, a day full of activities brought the community out to celebrate the groundbreaking of the long awaited restoration of the vacant town icon. The original Memorial Hall was constructed in 1915, but today the big brick building, its tall windows, crown of dormers and the grand theater inside are, admittedly, in rough shape. The mission of the renewal effort is to bring together the community and foster economic development in Northern Dutchess County and surrounding areas. With this restoration, the hall will be a vital part of the town’s future; plans are to make it a regional center for community-based civic and social programs, agriculture and arts education, cultural performances and a starting point for local charitable organizations. Now in its second year of a five-year planning, capital fundraising and construction cycle, there’s enough money to begin the first phase of the project. The man who got the ball rolling, PPMH President Jack Banning, said they’re excited for the innumerable possibilities for the venue. “The trick is that this can be done without taking ourselves too seriously,” Banning said, pictured at left with board secretary Hollis Bart.

The large assembled crowd cheered, “We dig Pine Plains!” as they ceremoniously shoveled out chunks of the Memorial Hall’s front lawn.

PPMH renovation architect Doug Larson and PPMH Executive Director Brian Keeler; Donn Potter, PPMH board member Claire Copley and advisory committee member Alan Eisenberg.

Head event coordinators for the Community Day, Chris Hedges and Jennifer Updike (fresh out of the dunk tank); Joan and Dick Dunham with PPMH volunteer communications representative and principal at VKLarson Communications Victoria Larson.

The atmosphere during the groundbreaking was decidedly jubilant, even after a full day of festivities.

Retired local farmer Barney Chase, attorney Charles M. Napoli with Judy and Tom Allen; Gallatin, New York Town Supervisor John Reilly emerges from the dunk tank.

Andres Vialpando and Anthony Silvia of Anthony Silvia Signs; Ann Simmons of the Little Nine Partners Historical Society with Brett McCormack and Josh Nathanson of Gathering Greens, which opened at the Grange Hall Monday.

The present condition and future vision for theater space in the PPMH.

Volunteer Gully Stanford and Louis Loeb; Ken and Ruth Noskin with their dog Rasa.

The current condition of the side of the hall, surrounded by partygoers; the future of the same view represented in model form.

Debra Bartlett and Gabriela Montenegro behind their booth for doTerra Wellness Advocate; Peter and Brittany Destler representing their family’s shop, A New Leaf Used Books.

By Nichole Dupont

MASS MoCA, the unofficial Louvre of the Northeast, is about to unveil its newly renovated Building 6 on Sunday, May 28. The 130,000 square feet of space will be the new home of changing exhibitions, long-term installations, and so much natural light that it can alter the mood of visitors, who will travel in droves to see Louise Bourgeois’ megalithic marble sculptures, the floating, breathing light of James Turrell, and the virtual realities of Laurie Anderson.

Building 6, with its rough-hewn floorboards, exposed brick and factory windows, is a masterpiece of which every corner should be explored, including the art. But to ground you on your journey through the totally reimagined 19th century industrial complex, here are six things not to miss in the magnificent Building 6.

1. Cosmic Latte
Spencer Finch returns to MASS MoCA — his work, What Time is it on the Sun? appeared in 2007 — with the whimsical, 80-foot Cosmic Latte installation. More than 300 custom LED fixtures hang from the ceiling, emitting a brownish-gold light that cannot be muted, even with the flood of natural light coming into the gallery space. The lights are arranged in the formation of the molecular model of the pigments that are used to achieve this “latte” color. And the shape of the entire installation is meant to represent the Milky Way as it would be seen (in our hemispheric sky here in the Northeast) in early spring. You don’t have to be an astrophysicist to bask in the warm light of these stars, but they will inspire you to think great things.

2. Joe Wardwell’s wall of words
You might just get lost in the Boston-based artist’s Hello America: 40 Hits from the 50 States, a layered “landscape” that covers the entire wall, floor to ceiling, of one of the gallery spaces. The background of the work is the sloping silhouette of the tree line on Mount Greylock. But the naturalism stops there, as layer upon layer of yellows, blues and pinks, then huge lettering, lead us into the foreground: 40 screen-printed texts. Song lyrics, campaign slogans, quotes and lines of poetry from brilliant minds like Hunter S. Thompson, Maya Angelou and Bill Clinton create a haunting homage to an American dream long ago shattered. You’ll want to spend hours reading each fragment, and contemplating “what’s next.”

