Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Lenox. The annual fundraiser for Mass Audubon’s Berkshire Wildlife Sanctuaries, Crickets, Critters & Cocktails, boasts a winning formula. Take one beautiful evening on a lushly verdant property – in this case, July 30 at Pleasant Valley – decorate with colorful banners and crittery kites from Barong Imports (for sale, with half the proceeds going to Mass Audubon); stage a silent auction with surprisingly affordable items; ply guests with frosty drinks and fresh-grilled food; boost the festive quotient with swinging jazz by Lurid Details; and finish the evening with a bonfire and a drum circle. “Drum circle?,” you say, thinking you might instead beat a hasty retreat. With drumming facilitator Otha Day setting the rhythm, most guests opted in, grabbing a seat on a fireside bench and a bongo, tambourine, or other percussive instrument to bang the drum loudly late into the night.
Event co-chairs Mary Garnish and Alan Bauman greeted guests; Dr. Michael Kaplan, a member of the Berkshire Wildlife Sanctuaries committee, with innkeepers Suky and Tom Werman.
Doctors Mark Liponis, of Canyon Ranch, and Siobhan McNally, board chair of Circle of Health International; drum circle facilitator Otha Day and Brad Verter, a professor of history at Emerson College.
Elena, Eric, and Andrea Nucifora; Mission proprietor Jim Benson with Scott Chadwick.
Gentle prices and environmentally oriented lots, such as guided canoe trips and bird-watching adventures, kept the silent auction bidding lively.
Jewelry designer Martha Archambault, who donated a necklace for the silent auction, and John Bridges; Kevin and Kristine Sprague.
Studio 2's Heather Rose and Kathleen Drohan, associate director of public relations at Tanglewood; Mayme Stansfield, a fashion assistant at Lucky magazine, with her stepmother, nonprofit consultant Cathy Deely.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
