CALM A LA Delights Hundreds of Dems in Pittsfield, MA!!

By Claudia Ricci and Alyson Slutzky

It was an extraordinary experience all around last Saturday at the Colonial in Pittsfield! Hundreds turned out, thrilled to be part of this historic -- or was it HERstoric? -- event.

Naturally, Calm a la's supporters were out in force, but so too, were supporters of...oh, well, you know that other guy, the incredibly WEIRD one who is running for President as a Republican, along with his even WEIRDER Vice Presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, whose past (ridiculous) positions on women with cats etc are coming back to haunt him!

Once inside, we were instructed not to photograph Calm a la or any of the other participants: Former Governor Duvall Patrick, followed by U.S. Congressman Richie Neal, Massachusetts U.S. Senators Ed Markie and Elizabeth Warren, and historian Heather Cox Richardson. Oh, and there were a few musical luminaries as well: cellist Yo Yo Ma and classical pianist Emanuel Ax highlighted the entertainment. No less than Berkshire's own James Taylor also emerged and along with Yo Yo Ma and Ax, the threesome played and sang "Here Comes the Sun." What could be better?

Well, maybe when James’ wife and his son emerged and the whole Taylor family delighted the crowd with that goosebump-producing Taylor favorite: "Shower the people you love with love…”

OK, that's when CALM a LA came striding in from the wings of the magnificently restored Colonial, to the resounding applause of the crowd, applause that reverberated around the Colonial Theater, a treasured gem in the city of Pittsfield.

An avalanche of American flags were standing at attention right behind the Vice President and a huge Harris for President sign stood above the flags. Her podium boasted the Vice Presidential seal, of course, as well as the nearly invisible wings of a teleprompter.

Calm a la spoke for about a quarter of an hour, just enough to fire up the crowd even more than they were, with more cheering and applause. Interestingly, Calm a la was quite soft-spoken at the Colonial unlike the way she spoke in her Wisconsin speech which appeared on YouTube.

Speaking in Pittsfield, she went off script a bit, and I -- I being Alyson Slutzky, who as Chair of the Democratic Party in the Town of Egremont, MA, about 45 minutes south of Pittsfield -- had the distinct pleasure (and honor) of being in the crowd at the Colonial on Saturday! I liked the unscripted remarks best. What an incredible and distinct honor it was for me to hear the Vice President call for unity and a victory in November!

This exhilerating campaign event -- which had been planned BEFORE President Biden stepped down on Sunday, July 21st -- was expected to raise $400,000 but amazingly, the event raised $1.8 million! I had never been to an event like this before, and I will remember it for the rest of my life, as it was exciting beyond belief!

I just LOVED the way she spoke, because she speaks that way all the time. Her tough talk and her willingness to attack Trump (we will do everything possible to defeat that lying creep) reflect her many years being a Prosecutor, state Attorney General in California, U.S. Senator from California and finally, Vice President. She is so intelligent and so incisive and so powerful and she cuts through the BS and she makes me feel safe,

like she can really attack Trump in an effective way and defeat him in November!

Speaking for women and men across the nation, Alyson concluded: "I feel like a great weight has been lifted from my chest. And I hear other people say the same thing. I felt so incredibly hopeless for so long that Trump was definitely going to win. And now I feel like there is a really good that Kamala may pull this victory off!"

Slutzky says that she and others have been working tirelessly on behalf of the Democratic ticket, now headed by a woman. The work of Dems was given a huge shot in the arm by Calm a La's visit to Pittsfield.

Need we say more?

Claudia Ricci, PhD.,is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, taught English, creative writing and journalism at SUNY Albany and Georgetown University. Ricci began her writing career as a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, where she won numerous prizes, and later, as a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal. She has published four novels and is writing a fifth novel, called Finding Filomena, a fictional memoir about her great great grandmother, Filomena Scrivano, who delivered a baby -- her great grandfather Pasquale Orzo -- out of wedlock in 1870 in a small town in Calabria in southern Italy.

Alyson Slutzky is a Social Worker and Chair of the Egremont Democratic Committee, as well as Lead Organizer for Left Field, a Great Barrington area Swing Left/Indivible group. She and her husband, Richard, reside in Great Barrington, MA. Slutzky was able to secure tickets to be at the campaign event for Calm a La on Saturday, July 27, 2024.