The New Hingham Elementary School in Chesterfield will host its Second Annual Cabin Fever Dinner Dance for all residents of the Hilltowns on Thursday.
Sponsored by the New Hingham School Council and the Chesterfield Council on Aging, this multi-generational family event includes a family-style spaghetti and meatballs dinner, with traditional Celtic music and bluegrass tunes provided by Katherine First and the Kitchen Party Band.
According to New Hingham Principal Rosemary Larkin, this is an event that is not to be missed.
“People had a lot of fun last year. There was a good turn out and it was just a great night,” she said.
The Cabin Fever Dinner Dance is part of an ongoing initiative at the school to increase the number of inter-generational events it sponsors.
This event is funded in part by a multi-generational grant from Highland Valley Elder Services to the Council on Aging in Chesterfield and Westhampton and the New Hingham PTO.
“This give parents an opportunity to sit down and have dinner with their family while also socializing with other parents and people in the community,” Larkin said.
Whether one decides to go for just the dinner, just the dancing or both, the entire shindig is free.
Dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. with dancing from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.
Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis, though reservations are requested for purposes of event planning.
To make a reservation call Rachel Cenedella at 413-296-0000.
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Meekins Library in Williamsburg, five local women will lead an evening event entitled “Writing and Reading Through Illness and Caregiving.”
This event was inspired by the book “On Being Ill: with Notes From Sick Rooms,” which combines Virginia Woolf’s essay: “On Being Ill” with “Notes From Sick Rooms” written by Julia Stepher, Woolf’s mother.
Facilitators describe the book as one that offers companionship to people who face the solitude from everything from the flu and a toothache to critical or chronic illness. They say the book provides information and affirmation to those who provide caregiving to family members, friends and to clients in a professional setting.
Leading the readings, discussion, and a group writing activity will be Jan Freeman, director of Paris Press, and author of the book “Blue Structure”; Karen Kukil, associate curator of special collections at the Mortimer Rare Book Room and of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History Archives at Smith College; Nanette Vonnegut, a visual artist and writer; Amelia Stevens, a psychiatrist who specializes in psychopharmacology, geriatric psychiatry and substance abuse psychiatry; and Marya Zilberberg, a health services researcher, writer and professor of public health.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
For more information call Jan Freeman at 374-1799 or 628-0051.
If you are interested in rekindling the traditions of face-to-face conversations, sharing stories, reciting jokes or songs, and discussing local and global events around an outdoor fire or cozy fireplace, you may want to check out the Winter Mythic Fires held in Cummington.
The tone, topics and tenor of these gatherings are set by whoever shows up to participate.
The next events will be held on next Friday, Feb. 24 and March 24, all from 7 to 9 p.m. at the home of David Sprague, 17 Clark Road in Cummington.
Organizers encourage everyone to bring something to share or just come to listen to others. They also request that participants email or call to let them know they will be attending.
For more information contact Valerianna@verison.net 296-0330.
Ideas for the column on life in the Hilltowns can be sent to Fran Ryan at fryan.gazette@gmail.com.