march 15 issue

March 15, 2012Volume II, Issue 43

www.berkshirebeacon.comLenox, MA 01240

FREE

1 Local News 6 Editorial6 From the Tower11 Business Card Directory13 Calendar14 Movies 14 Girl-2-Girl15 College Sports Report

Sayles in The Berk-shires

- Page 7

The Berkshire Beacon

Index

Catherine M. KrummeyBeacon Staff Writer

DALTON – In doing a final review of the fiscal year 2013 budget, the Central Berkshire Regional School District (CBRSD) School Commit-tee has decided to restore a secretarial position at Wahconah Regional High School that was originally cut in the coming year’s budget.

The CBRSD Finance Committee was able to locate savings totaling $68,403, more than enough to cover the secretarial salary. This informa-tion was presented by School Com-mittee Member Billie Henderson, and there was an almost immediate motion to restore the secretarial posi-tion with these savings.

Before the vote, several school committee members echoed the ear-lier statement of Wahconah teacher Jackie McLaughlin, who presented the committee with a petition from her fellow teachers and staff members to restore the position.

“We can’t afford not to have this person around,” said School Com-mittee Member John Conner.

“This position is very important to the high school,” added School Com-mittee Member Richard Farley, who attended the meeting via teleconference.

The committee’s vote to approve the restoration of the secretarial posi-tion was met with applause by the people gathered to watch the meeting.

Adjustment Counselor Position Added

In addition to the restoration of that position, Mrs. Henderson indi-cated a need for another adjustment counselor to work at the district’s el-

CBRSD restores another position

Susan M. Wicker GuererroBeacon Staff Writer

he Ioka Valley Farm looks like a gigantic picture post-card that has come to life.

It’s a perfect place to go on a day trip or family excursion.

In these last days of winter, snow covers the grounds and visitors walk quickly in the cold morning air toward the Calf-A restaurant where they can get a delicious breakfast.

Or they may be on their way to the nearby Sugar House to see sap boiling down into maple syrup.

Huge silos jut up into the air behind the restaurant and a pretty, blue-eyed cat comes out of a barn to greet visitors.

Farm Has Long History

The farm, which draws both locals and tourists, has a long history. Dorothy and Robert Leab started the opera-tion in 1936. Brochures about the farm state they “drove

T

Maple time in The Berkshires

see IOKA page 4

Part One:

Kameron Z. Spaulding Beacon Staff Writer

GREAT BARRINGTON – The group led by local landscape architect Bart Elsbach that is looking to pur-chase the Great Barrington Fair-grounds got another boost this week.

At their latest meeting, the Great Barrington Board of Selectmen passed a resolution of support for the group’s bid to purchase and rehab the grounds.

The property has been mostly empty since a tornado destroyed structures in 1995.

The Great Barrington Fair has not been held since, nor have they hosted horse races or used the land for agriculture.

Negotiations with the current own-ers, Silver Point, picked up last year. Silver Point has owned the land since 2010.

The resolution also proclaimed that if Mr. Elsbach’s group is able to purchase the property that the town will work to help them with a num-ber of their proposed uses of the land.

The potential buyers have laid out

Fair property sale gets support

see FAIR page 3 see CBRSD page 5

Photo Credit / Kameron Z. SPaulding

Great Barrington Fairgrounds has been closed for over 15 years.

Photo Credit / SuSan m. WiCKer guerrero

Johnny Koepp works on the evaporator at Ioka Valley Farm.

2 The Berkshire Beacon March 15, 2012

Kameron Z. SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – Fans of planes and all kinds of aviation in The Berkshires are flying to Berkshire Museum these days.

The Museum is now present-ing “David Henderson: A Brief History of Aviation” until May 13, which features an installation of the architectural sculpture of artist David Henderson in the El-len Crane Memorial Room.

The large-scale components of Mr. Henderson’s installation were inspired by the complex fan vaulting of the 16th-century ca-thedral Bath Abbey in England.

Fan vaulting is a Gothic archi-tectural element first used in the 12th century.

Imbued with a spare beauty, the converging curved ribs of each fan-like section form sweep-ing shapes reminiscent of spread wings, combining strength and delicacy.

“The fan vaulting was only used in a few cathedrals in Eng-

land, probably because it was quite complex, geometrically,” Mr. Henderson said.

He creates his fan shapes from materials and methods that are used in building ultra-light aircraft.

“Man’s interest in birds, and particularly their ability to fly, has been a long standing fascination,” Maria Mingalone, the museum’s director of interpretation and cu-rator, said. “We have invited Da-vid Henderson to show his piece ‘A Brief History of Aviation’ at Berkshire Museum at this time because of how well it comple-ments our current exhibition ‘Taking Flight: Audubon and the World of Birds.’”

Henderson’s work has been shown at galleries and in muse-ums across the United States: “A History of Aviation – Part 2” was exhibited at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2011, and “A Brief History of Aviation” was shown in 2010 at Queensbor-ough Community College in New York.

Aviation exhibit takes flight

Janel M. HarrisonBeacon Staff Writer

BECKET – In accordance with Legislative Law, on June 30 the Becket Police Department will say goodbye to a well-respected police chief. William H. Elovirta will retire after 33 years on the force – a force that he built.

“I think the most rewarding thing is making the department what it is today, to take a four to five-hour department and make it operate 24-7, and I like work-ing with the officers.” said Chief Elovirta, a tall, distinguished looking man with silver hair and a beaming smile.

Chief Elovirta assumes many multifaceted roles in the commu-nity, both paying and volunteer.

His title of Town Constable was incurred in 1986, alongside Michael Sawyer up until the pres-ent day.

He is a devoted husband and father of two grown sons, Wil-liam (Jake) and Stephen, both police officers, and his daughter, Esther. He has 10 grandchildren.

“It seems I spend more time with my grandchildren than I did my own children, I was always working,” he said. “It’s always been rewarding to see both my sons become police officers.”

His father worked in a naval shipyard in Boston during the war when William was born, be-fore moving to Chester and final-ly settling in Becket at the age of four.

Upon high school graduation he was immediately drafted into the Navy, where he loved and still loves the sea, as he and his wife set off on an Alaskan Rail Cruise.

His career choices in the Navy were journalism and lithography. He was chosen for lithography and served on the Cuban Missile Crisis Blockade, where he saw Russian missiles. He was also one of the first men on the Prime Re-covery Ship for NASA’s Mercury space program.

He even had fortunate meet-ings with U.S. Marine Corps pi-lot, astronaut and later United States Senator John H. Glenn Jr. during his groundbreaking career

as the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space.

Elovirta said, “I have his auto-graph somewhere,” and laughed.

After the Navy, he married his wife and now part-time police of-ficer and First Assistant Fire Chief Madelaine (Maddy) Elovirta.

Later he attended the Massa-chusetts State Police Academy, was hired as a part-time Becket police officer in 1979 and be-came a sergeant in 1984. In May 1989, he received the title of chief of police, where he contin-ued to build the department up to where it is today with two full-time police officers.

Officer Mark Portieri, the first full-time police officer, was hired in 1997 as a result of a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, and Officer Chris Mc-Donaugh has been with the force for four years.

Retirement Controversy

The issue began at a Board of Selectmen meeting on March 23, 2011, when a letter was present-ed from the Public Employee Re-tirement Administration Com-mission (PERAC).

Before the letter was read, At-torney John Collins asked that Selectman Fuller recuse himself due to a conflict of interest with reasons stated.

Selectman Fuller refused to re-cuse himself from this hearing.

Selectman Mark Karlberg read the letter from PERAC which stated that William Elovirta was in violation of Chapter 415 of the Acts of 1987, in which he has reached the mandatory retire-ment age of 65 and could no lon-ger act as police chief.

Attorney Collins argued that for the past 35 years he has worked as legal council for the Massachusetts Chief of Police As-sociation and that the law stated was repealed in 1990.

He also advised the selectmen that when Chief Elovirta retired as Highway Superintendent he retired from Group 1 of the re-tirement system, where working only as a police chief he would re-

tire under Group 4.“I worked for 30 years with the

Town Highway Department and retired at the age of 65 under Group 1 with agreement from the retirement board if I stayed off a pay period,” he said. “I was then reappointed as police chief and signed papers with the retire-ment board specifying hours worked along with salary. Police officers retire under Group 4.”

In a later meeting in April, At-torney David Jenkins, the Town of Becket’s legal counsel, advised that the town could start a peti-tion to have an article placed on the Annual Town Meeting war-rant that would authorize the se-lectmen to file special legislation at the state house that would al-low the police chief to continue working past the age of 65.

Chief Elovirta took the oppor-tunity to petition the town to pass legislation that he could stay on as chief until June 30, 2012.

He received 80 signatures from the town and received much sup-port as it was a full house at the town meeting.

In January, the Common-wealth of Massachusetts ap-proved him to stay in office until June 30, 2012.

As he leaves, chief Elovirta has his sense of humor, “The police officers told me they would leave when I do, but I haven’t received any resignations yet.”

Photo Credit / Janel m. harriSon

William H. Elovirta will retire after 33 years from his role as Chief of the Becket Police Department.

Chief Elovirta looks back on his service

Becket Police chief to retire June 30

“David Henderson: A Brief History of Aviation” will be at Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield until May 13

March 15, 2012 The Berkshire Beacon 3

Call 413-637-2250 to Advertise in The Berkshire Beacon

Daily Specials • Take-Out • Full Bar • KENO • Seasonal Outside DiningAppetizers • Wings • Salads • Sandwiches • Wraps • Quesadillas

Pizza • Burgers • Chicken • Steak • Fish & Chips

The Olde Heritage Tavern

The “Heritage”... Great Homemade Food... in a Casual Atmosphere... at Non-Lenox Prices

12 Housatonic St.Lenox

(413) 637-0884Open Every Day

7 Main Street, Lenox ~ www.lenoxnb.comMember FDIC ~ Equal Housing Lender

Common SenSe...

...simple but effective

It just makes sense.Live within your means. Save a percentage of your income. Use credit wisely. Keep your agreements.

You can build financial success in any economy. It’s a back-to-basics approach to financial matters. Common sense. Simple, but very effective.


STOCKBRIDGE – The great Berkshire sign debate is alive and well.

The Stockbridge Library is working to collect books for their book sale. They need 16,000 books to raise the needed amount of funds. They still need to col-lect another 10,000.

