Holiday Celebration with Thomas, Capote, Carols and Good Cheer, Sebastian Lockwood, Nanette Perrotte

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On Wednesday evening, December 19th at 7pm Sebastian Lockwood and Nanette Perrotte return to the Mariposa Museum for an evening of holiday warmth and good cheer, featuring the traditional readings of Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” and Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory”, interspersed with caroling and ending with wassail and holiday treats.

One of his most popular works, Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales is the retelling of Christmas from the view of a young child, set in the time of Christmases past and portraying a nostalgic and simpler time. Dylan Marlais Thomas, born in Wales in 1914, was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems, “Do not go gentle into that good night”, “Under milk wood”, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child’s Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

The short story, “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote was originally published in December 1956. It is a largely autobiographical story, which

A Celebration of Carols” Lachrimae of Franklin Pierce University; Mariposa Museum Peterborough

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On First Friday, December 7th at 7pm Lachrimae of Franklin Pierce University returns to the Mariposa Museum for their annual holiday concert.  Their program this year A Celebration of Carols explores the development of the Medieval Carol in 15th century England.  Dressed in period costume and playing early instruments including recorders, sackbut, harpsichord, they will perform eight medieval carols including Nova, nova!, Goday My Lord Sir Christemas, and What Tidings Bringest Thou, Messenger?, three solo songs from Shakespeare’s time, and the popular Gloucestershire Wassail.

Lachrimae, under the direction of Paul Scharfenberger, is a select group of singers and players made up of students, faculty and staff at Franklin Pierce University dedicated to performing the music and dance of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. They have been delighting area audiences with their unique blend of early music, dance and humor since 1979.

From 6-7pm there will be a reception for the ongoing exhibit My Lord What A Morning!— Wood Cut Illustrations of Black American Spirituals of Ashley Bryan.

From 5-6pm KidCraft: Holidays

All First Friday events and free and open to the public.  The Mariposa is wheelchair accessible.

The Epic of Gilgamesh” Sebastian Lockwood; Mariposa Museum Peterborough

Peterborough, New Hampshire -  On Tuesday November 27th at 7pm The Epic of Gilgamesh will be told by storyteller and poet Sebastian Lockwood. This dramatic reading is the story of Gilgamesh, King of Kings, who brought back knowledge from before the flood - who loved and lost his companion Enkidu and had to find out why we die.  It is the story of our journey into mortality and our desire to “live forever.” Gilgamesh does live forever by writing his story in stone.  The Epic of Gilgamesh was written on clay tablets over four thousand years ago, in what is today Baghdad Iraq - the Biblical Garden of Eden between the Tigris and the Euphrates. This is a story of the ages that works for all ages.

Sebastian Lockwood, poet, teacher and storyteller, has been performing as a traveling bard for six years. He studied classics, anthropology and Education at, Boston University and Cambridge University, UK. and has developed his unique telling style as a poet doing improv readings on the poetry circuit in New York City and Boston. As well as storytelling in schools, universities, conferences and clubs he teaches for several universities. For Lesley and Endicott he teaches in their creative Arts programs teaching the use of poetry, visual arts and storytelling in the classroom. For The Boston Conservatory he teaches a course on, Visual Anthropology. Sebastian has collaborated with his partner Nanette Perrotte, a jazz singer and composer on a number of projects.

Both Sebastian and Nanette will return to the Mariposa on December 19th for their traditional holiday program of Capote, Thomas and community caroling.

Admission to Gilgamesh:  Adult $12, Member $10, Child/student $5

Mariposa Museum is wheelchair accessible.

Revontulet and Oivan Ilo — A Celebration of Finnish Folk Music and Dance; Mariposa Museum.

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On Saturday, November 17th at 7pm Revontulet and Oivan Ilo return to the Mariposa Museum for a lively performance of traditional folk music and dance from Finland.

Revontulet, meaning the "Northern Lights", is a Finnish Folk Dance group that has been performing for the past 55 years in the US and abroad. They are dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Finnish folk dance traditions. The dances, music, and traditional costumes are examples of those used in Finland during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Folk dancing in Finland originated with both peasants and the gentry. The most important common characteristic is that they have always been social dances, not competitive or show dances. Finland, a peace-loving nation, also does not have any war or sword dances that often popular in other nations.

The 1970's folk dancing in Finland had a renaissance. The Finnish Folklore Association of Helsinki is credited with its revival, spreading interest to students and intellectuals, who started collecting old dances and costumes thus rescuing them from oblivion. The Revontulet recently hosted a teaching session that brought new dances and music to their own performances.

The Finnish folk music group, Oivan Ilo ("Oiva's Joy"), was named for Oiva Anderson, who was from New Ipswich, where he grew up speaking Finnish at home. At first, his daughters had a small family group that played the traditional Finnish folk music, and they called themselves Oivan Tytöt (Oiva's Daughters). But as other friends got involved, including a few males, the name was changed to Oivan Ilo.

