We are getting ready for another round of apprenticeships! Come and get involved and learn from some of the best in Berkshire county. Folks ages 14-25 can get involved. It’s free and we offer transportation to the site, leaving from GB, Monument Mountain and Mt. Everett! We offer apprenticeships at:

Red Lion Inn: Mondays 2/6 – 4/9
John Andrews: Tuesday 2/7 – 4/3
Sim’s Barber: Wednesday 2/8 – 3/28
Michelle’s Salon: Thursday 2/9 – 3/29
Studio: Thursday dates TBD

Orientation for parents and students: January 30th (at the drop-in center, 60 Bridge St. GB)

Call or email to sign up today!           528-2475 ask for Jocelyn/ email hidden; JavaScript is required

Title: RSYP to host High Oracle of Bhutan!
Location: The RSYP Drop-In Center at 60 Bridge Street, Great Barrington, Mass
Description: Join Druk Chokyong Tsimar, The High Oracle of Bhutan and Lama Rangbar AKA Man, Son of Peace, at the Railroad Street Youth Project for a day of practice, explanation, and co-creation.

Drop-in to all or part of this event, free to all, all welcome!
Email Michael Johnson fo…r more information: email hidden; JavaScript is required

9:30 – 11am
The practice of “Sending and Receiving” taught by Lama Rangbar followed by the practice of The Mountain of Burnt Offerings (an incense offering to heal our world).
11 – 12pm
An explanation of the benefits of creating a “Heart Support Mandala” For the World at this time.A talk by the Oracle Druk Lama Chokyong, followed by a Q and A session.
12 – 2pm
Potluck lunch/intermission
2 – 4:30pm
(or as long as it has wind)
A Co-creation alliance session about Maha Bodhivastu, The American Mandala of World Peace. The vision, mission, its articulation, activities and Alliances.

“Maha Bodhivastu is more than just a monument in isolation of what is going on in our times… Each action we take with determination and fearlessness gives back to us immense confidence and treasures on the levels of form (physical reality), speech (vibratory reality) and Mind (all pervasive openness reality). This IS the way we can win in this transformation from slavery to actual collective liberation.”
- Lama Rangbar Nyimai Ozer
Start Time: 09:30
Date: 2012-01-08
End Time: 16:30

Green Drinks is a monthly social event hosted by the folks who create Orion magazine for people like you and I interested in everything from environmental education to local agriculture, the arts, green business & design, and the ways all of these intersect. We usually have 50 or so folks from around the area stop by.

Please come with your business card, posters to share for an upcoming event in the area, etc, to share with your peers.

As always there will be deliciously free snacks courtesy of our lovely/handsome Route 7 hosts, and gloriously free copies of the current issue of Orion magazine for your enjoyment.

So grab a friend or two and bring them down to share what you’re working on (green or not) and to meet others active in your community.

Please forward this on to your friends & share with your social media contacts…the more the merrier!
Start Time: 17:15
Date: 2012-01-05
End Time: 19:30

Railroad Street Youth Project from WGBY on Vimeo.

Don’t miss out on RSYP’s AMAZING Winter Raffle this year! With prizes like these – you will be sorry!

$10 per ticket/ 3 for $25  -  Call RSYP now at 413-528-2475 to order your tickets! Choose the one that suits you, that’s the key OR buy multiple tickets and enter all 3!

Raffle #1 Out on the Town

Gift certificates to: John Andrews, Cafe Adam, Fiore & Bizen, Barington Coffee Roasters

Tickets to: The Colonial Theater, Berkshire Theater Festival, Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center and Tanglewood

Raffle # 2  The Winter Snuggly

Lila’s Mountain Wool Blanket, Gigham Rabbit soft women’s robe, Iredale Mineral Cosmetics gift basket, Evergreen Crafts Gift Certificate, dinner for 4 cooked in your home by Chef Zee of Berkshire Braized and a bottle of champagne!

Raffle #3 Relax & Rejuvinate

Gift certificates to: Body & Soul, Michele’s Salon & Day Sp and Studio Day Spa. A 3-day pass to Yoga Great Barrington, a 3-month membership to Berkshire South and an overnight stay at Kripalu!

The drawings will be held LIVE on WSBS by State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli on December 16th. Don’t miss out!

DINE & WINE WITH US BEFORE YOUR WINTER HIBERNATION BEGINS!

Join us on Monday, December 5th for an evening of culinary delights and celebration at The Red Lion Inn for our WINTER CULINARY DINNER. The evening will begin at 5:30 in the lobby with wine and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a bountiful dinner in the Hitchcock Room. Dinner will be prepared by RSYP’s Culinary Arts  students under the guidance of Brian Alberg of The Red Lion Inn and Dan Smith or John Andrews Restaurant. Proceeds will go towards supporting our Culinary Arts Program that preovides an opportunity for youth to learn culinary art skills from the best in the Berkshires.

Dinner tickets (including wine): $100 Patron Dinner Ticket, $150 Snow Angel Dinner Tickets (extra contributions will help fund youth trips to local cultural attractions). Make your reservations NOW by calling RSYP at 413-528-2475!

RSYP Culinary Arts Winter Dinner Menu (YUM!!!)