3. The lightwell
At the core of Building 6, which is three stories high and includes a bike tunnel, is a nexus of stairwells and bridges leading from one exhibit to the next. At first glance, it seems like the decision to make part of the building “open air” was cavalier considering the fickle New England climate… but look up. A 20-foot-wide by 140-foot-long skylight has replaced the roof of the building, allowing for maximum light to pass through. Rain or shine, the light is perfect.

4. Barbara Ernst Prey’s commissioned watercolor
The unofficial theme of Building 6 is “larger than life.” This includes a 9-foot-tall, 16-foot-wide watercolor — yes, watercolor — painting of the interior of the building before renovations began. No detail went unnoticed, as Prey captured the breadth and detail of each column (there were 400), brick and beam, using the most unforgiving medium with the precision of a watchmaker. Building 6 Portrait: Interior is by far her largest commissioned work to-date, and may be the largest watercolor ever completed by a living female artist.
 
5. The disturbing documents of Jenny Holzer
This multi-talented, multi-medium artist leaves no stone unturned on the MASS MoCA campus this year. Carved benches, large-scale outdoor projections and early wheat paste posters present the breadth, and brevity, of Holzer’s long career of tapping into the public consciousness. The posters are drawn from interviews and official accounts found in the annals of Human Rights Watch and Save the Children. The words, printed on large, stark canvases, are haunting reminders that war and politics infiltrate and slash the everyday lives of people the world over. In addition to the wheat paste “classified” accounts, she has arranged two tables of human bones — vertebrae, femurs, shoulder blades — to illustrate the stark reality of a society steeped in conflict without end.

6. The eternal sound smile of Gunnar Schonbeck
You don’t need to be a musician to make beautiful music. No Experience Required features a repertoire of fantastical instruments — a nine-foot banjo, megalithic chimes, a larger-than-life marimba — all designed and crafted by the late Gunnar Schonbeck. Throughout his musical life, Schonbeck — a professor of music at Bennington College — created more than 1,000 instruments, welding together steel drums, pan pipes, zithers and harps from found objects. Visitors to the installation are invited to play for themselves this unique collection of instruments that have been used by Bang on a Can founding member Mark Stewart as well as Wilco’s Glenn Kotche.

Contributor Lisa Fielding is a private chef and boutique caterer based in Manhattan who weekends in Litchfield County whenever possible. Many of her Manhattan clients are also Litchfield County weekenders, so work brings her to Northwest Connecticut as well. A Los Angeles transplant, Fielding was a former Hollywood film executive who segued into screenwriting several years ago, which enabled her to pursue her passion for food and entertaining. Lisa’s culinary skill set draws from a broad spectrum of dishes and ingredients.

My job requires a lot of research, invention and creativity. I am always on the hunt for inspiration from cookbooks, my Instagram feed (devoted almost entirely to food), online recipes and, of course, what I like to eat. I have regular clients who also rely on me to bring innovative and delicious dishes to the table so they never have to bemoan the familiarity of what’s plated before them.  One client in particular enjoys an array of canapés before they sit down to dinner so there are times when I’m agonizing for just the right appetizer. At this point, I could write the ultimate appetizer bible. 

Last week was no different and I was so thrilled with these delectable morsels of goodness, layers of flavor and texture that they had to take center stage in my article. Introducing the ultimate leek/zucchini fritter as inspired by the great Ottolenghi. Words of caution: these are time consuming.  Or rather, a little complicated — but all of the steps insure that you won’t end up with a runny batter that will disintegrate when it hits the hot fryer. Instead, these fritters puff up and the end result is a doughy but not heavy poof stuffed with a medley of vegetables and exotic spices. Make these for your next cocktail soiree and I promise you will thank me in the morning. 

Leek & Zucchini Fritters
Makes around 3 dozen 2-inch diameter fritters. 
Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s “Plenty”

For the sauce:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 heaping tbl Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp. Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves
¼ cup snipped chives
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
¼ cup chopped capers

For the fritters:
3 medium leeks (I used red leeks), rinsed, dried, sliced in quarters and thinly sliced again
5 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 large zucchini cut into small dice
4 tbl olive oil
1 cup canola oil for frying
1/2 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup snipped chives
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg white
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tbl baking powder
1 large egg
2/3 cup milk
5 tbl unsalted butter, melted

Start by making the sauce. Put all the sauce ingredients into the bowl of a food processor except for the capers, blitz together until a uniform green, then turn into a decorative bowl for serving. Turn in the capers.

