march 22 issue

March 22, 2012Volume II, Issue 44

www.berkshirebeacon.comLenox, MA 01240

FREE

1 Local 6 Editorial6 From the Tower7 BERKSHIRE SONATA

9 Fast Picks10 Business Card Directory14 Books 14 Girl-2-Girl15 Sports

The Berkshire Beacon

Index

Pittsfield becomes named a “Cultural District”Pittsfield’s downtown has won the commonwealth’s designation as a Cultural District

during the first round of such designations.Four others downtowns: Lynn, Gloucester, Rockport and Boston were also granted the

status. More than 100 communities were interested in the designation.

Catherine M. KrummeyBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – At the latest meeting of the Pittsfield School Committee, the search for a new superintendent was a main point of discussion.

The job opening attracted nine candidates and was closed to applications at 5 p.m. on March 14, the day of the school committee meeting.

There were five points of or-der under the superintendent search heading on the meeting agenda: updates, salary, a screening committee, public participation and timeline review.

School Committee Chair-man Alfred E. “Alf ” Barbalun-ga brought forward a proposed salary range of $120,000-145,000, which passed 4-2 (with Mayor Daniel L. Bian-chi not present due to another obligation). School Commit-tee Members James Conant and Terry Kinnas were op-posed to that range, and made their opposition known through commentary.

Mr. Kinnas’ main points were that the range should be higher (somewhere around $170,000) and he expressed dissatisfaction with the super-intendent job posting, indicat-ing that it was not to a high enough standard.

“Basically you want the low-est vanilla flavor,” School Committee member Kinnas said of the committee’s search for a new superintendent.

Bera B. DunauBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX – Prominent Berkshire County restaurateur Jason “Jay” Macioge is seeking to reduce some of his sizable presence in Lenox and may be exiting the community altogether.

The Beacon has learned from multiple sources that Mr. Macioge is selling some of the four Lenox restaurants he currently owns.

From these sources The Beacon has learned that Mr. Macioge is at least selling Fin Sushi and Sake, which the likely buyers plan to con-vert into a tapas bar.

This was confirmed by fellow res-taurateur John McNinch, the own-er of Olde Heritage Tavern.

Mr. McNinch said that staff members from Fin have come into his bar to talk with his employees about the closing.

“You don’t want to let any know that you are selling... you want to keep it on the QT, they didn’t do a very good job of that,” said Mr. McNinch. “Because I have known for a little while.”

These sources were confirmed by comments Mr. Macioge has made on Twitter and during an interview with The Beacon. Reports that Mr. Macioge is selling all of his Lenox restaurants, however, have not been confirmed.

Mr. Macioge first entered the Lenox restaurant scene when he opened Bistro Zinc in 1999. A combination bar and classic French bistro, Bistro Zinc soon grew to be-come, and remains, one of Lenox’s most popular watering holes.

Mr. Macioge went on to open three other Lenox restaurants: Bet-ty’s Pizza Shack in 2002, Fin Sushi and Sake Bar in 2004, and Frankie’s

Ristorante Italiano in 2007, all of which have been met with success.

Mr. Macioge also opened the Great Barrington steakhouse Pearl’s in 2001, but he is no longer an owner. That property is currently closed and listed as for sale.

After that expansion however, Mr. Macioge has begun to scale back his holdings in Lenox.

Another reliable source has told The Beacon that Mr. Macioge is in the process of selling Frankie’s Ris-torante Italiano.

Two recent comments that Mr. Macioge posted on Twitter support the contention that Mr. Macioge is pulling out of town.

“#Boston, #NYC, or #DC? Big decisions this week. Wait and see!” tweeted Mr. Macioge, suggesting that he might be considering relo-

cating to one of these cities and/or starting a business there.

Mr. Macioge is originally from the Washington, D.C. area.

“Big day today! Lots of signatures signed. Stay tuned for details to come. 2 of 4 out the door!” is an-other revealing tweet, as Mr. Ma-cioge owns four restaurants in Lenox and The Beacon’s sources have suggested that he is close to selling two of them.

When speaking with The Bea-con, Mr. Macioge confirmed that he was in the process of selling some of his restaurants.

Mr. Macioge didn’t name the res-taurants he was selling, however, and refused to give any further comments, other than denying that he was letting go of all of his Lenox restaurants.

Numerous popular Lenox restaurants up for sale?

