Join Master Gardener Diane L. Van Kempen to find out how you can identify and try to eliminate invasive species in your garden this year. All are welcome and no registration is required.

About Diane:
Gardening and teaching are key passions for Diane that were often combined during her 39-year career as a public-school teacher educating her students about native plants and pollinators. In her retirement, Diane became a Master Gardener and was a trained volunteer at New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, locating and identifying invasive plants and monitoring rare plants along the Appalachian Trail in the NY-NJ area. Upon moving to Williamstown, she has continued her focus on native plants and pollinators, become active in the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association and Bee Friendly Williamstown. Diane volunteers at various gardens in the area and has helped to install and maintain 3 native plant gardens.

“Curious Writers” meet at the library on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm - 8pm. We will meet for dedicated writing time with a focus on:

• Getting settled and acquainted

• Writing goals for the session

• One hour of concentrated writing

• Recap

Bring your laptop, journal, pen, and paper. At this time, the meetings do not include sharing writing for feedback. Feedback will be included if the group decides it would be beneficial (guidelines for feedback will be provided).

Anyone is welcome to come!

Space is limited, so registration is required. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

Join our Monthly Book Discussion. March’s Pick: Tickers by Paul Harding

The next meeting of our Monthly Book Discussion Group will be on Thursday, March 27 at 1pm. Come by the library to grab a copy of this book in regular print, large print, or audiobook.

All are welcome to attend (even if you haven't read the book!!) No registration is required.

“Curious Writers” meet at the library on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm - 8pm. We will meet for dedicated writing time with a focus on:

• Getting settled and acquainted

• Writing goals for the session

• One hour of concentrated writing

• Recap

Bring your laptop, journal, pen, and paper. At this time, the meetings do not include sharing writing for feedback. Feedback will be included if the group decides it would be beneficial (guidelines for feedback will be provided).

Anyone is welcome to come!

Space is limited, so registration is required. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

Join us for a screening of Owned: A Tale of Two Americas (2018), which asks the question, “Is the ‘American Dream’ of home ownership a false promise?” While the government’s postwar housing policy created the world’s largest middle class, it also set America on two divergent paths – one of perceived wealth and the other of systematically defunded, segregated communities.

Free admission. No reservation required.

WATCH THE TRAILER.

“Curious Writers” meet at the library on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm - 8pm. We will meet for dedicated writing time with a focus on:

• Getting settled and acquainted

• Writing goals for the session

• One hour of concentrated writing

• Recap

Bring your laptop, journal, pen, and paper. At this time, the meetings do not include sharing writing for feedback. Feedback will be included if the group decides it would be beneficial (guidelines for feedback will be provided).

Anyone is welcome to come!

Space is limited, so registration is required. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

Longtime New England musician/author Matt York will perform the songs of Johnny Cash and tell stories about Cash's career, spanning from the 1950's to his passing in 2003. He'll discuss Cash's emergence as a groundbreaking artist in the 1950's, his marriage to June Carter and many of his other career highlights. In both 2022 and 2023, York was nominated for the Boston Music Award for Best Country Artist and his album Gently Used was named one of Worcester Magazine's best albums of 2022.

This event is free and open to anyone! No registration required.

Learn more about Matt York at mattyorksongsandstories.com

Thank you to the Dalton Culture Council for sponsoring this event.

In honor of Earth Day, And So It Flows and Dalton Free Public Library are proud to present a community screening of the documentary Semper Fi: Always Faithful followed by a discussion moderated by Podcast Host and OneWater Project Director Leslie Gabriel.

About the film: Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger was a devoted Marine for nearly twenty-five years. As a drill instructor he lived and breathed the "Corps" and was responsible for indoctrinating thousands of new recruits with its motto Semper Fidelis or "Always Faithful". When Jerry's nine-year old daughter Janey died of a rare type of leukemia, his world collapsed. As a grief-stricken father, he struggled for years to make sense of what happened. His search for answers led to the shocking discovery of a Marine Corps cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history. Semper Fi: Always Faithful follows Jerry's mission to expose the Marine Corps and force them to live up to their motto to the thousands of soldiers and their families exposed to toxic chemicals. His fight reveals a grave injustice at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune and a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country.

All are welcome to attend this free screening.

Click here to watch the TRAILER.

Kathleen uses poetic yet accessible language to guide you through the ancient practice of yoga nidra, a deeply relaxing and restorative meditation. All you need to do is listen.

This program will include gentle chair-based movements and a prompt for optional journaling after the practice.

Participants are welcome to bring a yoga mat if they prefer to use one for the practice.

Space is limited, so registration is require. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

Yoga nidra is a type of meditation practice originating from ancient India, commonly known as "yogic sleep." It is a contemplative practice that involves following guided prompts while sitting or lying in a comfortable position through various stages of relaxation, short breathing exercises, and visualization. The practice aims to induce a state of deep relaxation and meditation, similar to the liminal state between waking and sleeping. This state can provide numerous physical, emotional, and mental benefits, such as reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, enhancing creativity, and promoting well-being. In this state, you may experience a sense of timelessness, expansiveness, and interconnectedness.

