Glenmeadow to Hold Art Festival as a Fundraiser for the ALS Therapy Development Institute

Event is part of a series supporting a $20,000 goal

LONGMEADOW—The second annual Glenmeadow Art Festival, featuring fine art by painters, photographers, and jewelers, will be held Saturday, Dec. 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and proceeds will benefit the ALS Therapy Development Institute.

The event is the second to last fundraiser for ALS to be organized by Glenmeadow residents, who chose the institute as the nonprofit to support in 2017 in honor of the life plan community’s former president and chief executive officer Tim Cotz, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2016, shortly before he retired.

Each year, Glenmeadow residents choose a nonprofit to fund through charitable means, as they have a history of giving in their own lives. Philanthropic itself as a nonprofit with a mission to serve older adults in the Greater Springfield region, Glenmeadow supports residents’ efforts.

Roughly $16,000 has been raised through seven previous events and donations, and the fundraising goal has increased to $20,000. The final event will be a New Year’s Eve gala for residents, who will each pay $25 to attend.

Laura Lavoie, Glenmeadow’s director of life enrichment, said the long-term goal for the festival is for it to become a well-known cultural event in the community. “We want it to be a fine arts event that people will look forward to,” she said, noting items for sale will be higher-end than what one might find at a craft fair.

Piano music by a musician from the Community Music School of Springfield will be offered from noon to 2 p.m., and hot hors d’oeuvres will be passed from noon until about 1 p.m.

Painter Debbie Padden, who is Glenmeadow’s personal trainer and also teaches painting at Glenmeadow and privately in the Pioneer Valley, will offer a demonstration of her craft throughout the event; she will discuss technique from 11 a.m. to noon and will be available all day to answer questions. She works with oils, acrylics, watercolor and pastels.

Lavoie, a mixed media artist specializing in modern mosaics, assemblage and bookmaking, will also take part in the festival and will demonstrate her craft throughout the event.

Other participating artists include: George Depina, a photographer whose works focus on urban exploration, a hobby in which one explores man-made structures and abandoned ruins; Laura Pixley, who creates what she calls ForkArt Jewelry; Bernice Pine, a painter who works mostly with acrylics on portraits and landscapes; Cindy Lutz, who presents mixed-media art that sheds light on the human condition and “art that is hopeful, growth-oriented and uplifting”; and Jim Rosenthal, who will not be present but whose sculptures will be on display.

The festival will be held in Cotz Hall, named after Cotz upon his retirement.

Donations to ALS-TDI are also still being accepted by Glenmeadow residents. To donate, visit www.classy.org/fundraiser/1032694 or send a check made out to ALS-TDI to Glenmeadow, 24 Tabor Crossing, Longmeadow, MA 01106.

Glenmeadow is a nonprofit life plan community—formerly known as a retirement community—and it has a mission to serve seniors in the Greater Springfield region, whether they live on the Longmeadow campus or in their own homes.

Established in 1884, Glenmeadow is an accredited life plan community; it provides independent and assisted living at its campus at 24 Tabor Crossing in Longmeadow and expanded Glenmeadow at Home services throughout greater Springfield.

To learn more about Glenmeadow and its history and offerings, visit www.glenmeadow.org.

About Glenmeadow

In the 1800s, elderly individuals without family or means were sent to live at what was called “the poor farm.” In 1884, a group of civic leaders raised funds among themselves and other area families and purchased a house on Main Street in Springfield’s south end, establishing The Springfield Home for Aged Women. Quickly outgrowing that house, land was purchased on the corner of Chestnut and Carew streets, where a new home was constructed and opened in 1900. In 1960, the name was changed to Chestnut Knoll, and, in 1992, it began to admit men.

In 1993, the organization purchased a 23-acre parcel in Longmeadow to build a new community that would provide both independent living and assisted living in one building with various common areas. This was a new concept known as a continuing care retirement community. Existing residents from the old Chestnut Knoll property were moved to the new campus in 1997. Shortly after the move, the board voted to change its legal name to Glenmeadow to coincide with the name being used by the developer of the property.

Continuing care retirement communities are now referred to as life plan communities, responding to the needs of the aging population with new opportunities for care, plus creative, educational and personal exploration. Glenmeadow offerings, which include everything from senior living options and handyman services to personal care and travel programs, are provided at its Longmeadow campus and across the region through Glenmeadow at Home. Glenmeadow strives to fulfill its mission of nurturing the whole person in mind, body and spirit.