june 21 edition

June 21, 2012Volume III, Issue 5

www.berkshirebeacon.comLenox, MA 01240

FREE

1 Local News 6 Editorial6 From the Tower11 Fast Picks14 Calendar15 Fast Picks14 Movies 14 Girl-2-Girl18 College Sports Report

Local wom-an collects backpacks & suitcases for children and adults.

- Page 4

The Berkshire Beacon

Index

Bera B. DunauBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX – The town has been taken over by sculpture.

From June 5 to Oct. 27, the Town of Lenox will be the home of an exhibition of 21 sculptures, brought to the town by The Berkshires-based non-profit Sculpture Now.

Now in its 15th year, Sculpture Now is an educa-tional non-profit dedicated to expanding the knowledge of art, particularly sculpture, in The Berkshires.

Every year Sculpture Now chooses one town in The Berkshires to hold an exhibi-tion of sculptures created by artists from the area, across the country and around the

world. A jury selects the sculptures through an open submission process. This year, Sculpture Now received 38 submissions to be in their shows.

“One person said this really brings this town alive,” said Sculpture Now Director Ann Jon. “That’s the kind of atti-tude that we have from the public towards the show.”

Mrs. Jon said that the pub-lic reception to the Lenox show has been similarly positive.

“People have been saying very nice things about it,” said Mrs. Jon. “So far I’ve just heard good things just from the general public.”

It wasn’t always certain,

Kameron Z. SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

HOUSATONIC – Look-ing for a good book to read as you sit out in the sun this summer?

A book sale, sponsored by the Friends of the Great Bar-rington Libraries, will be held at the Ramsdell Library on Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Members (Friends) will have first-pick until noon, and then the general public will be admitted.

To become a Friend, the fee is $10 and attendees can join on the day of the event.

Hundreds of books on all topics will be available. Cate-gories include children’s, cookbooks, gardening, art, contemporary fiction, pocket, mysteries and vintage-collect-ible. DVDs, videos, books on tape and CDs will also be sold.

On Friday, Ramsdell will celebrate over 100 years with-in the town library system with a party from 5-7 p.m.

All are invited to the event featuring music from The Lucky Five, who will perform jazz and swing on the front lawn.

A barbecue will be held, and beer, lemonade and cook-ies will be provided.

On the party day, the “Great Barrington Reads” program will provide copies of its next book, Zeitoun by Dave Egg-ers. Those who participate are asked to all read the same book and join in later discus-sions of it.

Rae EastmanBeacon Staff Writer

WILLIAMSTOWN - Ulyss-es, the novel by James Joyce, published in 1922 by the re-nowned Parisian publisher and bookseller on the Seine, Sylvia Beach, is an original.

Even now it appears chal-lenging, and it was published over 90 years ago.

The novel more or less fol-lows Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom as they mean-der around Dublin on their own personal odysseys. Not only has it stayed in print all these years, but been translat-ed into many other languages as well.

Its name, Ulysses, is the lati-nized version of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's Odyssey,

many incidents and themes of which Mr. Joyce parallels in his own novel. For years it has had its own day around the world – Bloomsday – on June 16, the day that its hero, Leo-pold Bloom, had his first date with Nora Barnacle, the lady who became his wife.

This June 16, became the second Bloomsday celebrated in Williamstown and a glori-ously original day it was – in keeping with the novel it cel-ebrates. The event was orga-nized by Karl Mullen – who staged Bloomsday in Pitts-burgh for 13 years – and John Strachan, both of whom now live in Williamstown.

It is a difficult novel to read and understand, thus Mr.

Art all aroundSculpture Now underway in Lenox

Good books

for even better prices

Kameron Z. Spaulding / BerKShire Beacon

“Cedar Chair” by Leon Smith is one of the Sculpture Now pieces in the town of Lenox.see ART page 3

see BLOOMSDAY page 4

Bringing a novel to life

John Strachan / Special to the Beacon

The reading of the sixth chapter, Hades, in Eastlawn Cemetery at Bloomsday.

BERKSHIRE SONATA

PAGES 9-12

2 The Berkshire Beacon June 21, 2012


LENOX – It appears the Town of Lenox is about to weigh in on a national issue.

At a recent meeting, the Lenox Board of Selectmen was present-ed with a petition from 160 Lenox citizens asking them to support a constitutional amend-ment to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United case.

Citizens United v. Federal Elec-tion Commission was a 2010 Su-preme Court decision that pro-hibited government restrictions on independent political expen-ditures by corporations and unions.

The decision was made by a 5-4 ruling from a sharply-divided Supreme Court and has been the target of heavy criticism ever since, particularly by the Demo-cratic Party and progressive groups who have alleged the rul-ing allows corporations to effec-tively buy elections.

President Barack Obama criti-cized the ruling in his 2010 State of the Union address.

The Citizens United ruling was also a major impetus towards the creation of super PACs (political action committees), which can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations and unions, so long as they only use their funds for independent political expenditures.

Super PACs played a key role in the 2010 election and the 2012 Republican presidential primary, and they appear poised to play a central part in the 2012 general election.

In order to re-establish the re-strictions on independent politi-cal contributions from corpora-tions and labor unions that Citizens United struck down, a movement has sprung up to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling.

Currently the state legislatures of Hawaii, New Mexico, Ver-mont and Rhode Island have passed resolutions in support of overturning Citizens United, and such a resolution is also being considered in the Massachusetts State Legislature.

Additionally, dozens of Massa-

chusetts communities have passed resolutions in support of this issue including Great Bar-rington, Williamstown, Amherst, Northampton, Cambridge, Natick and Boston.

“We, the people, residents of the Town of Lenox, urge you to vote in favor of the constitutional amendment to overturn the United States Supreme Court de-cision rendered in favor of ‘Citi-zens United,’” said Lenox resi-dent Helen Fink, reading the petition to the board of selectmen.

“I think it’s exceedingly impor-tant that some action be taken by the Town of Lenox,” said Lenox resident Elske Smith, who sug-gested the selectmen either pass a resolution in support of the peti-tion and/or call a special town meeting to bring the issue before Lenox’s voters.

The select board was quite fa-vorable to the petition.

“I don’t have any questions, I’m in favor of it,” said Selectman David Roche.

Selectman John McNinch sug-gested the select board pass a res-olution in favor of the petition and then, if a special town meet-ing was called, add the petition to the agenda.

“I’m well versed in the perversi-ties of this ruling and...find it ap-palling,” said Selectman Chan-ning Gibson. “I’m ready to vote on it...and recommend it any-time anybody wants to hold a vote.”

Select Board Chairman Ken-neth Fowler also expressed his support for the petition.

“I’d feel more comfortable if we waited. Can we wait until the next meeting?” said Selectman Ed Lane, who was unfamiliar with the Citizens United case. “All I know is what I’ve heard in the last five minutes.”

Because of this, the board de-cided to take up the petition at their next meeting.

When asked by The Beacon later on what his position on the petition is, now that he had re-searched it, Selectman Lane said that he would most likely be sup-porting it.

“It’s a no brainer really,” said Selectman Lane.


PITTSFIELD – Many home schooled children are left looking for greater academic challenges.

Berkshire Community College has long been one place those children can find challenge.

To continue to keep the pro-gram open to more students, re-gardless of income, the Berkshire Community College Foundation announced that scholarship ap-plications are available for high school and home school student programs.

The Alexander M. Bashara Scholarship and the Samantha Inman Scholarship will be award-ed to home schooled or high school age students, respectively, to assist with tuition, fees and books for courses taken at Berk-shire Community College.

Mr. Bashara was a home schooled student who began tak-ing classes at BCC, looking for greater challenges. During his time at BCC he found personal

fulfillment, success and confidence.

Mr. Bashara was a well-loved and well-respected young man who had planned to study for a degree in engineering, but he died in a snowboarding accident in March 2006 at the age of 15.

This scholarship was created in his memory to assist home schooled students on a similar path. He was the son of Mark and Hilary Bashara and brother of Arianna, of Lanesboro.

BCC offers all eligible high school age students, not just home schooled, the opportunity to take one college level course without charge each semester.

These scholarships can assist students with the purchase of books for the free course or tu-ition, fees and books for a second course.

Students should confirm neces-sary pre-requisites with their high school guidance office.

Ms. Inman, who grew up in Berkshire County, endowed a scholarship in her name to “iden-

tify smart students who may not have the financial means to oth-erwise jumpstart their education by attending college programs.”

A similar program allowed her to simultaneously graduate from St. Joseph Central High School in 2001 and the business admin-istration program at BCC the same year.

She then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in finance, grad-uating summa cum laude with departmental honors, from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass-Amherst in 2003.

Ms. Inman is currently a prin-cipal and nationally recognized expert in life, accident, disability and absence benefits at Mercer, a global human resources consul-tancy with offices in Boston, Hartford, Norwalk and 40-plus other cities.

Mercer’s parent, Marsh and McLennan Companies, through its Matching Gifts to Education program, provided a match of In-man’s contribution for the cre-ation of this scholarship.


LENOX – Two new businesses are ready to hang out their shingles.

The Lenox Historic District Commission (HDC) approved several new signs and some land-scaping changes to a local land-mark at their most recent meeting.

Brava Bar, a Spanish-style wine bar, was approved by the HDC for their window sign.

Located at 27 Housatonic St., owner Whitney Asher told the board that the bar is now open for business.

Also on tap to join the historic district is Berkshire Outdoor and Berkshire Naturals. The business will be a retail store selling out-door appeal under its own Berk-shire Outdoor brand and will sell vitamins and lotions under its Berkshire Naturals line.

The store plans to be open by

Lenox to join Citizens United movement

Vote expected at next selectmen meeting

BCC continues to offer high learning for home schooled kids

Two new businesses to join downtown Lenox

see HDC page 3


Brava Bar is now open at 27 Housatonic Street location in Lenox.

June 21, 2012 The Berkshire Beacon 3

however, whether the Lenox show would be able to get off the ground.

