Wednesday, September 26, 2012


Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to present a free concert on Sunday, October 14 at 3:00 pm by the newly formed jazz quartet Brynn, Grover & Jazz Jump, featuring both the single and double vocals of singer Brynn Stanley and singer/guitarist Grover Kemble.  Their sound specializes in arrangements of The Great American Songbook interspersing clever medleys with elements of swing and Jump/Blues from the 1940's. Extra highlights also include wonderful Latin American bossa nova stylings to round out a uniquely entertaining and enjoyable program.  The two singers will be backed up by Tim Metz on upright bass and John H’Vasta on drums.  This concert is part of the Sundays at Three concert series funded by the Friends of the Bernardsville Public Library.  Doors open at 2:45 pm.  No sign-up is needed to attend.  

In 2011, at a famous local jazz spot, a chance encounter between gifted young jazz singer, Brynn Stanley, and seasoned veteran jazz entertainer, Grover Kemble, led to a great friendship and a unique joint venture.  This fresh and adventurous musical act features both artists’ ample and diverse song styling.  Mr. Kemble’s popularity and notoriety stem from many years as a well-known jazz entertainer, vocalist, and guitarist. He has graced many famous concert halls, festivals, and venues, while Ms. Stanley has recently garnered glowing reviews for her remarkable voice, exuberant jazz sensibility, and presence.  Together, this swinging act makes for an enjoyable and varied musical event.  As a duo, they create a tapestry of songs ranging from Gershwin to Ellington.   

Brynn Stanley has been singing professionally for several years at special venues throughout the New York metropolitan area.  Upon graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a fine arts major and a concentration in theatre, Ms. Stanley immediately embarked on a singing career.  She has been a featured performer at several events held at the New Jersey Governor's Mansion, most notably the "NJ Heroes" celebration.  She continues to perform at Shanghai Jazz in Madison, NJ and many well-known jazz concert series throughout the tri-state area.  Her smooth and soulful voice takes familiar songs and flips them into contemporary versions in a unique style that's all her own.  Focusing primarily on jazz, soul, and pop, Ms. Stanley’s collection of music continues to expand with the integration of original music into her performances.

Grover Kemble's unique and colorful interpretations of jazz, Latin, R&B, and original   compositions have garnered him considerable  attention and acclaim from music connoisseurs  and critics for well over two decades.  Mr. Kemble has been in constant demand as one of the New York metropolitan area's premier entertainers since he captivated audiences in the 1970's at New York City's The Bottom Line, The Other End  and the Newport Jazz Festival.  His career has been nationally highlighted with stints at The Roxy in Los Angeles, the Spoleto Arts Festival in Charleston, and the Wolf Trap Jazz Festival in Vienna, Virginia.  Internationally, Mr. Kemble has been a regular performer at the world famous Jazz Keller in Frankfurt, Germany.  He began playing professionally in his early teens and performed with numerous acts before touring nationally with the novel groups, Sha­na-na and Za Zu Zaz.  He has played in both duo and group settings with world-renowned jazz artist John Pizzarelli and accompanied his band in 2005 at the JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall. 

For further information, call the library at 908-766-0118.

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Photo attachment (left to right): Tim Metz, Grover Kemble, Brynn Stanley, and John H'Vasta

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

An Evening with Bill Moyers



On October 26 at 7:00 pm, the Friends of the Bernardsville Public Library are proud to present "An Evening with Bill Moyers" at Dolce in Basking Ridge.  Mr. Moyers, host of Moyers & Company on PBS, former White House Press Secretary, and Bernardsville resident, will discuss the influence of the media on democracy.  


Tickets are $100 per person and proceeds will benefit the Friends of the Library whose mission it is to fund special programs and services at the Library including children's programs, English-As-As Second-Language classes, and Sundays at Three concerts, as well as computers, and books and materials that enhance the library's offerings to the community.  Light refreshments are included, and a selection of books by Mr. Moyers will be available for purchase and signing.  Tickets may be purchased at the library until October 15.  Seating is limited.  For further information, call the library at 908-766-0118.