Over medium heat, sauté the leeks, shallots and zucchini in the olive oil until soft, about 15 minutes. Then transfer to a bowl and add the parsley, spices, sugar and salt. Leave to cool.

Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and fold it into the vegetables. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, egg, milk and butter to form a batter. Gently mix this into the egg white and vegetable mixture.

Place ¾ of the canola oil in a frying pan over medium heat about 4 minutes. To test, drop a bit of batter in the oil, if it sizzles and floats, oil is ready. Using a small spoon, drop the mixture (about 2 teaspoons at a time) into the pan and fry for two to three minutes a side, until golden and crisp. Transfer to cookie sheet covered with a double paper towel and repeat, adding oil as needed, until the mixture is used up. Serve warm with the sauce on the side. This goes great with a chilled Sancerre or Rose.

This architect-designed home in Copake was inspired by local vernacular with a contemporary take on the New England farmhouse. On 11.9 acres of direct waterfront on Snyder Pond (a private glacier pond noted for its pristine quality), the house has an open kitchen/dining/living room floor plan with wood-burning fireplace and cherry floors throughout. The master has a private balcony and there are an additional two bedrooms and two bathrooms. A Goshen stone patio looks out to the water and extensive acreage. Listed for $825,000 by Copake Lake Realty.

This contemporary farmhouse, known as Runaround Farm, sits on 12 acres in Austerlitz. There is a large kitchen that opens to a family room with a stone fireplace, formal dining room, living room, media/screening room and a wraparound porch. There are five bedrooms, including a spa-like master suite with a marble bathroom, dressing room and office area. Another one of the bedrooms spans an entire separate wing. The far-reaching grounds include a swimming pond and Hudson Valley views. Listed for $1,999,500 by Stone House Properties.

Farmhouse meets shingle-style at this four bedroom, four bathroom home in Sharon. Sited high on a hilltop, it offers views of Indian Lake and nearby fields. There is a chef’s kitchen, formal dining room with wood-burning fireplace, a living room with hardwood floors, four bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms and an oversized screened porch. Outbuildings on the six-acre property include a two-car garage and a garden shed equipped with electricity. Listed for $2.335 million by Elyse Harney Real Estate.

A 19th-century farmhouse has been renovated into a modern architectural masterpiece on 21 acres in Norfolk. The main floor includes a sleek kitchen, a combination living and dining area, media room, and studio with wet bar. The upper floors offer a master suite plus four additional bedrooms; the lower level includes a one-bedroom studio apartment, game room, indoor pool, and spa wing. The stone tower offers office space with 360-degree views and connects to an original barn structure with outdoor seating and a gazebo. Listed for $2.95 million by The Matthews Group.

A classic farmhouse in Chatham built in 1989 has been updated with impeccable finishes, a spacious open design, and fine mechanicals. Sited on a quiet country road, the house features a grand entry, twin living rooms, a dining room, chef’s kitchen, and a marble guest bathroom. A winding staircase leads to a center hall with a sitting room, master with ensuite marble bathroom, two guest bedrooms, and another full guest bathroom. Two expansive screened porches are used for summer dining and entertaining, and there is a stone patio, front porch and landscaped grounds. Listed for $639,000 by Gary DiMauro Real Estate.

In pristine and largely unknown Mount Washington, a farmhouse is set on a seldom-traveled road with 40 acres of fields and forest. This farm epitomizes comfort and heritage and has been a well-maintained and much-loved property over the years. The restored farmhouse has five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a country kitchen, and a great room that overlooks the swim pond and the meadow beyond. A separate guest house, barns, privacy and low taxes add great value. Listed for $1.45 million by Brockman Real Estate.

By Lisa Green

When we last caught up with Annie Selke, just a few months ago, the founder and creative force behind the Annie Selke Company was busy putting the final touches on her first consumer catalog. Like everything she envisions, that venture has been a great success; now proven, the catalogs will continue to roll out each season. Which means it’s time for the indefatigable doyenne of textiles and home goods to embark on another project (or two). And, in fact, a pair of new ventures are in the works, and we love that the Berkshires native is keeping them both — a pop-up shop and an inn — local.