As part of that event, the li-brary is asking to have an excep-tion in the town’s sign by-laws to advertise the event and their need for books to sell.

“I want to give you credit for how well-run and organized this fundraiser is,” said Selectwoman Deborah McMenamy. “You have turned this event from a $10,000 to a $20,000 fundraiser.”

Yet Selectwoman McMenamy and other members of the board felt that the signs were not war-ranted at this time.

Signs have become a major is-sue in Stockbridge in recent months, including a long debate at the previous select board meeting.

“For you the timing could not be worse,” said Selectwoman Mc-Menamy. “We are coming off a very public debate on the issue.”

The board did not approve the

request for a variance to the sign by-law.

IS183 to continue music events

IS183 received approval to ex-tend their recently started music café.

Before the first event there were several neighbors of the school who expressed concern.

Now, after the first two events, members of the select board said

that there have been no com-plaints since they started and that the neighbors have contacted the board with praise for the music events.

Town receives recycling funds

The town received a check for close to $10,000 for recyclables.The board thanked residents for continuing to recycle at high rates.

Stockbridge holds firm on sign by-laws

a number of possible uses for the site including a farmers market, a river walk and new park, and even the potential of adding housing to the land along Main Street.

Recently the idea of adding a solar array to the 57-acre proper-ty has emerged as well.

Finding viable locations for al-ternative energy in the town has come to the forefront recently. Representatives from the Agricul-tural Commission, Energy Com-mittee and Select and Planning boards held a joint planning ses-sion this month to discuss the is-sue of alternative energy.

Entertainment License Changes

The Town of Great Barrington has recently made some changes to their entertainment licenses.

There are now eight different

licenses separating annual from temporary and weekday from Sunday use.

The entertainment license an-nual request form prominently mentions that the permit will only cover indoor events.

This is a reaction to the small uproar caused over a Brick House

Pub New Year’s Eve event.The pub trucked in snow and

constructed a ramp for a special outdoor snowboarding event, which ran from noon to 9 p.m. and drew a crowd of over 50.

Some local neighbors filed complaints with the town.

FAIR from page 1


The Stockbridge Library was not approved for roadside signs.


The old grandstand at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds.

SAYERS’ AUTO WRECKING

TOWING

Potter Mountain Rd. • Pittsfi eld, MAIn Pittsfi eld Area 413-443-1635 • In North Berk County 413-663-9030

800-323-1635

TOWINGTOWING24 HOUR

We’ll Bee There!

$$ WE BUY JUNK CARS $$*Free metal containers for metal demolition scrap.

We have containers for Auto Body Shops and Repair Shops.

*No charge for removal and disposal

*Buyer of all types of scrap metals:Copper, Brass, Alum, Stainless Steel

Alloys, Cast Iron, Steel, Light Iron, Batteries, Radiators, Insulated Wire.

*See dealer for details


13 head of cattle over Brodie Mountain from Lanesboro and settled them onto the property they named Ioka Valley, from an Indian word meaning ‘beautiful.’”

The Leabs raised five children at Ioka Valley Farm. One of them, Donald, and his wife, Judy, raised three children there.

The senior Leabs’ two daugh-ters, Heather and Kate, both now married, live in the area.

Another son, Robert, revived a maple sugaring operation in 1992, with 13 taps. He was a teenager at the time. He and his wife, Melissa, who can usually be found in the Calf-A restau-rant, are the third generation of Leabs to keep Ioka Valley Farm running.

They have two children who are growing up on the farm. Joshua is 13 years old and Mar-tha is nine.

Robert Leab noted that a nephew, Andrew, also helps with the farm’s operation.

2,009 Maple Taps

Today, there are 2,009 taps spread out over 200 acres, bring-ing in sap for maple syrup. Rob-ert Leab said he has learned about maple syrup production by trial and error.

“You go to meetings and learn as you go,” he said, while work-ing on a huge evaporator in a specially-built sugar house.

The entire farm operation is a “labor of love,” Mr. Leab said.

One can only imagine the im-mense amount of time and work that go in to keeping a four-season farm functioning. However, the Leab family seems to have it down to a science.

At this time, the maple syrup spring season, things are bus-tling at Ioka Valley.

Susan M. Wicker GuerreroBeacon Staff Writer

HANCOCK – Inside the Sug-ar House at Ioka Valley Farm, Terri Anne and Johnny Koepp of Lebanon Springs N.Y. greet visitors.

Mrs. Koepp stands behind a ta-ble, surrounded by windows let-ting in a steady stream of sunshine.

She has a slow cooker filled with bread pudding made with maple syrup, donuts, small cups filled with maple granola and dif-ferent grades of maple syrup.

Welcoming guests with a big smile and tempting samples, she lets them taste various grades of maple syrup, pouring the golden liquid into tiny spoons.

They can crunch their teeth into the granola, too, and smack their lips over the warm maple bread pudding.

“Maple syrup is good for blood circulation,” Mrs. Koepp says to interested onlookers. “It has less calories than sugar.”

She also shares tidbits about her own life, noting that in good weather, she enjoys riding her bi-cycle 50 miles a day.

Inside the Ioka Valley Farm Sugar House, Mrs. Koepp’s hus-band, Johnny, stands behind huge clouds of sweet steam com-ing from boiling maple sap, ex-plaining the process of making maple syrup. He perches on a wooden platform near a small wood-burning evaporator.

Guests can look down into the machine and see the sap boiling away. The delicious aroma fills every inch of the air, making one yearn for some of that sweet syrup-in-the-making.

Mr. Koepp is extremely knowl-edgeable when it comes to mak-ing maple syrup. He’s been doing it, he says, since he was a five-year-old in Lebanon Springs, N.Y.

He explains how the sugaring season is quite short. This year at Ioka Valley Farm, because of un-seasonally warm weather, the op-eration began early.

“We started tapping about Feb. 6,” Mr. Koepp said, his blue eyes staring intently at a visitor. “We’ve made 250 gallons of syr-

Sugar House evaporators fill air with sweet fragrance

up so far. We hope to get 2,000 gallons.”

Asked when the season ends, he said, “When the trees bud.”

He explains how it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. A total of 50-100 gallons an hour are boiled. Some-times it can take several hours to boil down to the 218 degrees needed to draw off the syrup.

Mr. Koepp noted that the huge Canadian-built evaporator across from the wood-burning one would cost “the price of two pick-ups.” It’s powered by oil.

The sweet steam rising from the evaporators swirls in the air and is released through an open-ing at the top of the sugar house.

Mr. Koepp took visitors from The Beacon out to the back of the sugar house and showed the huge vats where the sap is stored as well how the tubing deposits it.

He explained that the old method of tapping trees via buck-ets has been obsolete for years. These days, the sap travels via transparent tubing.

“It doesn’t hurt the trees,” he said of extracting the sap. He compared it to giving blood at a blood bank.

Even though the maple syrup season is short, it’s still a year-round operation, Mr. Koepp said. After the season is over,

equipment has to be maintained, some trees have to be cut down and any damaged tubing replaced.

The Ioka Valley Farm has something to offer visitors in ev-ery single season. After the spring maple syrup season comes pick-your-own strawberry season. There’s also Uncle Don’s Barn-yard, where children can touch, feed and pet friendly farm animals.

Kids can also delight in hosting a “Day at the Farm” birthday par-ty for their friends.

Fall has hayrides on a “Giant Pumpkin” wagon as well as a haunted house and pumpkin patch, among many other activities.

In winter, there are hayrides to the Christmas Tree Plantation, where visitors can cut their own trees. Of course, they can also have breakfast with the most popular guy at that time of year, Santa himself.

Call the farm or check their website online for detailed de-scriptions of ongoing activities in any season.


Terri Anne Koepp behind the counter at their store location on Ioka Valley Farm. They hope to get over 2,000 gallons of syrup.


Bottles of syrup ready to be sold at Ioka Valley Farm. Over 250 gallons have already been made this year.

IOKA from page 1

Come back next

week for part

two of our series,

“Maple in The

Berkshires”.


Lowest Price Guarantee or Your Tire is

FREE316 W Housatonic St. • Pittsfi eld, MATel: 413-442-8363 • Fax: 413-443-3198

Visit us Online at www.TireWarehouse.net

ementary schools. Superinten-dent William J. Cameron also gave a statement that echoed that need.

Currently, the district employs four counselors for its six schools, with one counselor responsible for three schools.

The committee broke into an executive session to discuss sensi-tive details surrounding the addi-tion of a position and its funding.

When the public was invited back to the meeting, the commit-tee voted to approve the funding for an additional adjustment counselor from the remainder of the previously mentioned savings and emergency funds.

FY ‘13 Budget Approved

The school committee also unanimously approved the CBRSD budget for FY ‘13. The final amount came in at $25,645,091, an increase of 0.98 percent or $249,344 from the FY ‘12 budget of $25,396,746.

The bulk of the budget, $17,550,994, will go to salaries and benefits for district employ-ees. Transportation costs come in at $1,738,001.

Subtracting the anticipated revenue of $10,774,506, the to-tal amount needed from the dis-trict’s seven member towns is $14,870,585. Dalton is expected

to contribute just over $7.4 mil-lion, Hinsdale nearly $2.3 mil-lion, Becket nearly $2 million, Windsor just over $1 million, Cummington $843,938, Peru $798,733 and Washington $536,279.

To see a PDF of the 2013 bud-get visit www.berkshirebeacon.com.

Other Business

The March 8 meeting, which lasted three hours, started with

the approval of a policy to allow school committee members to teleconference into the meetings. This allowed for Mr. Farley to participate in the meeting while out of town.

The committee also voted to approve several warrants, includ-ing one for $5,255 for sanding and plowing fees.

A field trip to Rhode Island for a Wahconah Latin class in De-cember was unanimously approved.


LENOX – A local resort will be getting a bit larger this summer.

Cranwell Resort announced plans to open the new 18-room Carriage House in July.

The building replaces the struc-ture that was destroyed in a fire in December 2010 and will bring the resort’s full inventory to 114 rooms.

The new building design re-spects the historic nature of the property bringing back much of the original glory of the circa-1890s structure. The original ar-chitectural drawings of the Car-riage House by Peabody and Stearns Architects were located in the Boston Public Library and were used to help design the guest space.