Kameron Z. SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

LEE – Following an at-times testy exchange between the di-rector of the Lee Highway De-partment and the Lee Select Board, the town looks to move forward with plans to design a temporary replacement for the Meadow Street Bridge.

The town has received bids from Foresight Engineering for $21,000 and Gill Engi-neering for $53,000 to design the temporary bridge.

Yet at this time Foresight is not approved to design bridges over 50 feet. The town will seek an exception to the rule to allow Foresight, the lower bid, to take on the project.

The board expects the proj-ect to take at least five months to replace the bridge with Sep-tember being discussed as the goal for replacement.

Meadow Street is just one of six to eight bridges in the town in need of massive repair and developing a plan to attack the other damaged bridges be-came the next topic of concern.

“We need to develop a long

see BRIDGES page 7 see PITTSFIELD page 4

Lee bridge debate

gets testy

Pittsfielddefines

guidelines

Photo Credit / Kameron Z. SPaulding

Fin Sushi and Sake has been at the heart of rumors that local restaurateur Jason “Jay” Macioge is selling some locations.

2 The Berkshire Beacon March 22, 2012

Susan M. Wicker GuerreroBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – The Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum raised $11,526.50 at the first book sale of 2012, held last weekend in the library’s auditorium, according to Chair Nancy McNuff.

This was her first time chairing the fundraising sale, usually held three times a year.

All proceeds made go toward events, programs, supplies and other essentials of the library.

The Thursday through Satur-day sale drew hundreds of people to Berkshire Athenaeum auditorium.

Some came strictly for books. They carried them out in bulging bags or boxes.

All Kinds of Books For Sale

The children’s book section drew a steady number of custom-ers, as well as cookbooks, books on poetry, biographies and doz-ens of other categories.

While customers had specific areas of interest, some people also selected books to be given as gifts since the prices could not be beat.

Some customers came to look for CDs and DVDs, which sold at bargain basement prices.

Sale Topped Five Figures

Mrs. McNuff said, “It appears as though, for the first sale ever that we can find records for, we topped five figures.”

The tally for last spring’s book sale was $8,190.

In correspondence sent to vol-unteers, the new chair acknowl-edged the success of the sale was

Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum raise more than

$10,000 at book sale

due to all the help they gave.“Week after week, freezing in

the Friends’ room, lugging (books) from the garage, going ‘yuck,’ ‘ah’ and ‘aha’ as we sorted donations, we brought in well over $10,000 while keeping ex-penses to a minimum,” Mrs. Mc-Nuff said.

New Customers and Friends

New customers came and new friends were made, she told the volunteers. They received many nice compliments, as well, she said.

“Our sale truly is the best in The Berkshires,” Mrs. McNuff said. “We can all be so proud of the job we did.”

She thanked all of the volun-teers who participated in prepar-ing for and carrying out the huge sale.

There was a new addition to the spring sale this year. People filled out papers with questions,

noting how they found out about the sale.

They placed the papers into a box and a prize winner was set to win a $15 certificate.

There were hundreds of hard-cover as well as paperback books available.

Chair and Volunteers Worked Hard and Long

Late in the afternoon on the second day of the sale, Mrs. Mc-Nuff and her team of volunteers began wrapping up for the day. There was still one more day of the sale to go.

The Beacon asked Mrs. Mc-Nuff how she was doing and she answered, “Exhausted.”

She probably could have been speaking for all the men and women who had been working on the book sale for months.

Already plans are being made for the next sale, to be held in July.

Photo Credit / SuSan m. WiCKer

Nancy McNuff, the new book sale chair, takes a moment’s break at last week’s three-day spring sale.


LEE - Michael Bullock, the Chairman of the Lee School Committee, has resigned sudden-ly due to “increased demands in his professional life,” according to Mr. Bullock.

Mr. Bullock is the Vice Presi-dent of Student Affairs at Berk-shire Community College.

Mr. Bullock was first elected to the committee in 2001.

“It has been a sincere privilege and pleasure serving on the school committee these past elev-en years,” said Mr. Bullock.

The board accepted the resig-nation at their March 20 meeting.

Mr. Bullock's resignation will be effective with annual town election in May and brings the number of open seats on the Lee School Committee to three.

Aside from Mr. Bullock’s now open seat, the committee seats occupied by Kelly Koperek and

Dr. Thomas Consolati are up for re-election this year.

Ms. Koperek has already filed the needed papers to seek re-election.

