Spruce Beer

 

Ian Ferguson

"You know of course that Martha comes to-day, yesterday brought us notice of it, and the spruce beer is brewed in consequence." Jane Austen letter to Cassandra, October 7, 1808 https://pemberley.com/janeinfo/brablets.html

Event:    JASNA CWNY May Meeting

Topic:    Spruce Beer, a talk and tasting by Ian Ferguson 

When:    Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 1 pm EDT 

Where:  IN PERSON at the Stone-Tolan House. 

               Click HERE for information on the Stone-Tolan House

Registration Details:  Cost $10, space is limited

                                     Pre-registration and pre-payment required

                                     Please click HERE to register.

                                     The event includes a tour of the Stone-Tolan House

                                     Attendees must be over 21

Lunch:

There will also be a group lunch at 11:00 am at Olives in Schoen Place before the talk. Pay on your own. You will need to reserve a spot at lunch by emailing Lisa Brown at jasnacwny@gmail.com. For information on Olives please click HERE

 

Jane Austen enjoyed spruce beer. She mentioned it in her letters. We also find spruce beer in Emma.

"...he wanted to make a memorandum in his pocket-book; it was about spruce-beer. Mr. Knightley had been telling him something about brewing spruce-beer, and he wanted to put it down..." Emma chapter 40

Please join us to find out more about spruce beer and enjoy a tasting. Our speaker is an expert on brewing spruce beer:

Speaker bio:

Ian Ferguson began brewing beer with a friend while living in South Korea back in 2011. After moving to Denver, Colorado, Ian found a home brewing shop just down the road from where he lived and continued brewing simple recipes to share with his friends. When he moved to Paulding, Ohio, in 2017, he began to learn of the county and the history of its founder John Paulding. Combining his love for brewing and history, Ian began brewing spruce beer (which John Paulding certainly drank) and sharing the story of John Paulding and his spruce beer with the community. History is most inviting when it is not only told, but experienced.

We certainly agree with Mr. Ferguson that "history is most inviting when it is not only told, but experienced". So please join us to experience the tale and taste of one of Jane Austen's favorite beverages.

“Weave, Knit, Net, Knot – Textiles and the Regency Era

 

Woman Day Dress, Made in India 1796-1804
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/250437/woman-s-day-dress

Event:    JASNA CWNY April Meeting

Topic:    "Weave, Knit, Net, Knot - Textiles in the Regency Era" 

               A talk by Kate Jorgensen, JASNA CWNY member

When:    Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 1 pm EDT 

Where:  IN PERSON at Pittsford Barnes & Noble Community Room

We are all familiar with Regency fashions. We have seen them in the adaptations and worn them ourselves to Regency balls. But what went into making those dresses and tailcoats? At our April meeting Kate Jorgensen of our region will tell us how those beautiful garments were made.

Kate writes:

Bombazine, muslin, gauze, crape, worsted.  Jane Austen’s books and other writings are full of textile terms but what is behind these terms?  What fibers were used, where did they come from and how were the items produced?  What textile production inventions shifted the British textile production landscape during the Regency Era?  Please join us as Kate Jorgensen provides an overview that touches on each of these questions. During our time together we will look at textiles, fibers, the impact of trade and British Imperialism on textile production and access. and the changing textile production landscape during the Regency Era.

Please join us at Barnes and Noble to learn more about the details of Regency fashion.

Kate is a member of our region, apparently she has worked on mummies:

Kate Jorgensen is a life-long learner, reader, and hand arts enthusiast with an interest in history and how it links to who we are today.  Kate has three bachelor’s degrees (English Education, Chemistry and Textiles and Clothing) from The Ohio State University, an M.B.A. from Capital University, and an M.L.I.S. from Drexel University.  She also holds certifications in project management, Agile product ownership and change management and is a Six Sigma Green Belt.  Kate’s senior thesis was on microscopic evaluation of fibers from wrappings retrieved from mummy bundles and she began her career working with textiles and other artifacts retrieved from trunks from an 1865 shipwreck. Today Kate works on sustainability initiatives, focusing on changing what we are doing today to preserve the planet for tomorrow.  Kate can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinejorgensen/. 