Earlier in the year, Sculpture Now asked the Town of Lenox for $4,000 of funding to help make the exhibition a reality. This request was presented to the marketing and events committee, which voted to recommend that the select board allocate $2,500 of economic development funds to the project.

Not wanting to set a precedent of providing funds to a group for displaying items around town and noting that the sculptures in the exhibit were for sale, however, the board of selectmen refused to give Sculpture Now any funds.

All pieces in the Sculpture Now exhibition are for sale by their re-spective artists. Should a buyer wish to take home a sculpture be-fore the exhibit is completed, an appropriate sculpture – as deter-mined by the Sculpture Now jury – from the same artist can be put in its place. If such a sculpture is not available, however, the buyer will have to wait until the end of the exhibition to claim his or her purchase.

No piece in a Sculpture Now show has been sold since they ex-hibited in Lenox for the first time in 2008, when four pieces were purchased.

Despite not getting the fund-ing they requested from the select board, Sculpture Now was able to gather enough funds to put on the Lenox exhibition this year.

“We do have a very large sup-port base so we try to be creative about our funding,” said Mrs. Jon, who said the group had al-most 100 private donors in the community and had received 10 grants that helped them put on the show.

“I don’t think we should ever have to pay to have the down-town as a gallery,” said Lenox Board of Selectmen Chairman Kenneth L. Fowler in comments to The Beacon, firmly standing by the select board’s decision not to grant the organization funding.

At the same time, Chairman Fowler was pleased with the exhi-bition and liked that it brought more art to the town. He also ex-pressed a particular fondness for the painted tree sculptures in front of town hall.

Both Mrs. Jon and Chairman Fowler also related the story of a “rogue sculpture,” erected near the library that was not a part of the exhibit. The sculpture was ap-parently that of an alien.

Since then, the rogue sculpture has been removed, apparently by the artists, whose identities and motivations remain a mystery.


GREAT BARRINGTON - Two powers in the craft alcohol market here in Massachusetts have teamed up to unveil a whole new kind of product.

Craft beer giant Samuel Adams will team with a local maker of spirits, Berkshire Mountain Dis-tillers, to turn two different Sam-uel Adams beers into whiskey.

The two brews, the flagship Samuel Adams Boston Lager and smoky, complex Samuel Adams Cinder Bock, will both be triple distilled at Berkshire Mountain’s distillery, then barrel-aged in wood.

“It has been a privilege to work with Jim and the brewers – their knowledge and infectious enthu-siasm has found its way over to us here at BMD,” said Chris Weld, founder and distiller of Berkshire Mountain Distillers. “Jim is a pi-oneer in the field who has paved the way for many artisans to fol-low. We are looking forward to working with Samuel Adams to produce two excellent whiskeys from two stellar beers. The only difficult part will be waiting for the final product to be released.”

The aging of whiskey is a very complex and multi-faceted pro-cess, making it difficult to pin-point an exact release date; how-ever, BMD feels that they should be ready for release by 2015.

The whiskeys will start with an initial batch of 12,000 bottles.

Due to the distillation process and barrel aging methods, 12,000 gallons of beer yields about 500 gallons of whiskey, making the fi-nal product a unique and rare find. Though exact pricing and availability of the final products are yet to be determined experts expect the bottles to sell for around $40.

“One of the best things about being a brewer is that the learn-ing never ends,” said Jim Koch, Samuel Adams founder and brewer. “It’s been fun to share my knowledge of brewing with Chris throughout this process, and he has certainly taught me more than a thing or two about distilling.

“There are many parallels be-tween making spirits and brew-ing beer. Marrying the two not only makes sense, but will also

produce a drink that beer- and spirits-lovers alike can enjoy.”

The venture will only continue to build the brand for Mr. Weld and Berkshire Mountain Distillers.

Opening in 2007, Berkshire Mountain Distillers has created a line of award-winning artisanal spirits including Greylock Gin, Ethereal Gins, Ragged Mountain Rum, Ice Glen Vodka, Berkshire Bourbon and New England Corn Whiskey, currently available in 19 different states.

All of their products are hand-crafted in small batches in Great Barrington at The Berkshires’ first legal distillery since prohibi-tion. They are also one of the founding members of the craft distiller movement and are wide-ly embraced by several of the na-tion’s leading mixologists.

Just this last week their Grey-

lock Gin was named a top buy by The New York Times.

Mr. Weld sees this collabora-tion as the next step for his grow-ing company.

The news of the collaboration made instant financial news as well, stock shares in the Boston Beer Company spiked on the an-nouncement. SAM hit a new all-time high during Tuesday’s trad-ing session. Shares briefly traded at $120 a share before closing at $116.05.

Investors missed the fact that the new whiskey’s profits will go to Berkshire Mountain Distillers, rather than Boston Beer. Samuel Adams will be used as a base and a name on the bottles and gener-ate no money for the Boston Beer Company. Although, the deal could lead to future earnings in the spirits market for Boston Beer.

the end of July at their 12 Housatonic St. location, the for-mer home of the Lenox Cham-ber of Commerce.

They were approved by the HDC for a hanging sign that will feature tree leaves from vari-ous seasons. The sign will come in at the exact maximum for a sign in the historic district, as the chamber’s sign did when they filled the location.

Changes at the GatewayEiran Gazit, owner of the

Gateway Inn on Walker Street, came before the HDC for ap-proval to add a fountain to his front lawn and replace the cur-rent terrace with a new patio.

The stone fountain will stand six feet tall and Mr. Gazit hopes it can help create some much needed visual appeal for the front of the building.

“The building is a landmark,” said Mr. Gazit. “And a landmark should make a statement with the front of the property.”

The fountain will be sur-rounded with new landscaping and was approved unanimously by the board.

The board also approved Mr. Gazit’s request to build a 500-square foot Goshen stone patio on the side of the building facing the Lenox Community Center.

Other newsLucy Kennedy will now serve

on the HDC, filling the seat for the Lenox Historical Society. Mrs. Kennedy was appointed at the last board of selectmen meeting and is expected to be sworn in and ready to serve by next month’s meeting.

HDC and Planning Board Member Steve Sample reported to the board they should have a draft of the planning board’s new sign bylaw by their next meeting.

Mr. Sample also said the plan-ning board hopes to have these changes ready for the HDC to again oversee sandwich board signs by September.

Local distiller to start project with Sam Adams

ART from page 1


Berkshire Mountain Distillery owner Christopher Weld has struck a new deal to make whiskey from Sam Adams beer.

HDC from page 3


Mullen and Mr. Strachan have spent months during the spring in weekly readings of the novel joined by anywhere from eight to 15 or more readers helping them to understand the novel and get used to its many styles and kinds of language. (Mr. Joyce is famous for the unusual languages he uses throughout... and it is, after all, just about 650 pages long!)

The organizers of Bloomsday chose chapters from Ulysses and 10 different settings in which to read those chapters most of which bore a rough parallel to the set-tings they were reading about.

The first – at 7:45 a.m. – was a rooftop with a lovely view of the mountains around William-stown, as chapter one of the book takes place on a rooftop. There the group (of 15 or so people) took turns reading chapter one.

They also introduced them-selves. A number were inspired to read the book from having been to Dublin; one said she spoke Irish, one had come south from Bennington, Vt., one was Irish and others came to learn about the book.

From there we walked to the Williams College Science Quad – the character Stephen Dedalus is a teacher – for chapter two, sit-ting round a marble table in the shade of a tree.

For a reading of chapter four, the group sat in a circle at the bookstore in town, Water Street Books. Brown's, the store next door, had a marvelous window of Ulysses posters, curled and danc-ing around in front of which the group posed for a picture.

Then came a longer walk to the Williamstown cemetery to a shady spot under another tree for a reading of chapter six – entitled Hades. It describes a funeral Bloom and Dedalus attend.

It is also the resting place of a popular English professor who taught Ulysses at Williams for some 30 years, one Don Gifford.

Someone visiting Ireland, wanting to travel the same places Mr. Joyce had, asked a pub owner if he knew of James Joyce, the fa-mous writer from Dublin and was told, no, he knew of no writ-er by that name.

Did the man mean, perhaps, the famous singer, James Joyce?

Precisely at 2 p.m. the group repaired to Images, William-stown's cinema, for a reading of chapter 10 in which various of Dublin's characters appear for a visit.

This was a line reading for live television.

We were met there by techni-cians from Willinet, a local Wil-liamstown television station. For the reading some 18 people stood in the front of the theatre and greeted earlier characters in the book as they appeared; a micro-cosm of Ulysses, as it were.

Mr. Strachan read the narrative and as a character appeared in the narrative he read, the reader cor-responding to that character would say his lines for him.

And, of course, the next stop was a pub – there are no end of these in Ulysses – the Hops and Vines on Spring Street.

There we sat in their fine gar-den and read chapter 12 while those who cared to had a beer.

From there we went to a spot on the lawn off lower Spring Street. That chapter was in ques-tion and answer style, more-or-less in a more philosophical con-text and so it was in the reading – one would pose the question – even if it was only, “Why?” – and another would answer it. It was reportedly Mr. Joyce's favorite chapter because it dealt with is-sues he felt strongly about.

After a “break” for supper, we gathered at Mullen's barn just south of town – where the Thurs-day readings took place – for the final chapter: Molly Bloom's so-liloquy – 35 pages without punctuation!

This was the way to read this very difficult novel: taking turns in a group, laughing and ex-changing comments, in different voices – one man had a heavy Irish accent and pleasantly chang-ing settings. Thus is this novel brought alive.

The two organizers of Blooms-day did a masterful job: we moved easily from one setting to anoth-er, the time frames were practical, they set an informed tone to the day and yet we never lost sight of our objective which was to make reading this book – known throughout the world for years – a pleasure. It's also a reflection of Mr. Joyce's philosophy: ordinary men through their principles and their actions become extraordi-nary; he meant his book to be a celebration of humanity, it seems.

Treating such a wild book, no matter how old, academically makes it much harder to read. In-deed many were laughing loudly by the end of the day.

And in keeping with such thoughts and our celebration of Bloomsday, we all read the last few lines of the book together.

