Final Concert of Historical Concert Piano Concerts on May 26 in Ashburnham
ASHBURNHAM: The final concert of the 38th Spring Season of Historical Piano Concerts from The Frederick Collection will be on Sunday afternoon, May 26 at 3:00, at Ashburnham Community Church, Main Street (the same Rte 12 that runs through Winchendon). Pianist Hwaen Ch'uqi will play late works by Franz Schubert, on a Tröndlin grand piano made about 1830 in Vienna, Austria. Schubert died in 1828, just a couple of years before this piano was built. He did not live to see publication of the sonata on this program, dying at age 31 soon after composing the piece.
Hwaen Ch'uqi, an Inca Indian from Peru, has performed internationally, and has received honors in prestigious competitions. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, Ch'uqi is playing for the second time on this concert series. The piano, built around 1830, seems to be a synthesis of Viennese piano designs. The "serpentine curved" case is in the Biedermeier furniture style, known for elegant simplicity of line. Clara Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn had good things to say about Tröndlin's pianos, which were generally admired for their beautiful tone.
Admission to the concert is $15.00 per adult, children and students, free.There are no tickets or advance reservations; just pay at the door (cash or check; no plastic). The concert should run about one hour. The hall is handicapped-accessible. For further information, please visit the website, www.FrederickCollection.org or phone or email manager Patricia Frederick: 978-827-6232, piano.fred@juno.com. Lightly edited videos of the Historical Piano Concerts can be seen on the YouTube channel, Music from the Frederick Collection.
Rising Country Star April Cushman Performs at The Park Theatre This Saturday
Celebrated country artist from Swanzey, NH brings her band to Jaffrey, NH Saturday, May 25
JAFFREY, New Hampshire (May 20, 2024) "There is a real artistry in Cushman's music, and moxie in her soul. When she sings, there's no denying April is doing what she was meant to do..." That's what Carolyn Kruse of Boston's country radio station 102.5FM says about April Cushman. April takes The Park Theatre performing arts center stage on Saturday, May 25 at 7:30 pm.
This will be (Swanzey, NH native) April's debut performance at The Park Theatre. She was named a top 10 emerging artist and songwriter by Tractor Supply and Grammy-winning and multi Academy of Country Music winning country artist, Lainey Wilson. She is a New Hampshire native who is a vocal force in the Northeast. April was recently named for two years running, the 2022 & 2023 Country Act of the Year, by the New England Music Awards and continues to be a sought-after artist who pulls in hearts and ears with every performance. Commonly referred to as a "blend of Ashley McBryde with the storytelling of Lori McKenna", April finds inspiration in everyday to use as subjects for her music.
102.5FM also said of April's single Ain't No Stopping You, "It may have meant to serve as an inspiration to others, but when you listen to it, there's no doubt...there ain't no stopping April! It's rockin'-rollickin'-girl anthem sparks an exhilaration that is sure to propel the ears it falls upon to pick up, jump in and move on."
Tickets for April Cushman's Park Theatre concert are $25 and all seats are reserved. Purchase by going to theparktheatre.org or by calling the box office (603) 532-8888. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Doors to the theatre open at 6:30 p.m.
The Park Theatre performing arts center is located at 19 Main Street in downtown Jaffrey, New Hampshire, just 90 minutes from Boston and 60 minutes from Worcester MA.
State's Nonprofit Retirement Plan Celebrates Enrollment Milestone
The Massachusetts Defined Contribution CORE Plan enrolled its 200th organization, and now provides retirement benefits for over 1,900 employees in the state
BOSTON - On Monday, May 20th, the Office of the State Treasurer and Receiver General celebrated a key milestone for its CORE program--the program now has 200 enrolled organizations.
Launched in 2017, the CORE Plan was the first state-facilitated plan of its kind in the United States. The CORE Plan helps Massachusetts nonprofit employees save and invest for a financially secure retirement. The plan is a state-of-the-art multiple employer 401k retirement plan designed specifically for the nonprofit sector in Massachusetts.
"I am very excited about this key milestone in the CORE Plan's success," said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg. "Nonprofit workers contribute so much to their communities, and we are thrilled to provide them with great retirement savings options so they can have the secure financial futures they deserve."
The structure of the plan allows each adopting organization to join under one plan and trust, while the Office of the State Treasurer and its partner Empower assume most administrative responsibilities. Nearly 85% of employers adopting the CORE Plan are start-ups, meaning they did not offer any retirement benefits outside of Social Security prior to adopting the CORE Plan.
For many of Massachusetts' nonprofit organizations, the cost and resources required to administer an in-house retirement plan can create prohibitive challenges. This is especially true for smaller nonprofits with fewer employees, making the CORE Plan an essential offering from the state.
"I knew firsthand the value of having good retirement benefits, and wanted to find a plan that we could offer to our staff. As a very small nonprofit, there were not many affordable options, and I started to think that it would not be possible to secure a good plan," said Carol Knox, former Board President for BalletRox. "Imagine my surprise when I received an announcement about the new CORE plan! It seemed tailored made for our situation, offering simplicity, a good benefit structure, and the backing of the Commonwealth. Within days we were signing up as the first nonprofit to join the new CORE plan!"