1st Course: Roasted Farm Girl Squash Bisque, Toasted Pepeitas

2ns Course: Zehn Farm Mushroom Bolognese, Orchetta Pasta & Shaved Bovinaburg Cheese

3rd Course: Winter Green Salad & Comte Grilled Cheese, Bosc Pears & Candied Walnuts

Entree: Roasted Punsit Valley Chicken, Mashed Equinox Potatoes & Farm Girl Collards

Dessert: Blueberry Bread Pudding, Salted Caramel & High Lawn Cream

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Hello Hello Dance Party Seekers!

Here’s the skinny from the staff at RSYP:

-6 to 10 wonderful local adult youth development leaders will be supervising the shindig and participating in a few break dance showdowns themselves
-Parents and guardians are more than welcome to join us throughout the evening for a snack, or to bust a move
-Good old fashioned Dancin’ from 7pm to 11pm (see “Footloose” for more information)
-In our space at RSYP we will celebrate dance that is respectful, responsible, consensual, positive, expressive, creative, fun, fun, and even sweatier fun. If you don’t two-step in this fashion, you are not welcome in this space, partner. That’s how we roll.
-RSYP is an inclusive, safe, and substance free space. Come sober. Stay sober. Get high on the magic of dance. For realsies. That’s how we roll.
-There will be a police officer mozying about the space throughout the evening. Feel free to High-5 them, engage them in short meaningful conversations, and ask them what their favorite dance move is
-90 person maximum at the Drop-In Center so…
-We got a bouncer, a big one. Wicked big.
-We’re keeping the limit at 90 as that is our firecode maximum
-Get there early if you want to get in and dance dance dance, after 90 heads we’ll only let you in after someone leaves, club style
-There will be snacks. Be polite. Don’t stuff your face. Save some for the next young dance star. And thank you to Bizen, Big Y, Taft Farms, Windy Hill, the Co-Op, and Subway for the snacky snacks!

And of course, if there’s anyone out there with questions or concerns with regards to this big night of funk, PLEASE reach out to me here at the Drop-In Center on 60 Bridge Street, in beautiful (seriously, peep the leaves around this place!) GB. We hope to see you Friday night!

Take care- Paul that is tall
–
Paul M. McNeil, Drop-In Center Program Director
Railroad Street Youth Project
P.O. Box 698
Great Barrington, MA 01230
(413) 528-2475 ext. 903
email hidden; JavaScript is required
www.rsyp.org

We had a meaningful and successful College Readiness Workshop evening here at the Drop-In Center here on Bridge Street Tuesday night. 7 local college readiness experts were in attendance including representatives from Hudson Valley Community College, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Mildred Elley, Miss Hall’s School, as well as financial aid advice from RBC Wealth Management. The first half of the evening featured pizza and snacks donated by the Gypsy Joynt, Taft Farms, Barrington Bagels, and Dunkin’ Donuts over a group discussion about navigating financial aid, college interviews, application specifics, essay topics and advice, as well as discovering which school fits best for each student. The second half of the evening featured small break-out sessions where students shared specific questions and concerns around the application process in more detailed student-centered conversations. The support of our adult leaders in attendance was inspiring and the openness to learn that the college-students-to-be approached the workshop was truly impressive.

Thanks again to all of our experts!

 (Youth exploring their college options for next year)

Reported by Torie Wells

Tuesday August 23, 2011

At the top of Castle Street, in the heart of Great Barrington, you can find beauty underneath the railroad tracks.

“It’s been this contagious art project,” said Paul McNeil, from the Railroad Street Youth Project.

“I like doing things that the public can see,” said Dan Slater, a graffiti artist.

“It’s for everyone,” said Laurel Zukowski, a mural artist.

For weeks now, Zukowski has been breathing life into a mural underneath the railroad tracks in Great Barrington.

Zukowskis work is intertwined with the work of local teens. It is a project through the Railroad Street Youth Project. The organization was started back in 1999 by a 19-year-old named Amanda Root.

“There were a bunch of youth that used to hang out in the railroad street area years ago and it was a hotbed of drug sales,” said McNeil. “So many people close to her were getting affected in horrible ways.”

Amanda wanted to give youth another option, empowering them to take part in the community.

“This is the heartbeat of the Railroad Street Youth Project it’s young people coming together talking about what they want to do that will mean something positive,” said McNeil.

“It feels good, we did a lot. Originally it just looked like a lot of graffiti. After we primed it with the white paint and got the color on it, it’s looking a lot better,” said Sergio Winston, a 14-year-old who volunteers for the project.

He says that if it weren’t for the project he’d likely be home for the summer. Instead he will go back to school, feeling accomplished.

“It’s something definitely to look back on, it’s a memory of the summer 2011,” he said.

Seventeen-year-old Dan Slater is thinking about going to school for graphic arts. But his first passion is graffiti, an art form that is growing. This project is giving him a canvas of his own and a platform to speak to his community.

“I want people to take away that graffiti isn’t just vandalism its also an art form,” said Slater.

Each moment you spend with the mural, you see something new. The ways it is affecting the community are layered too. On the surface, it is a gift to Great Barrington but, if you look closer, you can see it is a gift to each other and themselves.

“Everyone feels like the contributed so it’s theirs,” said Zukowski.

“Twenty years from now you can look back and say I remember this,” said Slater.