Susan M. Wicker GuerreroBeacon Staff Writer

DALTON – Anyone who doubts one person can make a major difference in the world has never met Rhonda Chivers.

“We are all here to serve and help each other,” she said as she explained how she’s looking for backpacks and hygiene supplies for children and adults experienc-ing trauma.

“If we can help any child or adult in need to feel a little bit special,” then it’s all worthwhile, she said.

Many times the children and adults who receive backpacks Mrs. Chivers collects don’t have anything to call their own, she said.

Then, when they receive a backpack filled with supplies, they know someone out there loves them, she said. It’s a small gesture that can have big impact.

She calls her project “Back-packs for Kids.”

Read a magazine articleFive years ago, the Mattapoi-

sett, Cape Cod, native happened to read an article in Prevention Magazine about backpacks being

collected for needy kids in anoth-er state.

In domestic violence and foster care cases, children often sudden-ly leave everything they own be-hind. They more frequently than imagined arrive at new destina-tions with meager belongings packed into garbage bags.

No one, of course, ever asks such children what that does to their self-esteem.

After reading the article, Mrs. Chivers, a Dalton resident, asked herself, “Why can’t there be a project like that for children around here?”

Rather than just read and then forget about such a project, she took action. Five years ago, on her own, she let it be known that often poor children as well as adults needed backpacks as well as hygiene products such as combs, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, and washcloths.

Books, new stuffed animals and toys wanted

She also asked for donations of books, new stuffed animals and toys. Donations began to pour in and Mrs. Chivers got youth at her church, Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints at 471 East New

Lenox Rd. in Pittsfield, involved in packing the donated backpacks.

Off and on during the next five years, she continued the back-pack and hygiene products project.

Now, once again, she is asking people to donate backpacks, suit-cases and hygiene products which she plans to donate to the Eliza-beth Freeman Center in Pittsfield as well as other social services agencies in the area. The Freeman Center works with domestic vio-lence and sexual assault victims.

In past years, Mrs. Chivers said the donations have benefited children at Head Start, Kid Zone and BCAC (Berkshire County Action Counsel), to name a few.

In total, Mrs. Chivers has prob-ably collected a total of 500 do-nated backpacks, each with need-ed supplies.

Dentists give toothbrushes and toothpaste

This year she decided to do the project again because she heard there was a need.

To date, two dentists, Dr. John F. Hanson, an orthodontist, of

Backpacks, suitcases needed for children and adults

BLOOMSDAY from page 1

see BAGS page 15

courteSy to the BerKShire Beacon

Rhoda Chivers runs the charity our of her church, Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints at 471 East New Lenox Rd. in Pittsfield.

Local woman works to collect items for those going through tough life trauma in The Berkshires


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Editorial:

George C. Jordan IIIEDITOR & PUBLISHER

Kameron Z. SpauldingEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Susan G. RobinsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Bera B. Dunau, Rae A. Eastman, Susan M. Wicker Guerrero, Janel M. Harrison, Catherine M. Krummey, Dick L. SyriacCONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Janel M. Harrison, Jacqueline J. Wendling, Nancy G. Shepherd, Glenda Lee, Sue LambertADVERTISING SALES

The Berkshire Beacon is published weekly. The Beacon is distributed throughout Berkshire County, MA. The Berkshire Beacon assumes no financial responsibility for failure to publish an advertisement, incorrect placement or typographical errors published. Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertising and claims and offers contained within their advertising. The Berkshire Beacon reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason. All contents copyright ©2012 The Berkshire Beacon. No portion may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

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View From the TowerGeorge C. Jordan III

The British have already comeEditor’s Note: In this View, I re-

fer back to the Rebeccah Rumph-Andrew S. Pocock wedding of June 2 in Lenox and share it with you, along with the 50 British people who invaded Lenox for this wedding.

The stage is set by the couple, Rebeccah Rumph from Lenox and her husband, Andrew S. Po-cock from London, where they met.

She is the daughter of Carol Newton Rumph and G. Bruce and Theresa Rumph, all of Lenox. Parents of the groom are David and Marie Pocock of England.

Their wedding coincided with Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee cele-bration. Here is their story for unusual celebration both at St. Ann’s and at the Lenox Club:

Speeches are an important British tradition and opportunity for the usually reserved English to roast their groom and toast the rest of the wedding party.

The speeches at the Rumph-Pocock wedding were delivered by best men Ian Robinson and Simon Bayliff.

They included video footage of Andy’s Nannie, who was unable

to make the trip over from Liver-pool; 2012 Olympic cycling team member Mark Cavendish; Eng-lish National soccer player and commentator Alan Shearer; Tom James, Olympic rower and gold medalist 2008 (and probably 2012); and UK Olympic field hockey champion Bill Waugh (who was also a guest at the wed-ding and served as the master of ceremonies and timekeeper). All

were compiled by Mr. Bayliff, who is a sports agent in London.

A few other factoids:The marriage ceremony, con-

duced by Fr. C.J. Waitekus at St. Ann Church, was begun with a very popular British hymn, “Jerusalem.”

“Jerusalem” is a well-known and rousing hymn sung throughout UK

We are not holding Kenneth Leroy Fowler, chairman of the Lenox Selectmen, with disdain, but in his letter he said he wanted to know about the issue of “transparency.”

He may not like our methodol-ogy, but we certainly don’t like the fact that the boards have not taken responsibility under the commonwealth’s Open Meeting Law and signed off on the form that notes they have read the law and thus are familiar with it.

This is a wake up call.This is the third editorial of a

three-part series on the Open Meet-ing Law.

Case in point: The selectmen at their last meeting voted with-out discussion to offer a three-year contract to the town manager.

His pay went from $108,000 to $111,800 a year. This is .03 percent a year increase.

The people have every right to know the amount of money paid to each municipal employee in-cluding the town manager, who in this case has been here 13 years.

There is no issue with his work or performance, there is, howev-er, an issue about open govern-ment and his pay and the fact that the selectmen passed with-out discussion his pay, which al-ludes to the fact that the decision was made out of camera and be-fore the meeting.

This is not good government. And this is one place Mr. Fowler lacks transparency.

Now The Berkshire Beacon has been publishing for more than a year and has received many lau-datory comments on its product, articles and photographs by its staff.

We now have presence in the community to adjust and de-mand going forward by adher-ence to the law.

There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Fowler will force those officials both elected and ap-pointed to read the Open Meet-ing Law and have them each at-test by acknowledgement and signature document maintained by the Town Clerk Marie C. Duby.

We believe Mr. Fowler is not so looking to challenge us and our goal of reporting the news.

He accuses us of playing “got-cha” journalism, yet he is looking for a fair playing field.

His duty as the elected leader of the town is to enforce the Open Meeting Law and tend to the town business in an open forum.

If I were to offer him one sa-lient piece of advice, I would say let the boards do their jobs and create boards as necessary, but the selectmen’s focus today is the budget and how to manage the town’s finances.

It is not by seeking control of signage in the historic district, which is 99 percent under the Lenox Historic District Commis-sion (LHDC). The other one percent is temporary signs, which the Town Meeting members did not approve any wholesale change or authorization by the selectmen to look the other way in dispens-ing the two-week sign as a tem-porary gap for oversight by the LHDC.

This does not take away from the transparency issue but notes that the selectmen cannot be judge and jury, and this is where the board has created its own mess.

Be assured, that if the boards do not fall in and sign they have read the Open Meeting docu-ments, which the town clerk has, then the next visit will be mem-bers of the attorney general’s office.

And this may not be a bad omen for both officials and the public-at -large.

***Finally, most of the people

when the story was written had not signed a release and further there was no record of the procedures.

In noting our position, there has to be a basis for the story as we have not only a goal but also a duty to inform our readers about the basics or, lack thereof, of dis-crepancies and expectations not only locally but also throughout Berkshire County.

This is part of the American Constitution – a free press along with freedom of speech.

We stand by our story and will continue to publish stories about meetings behind closed doors and note the lack of transparency where it exists.

Credit: Edward AckerJules Bartlett, Andy Pocock, Si Bayliff (best man), Carlyle Jenkins. All members of TeamHelmut Adventure racing team.

More openness still needed in Lenox

see VIEW page 7


Rain or shineEVERY Saturday and Sunday through JuneAntiques,books, new cd's, etc. In barn out back.9-41249 Green River Road Williamstown MA_____________________Tag Sale to benefit Animal D.R.E.A.M.S.Saturday 6/23 (rain date 6/30) 9am-3pm45 Egremont Ave, Pittsfieldalso nice plants for sale

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time!it’s

churches and sporting events; it’s very English and patriotic – a favor-ite to most sporting enthusiasts.

This hymn is about celebration and praise and is sung at all patri-otic gatherings, including Wil-liam and Kate’s wedding and the Queen’s Jubilee ceremonies.

The crowd of British people in the church sang the song with aplomb and they were accompa-nied by the Americans who were provided with the words in their programs.

Adding to the British-themed decor was white bunting, used throughout the tent and the porch of the Lenox Club.

Bunting is used at any signifi-cant English event, from the Queen’s Jubilee to Will and Kate’s wedding. The bunting featured at the Rumph/Pocock wedding was designed and produced by The Comfortable Home of Lenox.

Pimm’s was served on the lawn during cocktail hour. The Pimm’s cocktail is a refreshing British summer drink, made up of Pimm’s, Sprite, cucumbers, or-

anges, strawberries and fresh mint leaves.

It is traditionally served at Wimbledon, the Henley-on-Thames boat race and the great British summer garden party (akin to our barbecues). Nejai-me’s of Lenox can source bottles of Pimm’s for anyone interested.

The bride wore a custom-made hairpiece, known as a fascinator, designed by Edwina Ibbotson, a premier milliner in London. Fas-cinators and hats were worn by a large number of the guests in at-tendance, British and American alike. Fascinators are particularly popular at premium horse-racing events like Ascot and at other for-mal outings.

The food served at the wedding incorporated a number of British food traditions – fish and chips in paper cones, salmon fishcakes with horseradish sauce, digestive cookies, scones and bacon butt-ies, which, akin to our pizza, are the drinking food of choice for a late night snack: pieces of bacon between slices of buttered bread. The food was prepared by Soma of Richmond.