A broadcast journalist for more than four decades, Bill Moyers has been recognized as one of the unique voices of our times, one that resonates with multiple generations.  In January 2012, at the age of 77, Moyers began his latest media venture with the launch of Moyers & Company on air and online at BillMoyers.com – providing “conversations on democracy” and explorations of contemporary culture, making sense of what matters to us all.

With his wife and creative partner, Judith Davidson Moyers, Bill Moyers has produced such groundbreaking public affairs series as NOW with Bill Moyers (from 2002 through 2005) and Bill Moyers Journal (from 2007 through 2010).  Since the company’s founding in 1986, other notable productions have included the landmark 1988 series, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, as well as Healing and the Mind, The Language of Life, Genesis, On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying, Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home, America’s First River, Becoming American: The Chinese Experience, Faith & Reason, and Moyers on America.

Moyers began his journalism career at age 16 as a cub reporter for his hometown daily newspaper in Marshall, Texas.  He was a founding organizer and deputy director of the Peace Corps and special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson.  Moyers served as Johnson’s press secretary from 1965 to 1967.  As publisher of Newsday from 1967 to 1970, he brought aboard writers including Pete Hamill, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Saul Bellow, and led the paper to two Pulitzer Prizes.  In 1976, he was the senior correspondent for the distinguished documentary series CBS Reports and later a senior news analyst for The CBS Evening News.

For his work, Bill Moyers has received more than 30 Emmys, two prestigious Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, nine Peabodys, and three George Polk Awards.  In the first year it was bestowed, Moyers received the prestigious Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by the American Film Institute.  A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he also received the Career Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association and has been honored by the Television Critics Association for outstanding career achievement.

Moyers was elected to the Television Hall of Fame in 1995.  A year later he received the Charles Frankel Prize (now the National Humanities Medal) from the National Endowment for the Humanities “for outstanding contributions to American cultural life.”  In 2005, Moyers received the PEN USA Courageous Advocacy Award for his passionate, outspoken commitment to freedom of speech and his dedication to journalistic integrity.  He has also been honored with the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Lifetime Achievement Award.  The Museum of Broadcast Communications calls Moyers, “One of the few broadcast journalists who might be said to approach the stature of Edward R. Murrow.  If Murrow founded broadcast journalism, Moyers significantly extended its traditions.”

Moyers’ books include such bestsellers as Listening to America, The Power of Myth, Healing and the Mind, The Language of Life, Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times, and Moyers on Democracy. His most recent book, Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues, was published in May 2011.  He currently serves as president of the Schumann Media Center, a non-profit organization that supports independent journalism.

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“Bill Moyers has been and remains an essential voice in our national conversation … the living antithesis to an era of shocking superficiality in our discourse and media.” — Brian Williams

“Bill Moyers is everything I never aspire to be: calm, thoughtful, and informative.” – Stephen Colbert

Monday, September 24, 2012

Annuities – The Pros and Cons


You have probably been invited to free lunch or dinner seminars where you hear about the benefits of annuities (especially variable annuities) for retirement planning.  Perhaps you own annuities.  But do you really understand all of the benefits – and drawbacks – of owning them?  If you own an unattractive annuity, what can you do about it?  Come to Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, October 10 at 7:00 pm to get the answers to these questions when Eve Kaplan, a Certified Financial Planner at Kaplan Financial Advisors, LLC, will offer a presentation with an objective overview of these complex investment instruments.  

Ms. Kaplan is a Fee-Only (no products sold) advisor and she is in a unique position to look at annuities in an unbiased manner.  She has 28 years of investment experience; she formerly managed nearly $1billion of equity investments in overseas markets. This is her ninth year running Kaplan Financial Advisors in Berkeley Heights.  This presentation is relevant to individuals of all investment levels – from beginning to advanced.  There will be time for questions at the end of her presentation.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Saturday Samplers Book Group to Meet


Bernardsville Library’s book discussion group, Saturday Samplers, will meet on Saturday, October 6 at 3:30 pm to discuss The Lock Artist (2009) by Steve Hamilton.  [The author will not be present.]

A work of crime fiction, the book tells the story of Michael, who suffered a traumatic experience at the age of eight and hasn't spoken a word since.  His great talent is that he can crack any safe without the combination and any lock without a key.  Pushed close to a life of crime, he finally sees his chance to escape and go back home to unlock the secret that has kept him silent for so long. A New York Times Notable Crime Book of the Year, the Times reviewer wrote, "This one is too good for words."

