Happenings This Weekend: January 14 – 16, 2011

After all the snow of the past few days, everyone is starting to feel a little cabin-fever setting in. The forecast for the weekend looks clear so why not dig yourself out, bundle up and check out some of our area’s local events.

Friday, January 14

Linda Worster at New Lebanon Library
Local singer/songwriter Linda Worster will perform as part of the Library’s Coffee House Night performances series. Tonight’s event is billed as an evening of “wonderful music that proclaims the joy and explores the struggle of inner discovery.”
The Library is located at 550 State Route 20 in New Lebanon, New York. The time for this event is 6 to 8pm.

Folk Jam Sessions at The Malden Bridge Community Center
Ampersand holds a jam session on the second Friday of each month and they are open to the public. The session runs from 7:30 to 10:00pm at the Malden Bridge Community Center, located in the hamlet of Malden Bridge on the northern edge of Columbia County, NY.

The Music of ABBA with ARRIVAL From Sweden at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
Arrival From Sweden, the largest touring ABBA show in the world, faithfully recreates ABBA’s greatest hits, with a full backing band that includes original ABBA musician Mike Watson on bass. They tell stories about ABBA and everyone performs in copies of the original costumes.
The performance starts at 8pm and tickets range in price from $15 to $35. Click here for more information.

Saturday, January 15

The Wonderful World of Wordless Picture Books at the Roeliff Jansen Community Library
Kids ages 3 to 8, are invited (with their parents) to join this library event from 10am to 11am.  The Roeliff Jansen Community Library is located at 9091 Rte 22 in Copake, NY. For more information, call 518-325-4101.

“Here Comes Another Lesson” at Hudson Opera House
Author, Stephen O’Connor, reads from his latest collection of short stories, Here Comes Another Lesson (Free Press).
The reading begins at 2pm.

Winter Afternoon Discoveries Series at The Kinderhook Memorial Library
Families are invited to take part in this twist on Family Feud that pits kids (ages 2 to 5) against parents in a trivia-based contest.
The fun gets going at 4:30pm and is part of a monthly series of programs held at the library.

Albany Devils vs. Springfield Falcons at Times Union Center
The Albany Devils face off against the Springfield Falcons – a developmental professional ice hockey team in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL), based out of Springfield, MA.
The game starts at 7pm and tickets are $18.

Sunday, January 16

Learn-To-Skate at Albany Academy Field House
The Albany Figure Skating Club’s Learn-to-Skate program is designed for beginning skaters of all ages and abilities, from preschool to adult. Recreational, figure skaters, and hockey skaters are welcome, and more advanced beginner figure skating instruction and a beginner synchronized skating program are available.
Sunday’s event will be held from 12:30 to 2:30pm at the Albany Academy Field House, 117 Hackett Blvd., Albany, NY. Click here for more information.

Do you have or know of an event that you would like included in a future post? Leave it in the comments or email me at jeff@columbiacountycurrent.com.
Please note, event information is gathered from a number of sources both online and in print.

How Much Snow Did You Get?

I haven’t busted out the yard stick yet but the following picture does a good job of showing you how much snow we received in the latest storm.

The cone shaped item in the above picture is a bush planted in an urn. The urn alone is more than three-feet tall.

 

Biodynamic Winter Intensive 2011 Conference

The Biodynamic Winter Intensive 2011 Conference: Animals, Humanity and the Living Context of Agriculture, is a workshop for farmers, gardeners and others seeking a renewed relation to the land.

This week long conference is conducted by The Nature Institute and the Hawthorne Valley Farm Learning Center (Columbia County, New York) in partnership with the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association.

The Nature Institute and the Hawthorne Valley Farm Learning Center are offering two weeks of instruction to those seeking a fuller understanding of biodynamic agriculture. The first week will offer participants a way of becoming more perceptive land workers by deepening their observations of the qualitative and dynamic aspects of nature and by practicing flexible thinking in relation to animal and human development and evolution. The second week will extend these themes and introduce concepts and practices more specifically related to biodynamic agriculture, including: species-appropriate animal husbandry, holistic veterinary considerations, the evolution of the socio-economic context of agriculture, and the significance of farm individualization and the role of the biodynamic preparations.

The conference will be held February 13-18 and/or February 20-25. Fees are on a sliding scale: $250-450 for each week; or $400 to 800 for both weeks.(Fees for apprentices enrolled in the North American Biodynamic Apprenticeship Program are covered by the program.)

For more information, contact the Hawthorne Valley Farm Learning Center AT 518-672-7500 x 232 or email caroline@hawthornevalleyfarm.org

Another Snowy Weekend

It’s been snowing all morning on my peak in Columbia County and forecasters say it will keep on snowing all weekend long. I have plenty of confidence in the road-clearing crews who always keep us moving here in my neck of the woods, however, there is nothing more enjoyable than hunkering down and enjoying a snowy winter weekend in the comfort of your home. So I plan to run any errands that need to be done today; an afternoon pick-up at the Amtrak station in Hudson, stocking up on junk food, stacking the firewood by the door and buying that video game I’ve been meaning to play.

What are some of your favorite snow-day activities?