Catherine M. KrummeyBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – Gordon L. Noseworthy, former assistant principal at Taconic High School, has been chosen by the Pittsfield School Committee as the dis-trict’s new interim superinten-dent, replacing Howard J. Eber-wein III, whose resignation is effective June 30.

Dr. Noseworthy has accepted the position and will be hired pending contract negotiations.SBRSD Task Force holds first

meetingsSHEFFIELD – The task force

formed by the Southern Berk-shire Regional School District (SBRSD) to investigate the fu-ture of the district’s elementary programs is off to a fresh start.

The task force held its first meeting on June 14 and already has a second one scheduled for tonight (June 21) at 5:30 p.m. in the Mount Everett Regional High School library, where they will have a general brainstorming ses-sion about what they think makes an ideal elementary school.

“Out of crazy ideas can come

something really significant,” SBRSD School Committee Member Catherine Miller told the task force at its June 14 meet-ing. “We’re looking for people to be open about this and not have any preconceived ideas.”

From there, they will go for-ward with more practical plan-ning of how to incorporate their ideas into the district.Lenox teacher added to educa-

tion leadership teamLENOX – Lenox Memorial

Middle and High School (LMMHS) English teacher Rob-in Getzen has been selected as a member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Col-lege and Careers (PARCC) Edu-cator Leader Fellows team in Massachusetts.

Lenox Public Schools Superin-tendent Edward W. Costa II said Ms. Getzen, who has been work-ing in the district for eight years, will be able to keep Lenox in-formed and ahead of the curve by participating on this state com-mittee. She is one of 18 teachers from across the state selected to be on the team.

PARCC is a consortium of

states working together to devel-op a common set of K-12 assess-ments in English-anchored careers.Ellen Kennedy officially BCC

presidentPITTSFIELD – On Tuesday

night, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education unanimous-ly approved the appointment of Ellen Kennedy as president of Berkshire Community College (BCC), a job she’s held in an in-

terim capacity since January.“It is a great honor to be ap-

pointed the seventh president of Berkshire Community College,” she said. “I look forward to work-ing with constituencies on the campus, in Berkshire County and throughout the commonwealth to meet and exceed the expecta-tions of our students, their cur-rent and future employers, and the communities we serve.”

Education Briefs:

Pittsfield names a new interim superintendent

catherine m. Krummey / BerKShire Beacon

The SBRSD Task Force at their first meeting.

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BEACON

Lunch SpecialsDinner Specials

KaraokeLive BandOpen Mic

VIEW from page 6


Catherine M. KrummeyBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX – According to the Lenox School Committee, Super-intendent Edward W. Costa II is doing a “good” job.

Upon completing his second year in the role, School Commit-tee Chairman Don W. Fitzgerald read aloud the group’s evaluation of Dr. Costa’s performance as superintendent.

In the areas of leadership, ad-ministration, communication and relations with his staff and the community, Dr. Costa re-ceived “good” ratings.

“Your intention to keep the school committee in the loop is...refreshing,” Chairman Fitzgerald said during the evaluation.

Under the category of policy and government, Dr. Costa re-ceived an “excellent” rating.

“Your relationship with town government officials...is laud-able,” Chairman Fitzgerald said.

School improvement plansPrincipals Timothy Lee (Mor-

ris Elementary School) and Mi-chael Knybel (Lenox Memorial Middle and High School) also gave presentations on their re-spective school improvement plans at the committee’s June 19 meeting.

According to Mr. Lee, the four areas of improvement at Morris were targeted as student achieve-ment in math, student wellness, positive school culture and writ-ing abilities.

“This is a tremendous amount of work for one year,” said School Committee Member Jo Ann Magee.

To improve math achievement, a new curriculum, “Go Math,” was instituted in every classroom at every grade level (K-5). In adapting to the new program, teachers spent a lot of profession-al development time learning how it works.

“Teachers had to get used to the content,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee indicated that an ini-tial assessment of the new math programming, which said there was more positive growth in the lower grades than the older grades, could be attributed to the fact that the older students are taking longer to adjust to the new system, while the younger kids

aren’t having to deal with as much of a shift in learning.

There was also a shift in learn-ing when it comes to writing at Morris. When looking at the fourth grade MCAS (Massachu-setts Comprehensive Assessment System) scores for long composi-tion, Mr. Lee was alarmed by the difference between his students and the state average.

“We were finding a real dis-crepancy,” he said.

Upon further investigation, he discovered that the MCAS was looking for a personal narrative style of writing, while most Mor-ris students had been primarily learning to write in an expository manner.

To correct this, the “Empower-ing Writers” program, which in-corporates expository, narrative and persuasive writing, was brought to Morris.

“Empowering Writers seemed to be the best fit for incorporat-ing those three areas,” Mr. Lee said. “The real test will be when we see our MCAS scores... Hope-fully we’ll be able to see that progress.”

Both Morris and LMMHS list-ed a “positive school culture” as an area of improvement for the 2011-2012 year.

To achieve this goal, Morris used the “Second Step” method, which teaches students proactive social skills such as empathy, awareness and assertiveness.

“We went into every classroom, K-5,” said Mr. Lee, who hoped to further improve the school cul-ture by looking for more parent involvement next year.

At LMMHS, Dean of Students Brian Cogswell took the lead in promoting positive school cul-ture. In contrast to the methods implemented at Morris, there was more of a focus on what the staff could do to keep consistency in disciplinary measures.

Mr. Cogswell also encouraged teachers to be out in the hallways during breaks between classes to “keep everything moving in a positive way.”

He added that detentions in-creased 30 percent this year, a sta-tistic he attributed to the teachers finding out about more problems and the increased consistency in discipline.

According to Mr. Knybel, the

other two areas of improvement at LMMHS were to align to the Common Core State Standards and increase the English language arts and math composite scores of the MCAS.

He said that the plan to switch from a seven-period to eight-peri-od day for the 2012-2013 school year has allowed for a closer align-ment with the Common Core.

To improve math achievement, a math lab course was started to target middle school students who need more help with the subject. According to Mr. Kny-bel, 48 students, grades six through eight, took the class this past year.

Likely decrease in bus fleetOver the past few years, the

number of buses needed to serve the district has gone down from six to four. This year, Dr. Costa and Business Administrator Hen-ry C. Maimin are looking to go down to three.

To make sure this is feasible, the district is asking parents to register their children as bus rid-ers online this summer. Mr. Mai-min indicated that this registra-tion would be posted online in the next week or so and would be up through the first week in August.

Mr. Maimin said that current-ly, the longest bus ride is about 35 minutes and is aiming to keep a

cap at 35-40 minutes.Decreasing the number of bus-

es would save the district $260 per day or approximately $45,000 a year, according to Mr. Maimin.

Food service changesDr. Costa and Mr. Maimin also

gave a presentation on the food services proposal for the 2012-2013 school year.

Following the resignation of the director of food services last year, cafeteria managers Lorraine Goodfellow (Morris) and Tracy Brooks (LMMHS) have incorpo-rated the duties of that position into their jobs, making it unnec-essary to fill that job.

Under their guidance, there is an anticipated $21,000 surplus in the food services budget for the 2011-2012 school year.

“That hasn’t happened in a de-cade in Lenox,” Dr. Costa said.

Safety and wellnessA new Lenox Emergency Crisis

Plan was also presented to the school committee as requested by the district’s safety and wellness task force. A new, easily-updated notebook with guidelines for ev-erything from bus crashes to hos-tage situations will be presented to every Lenox Public Schools staff member at the beginning of the new school year.

“I think it will be extremely beneficial,” said School Commit-tee Vice Chairmain David Berkel.

Costa gets a “good” review from the Lenox school committee

catherine m. Krummey / BerKShire Beacon

School Committee Chairman Don W. Fitzgerald and Su-perintendant Edward W. Costa II review the district’s new emergency plan.

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Early Summer 2012 The Berkshire Sonata 9

The Berkshire SonataSummer Kick-Off Guide

Susan M. Wicker Guerrero

LENOX – Walker House, an old, charming white house with dark green shutters, located at 64 Walker St., has a long history.

One of the oldest buildings in Lenox, Judge William Walker built the structure in 1804 as the family homestead on a street that’s named after him, too.

Then the Curtis family, of lo-cal Curtis Hotel fame, acquired the property and put on an ad-dition in 1906.

For more than three decades, Margaret “Peggy” and Richard Houdek have run Walker House as an inn for guests.

California natives, they set-tled in the community because they liked The Berkshires when they came here “on holiday.” They particularly relished the fact that the area is a cultural mecca.

Back in 1979, both Mr. and Mrs. Houdek were still living in California and immersed in work. She was managing editor of the Performing Arts Maga-zine and Mr. Houdek worked as director of public relations and assistant to the president of the California Institute of Art.Looking for a new adventure

“We were looking for a new adventure,” Mr. Houdek said. That adventure turned out to be buying Walker House and becoming innkeepers.

Mr. Houdek is a tall man with dark hair, a black mustache

and black-rimmed glasses. The name Houdek is a com-bination of Czechoslovakian and Hungarian.

His wife is a petite woman with grey hair which she wears in a upswept style. An opera singer, she still sings at the Christian Science Church in Pittsfield.

Opera music played in the background of Walker House on the day The Beacon visited.

Walker House is filled to

the brim with all kinds of an-tiques found at auctions, sales and so forth, which Mrs. Houdek purchased piece by piece throughout the years.

The 18-room home wel-comes guests in eight of the rooms. There are 11 bath-rooms and eight working fire-places in the home.

Rooms named after composers

Both Mr. and Mrs. Houdek had musical backgrounds, plus the area has rich musical

offerings such as Tanglewood, the summer home of the Bos-ton Symphony Orchestra, all of which account for the fact that the rooms in Walker House are named after com-posers. There are rooms named Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Handel, Mozart, Puccini, Tchaikovsky and Verde.