Author Steve Hamilton attended the University of Michigan and won the prestigious Hopwood Award for writing.  His first novel, A Cold Day in Paradise, won the PWA/SMP Best First Private Eye Novel Competition.  It went on to win the Edgar and Shamus Awards for Best First Novel.  In 2006, he won the Michigan Author Award for his outstanding body of work, including his Alex McKnight series and the stand-alone novel Night Work.  His book The Lock Artist is the winner of the 2011 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.  He lives in Cottekill, New York with his wife and their two children.

Led by Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction.  Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books.  Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com.  No sign-up is needed to join the discussion.  Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Daffodils—Now is the Time to Plant!



Master Gardener Beth Nardone from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension will speak about daffodils at Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00 pm.  Join us to learn about the great variety of shapes and colors of the daffodil, a plant that that the deer absolutely will not eat. She will also discuss when and how to plant  daffodils for the best possible outcomes.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

On Sunday, September 9, two exhibitions of century-old photographs of the Somerset Hills opened—one at Bernardsville Public Library and the other in the Peapack-Gladstone Municipal Building. Pictured here are the volunteers of Bernardsville Library’s Local History Committee who spent many hours organizing the shows. The photos in the exhibition, taken by Fred Pitney Crater in the Somerset Hills around the turn of the 20th century, were printed from original negatives previously inaccessible to the public. They are now in the Local History collection of Bernardsville Library. The exhibits run through the month of September and can be viewed during normal business hours.

Standing (l-r): Kate Lincoln and Ann Breault Seated (l-r): Jean Hill, Mary Lee Waldron and Pat Bankowski

"Forks Over Knives" - Movie Screening @ Bernardsville Library

Come to Bernardsville Public Library on Sunday, September 30 at 2:00 pm to see a free screening of the documentary film "Forks Over Knives" in the library's Community Room. Focusing on research by two food scientists, "Forks Over Knives" reveals that despite broad advances in medical technology, the popularity of animal-based and modern processed foods have led to epidemic rates of obesity, diabetes and other diseases.

Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Roger Ebert described the movie as "a film that can save your life.” It examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, now Cornell Emeritus Professor of nutritional science, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a physician at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic. Their research led them to a startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented—and in many cases reversed—by adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet. "Forks Over Knives" will introduce viewers to the 'plant-strong' movement, something that may change the way they eat, look, and feel.

The 96-minute film will be followed by a Q & A session with the nutrient rich lifestyle expert, John Allen Mollenhauer. Plant-strong food samples will be served.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The next session of "The University of Can-Do,” led by inspirational speaker Andrea Mastrobattista, will meet on Wednesday, September 26 at 7:00 pm at Bernardsville Public Library. "Do you have a goal that you think you can't make happen?" asks Ms. Mastrobattista, "Well, you can, because you have what it takes to accomplish it."

This workshop runs throughout the year, and each month participants will discover how to cultivate and maintain the "can-do" determination to make a dream come true. This month's session will focus on what to do if you stop working toward a dream a number of times throughout your life. As hard as it seems, the important thing is that you start back working on it. At this program, the discussion will focus on getting over the guilt of giving up on your dreams and empowering you to begin again. Participants will also continue working on individual vision boards, or create one if they haven’t made one yet.

There is no charge to attend the library workshop, but advance registration is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org, and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Memoirs & Coffee Book Group to Meet

The next meeting of Bernardsville Public Library’s book discussion group, Memoirs and Coffee, will be held on Tuesday, September 25 at 10:30 am in the library’s Community Room. Pat Kennedy-Grant, Readers’ Services Manager for the library, will lead the discussion of “The Hare with Amber Eyes” (2010) by Edmund de Waal. [The author will not be present.]