The other two seats will be full three-year terms while Mr. Bull-ock's seat will only be filled for his one remaining year.

For any new candidates to run they must take out their nomina-tion papers by Friday.

Mr. Bullock was confident that the board would continue to be in good hands after he is gone.

“(It) feels like the time has come to give someone else the opportunity to bring new energy and perspective to this important role, and fresh leadership in the chair person's position,” he said.

Mr. Bullock has been working hard to balance the budget for the Lee Public Schools for the com-ing year.

The preliminary school budget of $7.95 million for fiscal 2013 is 3.9 percent above the current spending plan of $7.65 million.

Bullock resigns from Lee School Committee


NORTH ADAMS - Massa-chusetts College of Liberal Arts' Berkshire Cultural Resource Center will focus its April “Tricks of the Trade” series on environ-mental art.

Workshop participants will learn how to engage with the en-vironment through art and about related initiatives and projects happening in the Berkshires.

Berkshire County has a pletho-ra of environmental and ecologi-cal issues that are untapped re-sources of artistic-social change, according to Jonathan Secor, di-

rector of special programs at MCLA.

Through this run of three sem-inars, artists and the general pub-lic will learn about the many op-portunities available in the area, as well as how to navigate the process of creating their own lo-cal environmental art.

Three seminars will take place on April 10, 11 and 12. They will be held at MCLA Gallery 51 in North Adams, at Ferrin Gallery in Pittsfield and at IS183 Art School in Stockbridge.

The events are free and open to the public. All seminars begin at 6:30 p.m.

Green Art workshops

available in April

Do you believe in small newspapers that report community news?

So do we at The Berkshire Beacon. Our report-ers and editors are working hard for you.

Think about placing a business card ad in The Berkshire Beacon for only $25 an issue. Call us at 413-637-9822 or write to [email protected]

March 22, 2012 The Berkshire Beacon 3

Call 413-637-2250

to Advertise in

The Berkshire Beacon


PITTSFIELD – A life-size por-trait of the late Lt. Margaret H. Haggerty will be unveiled today at 9:30 a.m. during a ceremony at Pittsfield City Hall to honor the memory of the resident and World War II veteran.

Until her death on April 1, 2011, at the age of 101, Lt. Hag-gerty was the longest-living fe-male officer veteran.

“This portrait will hang proud-ly in city hall as a reminder and tribute to an extraordinary per-son from the Greatest Genera-tion,” said Rosanne M. Frieri, Di-rector of Veterans Services for the city. “Lt. Haggerty served her country at a time when going into the armed forces was not popular among women.”

The event is sponsored by the Here at Home Committee in partnership with city hall. The public is invited to attend.

Haggerty graduated from the former St. Luke’s School of Nurs-ing and later earned a bachelor’s degree in education at St. John’s University in Brooklyn, N.Y.

She worked at the former St. Luke’s Hospital until enlisting in the Army Nurse Corps, serving from 1942-1946 in the United States, North Africa and Italy.

She retired in 1972 and was a volunteer in the public schools for 10 years.

Haggerty to receive portrait

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.

641 East St. • Pittsfi eld, MA • 413-447-8288

Karate • Kung Fu • T’ai Chi • Self Defense

Unlimited Classes All Spring

America’s Foremost Martial Arts Centers

$896 Weeks

Classes Plus FREE Uniform


LENOX – The Lenox School Committee invited the Lenox Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee to its latest meeting to discuss the fiscal year 2013 budget.

School Committee Chairwom-an Marybeth F. Mitts presented the proposed budget to the se-lectmen and finance committee Monday night. School adminis-trators, including Superinten-dent Dr. Edward W. Costa II, were also in attendance.

The proposed FY ‘13 budget is at over $8.8 million, while the current town money set aside for the schools is at just under $8.45 million.

Chairwoman Mitts proposed that the school committee and the town split the $362,527 difference.

“The school committee can come up with $181,264 in re-ductions,” Chairwoman Mitts said, asking the selectmen and fi-nance committee to find $181,263 to add to the $8.45 million.

While the $8.8 million is an 8.1 percent increase over the FY ‘12 budget, a FY ‘13 budget of nearly $8.63 million would be an increase of nearly 5.88 percent.

“Given the last five years of a level-funded budget, we need this to move forward,” Chair-woman Mitts said.