March Meeting "The World of Jane Austen Soundtracks"

 

Jane Austen at the Movies
By MGM - source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org

Event:    JASNA CWNY March Meeting

Topic:    "The World of Jane Austen Soundtracks" 

               A talk by Ruth Mudge

When:    Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 1 pm EDT 

Where:  On-line through Zoom, pre-registration required

Registration: Click HERE to register

Lights, Camera, Action! Movie adaptations of Jane Austen's novels have a long history. They have been at times well loved and at times controversial. In these adaptations, acting, dialog, scenery, costuming and many other things are important in determining the success of the movie. Also of importance is the soundtrack. Please join us as Ruth Mudge discuss "The World of Jane Austen Soundtracks" at our next meeting.

The speaker writes:

"Soundtracks are one of the many vehicles used to portray the emotions, tone, era, comedy and more within films. In listening to and comparing musical themes, particularly from adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, this session will uncover the variety of ways that soundtracks interpret Jane’s stories and explores how music powerfully impacts the telling of these beloved stories."

Speaker bio:

Ruth Mudge is a cello and piano instructor in the western suburbs of the Chicago area. She also freelances regularly with local orchestras and ensembles. Ruth has written and collaborated on several soundtrack analysis projects over the past few years, and more recently began teaching soundtrack classes on Zoom, ranging from Harry Potter to The Sound of Music to a series on Jane Austen adaptations.

Please join us online for this musical look at the world of Jane Austen movies.

Admiral Charles Austen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Austen

 Event:    JASNA CWNY February Meeting

Topic:    "Narratives of a Naval Wife: Fanny Austen in Fact and 

               Jane Austen in Fiction" 

               A talk by Sheila Johnson Kindred

When:    Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 1 pm EDT 

Where:  On-line through Zoom, pre-registration required

               To register click HERE

Please join us on February 18 for a special online meeting where Sheila Johnson Kindred will tell us about the life of Fanny Palmer, Charles Austen's wife. 

Sheila writes:"When Fanny Palmer married Jane Austen’s younger naval brother Charles in 1807, she was thrust into a demanding life within the wartime world of the British navy. This talk will provide a vividly personal account of what Fanny was able to share with Jane about her life as a naval wife, information that was arguably contextual and catalytic for Austen’s creation of the naval wives in Persuasion."

About the speaker:

Sheila Johnson Kindred taught for many years in the Philosophy Department of St Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She has lectured on aspects of Jane Austen’s family and fiction in Canada, United States, Bermuda, Australia and England, and published fifteen articles on Austen related topics. She is the author of the prize winning book, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister: The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen (2017). (I read this book and found it fascinating).

Sheila blogs on her website Jane Austen’s Naval World at sheilajohnsonkindred.com.

So please join us to learn about someone whose information may have contributed to Jane Austen's work.

Birthday Luncheon

 

Colonel Brandon mets Marianne after her illness
http://mollands.net/etexts/senseandsensibility/snsillus.html

"Marianne's illness, though weakening in its kind, had not been long enough to make her recovery slow; and with youth, natural strength, and her mother's presence in aid, it proceeded so smoothly as to enable her to remove, within four days after the arrival of the latter, into Mrs. Palmer's dressing-room. When there, at her own particular request, for she was impatient to pour forth her thanks to him for fetching her mother, Colonel Brandon was invited to visit her." Sense and Sensibility ch. 46

A Birthday Lunch, Popovers, Colonel Brandon and the Far East

You are invited to lunch with JASNA-Central & Western New York on  Saturday, January 21 2023 at 10:30 am at The Chatterbox Club, 25 Goodman St N, Rochester NY 14607.  Cost of the luncheon is $40.  Yes!  There will be popovers! 

The luncheon speaker is Celia Easton, who will share her AGM talk on Colonel Brandon and Military Service in India.  