The current architect is Cutler Associates and according to Kev-in Kozak, AIA, “Many concepts from the original Carriage House were incorporated, including the tower, cantilevered floors at the upper level, as well as roof lines and gables, to create a new design that still respects the original structure.”

The 18 guest rooms will in-

clude 15 queen-bedded doubles, two king-bedded rooms and one king-bedded suite.

According to hotel staff the in-terior design for the new Carriage House will also celebrate the ho-tel’s history while embracing modern amenities.

“The furniture has clean lines with details such as turned legs and finials which reflect pieces that would have been in the origi-nal Cranwell Mansion,” said Pau-la Benesch of Hughes Design As-sociates. “The fabrics have soft patterns and rich textures and are inspired by nature and the beau-tiful Berkshire Mountains. Art-work tells the history of not only this historic property, but the rich history of the surrounding area and the Berkshire Cottages. The baths have custom wood vanities with turned legs, beautiful glass accent tile and gleaming fixtures, giving them a spa-like feel.”

The Carriage House, which was always a favorite for year-round visitors, is connected to the Spa at Cranwell by a glass-en-closed heated walkway, providing indoor access to the indoor pool, fitness center and treatment rooms, as well to the main recep-tion area.

Cranwell gets set to expand

CBRSD from page 1


The new 18 room Carriage House will open in July of this year.

Photo Credit / Catherine m. Krummey

The Central Berkshire Regional School District School Com-mittee meets to approve the fiscal year 2013 budget.


Editorial: View From the TowerGeorge C. Jordan III

Spring is a great time to make formal announce-ments in the cities and towns of Berkshire Coun-ty. Spring will officially be here Tuesday.

We’ve had about a week of spring fever, set-ting us up to take advan-tage of the weather, from wearing spring-like clothes to basking in the sun to just enjoying the day with friends.

For others in the busi-ness community, it is a time to sell, expand, change partnerships and just make corporate changes to be ready for the summer months’ anticipated activities.

This is March. This is the time for high school winter sports activity to go to re-gional and state finals. This is before St. Patrick’s Day when “love” of the Irish abounds.

Yet, from a media point of view, this is the time to look at production, staff, revenue and advertising. And yes, distribution.

But you, the reader, don’t want to hear about The Berk-shire Beacon and The Berk-shire Sonata this week other than to note we have two good publications, and every week there is someone new acknowledging the fact.

We are not done yet. We still have many issues to deal with in terms of content, staff reporting, maintaining a con-stant flow of advertising along with revenue and then getting the newspapers into the readers’ hands.

With this in mind, I want to take a moment to shine the Beacon Light on our brides to be which will be the sub-ject in one of our forthcom-ing issues of The Sonata. They are part of our future and the fact that they choose

to be married in The Berk-shires says a lot.

Also, in this week’s and up-coming issues of The Bea-con, there will be stories about maple sugar from Hancock to Lenox. We have Susan Wicker Guerrero cov-ering that industry, which is affected by the weather, and hopefully you’ll share in the bounty.

Going forward, we want to celebrate with the communi-ty-at-large the 100th anni-versary of the Girl Scouts of America and its contribu-tions to the young girls who share their thoughts and hearts with one another while doing community service work.

Today in the name of Girl Scouts we want to reach out with copy and advertise-ments to show that each girl’s contribution over the years has benefited the home and its core family and the school and the community-at-large.

Sometimes, it is only the annual Girl Scout cookie pro-motion that gets a passing nod and only because a friend (parent) is selling do we buy.

Today, we should stop and think and be thankful for the

Girl Scout institution that has changed over the years, but has re-mained true to its core to help formulate a little girl into the maturity of a young woman, who goes forward in life with values learned at a young age.

We could not be more proud of our Girl Scouts, whom it seems get little recognition in today’s media and are seldom seen in their “greens” after attending Brownies as an elemen-tary school child.

The Brownies were estab-lished as an offshoot of the Girl Scouts.

“One of the major features of the Brownies is the con-cept of “Try-Its.” These are activities and programs that earn girls badges and awards for different activities and programs.

Brownies perform a range of actions from taking part in major events to attempting to complete a basic task. Ex-amples of different activities include learning about veteri-narian care for animals, as-sembling community clean-up projects, exploring early American life, decorating T-shirts, selling cookies, learn-ing to swim or simply learn-ing a magic trick.

Each Girl Scout belongs to a group called a troop. These troops are led by certified trainers called guides. The organization of the troop var-ies depending on the leader, but most groups act as a guided democratic institution.

The members work with the guide to come up with programs and ideas in which they will take part. Leader-ship skills are a major focus of this organization.

It has been an unusual win-ter weather-wise.

Higher winter tempera-tures coupled with lower fuel consumption has made this winter almost like weather in the mid-Atlantic states.

Next Tuesday (March 20), spring begins.

We don’t know if spring will bring beautiful flowers or a sneak winter snowstorm.

Yet the calendar indicates that, for farmers, it is a time to work the soil, get the gear ready and be prepared for warmer temperatures.

Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the tran-sition period between winter and summer.

Spring and “springtime”

refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth.

The specific definition of the exact timing of “spring” varies according to local cli-mate, cultures and customs.

At the spring equinox, days are close to 12 hours long with day length increasing as the season progresses.

The Berkshires are a beau-tiful place in the off-season and spring is just one season – snow or no snow.

Better yet, it is time to watch the flowers grow and dream-at-large for beautiful weather, and those longer days allow one to dream their dreams.

Spring is hereA great time to look back at a

great group for young girls

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, Shannon T. MillerADVERTISING SALES

The Berkshire Beacon is published weekly. The Beacon is distributed throughout Berkshire County, MA. The Berkshire Beacon assumes no financial responsibil-ity 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 con-tents copyright ©2012 The Berkshire Beacon. No portion may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

THE GUIDING LIGHT OF THE BERKSHIRES

T H E B E R K S H I R E

BEACON

General Inquiries:[email protected](413) 637-2250

Send Display Ads to:[email protected]

Send Calendar Listings to:[email protected]

Visit us Online:www.berkshirebeacon.com

Contact Us


Rae A. EastmanBeacon Staff Writer

WILLIAMSTOWN – To list John Sayles’ 17 movies and his many novels and short story col-lections would take the rest of this page.

His current film is called Ami-go, his current novel A Moment in the Sun.

Last week he was invited to Williams College to address Eng-lish students there; he read from his new novel at the evening showing of his film Amigo at the Images Theatre in Williamstown and answered questions from the audience.

Mr. Sayles and the producer of his films, Maggie Renzi, both of whom attended Williams, have just completed a 40-day tour of the United States, during which he read from his new novel at no fewer than 27 independent book-stores which are, they both say, alive and well.

Amigo deals with the American occupation of the island of Luzon in the Philippines following the sale of the Philippines to America by Spain for $20 million in 1902.

In the film, the central charac-ter, when asked by an American military officer what his name is, calls himself Amigo.

His name is Stefan – and he is the respected leader of a small town on the island trying to ad-just himself and the townspeople to the American military who ruthlessly kill and torture any vil-lager who even appears to resist the occupation. Amigo’s brother, Simon, loyal to the rebel leader Aguinaldo, refuses to accept the occupation and lives in the jungle with a small band of resisters de-spising his brother for accepting the occupation.

The American military, the movie makes very clear, do not consider Filipinos people.

The film however, makes it just as clear that the villagers we see on the screen ARE people, with hearts and minds of their own.

One evidence of their aware-ness surfaces as they gradually turn their collective back on their hypocritical priest, as he appears to side with the military occupiers.

The occupation and the hunt

for Aguinaldo drag on during 40 days and nights of rain. The com-manding officer grudgingly be-gins to respect the villagers, even as he jails Amigo.

He even allows them to put on a traditional festival during which a young American soldier, who, making a timid advance to a na-tive girl, shyly giving her a neck-lace, says “ you’re pretty, well, for one of you.”

The commander, later, howev-er, is forced to release Stefan when, according to pious Ameri-can rules of election cynically forced on the natives, Stefan is voted mayor of the town.

American Army higher-ups ap-pear, acting far more imperialistic than the town occupiers and force Amigo to lead an expedi-tion into the jungle to capture his brother.

The torture he undergoes to pursuade him to do so, shocking-ly enough, is the water torture of current times – of which, Mr. Sayles said, he found evidence in documents of 1902: the Congres-sional Record of that time called it “The Cure.”

Sayles also found, curiously, that the first person to use the phrase “winning hearts and minds” was Theodore Roosevelt.

Amigo is only the third movie for Americans ever made in and about the Philippines. Americans in the U.S. were deliberately kept ignorant of the occupation at the time. Nor were Filipinos or their children told about it.

English immediately became the official language and school children in the islands were not

allowed to speak anything but English.

They knew nothing, for exam-ple, of the grueling guerilla resis-tance fought against the Ameri-can Army. Neither did Filipino officials.

Finally (according to history, not as shown in Amigo), the last of the guerillas, lured out of hid-ing to negotiate a surrender, were instead arrested and hanged in 1907.

Americans, even later, knew very little about the Philippines; American textbooks leave out any history of the islands, and there exist almost no films about them.

Though the natives were liber-ated from being squeezed by the Spanish with high taxes and un-paid work, Mr. Sayles said, the occupation was complete.

As for the Americans, no corre-spondents of the time covered the war, nor did the public question the morality of the earlier Spanish conquest of the Phiilipines.

“It seemed almost as if – look-ing around at recent history – Americans said to themselves ‘now it’s our turn to do a little conquesting!’” Mr. Sayles said.

And, yes, he was drawn to the subject by the parallels of today’s world’s “unresolved conflicts” or a mirror of today’s “conflicting loy-alties,” as Mr. Sayles called them.

Of his novel A Moment in the Sun, The New York Times notes it as a “distinct mirror of contem-porary history, of Vietnam an Iraq” and, Sayles said it is that. So also, Sayles conceded, is Amigo.

An evening with novelist and filmmaker John Sayles


LENOX – The proposed Lenox Public Schools budget for fiscal year 2013 was a major topic of interest at the most recent meet-ing of the Lenox School Committee.

The preliminary needs budget currently stands at $8,808,179, an increase of 8.1 percent or $660,110 over the FY ‘12 budget of $8,148,069.