As previously reported, the school committee is putting an emphasis on two areas in the FY ‘13 budget: full-day kindergarten at Morris Elementary School and new scheduling at Lenox Memo-

rial Middle and High School.“This is a way we can build a

better school,” said School Com-mittee Vice Chairman Don W. Fitzgerald.

The switch to full-day kinder-garten would cost approximately $41,000, while the scheduling changes would cost more than $100,000.

“The need for the schedule change has been there for a very long time,” said Selectwoman Claudia “Dia” Trancynger.

As a whole, the selectmen (with the exception of Chairman John McNinch, who was not in atten-dance) seemed receptive to im-plementing the two emphasis ar-eas of the school budget.

“There’s no frivolous requests for money, that’s for sure,” said

Selectman Ken Fowler.Selectman David Roche indi-

cated that the select board would take the school committee’s pro-posal under consideration, but that there were other areas in the town’s budget to consider.

“We’ve got to look at the other departments,” Selectman Roche said, adding that the other de-partment managers have put a lot of work into their budgets, just as the school committee and ad-ministration have done.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” he added. “Let’s keep going this way.”

This Monday (March 26), the school committee will hold an-other meeting to further discuss the budget at Lenox Town Hall at 7 p.m.

Lenox School Committee, town officials discuss FY ‘13 budget


The Lenox School Committee recently held a joint session with the select board to work on the FY 2013 budget.


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

“What if you want something a little better than what’s in the normal?”

Chairman Barbalunga also dis-cussed the formation of a screen-ing committee to interview the superintendent candidates. His proposed committee included 15 members: Mayor Bianchi, two school committee members, two students (a junior from each high school), three parents (one high school, one middle school, one elementary school), two princi-pals, three teachers from the United Educators of Pittsfield (one high school, one middle school, one elementary school) and two at-large members (com-ing from businesses or social ser-vice departments).

The motion for this committee failed at a 3-3 tie vote, prompted by several comments by members that there were no spots for mem-bers of the general public.

School Committee Member Kathleen Amuso then proposed adding two more at-large mem-bers to the screening committee, allowing that category to include the general public. The proposal for a 17-member committee passed 5-1, with Mr. Kinnas vot-ing against.

Under the heading of public participation, the school commit-tee unanimously voted to go ahead with allowing the Massa-chusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) to develop a survey to be issued to Pittsfield residents about what they’d like to see in a superintendent.

The Pittsfield School Commit-tee also unanimously voted to ap-prove a timeline for the superin-tendent search.

On March 28, a MASC repre-sentative will present their survey to the committee for approval. On April 11, the results of the survey will be shared with the

school committee.Also on April 11, the 17 mem-

bers of the selection committee will be identified, and they will conduct executive session inter-views with the superintendent candidates from April 12-May 8.

On May 9, the school commit-tee will interview (up to three) fi-nalists for the superintendent po-sition. From May 10-22, the committee will follow-up by con-ducting background checks on and site visits to the finalists, in addition to getting public input on which one should be the new superintendent.

On May 23, the school com-mittee will vote to hire one of the finalists.

From May 24-June 29, there will be a transition period with current Superintendent Dr. How-ard J. Eberwein, with the new su-perintendent attending his or her first school committee meeting on June 13.

Following the timeline approv-al, Mr. Kinnas presented a letter and moved to restructure the whole process of finding the new superintendent, including a more clearly defined job posting. This would mean that the nine current applicants would have to resub-mit their applications should they so choose.

Mr. Kinnas’ motion was voted down 5-1.

Other Business

The committee approved the revised 2011-2012 school depart-ment operating budget, the 2012-2013 school calendar and Policy STU-82 on the prevention and management of head injuries.

The school committee also vot-ed to approve a Pittsfield High School Peace Jam Club overnight field trip to the University of Connecticut for a conference March 24-25.

Jay’s Custom Muffler

& Auto

501 Dalton AvenuePittsfield, MA

(413) 443-7743

20 Marshall Street • North Adams • (413) 664-2020 • www.cafebrewhaha.comOpen 7am to 5pm Daily • Closed Wednesdays

Homestyle cooking and baking in a cosmopolitan setting. Serving sides of jazz, Berkshire street life and light cafe fare...

brewhaha!

Cafe Fresh Coffee Tea selection like none other Local North Adams Art Scene

Think of brewhaha as a classic "Seattle-like" cafe with a twist, featuring vegetarian fare, fresh baked goods, Illy Espresso & a jazzy,

yet relaxing ambiance. Retailing worldly music CDs & coffees.