Décor of the rooms reflects the music of the masters for whom they are named. For instance, the Beethoven

Walker House offers history, hospitality and harmonyStay at an inn this summer

SuSan WicKer guerrero / BerKShire Beacon

The Walker House in Lenox offers great rooms for a summer stay.

Inns and Bed and Breakfasts • Summer Specialssee INNS page 11

Advertiser Directory

Acorn’s Hope . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Cornell Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Dennis Pollock . . . . . . . . . . 10

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Kimble Farms . . . . . . . . . .10

Lenox Valley Waste Transfer Facility . . .12

Tanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Thornewood Inn . . . . . . . . . 11

Terrace Hair Studio . . . . . . . 10

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Local landmark, Walker House . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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Summer Specials . . . . . . . . . 10

10 The Berkshire Sonata Early Summer 2012


STOCKBRIDGE - Norman Rockwell Museum and The Here at Home Committee will wel-come home First Lieutenant An-drew Shaw and Sergeant Kelsey Shaw, two soldiers returning to the Berkshires after being de-ployed abroad, during a special homecoming ceremony to be held at the Museum on Saturday, start-ing at 1 p.m.

The soldiers and their families will be honored by regional digni-taries during the ceremony, which will be held in front of Norman Rockwell’s rarely-seen original 1945 painting, The Homecoming, currently on view thanks to a short-term loan.

A reception will follow, with homemade apple pie, lemonade, photo reenactments of Norman Rockwell’s wartime illustrations, and the premiere of singer/song-writer Mary Verdi’s “Here at Home” music video. The event is free; does not include Museum admission. Norman Rockwell Museum is a committed partici-

pant in the Blue Star Museums Program, and extends the pro-gram benefits to offer free admis-sion to active military personnel and their families year-round.

The Here at Home Committee was formed by singer/songwriter Mary Verdi and Rosanne Frieri.

The Committee has one goal: to welcome back soldiers to the Berkshires with a dignified wel-come home greeting and salute their bravery with their very own billboard letting the community know of their service to our country.

A part of historyDuring World War II, Norman

Rockwell’s humanistic portrayals of soldiers on the American home-front were a reassuring presence in the popular press during trying times.

The artist received many fan letters from Saturday Evening Post readers who appreciated Rock-well’s artistry and the stories that he chose to tell, and his May 26, 1945 cover illustration of a GI re-turning home to an overjoyed community of family, friends and neighbors received rave reviews.

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Early Summer 2012 The Berkshire Sonata 11

Room is masculine and has mahogany furniture.

Light, summery green and white wall-paper brightens the Verde Room.

“The rooms reflect the texture of the composers’ music,” Mr. Houdek said.

Some of the rooms even have the result of Mrs. Houdek’s auction finds, namely, attractive busts of composers.

Some of the beds have canopies and crocheted afghans.

The Walker House offers history, hos-pitality and harmony, the Houdeks said, in a home that has spanned two centuries.

The Houdeks have served literally hun-dreds of guests during their years in the hospitality business. They had both stayed in bed and breakfast establishments prior to opening their own.

“We like people,” Mr. Houdek said. “We like to entertain.”

As a result, the business has been a good choice for them.

Breakfast is servedGenerous continental breakfasts in-

clude orange juice, melon or a fruit bowl, cereal, baked muffins, croissants, yogurt and, of course, coffee and tea.

Mrs. Houdek prides herself on the deli-cious coffee she makes. She orders French and Colombian beans from San Francis-co and grinds them to make the dark, rich brew enjoyed by guests.

“I’m a coffee snob,” she says with a lit-tle smile, and coffee-loving guests are probably glad she is.

Six cats in residenceThese days, besides guests and even

their animals, the Houdeks share their home with six cats. Both are ardent cat-lovers.

There’s Frodo, a great big fellow with grey and white fur; Hazel, a male cat, named after the head rabbit in the novel Watership Down; and Hansel. Also, there’s Benjamin Kitten, who’s now a big cat. He was adopted by the Houdeks from a Pittsfield house where there were four dogs.

A musician critic friend of the Houdeks named Agnes Day. She’s the head cat.

Last but not least is Lucia, a hider. “All the cats have different personali-

ties,” Mrs. Houdek said. At one time, the Houdeks ran a store

filled with cat paraphernalia in Lenox called Los Gatos, which means “the cats” in Spanish.

Assistant innkeeper neededThroughout the years, the Houdeks

have employed about 10 assistant inn-


The Walker House at 64 Walker Street in Lenox has served as a local land-mark.

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Specials for Summer

keepers since keeping up an area as large as Walker House must be a monumental un-dertaking. Today, Donna Stefanisko serves as an assistant but she is leaving soon to pursue other interests and the search is on for another helper.

The assistant innkeeper does the clean-ing, and all the guest rooms appeared neat and clean.

The best part of their venture all these years has been the guests, the Houdeks agreed. Many are faithful repeat visitors. One couple has been coming for 30 years, since their children were in a nearby camp. Today, their daughter is in her 30s, Mrs. Houdek said.

Some guests became like family for the Houdeks and they have felt sad when those “family” members died.

Mrs. Houdek said she had always want-ed to live in New England. Back in 1979, she saw an ad in The New York Times for a home in Lenox and answered it. Unfor-tunately, the house failed to meet all their criteria. It was not the Walker House.

The real estate agent notified them about another house, which Mr. Houdek checked out alone.

He took lots of pictures and loved the large, sweeping rooms, big veranda and three acres of primarily wooded land.

Mrs. Houdek flew back to the east coast to see the house, liked it, made an offer on it and the deal was sealed. Today, 32 years later, they seem to have no regrets and are still at it.

INNS from page 9

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12 The Berkshire Sonata Early Summer 2012

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Don’t Miss It!Sonata Summer Issue July 19th, 2012

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BEACON


LENOX – The Lenox Board of Selectmen has decided to give long-term contracts to three of the most prominent members of town government.

Under the new contracts, Town Manager Gregory T. Federspiel, Police Chief Stephen E. O’Brien and Fire Chief Daniel W. Clifford will all be serving in their current positions for the next three years.

“We want the stability of hav-ing these three people in place for the next three years,” said Lenox Select Board Chairman Kenneth Fowler in explaining this deci-sion. “I think it’s important that we have some continuity.”

Chief O’Brien and Town Man-ager Federspiel’s previous con-tracts were for one year, while Chief Clifford’s was for three.

All three officials also receive raises under their new contracts.

Last fiscal year, Chief Clifford made $59,551. Under his new contract, he will make $61,336

this fiscal year.Last fiscal year, Chief O’Brien

made $76,739. Under his new contract, Chief O’Brien will make $79,041 this fiscal year.

Last fiscal year, Town Manager Federspiel made $108,000. Un-der his new contract, Town Man-ager Federspiel will make $111,800 this fiscal year.

These numbers amount to a three percent salary increase for each of the positions.

Salaries for all three positions for the second and third fiscal years of their new contracts will be determined by the selectmen by June 1, 2013, upon the com-pletion of new salary negotiations between the town and its employees.

Lenox’s new contract with Town Manager Federspiel has re-ceived more attention than usual because the town manager was considering and in the running for a town manager position in the Eastern Massachusetts town of Ipswich. Ipswich is a larger community than Lenox, and its

town manager position pays more and is better supported than Lenox’s is.

In the end, Town Manager Federspiel was one of two finalists for the position, along with Long-meadow Town Manager Roberta Crosbie, who was eventually of-fered the job.

Town Manager Federspiel in-formed the Lenox Board of Se-lectmen that he was considering the Ipswich position while he was still in the running but, according to Chairman Kenneth L. Fowler, this had no influence on the offer the town made him in his new contract.

“Nope, not at all,” said Chair-man Fowler when asked about this.

Nor did the possibility of losing their town manager influence the select board into offering Town Manager Federspiel a three in-stead of a one-year contract.

“We already had the three year contract in our mind…before Ip-swich came along,” said Select-men Fowler.

Three year contracts in Lenox for town employees

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Community Calendar

If you have an event you would like listed in our calendar please email us at [email protected]!

THURSDAY, JUNE 21

HERE LIES LOVENorth Adams, 8 p.m.Within a throbbing dance club environment, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim deconstruct Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos’s mete-oric rise and subsequent descent into infamy. Here Lies Love is neither a play nor a musical, but rather a unique theatrical experi-ence filtered through the remark-able vision of David Byrne. $25/10% off for members. Event takes place in the Hunter Center at Mass. MoCA (87 Marshall St.).

TOWN PLAYERS OF PITTSFIELD PLAY READINGWilliamstown, 5:30 p.m.Town Players of Pittsfield will present a reading of the play, "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden" by Thornton Wilder will be read at 5:30 p.m. and re-peated at 7 p.m. at the Lichten-stein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Ave. Admission is free.

THE SUBPRIME CRISIS: WHERE ARE WE NOW?Great Barrington, 6 to 8 p.m.The public is invited to a event, The Subprime Crisis: Where are We Now, featuring Kathleen En-gel, author of “The Subprime Vi-rus”. Engel’s talk will be free and open to the public; however, ad-vanced registration is required. Engel will discuss how the coun-try is doing five years after the subprime crisis, what we learned and whether it’s possible to pre-vent a future crisis. The talk will take place at and be hosted by the American Institute for Economic Research.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22

BLOCKBUSTER FAMILY MOVIEGreat Barrington, 6:15 - 8 p.m.Enjoy a movie in the library with popcorn & drinks. Wear jammies & bring your blanket! Mason Li-brary, 231 Main St., 413-528-2403

SATURDAY, JUNE 23

WANDERING ROCKSWilliamstown, 7:30 p.m.The band will be live from Darlingside.

50'S MUSIC DANCE PARTYPittsfield, 7 - 11 p.m.Esther and Irving Mindlin will host "Son of a Beach," a beach-themed 50's dance party. Dance lessons go from 7-7:45 p.m. and the rest of the night will be a ball-room dance. USA Dance mem-bers, $9; Non-members, $13; Students, $5. Masonic Temple, 116 South St. For more info, check out the Berkshire Ballroom website.