School Committee Chairwom-an Marybeth F. Mitts started and led the discussion on possible changes to the needs budget.

“Discuss the areas you would like to see the administration work on pulling back,” Chair-woman Mitts told her fellow committee members.

Chairwoman Mitts said she would like to see the category of professional fees (for conferences, organization memberships, etc.) cut down 75 percent. Committee Member David Berkel agreed with her, saying that the adminis-tration could just send one teach-er to certain events and confer-ences instead of a group.

Chairwoman Mitts also indi-cated that she would like to see a 40 percent cut in the amount al-lotted for field trips.

School Committee Member Veronica J. Fenton indicated a desire to cut the additional custo-dial salary from the needs budget.

“Things are looking pretty good [as they are],” she said.

Most of the committee mem-bers indicated a desire to keep two things in the FY ‘13 budget: funding for full-day kindergarten at Morris Elementary School and financing for the restructuring of the schedule at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.

“If we’re going to remain a school of choice, we have to

change,” said School Committee Member Francie Sorrentino.

The committee members seemed open to cuts in most areas except for those two.

“We need to sharpen our pen-cils on a lot of our other stuff,” said Mr. Berkel.

“If you’ve gotta cut other stuff, cut other stuff,” added School Committee Vice Chairman Don W. Fitzgerald.

After hearing what the com-mittee members had to say, Su-perintendent Dr. Edward W. Costa II said that he would start working on reducing the budget, with an emphasis on keeping the full-day kindergarten and sched-ule changes intact.

“We’re going to do our work,” Superintendent Costa said.

Superintendent Costa indicat-ed that a FY ‘13 budget of about $8.35 million would be the target number, which would only be an increase of about 2.5 percent over FY ‘12.

Other Business

The committee approved a May 5 field trip for the varsity and junior varsity baseball teams to a AAA baseball game in Con-necticut. Transportation costs will be covered by team member parents.

The committee also indicated an appreciation of the recent “Stay Clean” events that have been presented by the Safety and Wellness Committee, including presentations of the one-man show Dirt by John Morello to both students and community members.

The next school committee meeting will take place at Lenox Town Hall on Monday (March 19) at 6 p.m., with the Lenox Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee also present.

Lenox school budget moving along

Photo Credit / mary CybulSKi

John Sayles on the set of his film Amigo.

To advertise in

The Berkshire Beacon

Classifieds

Call 413-637-2250



LENOX – Indented shelves covering an entire living room wall in Sally Charter’s home hold an extensive collection of muse-um quality Flow Blue china that delights visitors.

Flow Blue is a highly-collect-ible china which these days com-mands very high prices.

“It’s a mistake,” Ms. Charter said of the process that results in Flow Blue pieces.

An entire book on Flow Blue china by Jeffrey B. Snyder de-scribes it as “ceramic wares deco-rated with transfer printed de-signs, usually printed in dark cobalt blue ink, which have been caused to bleed in the undecorat-ed portions of the vessels, creat-ing a blurred image.”

“The cobalt blue bleeds or ‘flows’ over the white body when the glaze applied over the decora-tion is fired in the kiln,” Mr. Sny-der wrote. “The result has been described by some as fuzzy, ug-ly…a virtual potting faux pas.”

Highly-Collectible China

However, because thousands of people want and seek Flow Blue china, it has become highly-col-lectible and difficult to find.

Sally Charter and her late sister, Leah, started collecting Flow Blue china in the 1980s. At that time they were also collecting china in the Blue Onion pattern.

They would travel to Maine in the summertime and go to their three favorite antique shops to look for Flow Blue pieces. Many times they found them, too.

As more and more people dis-covered Flow Blue china, howev-er, it became quite scarce, Ms. Charter said. She’s a friendly, slightly-built woman with short, light brown hair and light-col-ored eyes.

She said she and her sister, who was 12 years older than Ms. Charter, shared many interests and did everything together.

“We could read each other’s minds,” she said.

Sister Died of Breast Cancer

Then, in 1996, Leah died from breast cancer that had spread. The death of her sister was a monumental loss for Ms. Charter.

She picked up a Flow Blue tea-pot that rests on a table in her dining room and said, “This is one of my pride and joys.”

Her sister gave it to her before she died. She wanted Ms. Charter to have it in her collection.

Ms. Charter is also a two-time breast cancer survivor herself.

On the dining room table is a well-starched and ironed lacy-edged white cloth and in the middle of it is a Flow Blue plate. On top of the plate is a glass com-pote with a glass candle in a hold-er inside.

Soup Tureen Is a Favorite

One of Ms. Charter’s favorite pieces in her abundant collection of Flow Blue china is a soup tu-reen. Its cover rests in a special

holder so visitors can look at the scene in the bottom of the tureen.

Ms. Charter found the intri-cately-made piece at an antique and collectible show at the Big E in West Springfield. She paid $350 for it.

“Anything that catches my eye, I’ll buy,” she said. She especially enjoys pieces that have Chinese designs.

Some Flow Blue pieces are trimmed with gold and quite attractive.

Originally, all Flow Blue pieces had the gold trimming, Ms. Charter said.

Hundreds of Flow Blue Patterns

There are hundreds of Flow Blue patterns.

She said she could kick herself for not buying certain pieces she saw over the years since now the prices are either way out of reach or the pieces cannot be found.

Some of the shelves hold pew-

ter as well as Flow Blue pieces. Pewter is another favorite of Ms. Charter.

The home in which she lives is more than 100 years old. It used to be part of a farm and the house was actually moved up on the property in the 1950s, she said. At that time the remodelers re-moved porches that were on the house.

She’s lived in the home, set on about half an acre, since the early 1980s.

Lots of House Remodeling

She’s done a lot of remodeling, including the recent renovation of the master bedroom. The solid mahogany four-poster bed came from an auction at a fraction of its original price. It is a testimony to fine workmanship.

Now the owner of well more than 70 Flow Blue pieces, is she interested in collecting more?

“Oh, yes,” she said, with en-thusiasm. “I’d love a sugar bowl and creamer.”


Sally Charter’s collection of Flow Blue china has grown to be very extensive.


This cup and saucer is one of the numerous pieces in Saly Charter’s collection of Flow Blue china.

Collectors pay top dollar for Flow Blue china, a

beautiful “mistake”


Bera B. DunauBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX – Despite a harrowing first week of operations, the new Papa John’s Pizza in Lenox seems to have turned a corner.

The Papa John’s franchise in Lenox, located at 439 Pittsfield Rd. (on routes 7 and 20) opened on Thursday, March 1.

Filling a previously unad-dressed niche in the town of Lenox – it’s currently the only restaurant that provides delivery to all areas of the town – the Papa John’s was immediately beset by high demand.

Two days into its opening, however, the restaurant’s fresh staff were dealt a significant setback.

As a Papa John’s franchise, the 439 Pittsfield Rd. location was only given the option of choosing between two different companies to provide their phone system. Franchise Operating Manager Melanie Desmarais said that they chose to go with Fidelity Com-munications Corporation.

Installation of the phone sys-tem, however, took longer than expected.

“They started it the week be-fore we opened, but didn’t com-plete it until Tuesday or Wednes-day,” said Mrs. Desmarais, who claims that it was supposed to be a three-day process.

Additionally, Mrs. Desmarais wasn’t happy with the final result. “It looked like my wall threw up wires,” said Mrs. Desmarais, who called the technicians back to tidy up the job.

The phone system freshly in-stalled, the restaurant opened that Thursday. That Friday after-noon, however, the phone system crashed. Mrs. Desmarais called the Fidelity technicians, and they were able to repair the problem.

Mrs. Desmarais says, however, that the technicians told her that if they tried to permanently fix the problem with the phones they would knock everything down, including the franchise’s computers.

Mrs. Desmarais claims she gave them explicit orders not to con-tinue with this course of action, as the dinner rush was about to start and the fledgling restaurant

couldn’t deal with a data failure, but they ignored her instructions. At approximately 3:45 p.m., the technicians managed to shut off both the franchise’s phone and computer system.

The systems weren’t able to be returned to functioning order un-til 5 p.m., and the staff was re-duced to writing out the orders by hand on deli tickets.

When the computer system came back, the Papa John’s staff learned that approximately 300 orders had been placed on their website in the hour and fifteen minutes that the system had been down.

“We had 50 people in our lob-by, we had all six lines ringing and we had 300 orders on our screens,” said Mrs. Desmarais, describing the harrowing trial that she and her team went through.

“Every web order was refund-ed,” said Mrs. Desmarais, “Every phone order that wasn’t gotten to in a timely manner was refunded.”

Mrs. Desmarais also said that they handed out free pizzas to people waiting in the lobby.

Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the end of the line for the loca-tion’s phone systems problems.

Mrs. Desmarais said that the phone system crashed that Satur-day and that Sunday as well. The store then shut down on Monday and didn’t reopen until 4 p.m. on

Tuesday in order to straighten out the problem. The phone sys-tem then proceeded to crash again on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Then a Boston technician fixed the line and they haven’t had any trouble with the phone system since he worked on it.

“The phones have been...per-fect perfect perfect since Satur-day,” said Mrs. Desmarais.

Asked about how business has been going, Mrs. Desmarais said, “Business has been wonderful.

“Most people have been very understanding,” Mrs. Desmarais added, referring to the crash. “A lot of people are just thrilled, ex-cited, overwhelmed with joy that we are here.”

Some people have not been so understanding.

“Unfortunately, when we crashed it left a bad taste in peo-ples mouths,” said Mrs. Desma-rais, adding that the restaurant will try to rebuild the trust that was lost.

Mrs. Desmarais also said that her team is new and still learning how to deal with big orders effi-ciently, such as the 200-pie hour they had on Saturday. However, she expressed faith in her employ-ees and their ability to rise to the occasion.

“I have the best team ever,” said Mrs. Desmarais. “These are peo-ple who are brand new at this and giving it 100 percent.”


PITTSFIELD – In addition to its historical, cultural and cine-matic offerings, the Berkshire Museum will soon provide the setting for a bit of theatre. The museum will be the host for the Berkshire Actors Theatre 2012 summer season.

“The Berkshire Museum is committed to using our unique resources to contribute to the cul-tural fabric of The Berkshires and we are delighted to host Berkshire Actors Theatre for its second sea-son,” said Berkshire Museum Ex-ecutive Director Van W. Shields.