Admission: Adult $12, Members $10, Child/Student $5.

Mariposa Museum Geography Challenge Community Event; Peterborough Townhouse, Peterborough

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On Oct 14th the Mariposa Museum’s Second Annual Geography Challenge will be held at the Peterborough Townhouse.  This community event, free and open to the public, begins at 12 noon with time for lunch and to shop from the international food and gift bazaar.  At 1pm the Geography Challenge begins with spirited competition between 15 teams of three, comprised of contestants of varying ages and inclinations.  Questions about all aspects of our world begin easy and increase in difficulty as teams are eliminated.  The teams are encouraged to wear costumes and the audience will vote on which is the most original.

The afternoon of the Geography Challenge also culminates the Mariposa’s ongoing “Destination Raffle” offering weekends in New York, Boston and Martha’s Vineyard and a National Geographic globe.  Raffle tickets are currently available to the Mariposa and online at www.mariposamuseum.org.

This fundraiser supports the Mariposa’s education programs, performances and exhibitions.

The Townhouse, located at 1 Grove Street, is wheelchair accessible.

"Mariposa Afternoons" begins; Mariposa Museum, Peterborough

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On Oct 17th at 2pm the fifth season of the Mariposa Museum’s “Afternoons” begins with A Time to Dance, presented by author and photographer Richard Nevell.  He will screen two films, Country Corners and Full of Life A-Dancin’ which capture the importance of traditional country dancing in New England and Southern Appalachia respectively, from colonial times to the present, and illustrate how dancing served to foster a sense of community in rural America.

The two films co-produced by Richard Nevell and filmmaker Robert Fiore, were funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and broadcast as PBS specials.

On October 24th, for the presentation Textiles and the Stories They Tell, Terry Reeves, Education Director at the Museum will share examples of textiles from the Mariposa’s extensive collection to explore how the design elements, the use of fabrics, colors, and especially subject matter tell the stories of other cultures.  Over the centuries these textile artifacts and their stories have been significant in preserving the history and tradition of many peoples throughout the world.

On November 7th at 2pm in her program Baked Beans and Fried Clams--How Food Defines a Region Edie Clark, notable editor and journalist, offers a celebration of baked beans, fried clams, fish chowder, Indian pudding— classic foods distinctive to New England. Drawing from such diverse resources as Fannie Farmer, Julia Child, Haydn S. Pearson and her own vast experiences for enlightenment and amusement, she will lend perspective on how contemporary life has distanced us from these regional classics.

Storyteller/historian Jo Radner will present Braving the Middle Ground Stories of Pre-Revolutionary Northern New England in the final program in the “Afternoons” series on November 14th at 2pm.   She will tell the tales that defined New Englanders in the 17th and 18th centuries, shaping their identities and view of the world. Juxtaposing Native American oral traditions and stories told by her New England ancestors she will reveal a complex “middle ground” in which English settlers and Native peoples saw one another as defenders and trespassers, relatives and aliens, kind neighbors and ruthless destroyers.

All presentations begin at 2:00 pm, followed by refreshments.  The programs on November 7th and November 14th are free thanks to a generous sponsorship from the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  The other programs are $5 per person, Members free.

Mariposa is wheelchair accessible.

Press Contact: Mose Olenik
Mariposa Museum & World Culture Center
26 Main Street
Peterborough, NH  03458
603-924-4555

"A Haunting Evening of Shadow Puppetry" Librarian & Puppeteer Evan Bush; Mariposa Museum, Peterborough

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On Oct 26th at 6:30pm the Mariposa invites families to join them for an evening of spooky stories and Halloween shadow puppetry with storyteller and puppeteer Evan Michael Bush.  The haunting evening, featuring A Woggle of Witches, based on the book by Adrienne Adams and The House That Drac Built, based on the book by Judy Sierra, promises to be fun for all ages.

Evan Bush is currently the Youth Services Librarian at Derry Public Library.  He has an undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education and an advanced degree in Library Science.

Admission to A Haunting Evening of Shadow Puppetry is Adult $7, Child $5, Members Free.

Mariposa is wheelchair accessible.

LARGEST EVER MONADNOCK WELLNESS FESTIVAL SET FOR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

Peterborough, New Hampshire - Organizers of the Monadnock Wellness Festival say there will be something for every member of the household, whether human or animal, at this year’s event scheduled for Saturday, September 29th. As in the past, all activities will be held in and around the Peterborough Town House from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. .  The seventh annual Wellness Festival will be the largest ever staged by the Monadnock Rotary Club, as more is being done to engage children and teenagers in establishing healthy living habits.

