Neighborhood News: Aquebogue ballet dancer bound for showtime

The Jamesport Meeting House is extremely pleased to announce that the 2014 season will begin with a performance by the Cassatt String Quartet on March 1 at 7:30 p.m. The program will feature the Dmitri Shostakovich Quartet No. 8, the Maurice Ravel String Quartet and Antonin Dvorak’s Cypresses. Tickets — $25 for adults, $10 for students — may be obtained at jamesportmeetinghouse.org and will be on sale at Duffy’s Deli in Jamesport. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door.

Named for the celebrated American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, this world-class professional ensemble has been playing together since 1985. The Manhattan quartet has performed throughout North America, Europe and the Far East, with appearances at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Tanglewood Music Theater, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and Maeda Hall in Tokyo.

The Quartet has been presented on major radio stations such as National Public Radio’s Performance Today, Boston’s WGBH, New York’s WQXR and WNYC, and on Canada’s CBC Radio and Radio France.

First Parish Church is moving its Sunday services to 9 a.m. beginning this Sunday, Feb. 9. All are welcome to attend. Visit spirit-renewal.com for more details.

Jamesport resident Aela Bailey, a third-grade student at Aquebogue Elementary School, has just received great news. Aela has been dancing ballet at the local studio on Love Lane for about five years. This year she became interested in a more competitive environment. She wanted to audition for the American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi summer intensive programs in Manhattan. She recently received word that she was accepted into both programs! Aela has decided to attend the Bolshoi summer intensive program. We look forward to hearing more from the Bailey family on Aela’s experience. Congratulations and best of luck. Summer can’t come soon enough!

Save the date for next week’s bake sale. Peconic Bay Medical Center volunteers will have a Valentine’s Day bake sale in the PBMC lobby on Friday, Feb. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stop by and get some home-baked goodies to celebrate the day and to support our local hospital!

I hope you like snow or have at least figured out a way to enjoy it for the season. We certainly have had our fill. I must admit, I would rather have a white winter than a gray one. I do like the quiet that comes with the blanketing snow as it gives me a little more time to catch up on writing. Stay safe on the roads and keep warm. Spring is only about 40 days away!

Contant Eileen Benthal at [email protected] or 833-1897.