The season features two plays by John Patrick Shanley, the Pu-litzer Prize and Tony Award-win-ning play Doubt: A Parable and Four Dogs and a Bone.

“The chance to experience two totally different sides of one re-nowned playwright’s work is a unique opportunity for actors and audience alike, and I’m so pleased to have John Patrick Shanley on board to consult with about his work during the cre-ative process,” said Berkshire Ac-tors Theatre Artistic Director Clover Bell-Devaney.

Plans are in the works to ar-range a talk-back after one of the performances, which the play-wright hopes to attend.

Doubt, which was adapted into

an Oscar-nominated film in 2008, is a drama that explores its characters’ struggles to hold on to their beliefs within the confines of a Bronx Catholic school in 1964.

Four Dogs and a Bone is a com-edy about the business of making movies.

“The idea of running these two plays in repertory appealed to me as a way to create a striking juxta-position between theatre that makes you think deeply about important issues and theatre that allows you to simply be enter-tained,” said Ms. Bell-Devaney.

Doubt will run from June 21-July 14; Four Dogs and a Bone will run June 30-July 15.

Doubt auditions Saturday

Auditions for two roles in Doubt will be held on Saturday (March 17) from 1-5 p.m. by ap-pointment only at the museum.

The first role is Father Flynn, described as a Caucasian male in his late 30s-late 40s, clean cut and able to speak with “New Eng-land” dialects. The second role is Mrs. Muller, described as an Afri-can-American female in her mid-30s-mid-40s and able to speak with New York dialects.

Actors should prepare a short dramatic monologue and may be asked to stay and read from the script as well.

New Papa John’s survives phone malfunction

Local summer plays announced

Photo Credit / Catherine m. Krummey

The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield will host the Berkshire Actors Theatre this summer.


The new Papa John’s on Pittsfield/Lenox Rd in Lenox.



LENOX – These are sad days at Peggy and Vince Ammendola’s household.

Bear, one of the couple’s three beloved cats, died at home one day this month, just about break-ing the hearts of his owners.

They bought Bear 16 years ago from an animal shelter in Pittsfield.

Peggy Ammendola works in the town hall as a land use clerk and also as an administrative as-sistant with the police department.

She said one Monday this month when she came home on her lunch hour, she noticed Bear lying down under the living room coffee table, a usual roost for him.

He appeared comfortable but his torso was twisted, Mrs. Am-mendola said. She went over and straightened him out.

“He was okay with that,” she said. “When we started to leave, I looked at him and told him I loved him, then kissed my fingers and placed them on his head say-ing, ‘This kiss is from Michael.’ I did it twice more for our other two children.”

Planning to return to work, Mrs. Ammendola checked on Bear once more and he had moved from the living room to a rug in the foyer, back in the twist-ed position.

She said she picked him up and noticed his mouth was open and he was panting. She knew some-thing was very wrong.

She called in to her job to say she decided against returning to work that afternoon. She held Bear in her arms.

“I realized he was weak now, and when I saw the bright sun-shine on the sofa, decided to put him there on a large pillow,” Mrs. Ammendola said. “For over an hour I stayed with him, crying, petting and talking to him. He started to move and looked at me and we decided to take him to the vet.”

Her husband called the veteri-narian but Mrs. Ammendola and Bear never even made it into the car. The cat’s breathing changed and the car ride would have been way too stressful for him.

“We sat on either side of him

and within a few moments, he was gone,” said Mrs. Ammendo-la. “We buried him in our island garden in the backyard. Our tracks in the snow from the house, to the shed, to the garden tell the story.”

Bear had not been sick. How-ever, the past year or so, he had been slowing down, his owner said.

Bear would definitely be con-sidered a confident cat with a “no sweat” attitude, Mrs. Ammendo-la said.

“When he wanted to have an unaccompanied ‘outing,’ which was to the attached garage, he would bat the bells hanging from the door knob and patiently wait for someone to open the door,” she said.

“Other outings were on a leash into the yard,” Mrs. Ammendola said. “When he saw someone get the leash, he would jump up on the stool, ready to be attached. He never wanted to come back in, and often had to be carried in. Then when you tried to put him down, he would draw his legs up, refusing to touch the floor. He had such a dry wit!”

Filled with sadness over the loss of her beloved pet, Mrs. Ammen-dola recalled a humorous inci-dent involving Bear.

One day, she put a cup of cof-fee in the microwave. However, she had forgotten to put coffee into the cup.

The stove’s dinger went off and Mrs. Ammendola went to re-trieve her coffee. Only she and Bear were in the kitchen.

“Drats!” she said. The cat seemed to answer

“Whaaaaaa?”“I said, without realizing I was

talking to a cat, ‘Oh Bear, Mom-my forgot to put coffee in her cup,’” Mrs. Ammendola said.

Bear then answered, “Awwwww.”

“I laughed so hard when I put it all together and it has become a favorite story about him,” Mrs. Ammendola said.

Bear’s owner said she and her husband are very sad, but grateful Bear was able to share his life with them.

“We will miss his purr,” she said.

They will remember Bear as a “manly cat with an ‘I have things under control’ attitude” and be-ing receptive to their attention.

The Ammendolas have two other cats, Suki and Jelly Bean (short for Sister Angelica Bean). No doubt they, too, will miss Bear.

As with all pets who have be-come a part of the family and gar-nered a special place in the hearts of all family members, Bear’s death has brought tears and sadness.

However, the memories he left them with, independent attitude and all, will live on forever.

Local family bids a sad goodbye to a “bear” of a cat


Peggy and Vince Ammendola’s cat Bear. Bear passed on this month after spending 16 years with the family.


LENOX – The Lenox Planning Board continues to wrestle with trying to write up a new sign by-law, but they may have hit a snag.

At their March 14 meeting, the planning board reviewed the most current draft of the changes to the sign by-law within Lenox’s historic district.

One of the most significant de-velopments that came as the re-sult of the review was that the planning board decided to stop characterizing the changes to the by-law as an overlay district.

Instead, the decision was made to try to put the historic district, whose boundaries the overlay would have covered exactly, onto zoning maps and to reform the by-laws through which signs are approved in the district.

The chief reform of the pro-posed new changes would be to have the Lenox Historic District Commission (HDC) codify its standards for signs into a docu-ment that could be consulted by Lenox Building Inspector Wil-liam Thornton.

Inspector Thornton could then consult these guidelines and, if a sign didn’t violate them, be able to approve the signage request.

Under the current system, all signs within the historic district must be approved by the HDC, a process that some have described as overly time consuming and onerous.

The new guidelines would also allow for the approval of new sign types within the historic district, such as banners and sandwich boards.

Among the parts of the pro-posed guidelines discussed at the planning board’s meeting were the total signage allowed per busi-ness, rules for the dimensions of signs, rules for the dimensions of

sandwich boards, signage on win-dows and awnings and the mate-rials that would be allowed for banners.

The proceedings hit a snag to-wards the end of the meeting, however, when Lenox Planning Board Chairman Joseph Kellogg questioned why the by-law still contained a requirement for ap-plicants to get certificates of ap-propriateness from the HDC.

Town Planner Mary Albertson pointed out that this provision wouldn’t apply to signs that were exempt from the requirements of the certificate of appropriateness, presumably the majority under the new by-law, and that there were still some circumstances where applicants would need to go to the HDC.

This appeared to cause Chair-man Kellogg some frustration, al-though not at Town Planner Albertson.

“I don’t want them (applicants for signs covered by the guide-lines) to have to get a certificate of appropriateness (from the HDC),” said Chairman Kellogg, expressing the core of the reform’s philosophy. “The whole purpose of this whole thing is for someone to come in (to get a sign ap-proved) and not even be aware the HDC exists.”

“When you’re dealing with his-toric district they (the HDC) have jurisdiction as well,” said Town Planner Albertson, who ex-pressed confidence that the issue could be resolved.

“Another reason to get rid of it as far as I’m concerned,” said Chairman Kellogg, who later clarified that his words were a personal statement.

The discussion ended with Town Planner Albertson being asked to see if there was a way to legally make the signs approved by Inspector Thornton under the new by-law exempt from the HDC.

Sign by-law reform hits a pothole

Kellogg raises questions over requirements of current laws


LOCKER ROOM SPORTS PUB

Locker Room Pizza~ Any Day, Any Time ~

Kitchen Open 10am - 10pm

232 Main Street, Lee243-2662Family

FriendlyTake-OutAvailable

KENO • 12 TVs • MLB Baseball Package

LYNCH SCRIMO ATTORNEYSPurchases, Sales & Refinance, Commercial & Residential Zoning

68 Main Street • Lenox, MA 01240Contact: Jeff Lynch, Esq.413-637-1300 • Email: [email protected]

WANTED WANTEDUNWANTEDGOLD JEWELRY

$ Silver Coins $Coin Collections, etc.

Berkshire’s #1 Gold, Silver & Coin DealerPeter Karpenski

WHO PAYS THE MOST?Shop & Compare! Call for Free Quotes

Berkshire hills Coins & estate Jewelry, inC.222 Elm St., Pittsfield (corner of Holmes & Elm) •1-800-298-7064

VOTED BEST OF THE BERKSHIRES 5 TIMES!

O’Laughlin’s Pub342 Merrill Road, Pittsfi eld

Open 7 Days a Week • 11:30am - Midnight

Professional Dance LessonsCheryl Wendling

Over 20 years experience

Ballroom • Country Line Dancing

Wedding Dances: 1st Dance • Father-Daughter • Mother-Son

Available for private parties and events

413-443-6263

MILLER’S SERVICE

Darren A. Miller, Owner 630 Main StreetDalton, MAPh: (413) 684-1850Fax: (413) 684-1960

3

General Automotive Repair

State Inspection

Station

$39 Massage*

Call Today413.443.2409

*First time visit onlyFull Hour Session

Affordable LuxuryLicensed Therapists

74 North StreetSuite 302

Downtown Pittsfi eld

Mon-Sat 11am-9pm • Sunday Noon-8pm157 Seymour Street • Pittsfield • 413-445-4965

Greek SpecialtiesChicken & Steak

SeafoodItalian Classics

~ Handicap Accessible ~WE DELIVER

4pm-10pm

BOB DENLEY’SForeign Car Repair

and Serviceservicing

FOREIGN and DOMESTICVEHICLES

Monday-Friday 8-5 • Saturday by Appointment 150 WEST PARK STREET • LEE, MA

(413) 243-2112

PARK ST.TIREASE CERTIFIED-L138 Years Experience

CUSTOM EXHAUST • PIPE BENDING • TOWINGComputer Diagnostics for Foreign & Domestic Cars

Emissions • Repairs

Downtown Pittsfield Since 1936

Take Out Available100 Fenn Street • Pittsfield, MA

413-442-2457www.thehighlandrestaurant.com

Display your Business Card on this pagefor Only $25.00 Per Week!