MONUMENT MOUN-TAIN REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL REUNIONGreat Barrington, 5 - 11 p.m.The MMRHS reunion will take place at the VFW, just south of the fairgrounds. Any graduate or staff member of MMRHS or Wil-liams High School who is at least 21 years old is invited. For more information about the event, in-cluding silent auction, tickets and payment, visit the reunion's website.

MAKING MORE WOODY PLANTS - TAKING CUTTINGSStockbridge, 10 a.m. - noon

Longing for that special hydran-gea? Learn how to propagate easy-to-grow shrubs and trees with woody plant specialist and plant propagator guru Adam Wheeler, of Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, Conn. Adam will cover how to collect, prepare and prop-agate shrubs and trees from soft-wood cuttings. Participants will take cuttings, make a simple propagator and learn techniques needed for ensuring successful rooting, and will go home with some great plant material. Mem-bers $40; Non-members $45. Berkshire Botanical Garden, in-tersection of Routes 183 and 102, 413-298-3926.

WORLD PEACE AND PRAYER COMMUNITY CONCERTLanesborough, Noon - 6 p.m.Families are welcome and admis-sion is free. Bring lawn chairs, blankets, water, fresh fruits, vege-tables, cheese, bread and/or juice for the community and performer snack table; non- perishable do-nations also accepted and appre-ciated for the local food bank. There will be arts and crafts ven-dors and non-profit organizations represented. The concert will take place at the proposed White Eagle Sanctuary on 770 Williamstown Rd.

GARDENING CLASSPittsfield, 10 a.m.Laura Dumouchel, Master Gar-dener, Adams, Ma will be con-ducting a class at the demonstra-tion gardens, Springside Park, 847 North St. Pittsfield, MA on Saturday, June 23 on “Taking a Second Look, Maintaining Beau-ty” at 10 am. To register call or e-mail Carol Maynard, 413 499-0153 or [email protected].


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Pittsfield and Dr. J. Patrick Carsell of Dal-ton have donated toothbrushes and toothpaste.

For some children, having their own toothbrush and toothpaste can mean the world, she said.

Wal-Mart gave her a $50 certificate for the purchase of some of the hygiene sup-plies such as combs, soap and washcloths, she said.

Also, 45 backpacks have come in so far but Mrs. Chivers would like to shoot for at least 75 to 100.

“I can’t tell you how many people want to help,” she said, encouraging even more people to get involved. The more people who donate, the more children and adults can be helped.

Room in church for donationsNow she even has a room at her church

where donations can be stored.

Some people might have donations but have no way of bringing them to the church. In such cases, Mrs. Chivers or her husband, John, drive to individual homes and pick up donations.

Mrs. Chivers has worked in the Pittsfield School Department for 10 years, the last two as an assistant teacher for special needs students at Taconic High School.

Area residents who want to donate back-packs and/or their contents can call Mrs. Chivers at (413) 684-1042. She can also be reached by email at [email protected].

The “Backpacks for Kids” project is pos-itive proof that one woman’s desire to help others can rev up enthusiasm throughout an entire community.

“It’s been fun,” Mrs. Chivers said, and there is no end in sight to the very special project or the woman who makes it all happen.

Susan M. Wicker GuerreroBeacon Staff Writer

When I read about the Backpacks for Kids project orchestrated by Rhonda Chiv-ers, it opened up a floodgate of personal memories.

My husband and I served as emergency foster parents to primarily troubled teen-age girls through two different agencies, off and on, for a total of 13 years.

Our own two biological children were little when we did the first 10 years. They literally grew up with dozens of other “children.”

Then, a couple of decades later, we com-mitted to another three years.

Because I strictly follow the laws and rules of confidentiality, I’d never tell de-tails, names or locations of the children who have lived with us.

I would like, however, to share some in-sight into the plight of children that I have witnessed firsthand.

Most children in foster care are there be-cause of no fault of their own. They may come from broken families where there is

alcohol and/or drug abuse. Or a parent (or both) may be incarcerated.

Other parents might be abusive or sim-ply too overwhelmed with their own lives to be able to parent effectively. There are a myriad of reasons children enter into the foster care system.

In many cases, parents have completely abandoned the children. I couldn’t count the number of kids who yearned to know who and where their fathers were. Some had never even met them, which is a huge loss for a child.

When it is deemed necessary for a child to go into a foster home, it’s almost always traumatic. He or she is in turmoil. The fa-miliar family unit, no matter how dysfunc-tional, is the one the child loves.

When a child has to leave parent(s), brothers and sisters, and everything famil-iar, one can only imagine how he or she feels. It can be terrifying.

Sometimes foster children have come from domestic violence and are trauma-tized from all they’ve seen and heard.

BAGS from page 4

A writer’s notes:

Thoughts on the struggle of poor children

see THOUGHTS page 16

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Girl-2-GirlSummer

fashion Part II

Janel M. Harrison

Hi girls! Fashion is everywhere you go, just look around!

So let’s continue to where we left off last week with our popular magazines’ takes on the newest styles and trends.

First off, take it from Cosmopol-itan and think “breezy” not cheesy: effortless with flowy fab-rics, paper-thin tanks and hot pants, especially when beach-side.

Glamour says:Color blocking is all the rage

right now, but stick to three col-ors max that are close to one an-other on the color wheel or think of the colors in a rainbow or prism, for instance orange and red right next to each other. Chunks of color will definitely turn some heads!

Chic and sporty anoraks are dressy or casual from work to play.

Super-bold print dresses turn you into quite the fashionista. I just saw my sister in one the other day and she looked runway-ready!

Vibrant oranges, tangerines and pink short suits: Sorbet, anyone?

Futuristic prints: Be careful not to look like you stepped out of a Jetsons episode! But who didn’t love the Jetsons?

Pastels are ladylike and elegant, perfect for meeting the parents.

Colorful camo: Gramp’s closet may have a piece or two, just don’t advertise it.

Pair metallic wrap skirts with stacked heel loafers for that extra pizzazz on the dance floor!

Peplum dresses and skirts are sweet and stylish.

That about does it for the la-dies, now it’s time to dress our men, that’s if they want to be dressed…

According to GQ: Look sharp, live smart.

“There are so many breezy things about summer: Stoned swims in a moonlit lake! Hot af-ternoons drinking cold pilsner! Girls flashing heart-wrenching lengths of bronzed leg! But you know what’s a total pain in the

ass? Trying to dress for a night out with your boys in a way that si-multaneously says, ‘I can dig the laid-back summer vibe’ and ‘Please, Mr. Doorman, tell me I look sharp enough to get into your swanky bar.’”

GQ offers three pieces of advice for men’s summer fashion.

1. Untuck without coming un-done: Just be sure you don’t look sloppy as it’s crucial to wear a shirt that’s designed to be un-tucked – no shirt tails flopping around. Top off the look with a fedora for sweat-free summer swagger.

2. Take camo to higher ground: Nail the fit by pairing it with a polo shirt. Ditch the sneakers and white socks.

3. Get blazed: Wear a light-weight unlined blazer over a tee and push up the sleeves for a rock ‘n roll vibe. GQ says, “You’ve got a pair of white jeans by now, right?”

Let’s now turn it over to Sachin Bhola, AskMen’s fashion editor, who gives out his summer fashion tips:

Choose color over black: “Black is a mindless choice because it re-quires little effort – I mean, come on, how can you f*ck up wearing black?”

Go for lighter fabrics so the sweat isn’t dripping from your forehead and you don’t smell of B.O. Look to linen.

Embrace patterns: For the trend-driven man, try paisley, stripes and batik.

Well that was interesting and entertaining, now go out and make your man hip, sexy and all yours!

And that concludes this sea-son’s “Fashion Passion.” I hope you gals have a ball, feel beautiful and make splendid memories this summer. And don’t forget about colorful hats – very popular with the royals.

My hat’s off to ya!

-Ciao Bella

Rae EastmanBeacon Staff Writer

Ann Patchett is just an extraor-dinary writer. Every novel is en-tirely different from the one be-fore it.

The settings, the problems, the personalities, the kinds of choices the characters have to make, the way they talk – each totally con-vincing – concerning people and settings most of us are unfamiliar with: South American diplomat,; a bartender’s life, a magician’s way, a home for pregnant women.

Some of her books have simple narratives, depending on charac-ter and situation. This one is complex, with conflicting loyal-ties and very different settings.

This novel is set in the Argen-tine jungle. Marina, a research scientist with a Minneapolis pharmaceutical firm has been sent to assess the progress a medi-cal team there is making toward a vaccine allowing women to give birth well into middle age and

beyond that is made from the bark of a certain tree found only on that part of the Amazon.

The women there are sur-rounded by children, the grand-daughters taking care of the new ones their grandmothers bear. She is also going to find out how a co-worker died and where he is buried.

Once there she meets up with the director of the project, her former teacher at Johns Hopkins, a female doctor, 73, whose per-sonality appears to be harsh but in the end shows Marina she is actually altruistic and true to her own standards.

To try to outline the narrative would be to simplify it unjustifi-ably. It is a book in which com-plex, often dangerous actions arise from personalities interact-ing with each other, from the jun-gle itself, tribal practices, the rela-tionship to the company in Minnesota and much, much more.

The author, I have found, is at ease in whatever setting she

State of WonderBy Ann Patchett

HarperCollins $26.99Available in bookstores

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So imagine leaving home and having to go to a stranger’s home where nothing is familiar and the rules are all different.

What personal belongings they managed to have often were stuffed into trash bags. Honestly, it would break my heart to see those brave little faces, those cou-rageous souls, hauling their stuff in this manner.

I can close my eyes and see so many precious children who have spent time with us. I truly believe they really are the courageous ones, stepping up to the plate be-cause their own parents couldn’t care for them.

There were times I was awak-ened in the middle of the night by the sounds of crying. Sobs breaking the silence of our home were always heartbreaking. I would do everything in my power to be a mother figure, gently talk-ing, encouraging and sometimes just holding a child until she qui-eted down.

I’d tell her the bad times always pass and to just hang in there, that she was safe now and didn’t have to worry about anything.

The memory of one child will

haunt me for the rest of my life. I’ll make up a name for her, for the purposes of this column. I’ll call her Kit.