This form allows you to pay online through PayPal.  After submitting the form, click the link to authorize PayPal payment.  You will receive a "PAID" receipt.

Registration

To register and pay please click HERE

Please register by January 14 so that we know how many are coming

Guests should have current boosters against COVID and should wear masks at the event, except while eating.

Edith Lank: 1926-2023 Founder of JASNACWNY

Edith Lank 1926-2023

Sad news. Edith will be missed by all.

In Memoriam

Edith Lank

Central and Western New York

Edith Lank died January 1, 2023. She was born Edith Handleman on February 27, 1926, in Chelsea, Mass., and graduated from Penn Yan Academy and Syracuse University (Phi Beta Kappa). In 1948, she wed Norman Lank—a loving partnership that lasted until his death in 2011. Having worked for newspapers since her high school years, she created an advice column on real estate in the 1970s that eventually was distributed to more than 100 newspapers. She wrote her last column in 2019. Edith also taught at St. John Fisher College in Rochester and lectured on real estate nationally, appearing frequently on television and radio. She wrote real estate licensing textbooks for New York and New Jersey. She was also an avid bird watcher and certified scuba diver.

For Janeites both in her own region and across North America, Edith was a guiding light for decades. Several years before attending her first AGM in Baltimore in 1980, she founded the Rochester Jane Austen group that later became JASNA Rochester (and that merged with JASNA Syracuse in 2015 to become JASNA CWNY). She also served on the JASNA North American board; was an enthusiastic mentor to younger Janeites; answered the JASNA toll-free hotline (when there was one) for several years; and enlivened countless Rochester meetings and several AGM breakout sessions with her trademark wit and verve. She was also always willing to share her remarkable collection of Austen-related books and ephemera—including a complete set of first editions, an original signature, and Lord Brabourne’s edition of Austen’s letters including family and other annotations—with JASNA members, as attendees at her Chicago 2008 breakout (see Persuasions 30: 76-87) can attest! Much of her JASNA ephemera collection, offering delightful documentation of early AGMs, is now in the JASNA archives at Goucher College.

Edith had several other articles published in Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line:

• Annotations on the Bellas copy of the Letters: https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol29no1/lank.html? 

• On Darcy Wentworth: https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number11/lank.htm

• Who was Harriet's mother?: https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number7/lank.html

• On "lop't and crop't": https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number7/lank-2.html

Edith is survived by her sons, Avrum (Dannette) of Milwaukee, WI, and Dov (Constance Smith) of Port Moody, BC, Canada; a daughter, Anna (Michael Mortenson), of Manhattan; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be made to JASNA, earmarked for the Edith Lank Fund, which was established in 2022 by Edith’s children and announced at the Victoria AGM by her son Dov (David). 

 

Watercolor by Cassandra Austen thought to be Jane
Why didn't you ask her to turn around?

"Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together." 

Letter from Jane Austen to Cassandra 9 January 1796. Jane Austen's Letters 4th ed. Deirdre Le Faye p. 1

 Event:    JASNA CWNY December Meeting

Topic:    "Cassandra at 250: An Appreciation"

               A talk by Marie Sprayberry, JASNA CWNY member

When:    Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 1 pm EDT (2nd Saturday)

Where:  Online through Zoom, pre-registration required

Registration: CLICK HERE

Cassandra Austen was Jane Austen's beloved sister. This month Marie Sprayberry will tell us more about Cassandra. Marie writes:

"Although we're all looking forward to Jane Austen's birthday on December 16, we have another Austen's milestone birthday coming up: Jane's beloved older sister, Cassandra, turns 250 on January 9. Unfortunately, Cassandra is often viewed these days only as the relative who burned many of Jane's letters. But, as usual, the truth is more interesting and more complicated. Join us on December 10 on Zoom at 1 pm to learn more!"

Marie is a life member of JASNA and has spoken at our regional meetings previously. Just a year ago she spoke to us about "Martha Lloyd and Cooking at Chawton Cottage"

Please join us as Marie Sprayberry tells us about someone who was a very important part of Jane Austen's life.