Call 413-637-2250 for information

FRANK A. CONSOLATIJEFFREY J. CONSOLATI

(413) 243-0105/0109Fax (413) 243-4672

Frank Consolati Insurance Agency, Inc.GENERAL INSURANCE

71 MAIN STREETLEE, MA 01239


Bera B. DunauBeacon Stsff Writer

LENOX – The Lenox Board of Selectmen have effectively killed and buried the proposal to install wind turbines on Lenox Mountain.

By a 4-0 vote at the Feb. 29 meeting, the select board voted to no longer pursue the wind energy project.

The project has been a major subject of controversy in Lenox since the New Hampshire-based company Weston Solutions Inc. released a town-commissioned study in May 2011 indicating that installing one or two wind turbines would be viable at the Lenox Mountain site.

The ensuing debate caused the Lenox Board of Selectmen to au-thorize the creation of a Wind Energy Research Panel to investi-gate the project and report the findings back to the Select Board and the general public.

For approximately four months, the Wind Energy Re-search Panel investigated the fea-sibility and desirability of install-ing wind turbines on Lenox Mountain.

The panel presented its final re-port to the Lenox Board of Se-lectmen on Feb. 15, which can be found on the town’s website.

Although the panel’s report does not contain a consensus on the project, both the reports of the panel’s subgroups and the personal statements of its individ-ual members present a number of obstacles to continuing to pursue the project.

In general, anti-wind on Lenox Mountain leaning panel mem-bers recommended against pursu-ing the project, while pro-leaning panel members suggested that it be put on the back burner.

These sentiments were clearly on display at the Feb. 27 public forum with the members of the Lenox Wind Energy Research Panel.

Anti-leaning committee mem-ber Chris Magee was unable to

attend the meeting due to being in Singapore on academic work, while pro-leaning member Eric Vincelette was unable to attend due to other commitments, but all six other members and alter-nates were able to attend and speak at the event.

Also speaking at the forum were a number of citizens op-posed to wind power on Lenox Mountain.

This mirrored what was seen at almost every Wind Energy Re-search Panel meeting, which were almost always attended by pas-sionate, albeit respectful, foes of wind energy on Lenox Mountain. As at the public forum, these op-ponents clearly outnumbered proponents and neutral parties.

The board of selectmen consid-ered the information contained in the Wind Energy Research Panel’s final report, as well as the events of the public hearing, when making their decision about the Lenox Mountain wind power project at the Feb. 29 meeting.

Lenox Select Board Chairman John McNinch began the board’s deliberations by praising the ac-tions of the panel.

“This panel...did a phenome-nal job,” said Chairman Mc-Ninch. “I’d like to say thanks to the people who are here...and the exceptional job you did on the 45-page report I had to read.”

“It was very very gratifying to know that we have people that we can turn to and say: Would you take a look at this?” added Select-woman Linda Messana.

Selectman Kenneth Fowler, moderator of the panel, shared his experiences at the recent state hearing in Lee on the health ef-fects of wind turbines.

“The level of concern expressed by some of the people who actu-ally live near these turbines was overwhelming to me,” said Se-lectman Fowler, who expressed concern about the report from the Massachusetts Expert Panel on Potential Health Impacts As-sociated to Wind Turbines.

Selectman Fowler also said that Lenox should strive to become a model community for solar power.

“The research that you did has led me in a direction that’s led me to question whether I’d ever con-sider wind power as an alternative form of energy, so long as there were other options such as solar and hydro,” said Selectman Da-vid Roche. “If we’re going to table and put it on the back burner, that back burner better be all the way to Canada.”

Former Selectman Joseph No-lan addressed the panel, and asked that Lenox Mountain be placed under a conservation restriction.

This was well received by the select board, and former Wind Energy Research Panel Member Jo Anne Magee suggested that the prospect of placing the watershed area under a conservation restric-tion be carefully studied so that it could be accomplished properly and successfully.

Susan May, a member of the Lenox Environmental Commit-tee, also addressed the select board, saying that she wanted to remind those present why the town had considered wind energy in the first place, pointing to the dangerous effects caused by glob-al warming in the form of ex-treme weather.

“I understand that wind does not look feasible for this town,” she said. “But I want to urge the board and everyone here and ev-eryone listening on television to really look at what can we do.”

Mrs. May said that conserva-tion was the best thing that could be done, and gave a number of methods by which this could be accomplished, including getting a free home energy audit.

The board of selectmen then voted 4-0 to no longer pursue the wind power project on Lenox Mountain.

This vote was met with ap-plause from the crowd of approx-imately 40 people attending the meeting.


NORTH ADAMS – Massa-chusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) has been approved for a $67,000 grant by the Massachu-setts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the Berkshire Math and Science Part-nership Program (BMSP).

“This collaborative grant will support middle school teachers with professional development offered as content courses and supplemental activities in the form of professional learning communities,” said MCLA Dean of Academic Affairs Monica Jos-lin. “It is important for teachers to have the opportunity to share their experiences and explore teaching strategies to promote student learning.”

The BMSP was created to pro-vide a professional development program for middle school teach-ers at the Adams-Cheshire Re-gional School District, Berkshire Arts and Technology (BART) Charter School and Pittsfield Public Schools.

“We are excited to continue our collaborative work with MCLA and surrounding districts to achieve our shared vision of improved math and science achievement for Berkshire Coun-ty students,” said BART Principal

Benjamin Klompus. “This kind of forward-thinking, outcome-oriented professional develop-ment is just what our schools, teachers and – most importantly – students need.”

The multi-year grant will fund the program for its first year of services, which began on Feb. 6 and ends on Aug. 31.

A continuation of the grant will be awarded for two more years, contingent on appropria-tion of funding and yearly progress.

According to Dean Joslin, over the next three years, the BMSP will provide four three-credit graduate-level courses with asso-ciated supplemental activities to develop knowledge of mathemat-ics and science content and standards.

Supplemental activities will in-clude the formation of Profes-sional Learning Communities (PLCs), which provide teachers opportunities to share and com-ment on student work, explore how students learn specific con-cepts and share course plans and instructional strategies to pro-mote learning.

Both the courses and PLC ac-tivities will be co-developed, taught and facilitated by MCLA faculty along with specialists and STEM coordinators from the partner schools.

No on windLenox Select Board takes final vote to

kill wind project after long debate

MCLA wins $67,000 grant

Berkshire Towers on the campus of MCLA in North Adams. The college has been approved for a $67,000 grant by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.



The Wachusett Brewing Com-pany is the second largest packag-ing brewer in Massachusetts. Wa-chusett Ales have been available in kegs since 1994, 12-ounce bottles since 1996, 22-ounce bottles as of 2010, and will be available in 12-ounce cans start-ing in 2012.

The company’s recent expan-sion includes the acquisition of a distribution warehouse, Rolec fermenters up to 425 barrels, and a substantially expanded QA/QC laboratory.

The company has taken con-trol of all of its outgoing and some incoming freight by pur-chasing tractors, reefer trailers, and dry freight trailers.

Wachusett is in the process of forming a division that will focus on contract canning and will likely add bulk beer hauling ser-vices in 2012. Greater capacity and brewhouse modifications will allow the addition of full contract brewing, bottling, and canning in 2013.

There currently are no brewers in New England that offer con-tract brewing services that in-clude canning. Wachusett Brew-ery President & Founder Ned LaFortune commented “we bought the line so we could make Wachusett brands available in cans, but also to offer unique ser-vices to other brewers and cider makers.”

“In our opinion, even more importantly, we will not pasteur-ize any craft beer we partner with, which is a substantial flavor ben-efit. Combined with full labora-tory, bulk beer hauling services, and competitive freight to north-east wholesalers, we have simpli-fied communication and logis-tics,” added Mr. LaFortune.

All is on schedule for the re-lease of Wachusett Blueber-ry and Green Monsta IPA cans in early May.

Mr. LaFortune adds “We have been closely watching the success of the craft can market over the

past five years. When we saw the craft market leaders make an ini-tial investment in equipment and soon after expand their canning capabilities, we wanted to take action as soon as we possibly could. Our wholesalers have made the market opportunities clear for the Wachusett brands and other craft canned beers as well. We expect to open new markets in the future with draft and cans.”

Wachusett Brewer David How-ard, a year round New Hamp-shire surfer, adds “we will be tak-ing the quality of our draft and bottled beer and adding the high-ly portable and recyclable alumi-num can. The beer in cans will be exactly the same beer we put in the other containers. We want Wachusett fans to be able to en-joy our beer anywhere without limitations – at the beach, on their boats, in a pack while fish-ing, or on the golf course. In ad-dition to providing our custom-ers with an excellent product, cans give us this versatility.”

Wachusett Brewing Company to begin offering

brew in cans

THuRSDAy, MARCH 15

IRISH COMEDY TOUR Pittsfield, 7:30 p.m St. Patrick’s Day celebrations early with the Irish Comedy Tour at The Colonial Theatre Thursday, featuring Detroit’s Derek Richards, Boston-born Mike McCarthy and Dublin’s own Keith Aherne. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased in person at The Colonial Theatre Ticket Office at 111 South St

BERKSHIRE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS SUP-PORT SUIT YOURSELFDalton, 5 - 7 p.m. All young pro-fessionals living and/or working in Berkshire County are invited to attend the Berkshire Young Professionals Networking Social at Kelly’s Package Store, 653 Main Street, on Thursday, The cost to attend is $5, unless you are a BYP membership cardholder or participate in BYP’s Clothing Drive for Suit Yourself, in which case you may be admitted FREE.