The theme for the 2012 festival is “People, Pets, Soup”,  and Wellness Festival committee chair Robin Eichert says, “In addition to the health screenings, live entertainment and the exhibitors who share a wealth of knowledge about healthy living choices people have come to expect, we have added more activities for families this year.  The River Center’s Farm to Table project will be holding an interactive salad making session for children and we will be partnering with the ConVal Wellness Committee’s Walk for Wellness, which starts at 9 on Saturday morning behind the Toadstool Bookshop.  We expect these two events will attract more young people to our Festival.  Also, our pet-related offerings are expanding to include more demonstrations,  educational seminars with cat and dog behavior experts, including a session on dog bite prevention.  Our popular soup competition will once again bring some of the best chefs in the Monadnock region together to show who makes soups that taste good and are good for you.”

The pet related activities will take place from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  in the courtyard between the Town House and the Historical Society.  Pet-related  services and exhibitors will be on Grove Street.  There will also be healthy food from the Monadnock Community Hospital food wagon.  The Red Cross Bloodmobile will be at the parking lot on 45 Main Street near People’s United Bank.  The Soup Tasting will be held from 12:30 to 2:00 behind the Historical Society building.

Proceeds from the Wellness Festival will be donated to the Healthy Teeth to Toes Program of Monadnock Community Hospital and to other local organizations promoting healthy living. The Healthy Teeth to Toes Program will also be holding a raffle at the festival to promote its “5,2,1,0 be a healthy hero” initiative.

The Platinum sponsors for this year’s Monadnock Wellness Festival are CIGNA and One Stop Country Pet Supply.  Gold sponsors are the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, Bentley Commons of Keene and Monadnock Community Hospital.
     
The Monadnock Rotary Club is based in Dublin and is dedicated to community service.  The Club’s primary interests are youth development and health advocacy for people of all ages in the Monadnock region and around the world.  The Club is part of Rotary International, a worldwide service organization of more than 1.2 million members.

All You Jim Crow Fascists!—Musical presentation by Dr. Will Kaufman

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On Friday, September 14 at 7 pm the Mariposa Museum will host All You Jim Crow Fascists! presented by Woody Guthrie scholar, Dr. Will Kaufman in the barn at Four Winds Farm in Peterborough.  Will Kaufman’s new musical presentation explores Woody Guthrie’s anti-racist songs and activism. Conventionally known for championing unions and poor white Dust Bowl migrants, Guthrie also left an extensive body of songs condemning Jim Crow segregation, race hatred and racial fascism. Most of these songs were never recorded, but remain a legacy of Guthrie’s personal transformation into a committed civil rights activist, working and singing with the likes of Lead Belly, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Paul Robeson in the 1940s and 50s. Along with Guthrie’s lifetime body of work, it is a heartening and uplifting legacy.

Dr. Will Kaufman is Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Central Lancashire in England and the author of Woody Guthrie: American Radical (University of Illinois Press).

Admission is $15, Members $12.  Reservations recommended by email: admin@mariposamuseum.org or telephone: 603.924.4555.

All You Jim Crow Fascists! is part the Museum’s ongoing exhibition This World is Your World—Woody Guthrie and the Art of Change. (Aug 1-Oct 31)

The Mariposa gratefully thanks Duffy and Rick Monahon for hosting the event at their barn at Four Winds Farm.  Directions are on the Museum’s website (www.mariposamuseum.org).

Film & discussion: 1913 Massacre-Inspired by a Woody Guthrie Song, Filmmakers Ken Ross & Louis Galdieri

Peterborough, New Hampshire - On Saturday, September 22nd at 7pm, filmmakers Ken Ross and Louis V. Galdieri will present and discuss their film, 1913 Massacre. This new documentary accompanies singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie to Calumet, Mich., a once-thriving mining town still haunted by the tragic events that inspired Woody Guthrie's famous ballad, 1913 Massacre.

On Christmas Eve, 1913, the striking Italian miners of Calumet gathered with their wives and children for a holiday party at Italian Hall. After the festivities began, someone — to this day no one knows who — yelled “Fire!” The miners, their wives, and children made a mad rush for the stairs, but found the door locked.  In the ensuing chaos, 74 people were crushed and suffocated to death, 59 of them children. There was no fire.

In the version of events that found its way into Woody's song, the "copper-boss thug-men" had plotted to yell “Fire!” while holding the door of Italian Hall shut, preventing escape. The town itself is still divided over exactly what happened. And no one can explain why Italian Hall was torn down in 1984.

1913 Massacre includes interviews with the last living witnesses of the tragedy and reconstructs Calumet's past from individual memories, family legends, and songs, tracing the event's legacy to the present day, as the town -- out of work, out of money, out of luck — struggles to come to terms with this painful episode from its past.

The film and discussion with filmmakers is part of the Mariposa's 3-month series, This World is Your World: Woody Guthrie and the Art of Change. The series also includes a panel exhibition Strokes of Electiricity; The Visual Artworks and Lyrics of Woody Guthrie open through October 31st, as well as numerous films and performances. Check the Mariposa website www.mariposamuseum.org for a full calendar of events.

Admission $10; Members $7.

The Mariposa is wheelchair accessible