ORANGE — Orange Senior Citizens Club will meet Thursday, March 5, 1 p.m. at the Orange Armory at 141 East Main St.
Doc Arsenault, a singer and guitar player, will be the entertainment.
Guests are welcome to attend, and meet or join the club. Meetings are on the first Thursday of the month at noon if there is a meal or 1 p.m. for a regular meeting. The club doesn’t meet in January or July.
Tickets for the May 7 banquet of stuffed chicken catered by Dan Carr of Affordable Catering will be available.
For more information or to make a reservation for the May banquet, call Kathy Schiappa at 978.544.6814.
WENDELL — Martha Senn, a Wendell artist, will be displaying her paintings in the Herrick Room/Wendell Free Library from March 8 through April.
An opening reception will be held Saturday, March 14, 3-5 p.m.
Senn, who moved to Wendell 20 years ago, grew up in Montague spending her time horseback riding and just enjoying nature throughout Montague and Wendell. Throughout her childhood, she spent her free time drawing and painting her favorite subjects; horses, trees and flowers.
At a young age, Senn’s great-aunt Milli took an interest in Martha’s painting — always encouraging her and giving helpful suggestions. When Milli lost her fight with cancer, she left Senn all of her painting supplies, brushes and easels. Then about 26 years ago, Senn put her painting supplies away following the incident when her 2-year-old daughter Shanna left multicolored hand prints all over the apartment walls.
About three years ago, Shanna and her cousin Heather convinced Senn to go to a painting class with them and introduced her to acrylics. Landscapes may be Senn’s specialty, but flowers have always been her fascination and challenge; growing them, drawing them and now painting them. Painting has become a family affair for Senn; frequently getting together with family and friends to paint, usually in her kitchen.
As it turns out, Senn comes from a family of artists. Besides Shanna and Heather, several of her nieces, great-nieces, cousins and of course her grandsons have started painting with her. Senn’s great-grandfather, Benjamin Crown is a famous local artist known for his photographs, movies, paintings and drawings. Some of his work is on display at the Brattleboro Historical Society. Her great-aunt Milli and her grandmother Olive both loved to paint. Several of Milli’s and Olive’s paintings hang in Martha’s house, providing continual inspiration to those that paint with Sen, who loves to help others discover the joy of painting and drawing.
ATHOL — Eveline MacDougall, director of Fiery Hope Chorus, (for 30 years called Amandla Chorus), author of ”Fiery Hope, Building Community with the Amandla Chorus,” will present a program about her book and the chorus’ beginning Thursday, March 5, 6 p.m. in Athol Public Library. There will be some singing!
Originally named in consideration of the South African word meaning power, Amandla/Fiery Hope favors world music — usually sung without instrumental accompaniment — concerned with social justice. The book ”Fiery Hope” traces the history of the singing group with photos and remembrances of Amandla public performances and engagements in schools, prisons, homes for the elderly, hospitals, and other venues.
“Fiery Hope” includes biographical information about MacDougall and traces community organizations influencing and influenced by the chorus. Amandla/Fiery Hope has shared performances with guests or been the guest of notables including folk singers Pete Seeger and Jane Sapp and international activists Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan.
”Fiery Hope” will be available for purchase at the Athol Public Library event and can be found at fieryhopebooks.com, other online venues, at World Eye Bookshop, and from MacDougall and the publisher. Free and open to the public.
Please register by calling 978-249-9515.
ATHOL — A new full-length play by Vicki Meagher, “Death Valley,” will be read at the Drama Circle on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. at AOTV-Athol, 163 South Main St., Athol.
The play is a futuristic drama that takes place in Death Valley, California hundreds of years into the future. Three extraterrestrial beings are dropped off in Death Valley and one of them wakes up a human who has been living under an alluvial fan for centuries. The woman names herself Sunshine and starts living again. Another human, a man who calls himself Slither, is also found.
This is the first reading of “Death Valley.” Vicki Meagher is a full-time playwright living in New Hampshire and New Mexico.
Her short plays have been produced in several states. See vickimeagher.com.
The Drama Circle is free of charge and open to the public. For further info, contact Genevieve Fraser, the artistic director of the Drama Circle, at 978-544-1872.