Tomorrow night (April 4, 2012) at the New Lebanon Library – Red Cross Disaster Preparedness and Citizen’s CPR
Disaster Preparedness teaches simple and effective steps people can take to protect themselves and loved ones during emergencies. When disasters strike, there isn’t always much time to respond, so it is important to be ready. Participants will learn to build an emergency preparedness kit, make a plan and stay informed.
Citizen CPR is a brief, non-certificate program teaching hands only CPR. It teaches easy and effective compressions which could improve the chances of saving a life. The mission of the Citizen CPR Foundation is to save lives from sudden death by stimulating citizen and community action.
Tonight at the New Lebanon Library – Women’s Clothing Exchange
Bring a bag of gently used, clean women’s clothing and accessories to the Library, along with an additional empty bag. After the swap, you’ll leave with a bag of “new to you” items. Any leftover items will be donated to Goodwill.
WHEN: Monday 3/26
TIME: 6:30 pm
WHERE: New Lebanon Library (550 State Route 20, New Lebanon)
Phone: 518-794-8844
Email: leb@taconic.net
This Thursday (March 22, 2012) the New Lebanon Library will host WRITE YOUR STORY!, a Free Memoir Writing Workshop.
“This workshop will focus on writing from personal experience, for writers of all levels. Participants will be given examples of short memoir pieces, and then work on writing exercises in response to the instructor’s prompts. Bring your own paper and pens, and be ready to share your stories!
Instructor Vivian Dorsel, editor and publisher of the literary journal Upstreet, holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing from VermontCollege of Fine Arts. She has coordinated and taught writing workshops in the Berkshires for a wide range of people, from secondary-school students to senior citizens, in venues such asWord Street, Taconic High School, and the Norman RockwellMuseum, and for the first four community reading projects inPittsfield, Massachusetts.”
I’ve driven by Meissner’s Auction House in New Lebanon 100s of times but, until this past Saturday, have never gone in.
Having no experience with the world of offline auctions, I was always hesitant to check out Meissner’s because of a few ill-conceived presumptions. For one, I always thought that the prices at an auction would be way more than my frugal budget could afford. I also assumed that walking into Meissner’s would be like infringing on a private club of old friends who wouldn’t take kindly to outsiders. Finally, I figured that there would be too many learning curves and obstacles to me taking part in something that I had never done before. I don’t know how to play poker but know enough to never sit down at a high-stakes game in a casino and I was worried that walking into Meissner’s or any auction house would be a similar mistake.
I could not have been more wrong about what lay behind the doors of Meissner’s. I stopped by earlier in the day with some friends to scope out the scene. We weren’t chased out (I really thought that might happen) or hassled by the staff who would know at a glance that we didn’t belong. In fact, we were left alone and allowed to stroll around and check out the items that would be coming up for auction that afternoon.
My friends and I spotted a few items that we loved and, after a lot of talk, decided to head back at 5pm for the auction. I still didn’t think that I would be able to afford anything but figured it would be fun. When we got back to Meissner’s at 5, the parking lot was packed and the auction house was filled with people checking out the items and buying food from the kitchen window. We still had no idea what to expect but registered for the auction and sat down.
The auction began with “box lots”, which were boxes of random small items. These boxes ranged from a collection of terracotta pots to stereo equipment to kitchen utensils and were selling for anywhere from $5 to $50. After the box lots, an endless parade of auctions items began making their way to the floor and people were winning all sorts of items from large cabinets for as little as $20 to beautiful, ornate mirrors for 100s of dollars. Finally, the item that I had my eye on–a leather, wing-back chair–came up for auction and after a few tense seconds, I won it!
My new leather chair
It took me years before I went into Meissner’s but I can guarantee that it will be a matter of weeks before I head back.
Meissner’s holds auctions every Saturday at 5pm. They are located on Route 20 (near Route 22) in New Lebanon, NY. You can stop by before the auction to check out the items or look at the listing online at MeissnersAuction.com..
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Community Film Night at New Lebanon Library presents “THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS”
The Economics of Happiness describes a world where communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization. This will resonate with the thinking of the Lebanon Valley’s growing local food initiative. This film makes important points, some of which are controversial and will make for lively discussion. Light, locally produced refreshments to follow. This program is cosponsored by the Lebanon Valley Business Association.
Columbia County Current 