She was a victim of too much too soon, having had a baby as a very young teen. She was way too young and ill-prepared to be a parent. She had pretty much been abandoned by her own biological parents who lived with their own personal demons.

(Many of the young girls who lived with us looked for love and ended up pregnant, almost rele-gating themselves to difficult, poverty stricken futures.)

Long after she left our home, she’d call us. Every holiday that came along, the first phone call we received was always from Kit.

Years passed but we still kept in touch. She was no longer in the foster care system.

We’d meet at a Friendly’s or an-other restaurant from time to time and just talk about what was happening in our lives. One day I received a chilling phone call, almost too horrible to fathom. It was one I hope other parents and foster parents never receive for as long as they live.

Problems became too much for Kit and she took her own life.

Sometimes we, as human be-ings can help others, but there are times when all the love in the world is not enough. Such was the case with Kit.

She apparently just didn’t see a way out of the pain she was expe-riencing in life. She couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.

Even today, years later, when I close my eyes and see this beauti-ful young woman’s face, tears fill my eyes.

Then the “if onlys” begin: if only she could have been con-vinced things would get better; if only she knew what a special, magnificent young woman she was; if only I could hold her once more in my arms, close to my heart, and give her a mother’s love.

Rhonda Chivers, the lady who’s collecting backpacks and person-al supplies, said she wanted recip-ients to know that “someone out there loves them.” That’s impor-tant. That counts.

Thanks for the memories, Rhonda.

Kit, I know you are at peace now, in a far better place than this world, but I still miss you with all my heart and always will.

THOUGHTS from page 15

chooses cogent to her plot (in this case the feel of different parts of the jungle, the customs of one or another of the tribes, the look of the river).

Then she goes on to master the technical practices included in her story (in this case the medical processes that surround birth). As always, her characters, differ-ent as as they are from each other, are totally convincing.

I would recommend any book of Ann Patchett’s sight unseen.

Another great novel from Ann Patchett


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The Berkshire Sonata


Philip S. KampeBeacon Staff Writer

When a bunch of wine journal-ists are invited to taste George and Frank Duboeuf ’s “2011 Beaujolais Crus” in mid-June, one begins to wonder.

To my delight, the legendary wine released on the third Thurs-day of November each year was the highlight of an ambitious wine tasting at David Bouley’s DB Moderne restaurant in Manhattan.

The Beaujolais region was first occupied by the Romans. Bene-dictine Monks performed wine making from the seventh century to the Middle Ages. During the 10th century, the area was named Beaujolais after the commune of Beaujeu in Rhone. Beaujolais was ruled by the Lords of Beaujeu un-til the 15th century. The land was ceded to the Duchy of Burgundy.

The Gamay grape used to make Beaujolais was banned in Bur-gundy by Philip the Bold and be-came associated with the border-ing Beaujolais region, thus becoming the grape of Beaujolais. The soils of Beaujolais divide the region in half. The 10 Beaujolais Crus produced in the north are of granite-based soils. Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages are pro-duced in the south on limestone soil.

The sea breezes from the Atlan-tic and Mediterranean oceans provide both temperate and con-tinental influences.

Statistically, 98 percent of all vines in Beaujolais are of the

Gamay varietal, while two per-cent are Chardonnay, mostly pro-duced in the Maconnais region. By law, grapes from both the Beaujolais region and Cham-pagne must be hand-picked.

These are the only two regions in France that this law is applied to, which helps make Beaujolais Crus so special.

Today, George Duboeuf is in-volved in every aspect of his en-terprise. He insists on personally tasting every wine before it is bot-tled. His palate is legendary, and no one is surprised when he can pick out one small domaine from a blind tasting of a hundred.

The 2011 Duboeuf reds that I recommend are: Beaujolais-Vil-lages, Chiroubles, Brouilly, Mor-gon, Fleurie, Julienas and Mou-lin-A-Vent. The wines are well-balanced, complex and rich in flavor. Generally, the reds are a brilliant deep crimson color. My palate exploded with dark and red fruit, highlighted by straw-berries and blueberries. The floral aroma was intoxicating.

I enjoy the Duboeuf reds some-what chilled (for 20 minutes) be-fore serving. They are perfect summer wines that will compli-ment outdoor gatherings, as well as elegant dinner parties. The 2011 vintage is a remarkable follow-up to the outstanding 2010 vintage.

Bottles retail between $8.99 and $17.99 a bottle and can be found at your local wine shop. Deutsch Family Wines and Spir-its are the sole importers of George Duboeuf wines.

Frank and George Duboeuf and Peter Deutsch gather at a tasting.

Try the Beaujolais


Our neighbors to the south, Connecticut, have taken major steps towards unifying their voice as brewers.

Brewmasters and brewery own-ers from across the state are work-ing together to start a non-profit organization that will focus on educating consumers, cross mar-keting the state’s growing com-munity of craft beer producers, and highlighting their locations as tourist destinations.

“We have seen an exponential increase in traffic to our brewery over the last year for our open house gatherings, tours and tast-ings, and private events,” said Curt Cameron, President of The Thomas Hooker Brewery in Bloomfield. “This is a testament to the growing interest in locally created products and the fantas-tic stories that go with each of them."

The effort to unite the state’s craft brewers comes at a time of significant growth in the local in-dustry, with new craft breweries developing across the state, and those already established thriving despite the current economy.

Connecticut is not well known nationally for its beer but it does play home to several really good brewers. Thomas Hooker Brew-ing Co,, New England Brewing Co., The Cambridge House Brew Pub and Willimantic Brew-ing Co. are all award winning breweries in the state.

“It's an exciting time in Con-necticut as the CT Beer Trail is welcoming so many new craft breweries this year,” said David Wollner, owner of the Williman-tic Brewing Co.

In 2011 the local craft beer in-dustry successfully lobbied Conn. lawmakers for formal support of the “Connecticut Brewery Trail” concept, which will connect the state's breweries and brewpubs with roadway signs to help guide residents and tourists interested in learning more about local beer.

While this effort was under-way, the industry was further unified by the creation of the CT Beer Trail, an independent mar-keting company focused on unit-

ing and promoting local craft beer producers and related com-panies while fostering an active community of area beer enthusi-asts who are more than eager to support their local independent brewers.

“As the society moves toward more locally produced goods, both to promote local business and to become more environ-mentally friendly, the CT Brew-ers Guild is being formed,” said Jason McClellan, owner of the Olde Burnside Brewing Co. of East Hartford.

Small business owners like Mc-Clellan, Cameron and Wollner, are building on these efforts by joining with their peers under the umbrella of a craft brewer’s guild in the hopes of accomplishing in-dustry goals through a unified front.

“The guild will provide our lo-cal industry with a forum to share ideas and grow our community,” said Wollner.

Wollner was recently voted in as a member of the guild’s board of directors where he serves as the guild’s vice president alongside Cameron who serves as the guild’s president, McClellan who serves

as the guild’s secretary, and fellow brew pub owner Scott Riley, owner of the Cambridge House Brew Pub of Granby, who was elected as the guild’s treasurer.

“The Connecticut craft beer industry was brought a little clos-er together with the formation of the CT Beer Trail,” said Riley. “To allow the Connecticut craft beer industry to work more close-ly together we have decided to formally create the Connecticut Brewers Guild.”

The guild is still in the process of forming but long term plans include actively reaching out to those visiting the state, cross brewery collaboration, as well as guild sponsored craft beer festi-vals and other educational events. The guild will work closely with the CT Beer Trail to promote the local industry while encouraging community growth and tourism across the state.

“The guild will bring the many breweries, brewpubs, homebrew shops, and retailers together to build consumer awareness for beers produced in Connecticut and the benefits of supporting those locally produced products,” said McClellan.

Connecticut starts to form a craft beer guild


Dick SyriacBeacon Staff Writer

I have been playing golf since I realized my liver could not han-dle the riggers of playing softball six nights a week. The two sports are similar in that you may tend to look like your clothes just aren’t making it any more.

Every year when the guys would break out their softball gear they might have to make a few modifications from the previ-ous year or at least adjust the waistband a couple of notches. You could also identify the veter-an players when they would don the jersey of a pub that had been closed for a decade or two.

Golf is no different. “Dress to impress” is often the motto for duffers who look a lot better than their games. There is also the guy who elects to tee it up with ma-dras slacks and may be wearing a shirt that reveals that he has not exactly kept up with the current fashion trends.

Memo to golfers: avoid wear-ing a shirt that might reveal how old it is. I spotted a guy last week wearing a golf shirt which had this message over the left breast pocket: “3rd Annual Unis Open 1975.”

The sad part is that I remember that gala; it was played at Skyline in Lanesboro when it was a nine-holer. John DelNegro, former Drury coach and athletic direc-tor, was the low-net winner, and Dick Bush, former chief of police in North Adams, was low cop.

Memo to tournament chair-men: leave the year off the logo.

Some golf thoughts*They say all fashion trends

come back. Some guys are pa-tiently waiting to break out their blue slacks with the yellow sewed-on lobsters or the yellow ones with the blue turtles. The “House of Walsh” in Williamstown could not keep them in stock in the ‘70s. Thank goodness for moth balls.

*If you are looking for a nice golf road trip, see if you can squeeze in Ellinwood Country Club in Athol this summer. It is a hidden gem for sure. It is a Don-ald Ross-designed (1929), mem-ber-owned, semi-private layout that may not be open much longer.

*Central Massachusetts in the

past two years has seen much of what is happening in western Massachusetts with golf courses feeling the economic pinch. Shaker Hills in Harvard ($3.4 million), Pleasant Valley in Sut-ton ($5 million) and Sterling Na-tional ($4.2 million) have recent-ly changed ownership.

*The 77th John F. Collins Invi-tational Singles is still alive and kicking at North Adams Country Club in Clarksburg. July 20-22 are this year’s dates. It is, and al-ways has been, the best bargain in tournament golf. Very simple for-mat: play 18 holes, post your score, then play match rounds with qualifiers in your flight until you either go home or you are the only one left standing.

