West County Notebook: June 1, 2024
Published: 05-31-2024 6:38 PM
Modified: 05-31-2024 6:42 PM |
SHELBURNE FALLS — Pothole Pictures will present Yasujiro Ozu’s “Late Spring” (1949) on Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. Art historian and film scholar Kathe Geist, a Charlemont resident since 2015, will lead a question-and-answer session for those who want to stay after the film.
Geist has taught and been published widely on East Asian cinema and especially on acclaimed Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Her decades of research on Ozu culminated in a 2022 book titled “Ozu: A Closer Look.”
According to Geist, ‘“Late Spring’ is the first of what we now consider to be archetypal Ozu filmmaking — celebration of an idealized post-war middle-class Japanese life, a measured pace and quiet domestic dramas that focus on life cycle concerns of parents and children.”
“Late Spring” is the third film in Pothole Pictures’ eight-movie season at the historic 400-seat Memorial Hall Theater, located on the second floor of Shelburne Town Hall at 51 Bridge St. A half hour of music performed by local musicians precedes each film showing at 7 p.m. On June 1, Ashley Kramer will perform acoustic folk and Americana.
Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children under age 12. Cash at the door only. For more information, go to shelburnefallsmemorialhall.org.
SHELBURNE FALLS — Speeder rides will be available at the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum on the first Saturday of each operating month throughout the 2024 season, including during the annual Trolleyfest celebration.
“Speeders” are also commonly known as motorcars, putt putts, section cars, railway motor cars and track maintenance cars, among other names. They are small four-wheeled railroad maintenance vehicles that have a small gas-powered engine for propulsion. They were developed in 1896 to replace hand-powered cars to lower the amount of physical labor needed to get to a job site. They were built by several companies in the U.S., with Fairmont being the most common builder.
Although slow compared to a train or car, it was called a “speeder” because it was faster than a human-powered vehicle such as the hand car. Most speeders were replaced by pickup trucks and utility vehicles with flanged wheels that could travel on rails in the 1990s.
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According to Joshua Redenz, safety and training director of the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, several of the museum members privately own examples of these vehicles and are excited to share them with the public during Speeder Days on the first Saturday of each month. Rides will be included in the cost of admission ($5 for adults, $3 for children ages 6 to 17 and free for children under 6) to the museum, which also includes trolley rides, pump car rides, and visits to the caboose and the Visitors Center.
The museum is open on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. June 1 will be the first Saturday of speeder operation. For more information about the museum, visit sftm.org.