First up, the Annie Selke pop-up store at 36 Main Street in Lenox, Mass. The diminutive space will be a showcase of the bedding; rugs; jewelry; art; tabletop, storage and decorative items; and other objets found in the catalog. Displays of product lines will change monthly; television monitors will feature the breadth of products and iPads will allow customers to shop the full Annie Selke inventory.

Top: Annie Selke pop-up shop; Bottom: 33 Main.

With space at a premium, the shop will be “an exercise in good editing and merchandising,” Selke says. “It’ll be helpful to have the big monitor so people can experience the depth of the brand.”

The pop-up store is scheduled to open in early June and will run for six months as a test. But we’re betting on Selke’s golden touch that the doors will stay open long after that.

Part of its success will likely be a by-product of the second project, 33 Main, an inn billed as an Annie Selke luxury lodging experience. If you’ve ever strolled the aisles at The Outlet at Pine Cone Hill in Pittsfield, you know that Selke’s entering the hospitality industry seems like a natural brand extension. Too, Selke’s peripatetic life gives her insight as to how to pull off a luxury inn.

“I spend 175 nights on the road in some form of hospitality,” she says. “I feel battle worn, and uniquely qualified to say what a comforting and comfortable lodging experience is.”

The real estate god must have known this, because it placed in her line of sight a handsome 1836 property for sale. She passed by and admired it every day on her way to work, and after a while of drive-bys, Selke felt like she needed to look at it. She asked her real estate friend, Kelley Vickery, to arrange a showing.

Annie Selke and COO Bob White.

“We kept looking at each other, saying, ‘it’s great, right?’ I brought in an architect friend and Bob White, our COO, and they all thought it was great, too.” And thus Selke added “inn owner” to her title.

Selke was in the process of finalizing the artwork for the inn when we spoke. She’s personally choosing all the furnishings, right down to the glazes and colors of the custom ceramics that will match the rugs and artwork.

The building, which has the perquisite “great bones,” is getting all-new bathrooms and plumbing, new tile and floors. Each of the eight rooms (two of which will be pet friendly) will be unique, offering changing showcases of fabrics and patterns from Pine Cone Hill, Dash & Albert and all the other lines. Mattresses are coming from uber-luxury brand Hastens (the bed of choice for the likes of Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bono); tiles are from The Tile Shop and wallpaper from Ralph Lauren Home.

“We’re getting down to the granular level on details,” Selke says. They’ve developed their own bath and body products with Farmaesthetics, and are even testing the toilet paper. Ironically, the sheets for each room have yet to be chosen.

It hardly needs to be said that the furnishings at the inn will be available for sale; that’s where the pop-up shop, conveniently located right across the street, comes in. 33 Main, slated to open in August, will be a living Selke lab that guests can try out and take home with them, if they choose. And who wouldn’t choose to take home a Pine Cone Hill bathrobe?

33 Main is slated to open in August.

Calling all antiques lovers, historic building appreciators and day-trippers looking for a new adventure: A day-long excursion in the Hudson Valley, hosted by the editors of The Magazine Antiques, is taking reservations for an outing on June 11. “Hudson Valley Sunday” includes tours of some magnificent properties — from private homes to a fabulous round barn — along with opportunities to shop (for antiques and otherwise), plus food and cocktails from some of Hudson’s finest purveyors. And one more thing: transportation is provided. But sign up quickly, because there are a limited number of spots.

Greg Cerio, editor-in-chief of the magazine, wanted to bring back the magazine’s tours; in the ‘80s, it hosted excursions through Europe. As a frequent visitor to Hudson, Cerio has created an appealing itinerary, and, notably, one offering easy access for New Yorkers.

The coach departs from the Hudson rail station and heads to its first stop, Edgewater [above], an 1825 neoclassical mansion on the banks of the Hudson River. The private home of historic preservationist Richard H. Jenrette, it’s a Greek revival jewel box that Jenrette has furnished with a mix of original and period pieces. Visitors will tour the grounds and a docent will be inside to talk about the art and furnishings.

The second stop is Abby Rockefeller’s Churchtown Dairy, an 1830’s farmstead (now a biodynamic farm) that features a stunning new round barn with a domed roof. If the weather cooperates, lunch will be here. If not, it’ll be at stop number three, the recently renovated Hudson Hall, formerly known as the Hudson Opera House, which was built in 1855 as City Hall.

Mid afternoon offers a break for shopping in Hudson, with discounts available at many of Warren Street’s antique shops, galleries and other stores.

