I love my little calendar post. I’ll probably do one of these monthly, if only so I can keep it straight in my own mind. My choir has been rehearsing quite a bit for the December 14 concert. I suppose I should read the tome before my book review.
ITEM: Marathon public reading of Legs by William Kennedy. Noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5. Albany Distilling Co. Bar, 75 Livingston Avenue, Albany, NY 12207 518-949-2472
Want to join the reading? Readers are asked to sign up and select a time slot by Friday, Oct. 31. Just want to listen? No registration is needed to attend. The event is free and open to the public. Drop in anytime from noon to 8 p.m.
Support a good cause: Donations will be collected at the door to benefit the food pantry and free meal outreach at Sacred Heart Church in Albany, Kennedy’s childhood parish.
The event is the third in a series of public readings of Kennedy’s novels. We read Ironweed in 2023 and Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game in 2024. (I participated in both, and will again this year.)
ITEM: Roselee Blooston, who will be speaking at APL in December, provided this info about her new book, Including the Periphery:
Main Street Magazine’s author profile, which you can read HERE. She was also included in Chronogram’s “5 Hudson Valley Books to Read in September.” She will be at:
The Ballad of the Brown King
ITEM: There will be a concert on Sunday, December 14, at 3 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 362 State Street (corner of Willett) in Albany. The FPC choir will perform in partnership with the Festival Celebration Choir. It will feature a chamber string orchestra (plus harp). Half of the concert will feature carol settings by Alice Parker, including her Seven Carols for Christmas. The second half will feature the cantata The Ballad of the Brown King by Margaret Bonds, one of the most significant black woman composers of the 20th century, with lyrics by Langston Hughes.
ITEM: Connections That Feed Hope – FOCUS Churches Breakfast Club. Donate if you can.
ITEM: Stand with the Underground Railroad Education Center as a sponsor or attendee of the upcoming Arias in the Afternoon: Lifting Every Voice on December 14, 2025, from 1 to 3 pm, at the New York State Museum. Arias in the Afternoon brings Handel’s Messiah together with the Smithsonian’s Voices and Votes exhibit for a powerful experience combining music, history, and inspiration.
ITEM: The current Art at APL exhibit — “Sight Specific” — is on view at the Pine Hills Branch until Nov. 8.
The exhibit is curated by Opalka Gallery and funded by the Friends & Foundation of APL, with additional support in 2025 from the Arts Thrive and Grow grant through The Arts Center of the Capital Region.
Stay tuned for information about the next Art at APL exhibit — “Countenance: The Contemporary Portrait” — which will debut on Dec. 5.
Another book review (moi)
ITEM: Events at the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, on Tuesdays at 2 pm in the large auditorium.
October 28 | Special Program: Andrea Nicolay, Executive Director of APL, will discuss APL and Current Events.
November 4 | Author Talk | Peter Balint, retired international businessman and former US Army officer, discusses and reads from his memoir, The Shoe in the Danube: The Immigrant Experience of a Holocaust Survivor.
November 11 | Author Talk: Ryane McAuliffe Straus, formerly professor of political science at St. Rose College and now an Empire State Fellow, discusses and reads from her book Divided by Choice: How Charter Schools Diminish Democracy.
November 18 |Book Review | On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. Reviewer: Mark Lowery, retired from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
November 25| Book Review | Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green. Reviewer: Roger Green, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center. (Not related to John.)
ITEM: Remember to make a plan to vote and take advantage of Early Voting if you can!
In New York State:
Saturday, October 25 – Sunday, November 2, 2025
Saturday & Sunday: 9:00AM – 5:00PM
Monday & Wednesday: Noon – 8:00PM
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 9:00AM – 5:00PM
Early Voting Locations for 2025 in Albany County
You may vote at ANY of the following sites during Early Voting only:
Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Parish Hall)
85 Elm Ave., Delmar, NY 12054
Albany County Board of Elections
St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church
Boght Community Fire District
Pine Grove United Methodist Church
East Berne Volunteer Fire Company
Guilderland Public Library
Scams
ITEM: 
REPOST PSA
The Albany Police Department’s Center and South stations have received numerous calls regarding scams. Please remember:
The scammers may:
Claim you owe money.
May identify themselves as an officer of APD demanding arrest if you do not pay the amount owed.
Demand payments through gift cards.
Just a reminder:
APD will not call you and demand payment over the phone.
APD will not ask for personal financial information over the phone.
Do not provide any personal information over the phone
If you receive a suspicious call, hang up and report it to the police.
The cantata The Ballad of the Brown King (1954) is an important work, James Bennett II from New York Public Radio WQXR posits: “Margaret Bonds’ multi-part choral work, for which she collaborated with poet Langston Hughes, is an attempt to recapture the titular brownness that has art-historically been associated with one of the biggest holidays of one of the world’s biggest religions.