FrIdAy, MArCh 16

IMPROV NIGHTS WITH RBITLee, 7:30 p.m. Every third Friday through June, the Royal Berk-shire Improv Troupe (RBIT) will perform an “Improv Comedy Night” at the Spectrum Play-house, 20 Franklin St. Tickets are $12, cash or check at the door. To reserve tickets, call 413-394-5023 ext. 12. FRIENDS OF THE BERK-SHIRE ATHENAEUM BOOK SALEPittsfield, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Spring booksale - New chair - new organization of books and new prices. All volunteer effort. Books from 50 cents and up. Also on sale are audio books, CDs, DVDs, videos and records. Most merchandise is from dona-tions and not library discards. HOPKINS OBSERVATORY ANNOUNCES PLANE-TARIUM SCHEDULEWilliamstown, 7:30 p.m. Williams College invites you to experience the wonders of our universe at the Milham Planetari-um, located inside the Old Hop-kins Observatory at Williams College. Astronomy students at

the college will host free shows for the public on the following Friday evenings, Audiences will be treated to shows from the high-precision Zeiss Skymaster ZKP3/B opto-mechanical plane-tarium projector, installed in April 2005.

3RD ANNUAL PING PONG TOURNAMENT Richmond, 6 p.m. Richmond Consolidated School Gym; $5 individual/$10 family maximum; Food and Refreshments will be available; Registration: 5 - 5:45 p.m.; For additional informa-tion: www.richmondreccommit-tee.org

A FREE CONCERTWilliamstown, 8 p.m. The New York-based duo of violinist Akiko Kobayashi and pianist Eric Siepkes will perform works of Beethoven, Schumann, Bartok, and Prokofiev on Friday, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 35 Park St., Admission is free; donations to help defray expenses are welcome.

SATuRDAy, MARCH 17

KIDS CAN COOK! GREEN SMOOTHIE AND SPINACHARTICHOKE DIPGreat Barrington, 10 - 11 a.m. Get some greens into your diet and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the same time. We will be work-ing on some tasty treats to get you into the holiday spirit! Stop by the Front Desk or call 413.528.9697 to sign up.

BUILD A BACKYARD CHICKEN COOP: BASIC CARPENTRY SKILLSStockbridge, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Will Conklin, program director for the Greenagers, a youth action group based in Great Barrington, will conduct this hands-on work-shop. Learn basic hand a power tool techniques as well as wood-working and project planning skills. Become familiar with building materials and the sim-plicity of backyard woodworking projects. Berkshire Botanical Garden, Intersection of Routes 102 and 183, 413-298-3926.

JAY UNGAR AND MOLLY MASON BRING AMERI-CAN ROOTS MUSICStockbridge, 8 p.m. The heart

and soul of American roots mu-sic, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason bring a well-loved repertoire of original tunes to The Unicorn Theatre at 6 East St., Jay and Molly will play timeless rendi-tions of hard-driving Appala-chian, Cajun and Celtic fiddle tunes, stirring Civil War classics, sassy songs from the golden age of swing and country, stunning waltzes and deeply moving origi-nal compositions. Tickets to Jay Ungar and Molly Mason are $30. Tickets may be purchased in per-son at The Colonial Theatre Ticket Office at 111 South Street Pittsfield, MA 01201 or by call-ing (413) 997-4444 or online at www.TheColonialTheatre.org.

ENTERTAINMENT ON ST PATRICK’S DAY Richmond, 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. Free entertainment: Todd McLeod will play acoustical guitar and sing Celtic Folk music with a mix of pop at Hilltop Orchards, 508 Canaan Rd / Rt 295, (home of Furnace Brook Winery) on St. Patrick’s Day, Sat. Free admission and one free wine tasting. www.hilltoporchards.com 413-698-3301

DINNER DANCE W/ IRISH BUFFET AND PB&J BANDAdams. Bounti Fare Restaurant, 200 Howland Avenue, Adams, $25 After Dinner $5 Cover 413-743-0193

SunDAy MARCH 18

“SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES”Pittsfield, 2 p.m. “The Front,” the 1976 film about the blacklist-ing of accused anti-Communist writers in the 1950’s, starring Woody Allen and Zero Mostel. Temple Anshe Amunim library, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield, 2 to 4:30 p.m. Film will be followed by discussion moderated by film devotee Monte Wasch. Recom-mended donation of $6 for Temple members, $7 for non-members KICK THE WINTER BLUES: IRELAND IN SONGLenox, 3 p.m. Founder’s Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble St. $20, children free with adult. Reception and silent auction to follow. For more infor-mation: www.berkshirelyricinfo.org or 413-298-5365.

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


Girl-2-GirlThe Boy Who Cries Mama

Janel M. HarrisonBeacon Staff Writer

Here we go, girls! Let your hair

down, grab some bonbons and let’s have some fun and talk about the mama’s boy; allow me to start my gabbing off right by saying my friend just experienced one.

There’s nothing like having a romantic evening, dinner and wine, cocktails, followed by great sex only to be yanked out of your beauty sleep to an excruciating scream into his cell phone to you know who? That’s right, Mama. Have any of you experienced this? Apparently for my friend it was a little like, “Wake up girl-friend and smell the L-O-S-E-R stamped all over his forehead!”

I’m not saying that men who love and respect their mothers is a bad thing, in fact it’s to be ad-mired when a son shows that kind of loyalty to his mom and in turn usually to his wife or signifi-cant other.

But there is such a thing as this behavior going a little overboard, especially when the relationship with Mom is grounded on his se-curity in exchange for her right to control. Let’s examine.

First off, boys, Eloise Houarno, relationship correspondent for AskMen.com says this is what you need to know: Read away!

Women like men who seem strong and independent.

No woman wants to be second priority.

It’s time to establish an adult relationship with your mother.

Eloise says a man who talks a little too much about his mother should raise a “mama’s boy flag” in any woman’s mind. It’s not hard to understand why women don’t like MBs.

Just as men fantasize about nurses or French maids, women fantasize about firemen and po-licemen or men who display strength and independence.

If a policeman had to check with his mom every time he changed his uniform or picked out a new shirt, his sexiness and strength rating would drop like a penny off the Empire State Build-ing, crash and burn!

So why is he one? And what do you do if you’re dating an MB? We go to CNN News with Debra Mandel, Ph.D. and author of Dump That Chump: From Door-mat to Diva in Only Nine Steps – A Guide to Getting Over Mr. Wrong, who answers some fre-quently asked questions about your man who’s not ready to make someone other than Mama number one.

FAQ 1: What causes a man to be a mama’s boy?

Guys who have always been coddled and indulged by their moms often become MBs. Ac-cording to Dr. Mandel, moms who do this often are needy when it comes to male attention and therefore seek to create a relation-ship in which someone will be dependent on her. The son grows up and fears she will fall apart if he changes zip codes.

Mom and son are afraid to be apart makes for a “mutually para-sitic” relationship. In essence, as twisted as it seems, your guy has become his mother’s “pseudo-husband” and he likes it whether consciously or unconsciously, as the role is important. Now you see where it makes it hard for him to commit to you.

FAQ 2: What’s the difference between a man having a “healthy” attachment to his mother and an “unhealthy” one?

While it might raise flags that he’s calling or visiting his mom every day, the frequency of con-tact doesn’t necessarily determine the healthiness of the relation-ship. What does is the quality of the contact, if both Mom and son have set boundaries with each other. If he’s able to say, “Thanks but no thanks for the new under-wear Ma, I am 35 you know.”

On the other hand, Mom and son may not see each other or talk often, but if he isn’t able to make a decision without her validation, run!

In the mean time, if you hap-pen to cross the path of a suspect MB wearing a gift of tighty-whit-eys, hold off getting serious, there’s still more to tell.

Ciao Bella


John Carter is a bit of a mess, but that doesn’t stop it from be-ing fun.

John Carter is based off the pio-neering science fantasy novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A swashbuckling ad-venture film, it has a lot of talent behind it, including being the live-action directorial debut of Andrew Stanton, best known for directing the Pixar animated films Wall-E and Finding Nemo, and having a script that was par-tially written by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon.

The final product doesn’t hang together entirely well, but there’s no denying its pure entertain-ment value.

John Carter begins with the ti-tle character’s nephew Ned, a fic-tional version of Edgar Rice Bur-roughs played by Daryl Sabara, being summoned to his wealthy uncle’s estate. When Ned arrives, he learns that John Carter has passed away and that he has willed him everything. His uncle has also left instructions for Ned to read his journal.

The story then shifts to the Ar-izona territory 10 years before, where Carter, a Confederate vet-eran of the Civil War played by Taylor Kitsch, is searching for a legendary cave of gold. Through a set of mysterious circumstanc-es, however, Carter winds up be-ing transported to Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabitants.

Discovering that on Mars he possess enhanced strength and the ability to leap great distances, Carter soon finds himself en-grossed in a political conflict and intrigue that may determine the fate of Barsoom forever.

As a movie, John Carter is a bit of an odd duck.

Many genre films, even good ones, start out stronger than they finish. It’s a commonly accepted truism that its easier to write a beginning than an ending, and this often applies doubly to sci-ence fiction and fantasy films, which have the ability to sweep the audience off their feet with

interesting concepts and striking visuals.

In John Carter, however, the character dynamics and plot flow really only pick up and come to-gether in the last third of the movie. This is less about the mov-ie having a satisfying finale – its conclusion is effective but noth-ing to write home about – and more that it finally gathers enough momentum to gel into an effective narrative.

John Carter also has its fair share of other flaws.

For instance, the movie could have definitely benefitted from more good old-fashioned sci-fi exposition, as while what we see of Barsoom is often gorgeous, getting a better idea of how ev-erything works and fits together could have really enhanced the story. More time could have also been spent fleshing out and high-lighting character motivations early on, and the core thrust of the plot could have been revealed far sooner than it was. Then there’s the thorny issue of Carter being a former Confederate cavalryman.

John Carter never really ad-dresses that its protagonist fought for a nation that wanted to secede from the union and preserve the institution of slavery. The movie could have gotten away with this if this background was an after-thought (slavery is never men-tioned in the movie, and from flashbacks, it doesn’t appear that Carter was a slave owner). Yet, a

central part of the movie is based off Carter bring traumatized from his war experiences, and his reluctance to ever fight for a “cause” again. Because the movie never addresses why Carter chose to fight for the Confederacy in the first place, however, this is a tad problematic.

Yet, despite these flaws there’s one overriding thing I have to say about John Carter and that is I liked it.