*Seven-time winner Jim Pease, of Berkshire Hills Country Club, should be in the field along with the Baran brothers, Chris and Pete, of Waubeeka. Past winners of the NA Singles include John Dawley, Kim Chapman, Dick DeGray, Jim Goff and Gary Fairbanks.

Check the tapeNBC was up to its old tricks on

Friday. They hate to pass up a chance to self-promote. When their coverage of the U.S. Open from Olympic started, they did not take us to the on-course ac-tion; we first had to listen to Jim-my Roberts get us up to date with some other sports news.

What was so important that they had to interrupt the live cov-erage of the Open that we had tuned in to watch?

First, they showed us highlights of the parade in L.A., for the Stanley Cup champs, the L.A. Kings. (NBC had the Cup Finals.)

Then, the results of the wom-en’s beach volleyball competition being played in some country.

They also mentioned that NBC would be covering that sport in the upcoming Olympics.

Also ESPN should get their Johnsons straight. In a graphic la-beled “NOTABLES THAT MISSED THE CUT” for the Open, they listed Zach Johnson. I hope Zach wasn’t watching or he might have caught an early flight. It was Dustin Johnson who did not make the weekend while Zach qualified with a 77-70 to make it by a shot.

North Adams rallied from a 6-0 deficit and completed the comeback with two runs in the top of the seventh, but Vermont answered right back with the game-sealing run on a close play at the plate in the bottom of the seventh to take the opening game.

Then in game two, the Steeple-Cats mounted another rally in the final inning to win, as both teams split a pair in a pivotal Western Division doubleheader on Tuesday evening at the Mont-pelier Recreation Field.

Trailing by two runs, 6-4, with two outs and nobody on in the opener, the SteepleCats (6-5) drew even at 6-all after Sheehan Planas-Arteaga started the rally with a two-out double.

Moments later, Charlie Law drilled an RBI double to straight-away center before Brett Clem-ents tied the game with an RBI bloop single to shallow center.

But in the bottom of the sev-enth, the Mountaineers (6-4) moved into scoring position after a leadoff hit-by-pitch and a walk. With two outs, Michael White roped the go-ahead RBI single to right.

The throw came into the catch-er and appeared to beat the run-ner, but Sean Trent barely beat the throw to take the win for Vermont.

Tom Bammann wound up with the loss, allowing a run in 2 2/3 innings while walking one and hitting three. He relieved starter Christian MacDonald, who allowed six runs – three earned – over four innings while striking out one.

The SteepleCats put up four runs in the top of the fifth against Vermont starter Casey Delgado, who lasted five innings and yield-ed four runs – all unearned – while striking out three and walk-ing three. Matt Dearden offered a scoreless inning of relief before closer Kyle Grana allowed the two tying runs in the seventh while striking out one and yield-ing three hits.

Game TwoBoth teams exchanged a run

apiece in the first before untying the game in the sixth, but the

SteepleCats exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh af-ter falling behind by two runs and eventually prevail, 7-4.

After both defenses shined through four scoreless innings, the SteepleCats took a temporary lead on an RBI fielder’s choice to ahead, 2-1, but the Mountaineers used three-straight extra-base hits – including two triples to lead it off – to put the visitors on the brink of a sweep with a three-spot in the home half of the inning to move in front, 4-2.

But in the top of the seventh, Esteban Tresgallo was plunked by reliever Tyler Rogers before the hurler issued consecutive walks to load the bases. Moments later,

Will Klausing (UT-Pan Ameri-can) tied the game with an RBI single through the left side.

After the go-ahead run scored on a passed ball, Jeff Roy lofted an RBI sacrifice fly to score Klaus-ing, stretching the lead to 6-4. Fi-nally, Law roped an RBI double to left center to round out the scoring.

Brian Hunter struck out one in the bottom of the seventh to pick up his first save of the season, while Matt Longfield picked up the win. North Adams starter Ty-ler Badamo worked in and out of trouble through the evening and earned a no decision after yield-ing three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and four walks.

North Adams stages major rally but still falls short

Vermont wins in the final inning

Berkshire Sports Guy:

Golf in full swing

Big plays lead North Adams back against Vermont in game one and led to the win in game two


2012

July 2 - August 17Lenox, MA

413-637-0320For campers age 5-14

Pleasant Valley Nature Camp

Celebrating 65 years!

www.massaudubon.org.

Camp Half Moon

Celebrating 90 Amazing SummersIn The Berkshires

Enroll TodaySleepover Camp and Day Camp

[email protected]

• Heated Pool • Sailing •Skate Park • Zip Line • Zumba • Tennis • Dance • Team Sports

• Gymnastics • Crafts • Pottery • Waterskiing • Archery • Judo • Rocketry • Golf • Yoga

• Guitar • Cheerleading & much, much more!

Front Page

Grab Readers!AdNOTES

June 7, 2012

Volume III, Issue 3

www.berkshirebeacon.com

Lenox, MA 01240

FREE

1 Local News 6 Editorial6 From the Tower8 Pets9 Fast Picks10 Calendar13 Books13 Girl-2-Girl14 Fun & Games14 Beer/Wine

15 Sports16 Camps

View from

the Tower- Page 6

The Berkshire

Beacon

IndexKameron Z. Spaulding

Beacon Staff Writer

GREAT BARRINGTON

– Photographer Marie Tas-

sone documented everyday

life in the town from the

1930s to the 1980s.

Now, the Great Barrington

Historical Society is archiving

and inventorying her work

after receiving a $1,500 Mas-

sachusetts Humanities grant.

GBHS President James

Mercer said the state research

inventory grant “advances

the society’s mission to pre-

serve, protect and stimulate

awareness of our great

history.”

He credits GBHS treasurer

Sharon Genin for her

“dogged pursuit” of funding

to continue the project be-

gun by the society in January.

The project will culminate in

several exhibits of the Tassone

photos, including one on im-

ages of the former Barrington

Fair.“We are extremely pleased

that the importance of the ar-

chival holdings has been rec-

ognized by the State of Mas-

sachusetts,” Ms. Genin said.

“This grant helps the work

being done by Margaret

Cherin and her team of hard-

working volunteers.”

Ms. Cherin, who holds

masters’ degrees in art history

from the Courtauld Institute

of Art in London and library

science/archival management

from Simmons College in

Boston, has been inventory-

ing the collection, cataloging

and identifying the many

photos and negatives, which

are held in storage upstairs at

the Ramsdell Public Library

in Housatonic. A resident of

South Egremont, she is the

exhibitions curator and col-

lege archivist at Bard College

of Simon’s Rock.

Born in 1904, Ms. Tassone

came to Great Barrington in

1936 and lived there until

see FUNDING page 3

Preserving the pastGB Historic Commission receives more grants

Susan M. Wicker Guerrero

Beacon Staff Writer

LENOX – The call came in

to Michael Sullivan, animal

control offi cer for the towns

of Lee and Lenox, from a po-

lice offi cer friend.

The offi cer said there was a

man in an old Honda that

had broken down on Route

20. Inside the car was a

strange bunch of passengers,

namely 12 ducks, eight baby

chicks, a rooster, a peacock

and a trunkful of pigeons.

Would Mr. Sullivan please

go down and check it out?

At fi rst, Mr. Sullivan said,

he thought he’d have to start

looking for a farm to place the

animals. The driver of the

menagerie was from New

Hampshire.He drove down to this area

to try and sell the animals in

see ANIMAL page 10


Animal control offi cer Michael Sullivan loads up the

truck to head out on another call.

Animal control offi cer

wears many hats

see SOLAR page 2

New solar rules unveiled

Pittsfi eld and Lenox join state

renewable energy program


PITTSFIELD – Over 100

people gathered in a room in

the Berkshire Life Insurance

Building in Pittsfi eld to learn

about a new solar energy pro-

gram being offered to resi-

dents of Pittsfi eld and Lenox.

“Solarize Mass” is a program

being offered to the residents

of 17 different communities

in Massachusetts through the

Massachusetts Clean Energy

Center (CEC). It seeks to in-

crease the number of houses

with solar photovoltaic (PV)

installed by educating the

public about solar PV and

making the technology more

accessible and more affordable.

Solar PV is the most com-

mon and widespread method

of generating electricity

through solar power.

Pittsfi eld and Lenox applied

and were accepted into the So-

larize Mass Program as a team.

As such, the two communities

will be working together with

the program for its duration.

The pilot program for So-

larize Mass provided solar PV

for 162 homes and businesses

in four different communities

at a discounted rate,

The program was explained

at the June 5 meeting by CEC

Senior Director for Renewable

Energy Generation Andy

Brydges.Director Brydges explained

the environmental and eco-

nomic benefi ts of solar PV, as

well as how the technology

generates electricity. He also

detailed how net metering and

solar renewable energy credits

(SRECS) work and how, along

with government subsidies,

these mechanisms can help

make the technology afford-

able for a homeowner. Addi-

tionally, Director Brydges

talked about different owner-

ship options for the technolo-

gy which include buying the

panels outright, entering into

a power purchase agreement

with an installer, (in which the

homeowner buys power from

panels at a fi xed rate that the

installer installs and main-

tains) and leasing.

One common question that

Director Brydges clarifi ed in

his talk was the concern that

Massachusetts doesn’t have

enough sun for solar power.

Director Brydges addressed

this by pointing out that Ger-

many, which has more solar

than any other country in the

world, has worse sun than any

place in the United States.

Director Brydges also went

into detail about how the So-

larize Mass program worked.

He explained that the solar in-

staller for the program would

evaluate residences and busi-

nesses of those interested in

participating to determine

whether or not they would be

suitable for solar power. Di-

rector Brydges cautioned that

only 30-40 percent of those

interested in solar PV would

have a suitable site on their

property.“We’re really only interested

in supporting well-perform-

ing systems,” said Mr.

Brydges.Elements that Director Bry-

dges said made a good site

were a Southern exposure,

four to six hours of direct sun-

light and an open roof area of

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BEACON

june 21 edition

Documents

year sculpture

nonprofit sculpture

town of lenox

town alive

good book

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