Kathleen Kraft is a Kripalu-certified yoga therapist who has been teaching yoga for twelve years. She is also a poet and writer. Her chapbook is called "Fairview Road," and her articles, essays and poems have appeared in many publications, including Yoga International, Embodied Resilience Through Yoga, and What They Bring: The Poetry of Migration and Immigration

Join us for our next monthly “Grown Up Craft Night.” All supplies are provided, you just need to show up!

April’s Craft: Painting Plant Pots! Let’s get ready for Spring by decorating terracotta plant pots. Each attendee will get their own pot and tray to paint and decorate.

Space is limited, so registration is require. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

“Curious Writers” meet at the library on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm - 8pm. We will meet for dedicated writing time with a focus on:

• Getting settled and acquainted

• Writing goals for the session

• One hour of concentrated writing

• Recap

Bring your laptop, journal, pen, and paper. At this time, the meetings do not include sharing writing for feedback. Feedback will be included if the group decides it would be beneficial (guidelines for feedback will be provided).

Anyone is welcome to come!

Space is limited, so registration is required. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

“Curious Writers” meet at the library on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm - 8pm. We will meet for dedicated writing time with a focus on:

• Getting settled and acquainted

• Writing goals for the session

• One hour of concentrated writing

• Recap

Bring your laptop, journal, pen, and paper. At this time, the meetings do not include sharing writing for feedback. Feedback will be included if the group decides it would be beneficial (guidelines for feedback will be provided).

Anyone is welcome to come!

Space is limited, so registration is required. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

Join Journalist Ruth Bass to hear about her fifth novel, The Triangle, a Tale of Love and Death, the story of two older men and what happens when one finds out that he’s been sharing the much younger Sylvia with another man. Inspired by the author’s five years as a police and court reporter for The Berkshire Eagle, the story focuses on the 35-ish Sylvia who depends on one man for rent, cash and groceries and worries that she might be falling in love with the other, who treats her like a lady. Well-read, not well-educated, she’s been around and is still a little naïve about the real world. And then she learns that, in a fairly small city, it’s hard to keep secrets.

The talk will be followed by a book signing.
All are welcome and no registration is required.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As a newspaper reporter, editor and columnist, Ruth Bass has put real people in print for a long time. She was the first female police reporter at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, an uncommon job for a woman at the time. After leaving her job as Sunday editor of The Berkshire Eagle, she turned to fiction with a series about a hard-scrabble New England family in the last part of the 19th century, starting with the well-received “Sarah’s Daughter”. That series was inspired by her grandmother’s loss of her mother when she was a teenager and the ensuing problems of an alcoholic father, younger siblings to raise, farm work, taking charge of the household and managing school. In addition to four books fictionalizing her grandmother (and her great-grandmother), she is author of eight herbal cookbooks and continues to write a weekly column for The Eagle.

She has won many awards for writing and editing and was inducted into the New England Press Association’s Hall of Fame for achievement in community journalism. A graduate of Bates College with a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, she also has an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Westfield State University.

With her late husband, theater critic and novelist Milton Bass, she has three adult children and six grandchildren. Her novels always have a character who likes words and often reflect her fascination with bird-watching. Her 20 acres of hillside land caters to her interest in flower and vegetable gardening, including the effort of dealing with clay-ey soil and a back that doesn’t always bend well. She also enjoys golf, knitting, reading, cooking and photography.

Presented by author Dennis Wise, The Theft of Dignity is an engaging presentation for all ages that raises awareness about the impact of peer bullying. Community members—including teens and parents of bullied teens—gain a deeper understanding of the challenges teens face with peer bullying in their everyday lives, and they are provided with practical tools to foster positive change.

Dennis draws on examples from popular culture—including movies, TV shows, and novels, such as his own book, On Your Side. The goal is to help everyone understand the effects of bullying and encouraging a more respectful environment.

This event is free and opened to anyone including teens, parents and teachers.

“Curious Writers” meet at the library on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm - 8pm. We will meet for dedicated writing time with a focus on:

• Getting settled and acquainted

• Writing goals for the session

• One hour of concentrated writing

• Recap

Bring your laptop, journal, pen, and paper. At this time, the meetings do not include sharing writing for feedback. Feedback will be included if the group decides it would be beneficial (guidelines for feedback will be provided).

Anyone is welcome to come!

Space is limited, so registration is required. To sign up, call 413-684-6112 or email dalton@cwmars.org

Join us for a screening of Daughters of the Sexual Revolution (2018), never-before-told story of Suzanne Mitchell, the fiercely-loyal den mother of the original Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Seen by many as regressive and exploitative, this diverse sisterhood of small-town "girls next door" became a controversial pop culture phenomenon at the height of the Sexual Revolution, changing the game of football -- and America -- forever.

Free admission. No reservation required.

WATCH THE TRAILER.