Isle of Klezbos brings its high-energy, all-women klezmer to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains on Saturday, March 7. Touring internationally since 1998, the ensemble blends neo-folkloric originals and reimagined Yiddish classics in a style dubbed “cutting-edge klezmer” by New York Magazine.
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Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.
L. Tomaino
“I was a library kid. I walked to the library after school,” she said.
For Sher, the library is as much about the people as it about the books.
“Part of the job I love so much is that running the library is such a community,” she said.
She treasures the relationships she has built, whether recommending books, celebrating accomplishments or helping patrons through difficult times.
“I am thankful that our community is so supportive of the library, unlike what is happening in some other places where librarians are villainized,” Sher said.
Sher takes pride in the Hunt Library’s reputation for being “open and welcoming to everyone. People come in and see things and get pulled into things they weren’t expecting. Our library is seen as a positive force.”
Sher came to Falls Village after being awarded a fellowship at Adamah Farm, then a program of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. She worked at pickling, in the greenhouse and later in the development office. She also worked as a nanny.
At the same time, “I was in the library all the time,” she recalled. “I’m a voracious reader. The library is where I met a lot of my first friends in Falls Village.”
She became assistant librarian at Hunt and worked in that position for almost a decade before becoming the executive director four years ago.
Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.L. Tomaino
Sher met her husband, Adam, while working at Adamah. They had their wedding there in 2012. He now emcees many events which she co-organizes with the Falls Village Recreation Commission.
Sher and her family live near the library.
“It’s an easy commute,” she said with a smile. “My kids run back and forth. I can go home to walk the dog if I need to.”
“My kids have grown up here.” Her oldest son, Eli, “loves volunteering. He helps with Augustfest and often helps set up chairs for ArtWall gatherings.” Her younger son, Noah, is often at events and was eager to taste cookies at last year’s holiday cookie swap.
When she is not at the library, Sher likes to hike with her family. Bella, their Portuguese water dog, often accompanies them.
Sher enjoys seeking out people to offer events at the library.
“I do a lot of different community programming. It is one of my favorite parts of the job.”
Augustfest, featuring food, music and an auction, is the library’s biggest fundraiser.
“This summer we had a record 152 attendees, which was pretty incredible.”
Yonah Sadeh, a filmmaker from Falls Village, inaugurated the VideoWall this year, Sher explained.
“I’ve known Yonah since he was two. It’s wonderful to work with him as an adult.”
The VideoWall complements the library’s ArtWall, which showcases a new artist each month. Sher praised the ArtWall committee for its work and highlighted December’s popular “12x12 Show,” featuring works by local artists, each measuring 12 by 12 inches and priced at $150.
Sher added that some of the artists who exhibit at the ArtWall offer workshops to students at Kellogg School, next door to the library. In September, artist Danielle Mailer worked with the children. Vincent Inconiglios taught a class last November.
Being next to the school, said Sher, is a great advantage.
“Kids are coming after school, to see friends, work on projects, find a great book. Kids that love the library end up using the library as grownups.”
This past year, in partnership with Adamah, the library and school created a garden, with excess produce made available at The Center on Main.
This year is Sher’s second year participating in the Troutbeck Symposium in Amenia with James King, director of the library at Salisbury School. The Troutbeck Symposium is “a gathering of a year of student historical inquiry across the region” in which students “uncover stories that have been overlooked, forgotten, or never recorded.”
Last year, Sher and King began a project with a group of students researching Irish immigrants in Falls Village, exploring ancestry and creating small magazines about their findings.
They continued this year, visiting St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery on Dublin Road, cleaning seven gravestones and even righting one with the help of stonemason and gravestone restoration expert Karl Munson. Paul Kozeazny, a representative of the Catholic archdiocese, helped secure access to the site.
A film documenting their activities will be shown at the symposium in spring 2027.
A full schedule of programs and events, ranging from tech help to ceramic mug-making, can be found on the library’s website.
Despite spending her days surrounded by books, and a busy schedule of programming, Sher still loves to settle in with a book at home.
For more information on library programs and events, visit huntlibrary.org
Erika DaSilva at Ten Mile Table.
