This Week >> 9/18/2008
This week Susan and Michael visit the Berkshire Mountains in south-western Massachussetts, where the arts, landscape, local cuisine and hospitality all come together. You'll learn about some of America's best known museums, theatres, cultural centers, and more. As this is the start of the Fall season here when the Autumn colors start to shine, you'll travel the quaint New England towns where colonial history is an everyday journey, thanks to our efficient new Ford EDGE Ltd. motor car.
To view the website of the Berkshires Visitor's Bureau, click here
Guests
Ventfort Hall Mansion And Gilded Age Museum
Jeffrey Folmer has worked in the non-profit, governmental and private sectors, and brings to the position 20 years of experience in administration, fundraising, public relations/marketing, education, and community relations.
Folmer spent four years as national director of a fundraising/educational program at the National Audubon Society in New York City. He was in charge of developing programs, creating nationwide promotional campaigns, organizing community volunteers across the country and raising over $1 million annually.
Prior to that, he spent 12 years as a community relations manager with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Working with citizens' groups, the press, elected officials, schools, non-profit organizations, and others, he helped to coordinate statewide public education and other community programs.
Folmer also worked for the American Cancer Society in Meriden, Connecticut, organizing award-winning community fundraising events. More recently, he was Director of Development at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.
Folmer has a performing arts background as well, touring nationally as a singer/songwriter, and operating his own performing arts agency.
About Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum
Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum carries the Gilded Age into the future through interpretive tours, exhibits, lectures, musical and theatrical performances, children's programs, Victorian Teas, "Picnics on the Porch," and more! This magnificent Berkshires "Cottage" has undergone substantial restoration (ongoing) to return the mansion and grounds to their days of splendor. The property has a fascinating history, beginning with a connection to the Civil War hero Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who led the first African-American regiment of the Union Army (subject of the film Glory). Ventfort Hall is also familiar to many as the exterior set for the Academy Award-winning film The Cider House Rules. Built in 1893 by Sarah Morgan, sister of the financier J.P. Morgan, the building went through a number of incarnations before opening to the public as a museum and cultural venue. Open daily, year-round and available for private rentals, Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum is a non-profit organization listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is an Official Project of Save America's Treasure's. Includes: "Les Petites Dames de Mode" (The Little Ladies of Fashion) - 60 exquisite, 29-inch tall mannequins portraying fashion's history from 1855 to 1914 – each a work of art. Among our upcoming events: December 1, through January 1 – "A Home for the Holidays" Ventfort Hall will be beautifully decorated for the holiday season, and will present special holiday events.
To visit Ventfort Hall's official website, click here
Berkshire Theatre
Kate Maguire is the Artistic Director and CEO of Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She has worked at the organization for 14 years. Originally from Lowell, Massachusetts, she is also a well-respected actress. Her most recent appearance was as Amanda in The Glass Menagerie at Berkshire Theatre Festival's Unicorn Theatre last season.
About Berkshire Theatre
Berkshire Theatre Festival celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, making it the third oldest professional regional theatre in the United States and the longest-running cultural organization in the Berkshires. Now under the leadership of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, BTF presents theatre that matters—world premieres, contemporary works, and classics that speak to who we are in our world today. The Main Stage (408 seats), cataloged by the National Register of Historic Places, was originally designed and built by Stanford White as the Stockbridge Casino in 1888. The mission of BTF's second stage, the intimate Unicorn Theatre (122 seats), is to provide a home for emerging artists and new theatrical ideas. BTF's education program, BTF PLAYS!, reaches over 10,000 children annually through school residencies, touring performances, and summer performance training and writing programs. During the summer months BTF opens its doors to over 75 administrative, acting, and technical interns and apprentices.
For more information, see www.berkshiretheatre.org
Berkshire Visitors Bureau
As the CEO of the Berkshires Visitors Bureau, Lauri brings over 15 years experience in destination marketing. She has expertise with both consumer and BtoB marketing and has spearheaded efforts for both private and public entities. Lauri was appointed by the Governor to be the Director of the State of New Hampshire¹s Division of Travel and Tourism for 8 years and in the Division of Economic Development for six before that. A New England transplant, she now enjoys the Arizona warmth but misses her beloved Red Sox.
