Month: October 2015

The book club will be reading The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan by Jenny Nordberg.

GOODREADS says:

An investigative journalist uncovers a hidden custom that will transform your understanding of what it means to grow up as a girl

In Afghanistan, a culture ruled almost entirely by men, the birth of a son is cause for celebration and the arrival of a daughter is often mourned as misfortune. A bacha posh (literally translated from Dari as “dressed up like a boy”) is a third kind of child – a girl temporarily raised as a boy and presented as such to the outside world. Jenny Nordberg, the reporter who broke the story of this phenomenon for the New York Times, constructs a powerful and moving account of those secretly living on the other side of a deeply segregated society where women have almost no rights and little freedom.

The Underground Girls of Kabul is anchored by vivid characters who bring this remarkable story to life: Azita, a female parliamentarian who sees no other choice but to turn her fourth daughter Mehran into a boy; Zahra, the tomboy teenager who struggles with puberty and refuses her parents’ attempts to turn her back into a girl; Shukria, now a married mother of three after living for twenty years as a man; and Nader, who prays with Shahed, the undercover female police officer, as they both remain in male disguise as adults.

At the heart of this emotional narrative is a new perspective on the extreme sacrifices of Afghan women and girls against the violent backdrop of America’s longest war. Divided into four parts, the book follows those born as the unwanted sex in Afghanistan, but who live as the socially favored gender through childhood and puberty, only to later be forced into marriage and childbirth. The Underground Girls of Kabul charts their dramatic life cycles, while examining our own history and the parallels to subversive actions of people who live under oppression everywhere.

Enjoy a great dinner, get away from the stress of the holiday rush and help benefit the Pember Library and Museum!
Go to Cooper’s Cave on Sagamore Street in Glens Falls from 5 to 9 on November 16. Announce to your hostess and the server that you are there for the Pember Benefit Night and 15% of all dinner proceeds (including drinks) will go to the Pember. It’s that easy!
* Reservations are not accepted. Not applicable on take-out orders or with other coupons. Please email pember.library@gmail.com or call us at 518 642-2525 (during regular hours, no message machine) by Sunday, November 9 to let us know how many in your party so they may staff accordingly! Thank you.

Calling All Zombies, Vampires and Ghouls – Mark Your Calendar!

The night air is getting chillier and Halloween is just around the corner…The Pember Library and Museum and the Slate Valley Museum are teaming up to host their Second Annual Halloween Party and Zombie Walk. ZOMBIE WALK II will take place during the October First Friday event, this year rescheduled to the second Friday of the month – October 9, from 7 to 9 pm at both museums.
“Last year’s ZOMBIE WALK was such a huge hit we knew we would do it again”, said Krista Rupe, Slate Valley Museum Director. “This year’s event promises to be even more amazing with an expanded lineup at both museums. In addition to a longer zombie parade route, there will be a Zombie Ball, spooky stories, Halloween art, music, treats, special décor and other terrifying surprises.”
At the Pember, zombies can feast on “finger” sandwiches, jelly eyeballs, wormy hot dogs, bloody punch, and other delicacies of the undead. Make-up stations will be available to have you look your worst.
Wayne Rizzo, master artist of the macabre will be back at the Pember with a one man show of the ghoulish and grotesque for the month of October. Wayne studied at the Art Students League in New York City and has had work at all area galleries. The exhibition will be on view from October 1-31 and will include many paintings not shown here before. Artist reception will be from 6 to 9PM on October 9.
The Slate Valley Museum will host Spooky Stories from the Slate Valley. Hear creepy tales from the area that the museum has collected guaranteed to scare and frighten the crowd, and have the chance to share your own!
Skeeter and Nancy Morse will provide music, props and a laser light show for events at both museums. The Morse’s have done many theme shows over the years and are very popular.
Rik Sassa, Glenn Cruze, and Robert Seese of Fear This Productions in Salem will return to First Friday in incredible costume to lurk in the shadows and scare the daylights out of everyone. Rik and his crew are responsible for the annual October haunting at the Salem Courthouse and can be seen there from October 16–31.
For the Zombie Walk, zombies, partygoers and ghouls will assemble at 8PM in front of the Pember for a parade down Main Street, turn onto River Street, where they will gather strength to invade the Slate Valley Museum for a GREAT ZOMBIE BALL. Inside, everyone can dance around the tombstones to zom-rock and laser lights in the crypt.