D.H. Callahan
Of course, sharing information is the other big reason to hold a cookbook swap. More than most forms of literature, cookbooks have one overriding purpose: to share knowledge. Over time, cookbooks have undergone a whirlwind of changes. Scholars have noted that cookbooks of the past two or three centuries often contained language that reinforced the subordinate roles of women and people of color. On the other hand, many cookbooks were written for and by women who wanted to share hard-won wisdom from their experiences in those very roles, offering guidance to others in similar circumstances.
Problematic or progressive, cookbooks are, at their essence, are a way to help others become better cooks, bakers, mixologists, gardeners or providers of sustenance. Unless there’s an amazing chef in your life, chances are many of your best home-cooked meals come from recipes that have been shared. The cookbook swap offers a chance to keep that tradition alive.
For the past two weeks, DaSilva has been busy gathering donations from bookstores, restaurants and enthusiastic members of the culinary community. Those books will fill a long swap table (though probably not 10 miles long) in the garden of the Lantern Inn, next door to Ten Mile Table and run by DaSilva’s husband, Minh Le.
That table will be the heart of the cookbook swap. No money is involved. Bring books, take books, trade with friends. DaSilva believes people who participate in a cookbook swap are there to share, not hoard, so she isn’t placing rules or restrictions on what or how many anyone can take.
Beyond the swap table, DaSilva has partnered with Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook to offer a selection of cookbooks and books about food, many chosen by chefs and friends in the culinary world.
Some of the donated cookbooks that will be at the swap in Wassaic.D.H. Callahan
Some of those friends will be on hand to share their favorite recipes for visitors to sample. Wassaic favorite Vitsky bakery and former White Hart Inn pastry chef Gaby Rios will provide baked goods. Daniel Meissner, executive chef at Willa in Millerton, will serve soups, while his longtime cooking collaborator, Wilfrido Landaira, will grill yakitori.
The Lantern Inn will offer its grandma pizza slices bánh mì sandwiches. Meatballs and other delights will come from Fat Apple Farm, a sustainable livestock farm, while oysters will come from Millbrook’s Canoe Hill. Maitri Farm in Amenia will bring certified organic produce, jams and cut flowers.
Ten Mile Table will also sell its curated selection of wines, spirits, sundries and publications, with beverages for adults and all ages available to try and to buy.
As part of the fest, DaSilva is encouraging visitors to bring recipes that are meaningful to them so she can begin another community collection. While the recipes in “The Corner Table” come from food professionals, she knows that everyday home cooks sometimes have the most hidden gems.
Whether that collection becomes another cookbook will be determined by the recipes people bring. Nothing’s set in stone, but she has faith that the community will provide.
For more information about Cookbook Fest and Swap, visit tenmiletable.com.
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Composer and lyricistStephanie Salzman
Provided
The novel has been praised as a critique of the social and physiological costs of war. It asks whether a person can return to a familiar place when their understanding of the world has fundamentally changed. It is also a powerful study of the unequal treatment of women in the armed forces and the expectations placed on women both in the military and at home.
Two leading contemporary women artists, playwright Darrah Cloud and composer and lyricist Stephanie Salzman, are collaborating on the piece, which balances intimate family drama with the emotional intensity of a returning soldier’s experience.
Playwright Darrah CloudProvided
Cloud is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose work explores family, history, social conflict and people confronting difficult moral choices. She has also served as the elected town supervisor of Pine Plains, effectively combining her creative career with local government service.
Salzman is a songwriter, composer and lyricist whose career spans musical theater, commercial pop songwriting and artist development. She teaches at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program and runs Power Pitch Music Studio, where she coaches, co-writes, produces recordings and helps develop the careers of emerging recording artists.
“Be Safe, I Love You” has received support from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. It has been developed through Ancram Center for the Arts’ weeklong Play Lab residency program, leading to the upcoming presentation.
Play Lab is an important part of the Ancram Center’s seasonal programming and builds on its longstanding role as a cultural gathering place in rural Columbia County. The center is committed to the idea that theater can serve not only as a place where finished productions are presented but also as a safe home where the community participates in the questions, experiments and collaborations that shape new work.
While the work-in-progress presentation of “Be Safe, I Love You” at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Ancram Center is sold out, a free invited dress rehearsal will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. To attend, email info@ancramcenter.org.
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