On any given day she is looking for unique ways to help marketing organizations utilize technology to their advantage without the fear that exists when tech-talk takes over.
John Parker, Executive Director
Berkshire Botanical Garden
John J. Parker is Executive Director of the Berkshire Botanical Garden, a position he has held since May 1997. Originally from Pennsylvania, John holds a B.S. in Secondary Education and an M.Ed. in Recreation and Parks, from Pennsylvania State University. He also completed two years of graduate study in botany at Washington State University. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Parker has worked as a science teacher, park ranger and naturalist, grant writer and non-profit manager. He has served as the director of the Pember Museum of Natural History (Granville, NY), the Connecticut Audubon Society Holland Brook Center (Glastonbury, CT), and the Merck Forest & Farmland Center (Rupert, VT). He currently lives in West Stockbridge, MA, with his wife Lisa, a garden designer, and their son Collin.
About Berkshire Botanical Garden
Located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the Berkshire Botanical Garden features colorful perennial and annual gardens, a terraced herb garden, pond garden, rock garden, ornamental vegetable garden, greenhouse and other specialty collections, a woodland interpretive trail and more. The Garden is a regional center for horticultural and environmental education. Classes, workshops, lectures and other educational programs for adults and children are offered throughout the year. Tours and school programs are available by reservation. A Horticulture Certificate Program is also offered for gardening and landscaping professionals as well as serious home gardeners seeking more in-depth training.
The Garden is also the site of popular special events including the Plant Sale, Flower Show, Stockbridge Summer Arts & Crafts Show, Harvest Festival, and Holiday Marketplace. Seasonal outdoor exhibitions are also offered. The Visitor Center includes a gift shop with herb products made at the Garden, plus books, gifts, and many other garden-related items. Open 10-5 daily May through Columbus Day, the Berkshire Botanical Garden is located at the intersection of Routes 102 and 183 in Stockbridge.
For more information, call 413-298-3926, or visit their web site at www.berkshirebotanical.org
Kim Noltemy, Marketing Director
Tanglewood
Kim Noltemy is the Director of Sales, Marketing and Communication for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood. Ms. Noltemy is responsible for approximately 35 million dollars in ticket sales in addition to the BSO's marketing strategy, corporate communications, customer service, press strategy, merchandise sales, corporate sponsorship, and web site management. Prior to joining the BSO, she directed the international marketing program for the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism where she led the first tourism missions to Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. Ms. Noltemy is on the Board of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, and has served as President of the Boston Arts Marketing Alliance and as the Co-chair of the Cultural Tourism Committee of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitor's Bureau. She has done consulting work for several arts organizations including the London Philharmonic, a consortium of Russian music organizations, and the Brevard Music Festival. In addition, she does consulting projects for Global Marketing, an international communications firm.
About Tanglewood:
Established in 1940 by former Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Serge Koussevitzky, the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) provides a unique, in-depth musical experience for emerging professional musicians of exceptional ability. Participants in the program, who all attend as Fellows of the Music Center (with costs of tuition, room, and board covered by their fellowships), work with internationally renowned artists, including members of the Boston Symphony, resident faculty, and guests.
Katherine Myers, Director of Marketing and PR
MASS MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Art)
Katherine Myers is the Director of Marketing and PR for MASS MoCA. She has been with the museum since about a year before it opened in 1999. Prior to working for MASS MoCA she was the publicist for Storey Books. She graduated from Williams College quite a few years ago with a degree in Art History.
About MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA is the largest center for visual and performing arts in the United States. It is housed on a campus of restored century old factory buildings in North Adams in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. Since its founding, MASS MoCA has presented some of the most evocative -- and provocative -- art being made today. In November the museum will open a major long-term retrospective of the work of Sol LeWitt.
For more information visit www.massmoca.org