Wednesday, April 25, 2012

One Hungry Child at a Time

Kira Andreucci

17 million children go to bed hungry and wake up hungry every day in America. That’s 1 in 4. For 11-year-old Kira Andreucci from Fitchburg, MA that is not acceptable. Last year Kira took her birthday money and made “kidpacks”, bags filled with food for a few local students to take home. From this humble beginning Karing 4 Kidz was launched. United Way has entered Kira in their Community Builders Star Projects Competition and now Kira has a chance to win $1,000.00 to put towards more food for more children. Please read the article in today’s Fitchburg Sentinel, view Kira’s blog and vote for her and Karing 4 Kidz on the United Way website.


Monday, April 23, 2012

Books and Cooks

A few members of Books and Cooks
Todd and Sue Rowe, Paul, Kathryn Kay, Terry, Brian and Enie Quinn

We were so fortunate to have author Kathryn Kay and her husband, Robert Young, stay with us last weekend and discuss her new book The Gilder with our Books and Cooks reading group. If you are looking for a great read, don’t miss this book. Kathryn weaves a brilliant story of friendship, family, love, betrayal, and forgiveness. The Gilder captured my attention from the very first page and held it right to the bittersweet end. Thomas, Marina, and Sarah are fascinating, complex characters whom we come to know intimately through their human frailties. Great character development and Kathryn’s detailed description of Florence made me feel like I was right back there. I can’t wait for her next book.

Friday, April 13, 2012

You've got to have Art!

Fitchburg Art Museum
 Watercolor by Ann Capodagli


"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

The Fitchburg Art Museum's Best Art Museum Auction Ever! will begin on Friday, April 20 at noon and run for 2 weeks. During this event bidders will be able to select culturally rich, exciting, and valuable items! Get ready for a truly inspiring and creative adventure of bidding. Show your support by clicking on the Bidding For Good website which features donated items including a night at The Maguire House!

Every auction item purchased helps the Fitchburg Art Museum's world-class exhibitions, youth programs, and community engagement activities. Your generous interest and support is greatly appreciated. Contact your family, friends, and comrades about this once in a lifetime auction!




Monday, April 9, 2012

Fruitlands Museum, Harvard MA


Fruitlands opens for the 2012 season on April 15.
Fruitlands Museum, founded in 1914 by Clara Endicott Sears, takes its name from an experiment led by Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane, which took place here in 1843.
The complex includes:
The Fruitlands Farmhouse, the site of an experiment led by Alcott and Lane in 1843
• The Shaker Office Building, which houses the largest archive of Harvard Shaker documents in the world 
• The Native American Gallery, which houses a significant collection of artifacts that honors the spiritual presence and cultural history of the first Americans 
• The Art Gallery, containing 100 Hudson River School landscape paintings, and significantly, over 230 nineteenth century vernacular portraits, the second largest collection in the country.
THE SEARS SUMMER ESTATE

Sears maintained a summer estate and “gentleman’s farm” here along with the museum complex from 1914 until her death in 1960. During her lifetime, Miss Sears published several books, wrote popular songs for WW1, and ran a cannery and food drying charity, which sent 2 tons of food to the troops in the trenches of France. In 1930, the Fruitlands Museum, which continues her work in historic preservation, was incorporated.
ANCIENT GLACIAL LANDSCAPE

The property has a rich history and has been host to some of the most famous people in history. Thoreau walked Prospect Hill and admired its view. Emerson visited Alcott here, and Louisa May (then 10), would relate her experiences here in Little Women.
When Miss Sears looked out over the landscape at Fruitlands decades after Thoreau, she imagined the Nashua River valley and recalled the past people who contemplated that same vista in the past. Sears believed that our common experiences link us together across time.

Thursday, April 5, 2012


Cathedral of the Pines, Rindge NH

All Faiths, One Family, One Earth

If you are looking for a very special way to celebrate Easter,  the Cathedral of the Pines Easter sunrise service begins at 6:00 a.m. with the parking lot opening at 5:30. 


If you can't make it this Sunday make sure you put a visit to this incredible place on your "must do" list. It is a real treasure.