1,900 employees at over 200 small nonprofits are now participating in the CORE Plan, and more than 80% of participating nonprofits are offering employer contributions to bolster their employees' savings.
Currently, the CORE Plan is only available to nonprofit organizations with 20 or fewer employees. In the years since its creation, Treasurer Goldberg has promoted the expansion of the CORE Plan to ensure all workers in the nonprofit sector, not only those at small nonprofits, have the opportunity to save for retirement through their employer. H.3031 and S.2025, sponsored by Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Senator Joan Lovely, respectively, would allow this expansion. Both bills were co-filed with Treasurer Goldberg and currently sit with the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
For more information about the CORE Plan, visit https://www.mass.gov/core-plan-for-nonprofits
Massachusetts Town Votes Down Weak Measures to Protect Residents From Proposed Chemical Recycling Facility Following Opposition From Local Residents
Annual Templeton Town Meeting Planned to Vote on Weak Protections, But Residents Say No to this Toxic Technology
TEMPLETON, Mass. - On May 15, 2024, a Templeton, Massachusetts town meeting expected to vote on measures to protect residents from a proposed chemical recycling facility in the community, but ended up voting it down after residents voiced concerns that it didn't go far enough. Community members spoke up about the polluting process called chemical recycling, or what the plastics industry likes to call "advanced recycling," and cited the failures and hazards of existing facilities in the United States.
A company called Clean Seas proposed a Templeton chemical recycling facility that would use pyrolysis as a method for solid waste incineration to attempt to dispose of plastic waste. Pyrolysis is not a new technology; it has struggled technically and commercially to process plastic waste for decades. It is also known to create toxic air emissions that threaten the health of residents living near the facilities.
Article 8 was intended to make it a bit more challenging for so-called "advanced recycling" facilities to be constructed in Templeton by requiring companies to pay for a consultant hired by the town; however, many community members felt the language of the article wasn't specific enough to actually prohibit industry development in the area and protect residents from fires, explosions, and health risks.
"Templeton leadership should be commended for taking action to protect human health and the environment. No community should be forced to pay the price of excessive plastic manufacturing," said Jess Conard, Appalachia director at Beyond Plastics and a resident of East Palestine, Ohio. "It is time to reject chemical recycling as a solution to plastic waste management and divert attention to more meaningful action like policies that reduce plastic production and use."
"Article 8, as written, is an invitation to polluters who would bring toxic waste to Templeton and then move on," said Templeton resident Rachel Herman. "It's an invitation to cancer, birth defects, and environmental destruction. It's an invitation to dishonest corporations who hide a dirty solid waste incineration business by calling it 'recycling.'"
"It was gratifying to see that everyone present wanted to protect Templeton and its residents in the future from highly polluting industrial facilities, including those processing waste plastic," said Ivan Ussach, director of the Millers River Watershed Council, who read a statement summarizing recent reports detailing the problems with existing chemical recycling facilities. "The discussion on the town hall floor was mostly over whether the proposed additions to the town's zoning bylaw language helped or hindered that cause."
"Chemical recycling facilities, also known as the high heat processing of plastic or other kinds of waste, are always polluting, bad for the climate and dangerous to public health," said Kirstie Pecci, Executive Director, Just Zero. "The proposed bylaw shows that the town is looking critically at permanently locating one of these facilities in their community."
Clean Seas' proposed facility would accept up to 500 tons of plastic a day, which would result in roughly 125 truckloads of plastic waste transported into Templeton each day, if trucked in daily. This plastic waste would be stockpiled at the Templeton facility, creating a local fire hazard before it's even processed by way of pyrolysis.
Templeton is one of several communities that have opposed chemical recycling plants proposed for their neighborhoods. Youngstown, Ohio, passed a one-year moratorium on plants that process tires, tire chips, plastics and electronic waste by means of pyrolysis, gasification or combustion, and Point Township, Pennsylvania, residents recently succeeded in shutting down a proposal for a chemical recycling facility in the area.
Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) identified serious concerns related to plastic pyrolysis facilities in their report, "Chemical Recycling: A Dangerous Deception: Why Chemical Recycling Won't Solve the Plastic Pollution Problem."
To view the full Beyond Plastics/IPEN chemical recycling report, visit beyondplastics.org/publications/chemical-recycling
To view Beyond Plastics' chemical recycling fact sheet, visit beyondplastics.org/fact-sheets/chemical-recycling
About Beyond Plastics
Launched in 2019, Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project that pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of grassroots advocates to build a vibrant and effective movement to end plastic pollution and promote alternatives to plastics. Using deep policy and advocacy expertise, Beyond Plastics is building a well-informed, effective movement seeking to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet and ourselves, from the negative health, climate, and environmental impacts for the production, usage, and disposal of plastics.