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Pat Leach ~ 1765 Saturday, April 18th, 11:00 am, Milne Library

PatLeach

Pat Leach ~ 1765

Saturday, April 18th, 11:00 am, Milne Library

1765 is the year the settlement of West Hoosac became Williamstown!  In 2015, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Williamstown’s incorporation. Although, in 1765 our town had yet to produce any major writers, painters, musicians, ballet dancers, or soccer stars, there is still a lot of history to talk about!  

Williamstown residents of 1765 may not have left us a literary or artistic legacy, but they did leaves us a valuable and informative Proprietors Book, which miraculously did not burn in the Meeting House Fire of 1866.  The Proprietor’s Book will be our point of departure for an illustrated fly-over of the year 1765 in Williamstown, Berkshire County, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as well as Boston, London, and Paris.

Jim Kolesar ~ The History of Weston Field Saturday, March 28th, 11:00 am, Weston Field

jkolesar

The History of Weston Field  

Saturday, March 28th, 11:00 am, at Weston Field –

Weston Field, one of the college’s two outdoor sports facilities, embodies much of the history of athletics at Williams. Come hear about the facts and the lore associated with Weston, from its 1884 acquisition to its 2014 renovation and expansion.  There will be time for a tour of the facility with this talk.

Jim Kolesar, Williams class of 1972, has served as the college’s chief public affairs officer since 1984, following a career in journalism.  Since then he has chaired the college’s Communications Advisory Group and served as a member of the Advisory Group on Admissions and Financial Aid, the Strategic Planning Coordinating Committee, the Diversity Initiatives Steering Committee, and as chair and member of several search committees. He has also taught several Winter Study courses on journalism and on college communications.

Shape Note Music, Saturday, March 7, 11:00 am, Milne Library

Shape note

Singing School ~ Shape Note Music

Saturday, March 7th, 11:00 am, Milne Library

Shape Note Music, sometimes known as Sacred Harp Music, is an indigenous school of choral composition which dates originally from the late colonial/early federal era in our country.  Singing masters, such as Justin Morgan, or William Billings (see photo on left), would travel the countryside teaching parishioners to read music to improve their singing of the hymns on Sunday.  Come hear more about this unique type of music!

Singing School is a group of local amateur singers which can vary in number from four to a great unwieldy choir, but usually includes a core comprised of Deborah Burns, Karen Swann, Doug Paisley, Andy Burr, Jared Polens, Paul McFarland, and Amrita Lash.  All are enthusiastic singers of the early American music.  A popular example of a hymn which started in the Shape Note tradition is Amazing Grace. If you have never heard shape note music, this performance will show you that it is fun, uplifting, morbid, spooky, and loud – often all at once!