A bestselling memoir, "The Hare with Amber Eyes," was shortlisted for numerous prizes and won the Costa Biography Award and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. It describes the story of a beautiful collection of 264 tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings, called netsuke, which he inherited. In this extraordinarily moving detective story, he researches and discovers both the story of the netsuke and of his family, the Ephrussis, over five generations. A 19th century banking dynasty in Paris and Vienna, the Ephrussis were as rich as the Rothschilds, yet by the end of World War II, this collection of netsuke was all that remained of their vast empire. A reviewer for The New Yorker called the book "A family memoir written with a grace and modesty that almost belie the sweep of its contents: Proust, Rilke, Japanese art, the rue de Monceau, Vienna during the Second World War. The most enchanting history lesson imaginable."

Author Edmund de Waal is a world famous ceramicist whose porcelain has been displayed in many museum collections around the world. He has recently made an installation for the dome of the Victoria and Albert Museum. He was apprenticed as a potter, studied in Japan, and studied English at Cambridge. He is Professor of Ceramics at the University of Westminster and lives in London with his family.

There is no charge and no sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Bernardsville Library to Honor 2012 Volunteers of the Year

Bernardsville Public Library will honor long-time volunteers Fauzia Burke and Andrea Mastrobattista at a reception in the library hosted by the Board of Trustees on Sunday, September 23 at 2:00 pm.

“Bernardsville Public Library gratefully acknowledges Andrea's and Fauzia's contributions to library programming” said Madelyn English, the Library’s Adult Program Manager, “It is wonderful that we have been able to count on these two ladies offering popular, enriching programs to the community on such a regular, long-term basis."

Fauzia Burke has led Splendid Life Meditation meetings at the Library since 2007 when she began offering the classes in order to introduce others in the community to the benefits of guided meditation. She has a devoted following for her classes which help people manage stress, and be more creative and generally happier. She has also led other programs at the library on social media marketing. Ms. Burke is the founder and President of FSB Associates, the premier Internet marketing firm specializing in creating online awareness for books and authors. Since its inception in 1995, FSB Associates has executed more than two thousand successful book publicity campaigns. A blogger for the Huffington Post, she also runs her own meditation practice. She lives in Bernards Township with her husband and two daughters.

Whenever Andrea Mastrobattista was asked that proverbial interview question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" the answer always varied a bit. But the sentence that always remained was, "I want to INSPIRE people." Since 2005, she has been doing just that, officially, through her company, Operation INSPIRATION. Ms. Mastrobattista, who was born with Spina Bifida and uses braces, crutches and a wheelchair, facilitates workshops such as "Facing Your Fears," "Transforming Negatives Into Positives" and her latest workshop series, "The University of Can-Do," in which she helps people to fully form their goals and develop a strong can-do attitude for achieving them. Her core belief is that, no matter what circumstances people face, they have the strength and ability to create and live fulfilling and inspiring lives. Ms. Mastrobattista has been leading her workshops at Bernardsville Library since she established her company, and it is one of her favorite venues. "Holding these workshops in this library that I love is the perfect opportunity to give back to my hometown community and do work that fulfills me." She also owns Golden Slipper Productions, creating websites and their corresponding promotional materials for small and mid-sized businesses.

"The library couldn't be as effective as it is without the dedication and volunteerism of people like Andrea and Fauzia," said Donald Burset, President of the Library Board of Trustees. "Their contributions, from many walks of life and areas of expertise, truly make Bernardsville Library a 'world at your doorstep.'"

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Craft Boutique to Benefit Bernardsville Library

On Friday, September 21 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, Bernardsville Public Library will host a Craft Boutique in the library’s Community Room featuring the artistic work of several talented local crafters. A percentage of the boutique sales will benefit the library. This boutique is one of several fundraising efforts mounted on behalf of the library this year to fill budget gaps and preserve library services.

The participating crafters are Adrienne Juleus who makes photographic greeting cards; Barbara Marchio who will show her totes and travel bags, including scout bags and travel accessories to compliment a spring and summer wardrobe; Christine Pane who designs and crafts original handbags, scarves and other fashion accessories for Flower Basket Ladybug located in Bedminster; Daisy Schimoler of Majolica House in Peapack who makes hand-crafted custom Majolica ceramics; and jeweler Jackie Skarzynski of Chelsea Market Designs. In addition, Ann Ficula will give a cupcake decorating demonstration around noon and sell her delicious cupcakes all day.

For further information, please call the library at 908-766-0118.