The tour concludes with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres (from Talbott & Arding) at The Inn at Hudson, a 1906 Dutch/Jacobean house full of decorative flourishes, stained glass, and a garden that should be in full bloom on the day of the tour.

“It’s a great day trip with the opportunity for shopping, drinks and snacks built in,” Cerio says. “There’s real interest in it — we’ve already heard from people in Chicago, Columbus, Ohio and Virginia who plan to join us for the tour.”

Hudson Valley Sunday, hosted by The Magazine Antiques
Sunday, June 11, $275

The creative community turned out in force for IS183 Art School of the Berkshires’ Factory Gala on Saturday, May 20. This year’s fundraising event to celebrate and support art-making in the Berkshires was held at, fittingly, a former stationery factory in Dalton, Mass. Known for being one of the most imaginative parties of the season, the gala saw guests donning personas ranging from punk rock provocateur to Andy Warhol lookalike. Dinner was served by Chef Peter Platt of The Old Inn on the Green, and dancing was encouraged by DJ J-Wolf and the swirling projections of Joe Wheaton. The party raised a total of $65,000 that will go directly to support all that IS183 does to “inspire, educate and engage,” including Learning Through Arts, its after school, summer and residency program that uses art-making to engage children in some of the region’s lowest performing K-12 public schools to experiment, collaborate and create while helping foster conflict resolution and social-emotional skills, and reinforce academic goals. [All photos by Bill Wright and Edward Acker. Shown above, honorary committee member and Patron Star Paul Kopperl, IS183 Executive Director Hope Sullivan, and Patron Stars Marilyn and Nathan Hayward.]

Former board member and Hancock Shaker Village Executive Director Jennifer Trainer Thompson with IS183 Board Chair and Patron Star Andy Foster; Dr. Jon Gotterer, Dr. Nina Molin, Patron Star Tom Werman, and board member and Patron Star Suky Werman.

Event committee member Noel T. Henebury, Janine Strong, Reba Evenchik, and Berkshire Athenaeum Executive Director Alex Reczkowski.

Honorary committee member and Patron Star Marcia Feuer with Wendy Gordon; Shirley and Ira Yohalem.

Nancy Nogood, Oskar Hallig of Only in My Dreams Events, Boxxa Vine and Noelle Diamond; artist and Patron Star Henry Richardson and Patron Star Barrie Roman.

Honorary committee members, Patron Stars and Blue Q owners The Nash Family: Mitch, Mary, Seth, Suzanne, Caitlin, Grace Clark and Jasper.

Honorary Committee Member and Patron Star Natalie Johnsonius Neubert with honorary committee member and Patron Star Bruno Quinson; Tony Guthrie of Factory sponsor the 37 Interlaken Road Project with honorary committee member, former board member and Patron Star Vicki Bonnington.

By Dan Shaw

It’s befitting that the octogenarian producer and director of the plastic-surgery documentary “Take My Nose . . . Please!” doesn’t look her age. “Do you think I’d have gotten funding for this film and be taken seriously on the film festival circuit if I looked like a hag?” says Joan Kron, 89, who got her first facelift when she was in her sixties and wrote about plastic surgery for Allure magazine for 25 years. The indomitable and irrepressible Kron will be leading panel discussions about her debut film after its pair of Berkshire International Film Festival screenings on June 3 in Great Barrington at 9:15 a.m. and in Pittsfield at 1:45 p.m.

The film’s title is a takeoff on the Borscht Belt comic Henny Youngman’s most famous line — “Take my wife . . . please” — which makes perfect sense. “The only people who are honest about plastic surgery are comediennes,” says Kron, whose film chronicles the impact of forthright stars like Fanny Brice, Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields and Joan Rivers. “I thought I was going to make a documentary only from movie and TV clips but that’s very expensive,” says Kron, whose film is studded with clips from those funny ladies as well as other cosmetic surgery advocates like Cher, Jane Fonda and Roseanne Barr. “But what I learned is that a documentary has to have a narrative.”

So Kron, who’s been a story-telling journalist for more than 40 years, went looking for a few good women who’d be willing to let her camera crew trail them as they visited doctors’ offices and discussed their dreams and fears of correcting self-diagnosed facial flaws that undermine their self-esteem. “It’s a philosophical dilemma to alter your appearance just because you can,” says improv performer Emily Askin of Pittsburgh who Kron brings to New York for a consultation with a world-renowned surgeon.

