SOUTH POMFRET — Among the social interactions people may be missing are the amusing stories of daily life they share with friends and co-workers.
You know the ones I’m talking about: Maybe your cat tried to climb the blinds in pursuit of a fly when you were on a work call or decided her new favorite activity is chasing the cursor as it moves across your computer screen. Maybe you and your partner have taken to coming up with outlandish translations of the sounds your cats make, building on the stories each night. Maybe said partner also insists on binging pandemic/end-of-the-world programming and telling you about it in great detail until you put your hands over your ears and shout out “stop!”
OK, those are actually my examples — but they’re in the vein of the anecdotes that ArtisTree Community Arts Center is collecting from people in quarantine throughout the region due to the COVID-19 pandemic to share with others on social media.
“I was thinking there’s so many things that happen in my day-to-day life with two kids, pets, that I’m constantly sharing with the people I work with over text messages. I thought it might be kind of fun for other people to share their experiences with laughter,” said Ashley Barrow, theater programming coordinator at the South Pomfret-based nonprofit organization. “We encourage people to be as creative as possible.”
Participants are asked to create a video up to five minutes long describing or acting out their humorous story and emailing it theatre@artistreevt.org. Interpretive dance and other forms of expression are encouraged. Barrow is asking that submissions be kept age appropriate so that ArtisTree’s youngest participants can watch them with their families.
“It’s really just kind of whatever you want to share about your life that might bring a smile to people’s faces,” said Barrow who has children ages 2 and 5.
Since stay-at-home orders took effect in the Twin States, ArtisTree staff members have been filming and posting videos online ranging from children’s story times to cooking lessons and craft activities. Open mic night has moved to Zoom and art exhibits have become virtual. At 8 p.m. on Friday, May 8, the organization will be hosting “A night of comedy with Collen Doyle and Friends” via ArtisTree’s YouTube channel and CATV. The hourlong program is free, but viewers are asked to make a donation to the Woodstock Area Relief Fund.
“It can get pretty lonely especially when you’re an artist. You think artists are solo and don’t depend on anyone else, but that’s not true,” Barrow said. “Theater being live people, that face to face interaction is definitely suffering.”
The anecdote sharing project can be a way for people to keep that theater spirit alive and keep connecting with another.
“As long as we are unable to meet in person, people can send in as many as they want,” Barrow said.
I can’t wait to see what community members come up with.
The winners of the annual Library Arts Center’s Peeps Diorama Contest have been announced. The coveted “Best in Peeps” grand prize winner was Susanne Stillson, of New London, for “Massachusetts Institute of Peep-ology.” Six-year-old Phillip Dunn and his mom, Meg, of Newport, won the “Peep-les Choice Award” for “PeepKart: Rainbow Road, players include Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Wario.”
This year organizers added a special COVID-19 category and the Newport Health Center won for the staff-submitted “COVID Crusaders.”
The organization recorded 4,300 site visits to view the dioramas and 900 votes. The exhibit is still up online and can be viewed at http://libraryartscenter.org/peeps.
While on the Newport-based nonprofit organization’s website, consider checking out their “Digital Online Exhibit: Black & White Community Art Exhibit,” which will be up until Friday, May 29.
Although we can’t gather in person in the age of social distancing, plenty of organizations are finding ways to hold events online. Here are some coming up in the next few days worth checking out:
■The Lebanon Libraries are hosting an online Dungeons and Dragons gathering for teenagers from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Friday. The link to the Jitsi meeting room can be found at leblibrary.com/node/4148.
■ The Nugget Theaters in Hanover is starting a Friday Night Curbside Popcorn Pickup program. Stop by from 4-6 p.m. on Friday in front of the theater, located at 57 Main St., to pick up a tub of freshly popped popcorn. While the popcorn is free, the theater, which is operated by the nonprofit organization the Hanover Improvement Society, will be accepting donations.
■From 7-8 p.m. on Friday, discuss the film The Promise of Biomimicry which, per the description provided by the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse in Springfield, Vt., “introduces biomimicry as a way of living for everyday people and as a pathway for design inspired by nature.” View the film ahead of time filmsforaction.org before discussing via Zoom. Email uuspringfieldvt@gmail.com for links and more information.
■ Windsor Public Library trustee Kate Gibbel will facilitate a “Virtual Poetry Discussion, Freewrite and Poem Sharing” event on behalf of the library from 11 a.m.-noon on Saturday. The group will discuss the poem “My Life by Water” by Lorine Niedecker followed by then freewriting and poem sharing. Find the Zoom link at windsorlibrary.org.
■ Sustainable Woodstock and Pentangle Arts Council are co-hosting a screening of the film A Concerned Citizen at 6 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit https://streaming.bullfrogcommunities.com/sustainable_woodstock_film_festival.
■New London’s Center for The Arts is putting its First Friday Gallery Night online at 7 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday via Facebook Live. For more information, visit centerfortheartsnh.org.
Please submit Upper Valley-based virtual events at calendar.vnews.com or via email to calendar@vnews.com. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com.
Correction
Sustainable Woodstock and Pentangle Arts Council are co-hosting a virtual screening of the film A Concerned Citizen at 6 p.m. on Saturday. An earlier version of this column gave a wrong time for the event.
