May events at the Roeliff Jansen Library

COPAKE — Imagine. Think. Connect. That’s the motto of the Roeliff Jansen Community Library, and during the month of May, there are plenty of opportunities to do all of that and more. Join the new Classic Mysteries Book Club; select great titles at the sale of books from the library of presidential biographer Herb Parmet; catch the documentary film, “Moms,” followed by a question-and-answer period with producer Peter Odabashian; bring the kids to Wii night; meet award-winning author/illustrator Emily McCully; or get hands-on instruction in a radio broadcasting workshop (ages 8 to 12).Ongoing•Mondays, from 8 to 9:30 a.m., Yoga. Conducted by Roberta Roll. Weekly yoga classes are suitable for beginners and more advanced students. $20 per class or $95 for a series of eight classes. A portion of the proceeds helps support library programs.•Second Tuesdays at 5 p.m., Roeliff Jansen Community Library Trustee Meeting.•First Thursdays at 10:30 a.m., Friends of the Roeliff Jansen Community Library Meeting.•Second Saturdays, from 10 to 11 a.m., Dogs Love Books. Join Louise McCord and her canine companions, Tansy and Toast, in the Children’s Room on the second Saturday of each month from 10 to 11 a.m. McCord will read stories and kids can read to the dogs, too.May, ongoing•Tuesdays in May at 10:30 a.m. Children’s Story time: Colors. Join Emily Bennison for a Tuesday morning story and craft hour. Each week she will read stories and sing songs or make a craft focused around a certain color. Registration is suggested. For ages 2 to 3 and families.May programs•Thursday, May 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. Animation Night: “Tangled.”When the kingdom’s most wanted and most charming bandit, Flynn Rider, hides out in a mysterious tower, he’s taken hostage by Rapunzel, a beautiful and feisty tower-bound teen with 70 feet of magical, golden hair. (Rated PG, 100 minutes).•Saturday, May 7, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. “Moms: A Celebration of Real Mothers,” film with talk by producer Peter Odabashian.This documentary celebrates the spirit, strength, and diversity of motherhood (56 minutes). Viewers will hear stories from mothers from all walks of life. There will be a question-and-answer period following the movie.•Wednesday, May 11, at 7 p.m., Roeliff Jansen Community Library Book Group. The group will be discussing “Dragonfly in Amber,” by Diana Gabaldon. Facilitated by Taconic Hills Central School librarian Sharon Davis.•Friday, May 13, from 7 to 9 p.m., Foreign film: “Kolya.”In Soviet Czechoslovakia, middle-aged concert cellist and bachelor Frantisek Louka is strapped for cash, reduced to playing funerals, when a chance relationship results in his caring for a 5-year-old Russian boy named Kolja. Political turmoil is imminent on the eve of the Velvet Revolution, while Louka’s own emotional upheaval is just as unpredictable in this heartwarming, Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning tale. •Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m., Friends Speaker Series: Emily Arnold McCully.Local award-winning author and illustrator and Chatham resident, Emily Arnold McCully will discuss illustration as a narrative tool, picture books, story and history. •Thursday, May 19, from 4 to 6 p.m., Roe Jan Radio Rookies.Work in small groups in this hands-on workshop to create fun, dynamic radio for broadcast on the new community radio station, WGXC 90.7FM. For youth ages 8 to 12.•Thursday, May 19, from 6 to 8 p.m., Wii Night.The Wii will be available for game play. All ages are welcome (suggested 6 and up). Turn-taking is required.•Friday, May 20, through Sunday, May 22, Friends Book Sale.This sale includes the books from the library of Herb Parmet, former Hillsdale Town Historian and presidential biographer. The sale will be held during the library’s regular hours except on Sunday, when it will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.•Sunday, May 22, at 4 p.m. Guest speaker: Jeff Wise.Science writer and Hillsdale resident Jeff Wise will speak about his latest book, “Extreme Fear, the Science of Your Mind in Danger.”•Tuesday, May 24, at 10:30 a.m. History of Mysteries Book Group.A new book group meeting at 10:30 a.m., on the fourth Tuesday of each month, discussing classic mysteries from all periods of the mystery genre. The group will kickoff on Tuesday, May 24, discussing Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” published in 1842 and considered the first true mystery story.Submitted by Howard Van Lenten, Roeliff Jansen Community Library president, Board of Trustees.

Latest News

Stissing Center announces expansive 2026 season
The opening of the 2026 season at The Stissing Center on Jan. 31 will feature Grammy winner Rosanne Cash(pictured with John Leventhal).
Vivian Wang

There’s something for everyone at the Stissing Center for Arts & Culture, the welcoming nonprofit performing arts space in the heart of Pine Plains, New York. The center’s adventurous 2026 season is designed to appeal to all audiences, with a curated mix of local and visiting artists working across a range of disciplines, from bluegrass to Beethoven, from Bollywood to burlesque.

The season opens Saturday, Jan. 31, with Spark!, a multimedia concert that will also preview the center’s fifth year of presenting performances that inspire, entertain and connect the community. Spark! features Grammy Award-winning Rosanne Cash, one of the country’s preeminent singer-songwriters, whose artistry bridges country, folk and rock with a distinctly literary strain of American songwriting.

Keep ReadingShow less
American Mural Project names new executive director

Jennifer Chrein is the new executive director of the American Mural Project.

Provided

When Jennifer Chrein first stepped inside the cavernous mill building on Whiting Street in Winsted and looked up at the towering figures of the American Mural Project, she had no idea what she was walking into.

“I had been invited by a friend to attend an event in May 2024,” Chrein recalled. That friend, she said, had a ticket they couldn’t use and thought she’d enjoy it. “I didn’t know anything about AMP. I didn’t Google it — nothing.”

Keep ReadingShow less