The breakout star of the film is the 55-year-old Broadway character actress Jackie Hoffman [right] who is, coincidentally, the breakout star of the FX series Feud: Bette and Joan in which she plays the Teutonic factotum Mamacita to Jessica Lange’s Joan Crawford. Kron pursued Hoffman after reading a Wall Street Journal article in which Hoffman said the “biggest regret of her life” was not having the nose job her mother offered when she was sixteen. And then Kron discovered that Hoffman had written a song called “Pulled, Tucked and Lifted” that she performs in her nightclub act. “I almost died when I heard it!” says Kron. “It was karma. Jackie was meant to be in my film.”

Like the comediennes in her film, Kron knows that timing is everything. Her unparalleled career reflects the zeitgeist of the past seven decades. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, she made costumes for Howdy Doody, one of television’s first hit shows in the 1950s. As a restless wife of a Philadelphia physician in the 1960s, she organized groundbreaking Pop Art exhibits for Arts Council of the YM/YWHA of Philadelphia and collaborated on limited edition merchandise with Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Indiana. In the 1970s, she wrote for New York magazine, bringing a sassy New Journalism approach to design writing and then became the lead reporter for the launch of The New York Times “Home” section. Her resume also includes stints as a fashion reporter for The Wall Street Journal, editing Avenue magazine during the heyday of “nouvelle society,” her decades as a contributing editor at Allure, and several books.

The pivot to filmmaking included auditing a class on documentaries at the School for Visual Arts where the lecturers included D.A. Pennebaker and a class on Final Cut Pro, so she’d understand the nuts and bolts of movie making. Kron set up an editing station at her home office in Manhattan where she sat side by side with the film’s Emmy- and Peabody-winning editor Nancy Novack.

More challenging than directing the film was producing it. “I raised every penny myself,” says Kron. The money to finish the picture came from selling the URL facelift.com, which she’d owned for many years, for a “substantial” sum. “It was a miracle,” she says.

Now, Kron is busy on the festival circuit. She debuted “Take My Nose . . . Please!” at the Miami International Film Festival in March, where she won the Knight Documentary Achievement Award that came with a $10,000 prize. She’s recently been to festivals in Newport Beach and San Luis Obispo, and after BIFF she’s heading to another in San Francisco. While Kron exploits her octogenarian status for publicity purposes, she abhors the notion that her film might be graded on a curve. “Don’t be so surprised that somebody my age can make a movie,” she says.

One of our favorite events every summer is The Sylvia Center’s Farm-to-Table dinner, hosted by Great Performances in the fields of Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, N.Y. The mission of The Sylvia Center is to inspire young people and their families to eat well through hands-on learning experiences on the farm and in the kitchen. Kristen Jovanelly, garden educator and manager at The Sylvia Center, offers us recipes the teenagers are learning to make.

Of all the desserts to come out of the Sylvia Center kitchen, these tarts may be the most impressive. That’s because these apple, rhubarb and ginger mini tarts achieve the most perfect crunch-to-soft ratio of any 15-minute venture in the kitchen we’ve seen. The mini tarts allow everyone sharing in the meal to have an individual serving, requiring no messy and maddening knife decapitation of your once-pristine phyllo. Up the ginger in the recipe if you want to give your tarts a bit more of a bite especially since softening rhubarb in the butter really mellows the natural kick of rhubarb. These crispy tarts are an excellent way to showcase any number of seasonal fruits, or vegetables. Trust us, always make more than you think you’ll need, by double, or even triple. Light dessert mini tarts will have even the most reluctant dessert folks reaching for more!

Apple, Rhubarb And Ginger Mini Tarts
Serves 6

3-4 large apples, peeled and diced
4-5 stalks of rhubarb, diced
1 tsp fresh ginger (½” approximately), grated
4 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons of butter, separated
1 package of Phyllo dough (Note: buy night before and defrost in refrigerator.)
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. Heat butter in a pan and melt slowly to avoid browning. Pour half of melted butter into a small bowl.

3. Add apples, rhubarb, and ginger to pan. Sauté fruit mixture in the residual butter until soft. Add maple syrup to desired taste. 

4. Following instructions on box for handling phyllo dough, stack the sheets of phyllo dough and cut into 12 equal squares. Grab two sheets and brush some butter on the top sheet; stack two sheets and press them into a cup of muffin tin. Add a spoonful of the fruit mixture into each muffin cup.

5. Bake 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on rack and serve.