Sure it has some sloppy por-tions, but enough of the film’s el-ements come together and work out that John Carter is an overall enjoyable experience. The plot’s resolution is satisfying, the art di-rection is nicely done and the costumes are gorgeous.

Honestly, though, my feelings about John Carter are very much a matter of individual taste.

The main reason I was able to overlook John Carter’s flaws and inconsistencies is because I enjoy science fiction and swashbuckling adventure films. I can forgive a lot from a movie that can hit these notes, and John Carter does this well. If those things don’t ap-peal to you though, then John Carter probably isn’t your cup of tea.

If you’re like me, however, and the thought of warring aliens and airship battles bound together with a decent plot appeals to you, then you could have a far worse time than going out to see John Carter with a group of your friends.

John Carter is a complete mess but in the end its a

fun movie to enjoy


College Sports Report


The MCLA softball team dropped another pair of early sea-son games, falling to New Jersey City 15-1 in the opener before succumbing to Richard Stockton 14-1 in the nightcap. Both games went five innings.

MCLA now stands at 1-7 over-all with four games remaining in their Florida trip.

MCLA fell behind early as NJC scored four times off Trailblazer starter Ainsley MacDonald in the first inning. NJC had four hits in the inning and were aided by a walk and four wild pitches.

MCLA answered with a run in the second inning as Erin Kelly walked and following a sacrifice bunt, was brought home by a Kendra Hinkell single.

NJC, however, put the game away with two runs in the bot-tom half, followed by five in the

third and four in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

MacDonald gave up 13 hits in her five innings of work.

In the nightcap, MCLA actu-ally scored first. Angelica Perfido had a one out single and after ad-vancing to second on a wild pitch, came around to score on Sam Barbarotta's RBI single.

The lead would be shortlived though as Stockton would re-spond with four runs in the bot-tom of the inning.

After adding a run in the sec-ond, Stockton put the game away with three runs in the third and six in the fourth.

MCLA never seriously threat-ened the rest of the way.

The Trailblazers only mustered two hits in the contest.

Kayla Koumjian took the loss in her first outing on the mound.

She struggled with her com-mand as she only gave up six hits, but surrendered 10 walks.

1 2 3 4 5 FINALMCLA 0 1 0 0 0 1nJC 4 2 5 4 X 15

Boxscore:

MCLA drops two more


The Williams men's tennis

team got off to a strong start Sat-urday, taking down Colgate Uni-versity, a Division I school, 5-2.

Playing under Division I dou-bles scoring, Williams earned the one point available in doubles play handily.

In Division III scoring the Ephs would have received three points for sweeping the doubles and the match score would have been 7-2, but as this was Colgate's home match it was played under the Division I scoring rules.

The dynamic pair of Trey Mey-er and Bryan Chow took their pro set 8-2 at the number one po-sition, as did Felix Sun and Matt

Micheli at number two. Will Pet-rie and Kevin Shallcross took their set 8-5 to complete the sweep.

Felix Sun and Bryan Chow needed three sets to earn each of their singles victories.

Sun lost his first set, but recov-ered well to take the second and third 6-0, 6-1. Chow sprung out to a 1-0 lead but lost his second set in a tiebreaker before winning the third.

Matt Micheli won his match in two close sets, 7-5, 6-4 at number three. Will Petrie had an easier go of it, taking his match 6-0, 6-1.

With the win to Ephs improved to 3-0 overall (haing won their two dual matches last fall) and Colgate fell to 5-5. Colgate had entered the match having won five of their last six matches.

"We started out pretty slow in both singles and doubles, which isn't surprising because it was our first match of the year. I think once the guys got into a rhythm and remembered what it felt like to play in a team match again ev-erybody started playing better," commented head coach Dan Greenberg.

The Ephs head to California next week for their annual spring break tour. Said Greenberg, "I think today definitely showed some things that we need to work on, so we're looking forward to this week of practice leading up to what will hopefully be a suc-cessful trip."

Next up for the Ephs is a March 19 match versus Babson that will be played at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the west coast.

Williams tennis pulls off major upset of red

hot Division I Colgate

March 15, 2012

SportsThe Berkshire Beacon

dick L. SyriacBeacon Staff Writer

Springfield, Mass., is known as the City of Homes. Growing up there, I never really knew why it was referred to as that, but sus-pected the reason was that there were so many of them.

As time passed, successful folks who wanted to upgrade their digs and school system looked to the nearby towns.

Towns like East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, Feeding Hills, Mon-son and Hampden became desir-able options. Farms were very common, but soon lavish homes became the norm.

People took Sunday rides to these areas just to see the types of houses that they never saw in Springfield.

I didn’t know anybody who lived there but I knew they had more money than most people I knew.

Let’s take Hampden. In the 1980s, the price tag on a new home in Hampden was more than all the houses on some Springfield streets combined. Housing developments were ap-pearing where apple orchards used to be. Moving to Hampden? Bring your checkbook.

On Jan. 10, I attended a real es-tate auction in the center of town. There was a beautiful five-room colonial-style home going on the block with a gorgeous view. I was curious as to what property in Hampden was bringing and if it was still a desirable place to live.

There were over 300 people at the auction.

The first bid was $1 million; the last bid was $1.4 million, sold to the gentleman from Connecticut.

Just another million dollar home in Hampden? Not quite.

If you were the successful bid-der you received a few extras. Are you ready?

* Two other lovely homes on the property, a four-room bunga-low and a two-story Cape-style with six rooms and a garage

*An 18,000-square foot ban-quet hall that seats 350 people with central air in case you enter-

tain a lot*Two spacious locker rooms for

your guests to secure their valu-ables and freshen up

*A giant parking area*Three dump trucks, 10 lawn

mowers, three tractors, some leaf blowers, a spray truck, a few pres-sure washers, chain saws, over-seeders and other support equipment

*In case you need a place to keep your equipment, you also get a 4,000-square foot pre-engi-neered steel storage structure with an office and lavatory.

*300 acres of beautiful land*Oh, I almost forgot: An 18-

hole championship golf course with triple tee boxes and 61 bunkers

That’s right, you now own Hampden Country Club, built in 1973.

We will also toss in a nice pro shop, a couple of bars, two prac-tice greens, two patios, a flag pole and a range ball dispenser. In the pro shop you will find 10 sets of golf clubs, some balls and cloth-ing fixtures, those are now yours also. You also receive the sofas and ottomans in the lounges, along with some other parting gifts.

And for just another $150,000, you can receive lots 1-626, which include everything from the flat-ware, dishes, chairs, bar stools, trays, glasses, banquet tables, booster seats, kitchen equipment, spacious walk-in freezer and any-thing else with an auction tag on it, even the “please wait to be seat-ed” sign. You want that also, I thought you would. Good night, thanks for coming and please drive carefully.

So, let me get this straight, for the same price as Stephon Mar-bury paid for his diamond neck-lace and sports car I could have had all this?

The Green Monkey, a thor-oughbred yearling that cost $16 million a few years ago (and never won a race) cost ten times more than this country club bonanza?

How is the golf business doing? That is a question for another day. The recreational dollar is not dominating the family budget anymore. Have you seen college

tuition prices lately?If you want to build a golf facil-

ity from scratch you might find the cost of permits to exceed the price of the turn-key operation you could have owned if you only raised your auction paddle one more time.

Speaking of golf :*$100 million has been spent

thus far by the taxpayers of New York City on a Municipal Golf Course in the Bronx built on an old landfill that initially was pegged to cost $22 million.

If you were the under-bidder at Hampden and are still looking to get into the golf business, stay tuned. Just bring a bigger checkbook.

*Crestview Country Club in Agawam recently sold privately for $1.8 million.

*Tekoa Country Club in West-field has changed hands a couple of times in recent years.

*If Holyoke is chosen for a lo-cation for one of the Massachu-setts casinos, Wyckoff Country Club would be like the Civil War, history.

*I’m told that Hickory Ridge in Amherst is going on the block. I wonder if John Calipari left any-thing in his locker on his way out of town. A complimentary mem-bership was part of his package while at UMass. Our tax dollars at work.

*Jim Goff recently listed Waubeeka Golf Links in William-stown as for sale. “The Beek” has always been a first-class experi-ence, run by quality professionals. $2 million worth of improve-ments and redesign took place over the last couple of years and the club will operate, business as usual, come springtime.

If you want “bang for your buck” and a scenic and challeng-ing layout where you will be treat-ed like a member, take a ride up Route 7 north to Williamstown. If you par the new 10th hole, a par 3, they should give you the keys to a new Buick.

*If you really catch a nice day, on your return trip south stop at Donnybrook in New Ashford for an enjoyable 9-hole experience.


WILLIAMSTOWN - Despite a late scoring burst, Williams women’s lacrosse fell 13-8 to Wesleyan in both teams’ season opener.

Seven of Williams’ eight goals came in the final 15 minutes of the game. Lilly Wellenbach and co-captain Margie Fulton scored two goals apiece for Williams, while Wesleyan was led by Kylie Berger with six goals. Williams outshot Wesleyan on the game, 30-27.

Eph net-minder Ali Piltch was credited with eight saves, while Wesleyan’s Maggie Drowica stopped 11 of the Ephs’ 19 shots on net.

The Cardinals controlled play throughout the first half, as an early goal from Wellenbach was the only Eph score of the first 30 minutes.

Wesleyan was particularly in control in the face-off circle,

where the Cardinals claimed all but one draw in the first half.

Wesleyan, led by Berger, took advantage; the Cardinals jumped out to a 7-1 lead before the break after scoring on a variety of free position shots and dives toward the crease, as Berger led the way with three first-half goals.

Williams’ offensive drought continued into the second half, and after two more Wesleyan goals, the Ephs found themselves behind 9-1 with less than 15 minutes to go.

However, the team found its offensive footing in the final 15 minutes.

First, sparked by a goal from Weinstein with 14:14 to play, they were able score three unan-swered goals before the 10-min-ute mark, making the score 9-4 with 10:51 to play.

The Ephs and Cardinals then scored four goals apiece over the final 10 minutes, and the Cardi-nals walked off the field with a 13-8 victory.

Williams drops season opener

Senior Sam Hargrove looks to move the ball up field.

Are these prices for real?Berkshire Sports Guy:

march 15 issue

Documents