PITTSFIELD from page 1



LEE – The approval of a new paraprofessional contract and pre-sentations on specialized classes were on the agenda for the latest Lee School Committee meeting.

“We are fortunate to have a very eager group of paraprofes-sionals,” said Superintendent Ja-son P. McCandless.

The new contract, which fea-tures a one-percent increase in sal-ary and an added professional de-velopment day, was unanimously approved by the committee.

Specialized Classes at LMHS and LES

The school committee was giv-en presentations by Lee Middle and High School (LMHS) Vice Principal Joseph P. Turmel and Lee Elementary School (LES) Principal Kate Retzel.

“This is really valuable,” School Committee Chairman Michael Bullock said of the presentations.

Both Mr. Turmel and Mrs. Ret-zel presented information on spe-cialized classes at their schools.

In the 2011-2012 school year, LMHS added eight to 10 new electives for students in grades nine through 12, including anat-omy, Berkshire history and

forensics.“The students have embraced

taking these alternative courses,” Mr. Turmel said.

For the 2012-2013 school year, the school will have 27 elective offerings for students.

However, it is likely that not all of these classes will occur next fall.

“The offerings will depend on student enrollment,” Mr. Turmel said, adding that these classes will only occur if there’s a minimum of seven or eight students in a class.

Mrs. Retzel discussed the new courses that have been offered to fifth and sixth graders at LES, in-cluding elementary economics, green engineering and nutrition.

“The kids like the change of classes,” she said.

As part of the nutrition class, the students are growing a garden.

“They should have some vege-tables soon,” Mrs. Retzel said.

Special Education Programs

Andrea Larmon from the schools’ special education depart-ment also gave a presentation to the committee. She gave an over-view of the special education pro-grams that are available at Lee schools.

For students who are better at

transitioning between general ed-ucation classrooms and special education, there is a developmen-tal program at LES and a life skills program at LMHS. Stu-dents in the life skills program fo-cus on practical things such as paying bills, doing laundry and basic social interactions.

For students who have more trouble adapting to the general education setting, there is an ear-ly transitional program at LES and a learning lab program at LMHS.

Other Business

The school committee also ap-proved the opening of an account for the middle school student council. According to Lee Public Schools Business Coordinator Tiffany D. Morawiec, the stu-dents would put money made from fundraisers into the account and use it towards student activities.

Superintendent McCandless briefly discussed the fiscal year 2013 budget with members of the school committee, but most details were left for a meeting next Tuesday that will be centered on the budget.

“Our real work now is … try-ing to keep what we have plus a little bit,” he said.

Photo Credit / Catherine m. Krummey

The Lee School Committee listens to a presentation by Andrea Larmon on the schools’ special education department.


LENOX – The Lenox Board of Selectmen is looking to plan ahead.

At their March 14 meeting, the selectmen discussed the idea of operating under a 10-year plan.

A number of select board members have expressed frustra-tion at the reactive nature of the select board in recent months, complaining that the board has been responding to controversy after controversy, while neglect-ing some of the pressing long-term needs of the town.

“We’re trying to figure out a way to get ahead of the curve,” said Select Board Chairman John McNinch.

Selectwoman Claudia “Dia” Trancynger, who is stepping down from the select board and not seeing re-election this year after three years of service, start-ed off the conversation, saying that while a 10-year plan was a great idea, they should first focus on a five-year one.

“A five-year plan is more in the realm of reality,” said Select-woman Trancynger.

Selectman David Roche dis-agreed. Although acknowledging that the town should also have a one- and five-year plan, Select-man Roche emphasized how a far-reaching 10-year plan could have great positive effects for the town, particularly in addressing unfunded liabilities.

“The unfunded liabilities that I’m referring to are those liabili-ties that the town incurs in in-suring that retirees receive their benefits,” said Selectman Roche.

To address the problem, Se-lectman Roche suggested taking the savings the town will soon be getting when it replaces retiring town workers with new hires and setting the difference aside.

“It’s an ongoing thing (the sav-ings due to the pay differential) until the individual (the new hire) hits full pay grade,” said Se-lectman Roche, who says that, after consulting with Town Manager Gregory Federspiel, that the town could be bringing in $500,000 a year in five or six years if it adopted this course of

action.Selectman Roche emphasized

that by setting aside this money, Lenox would be able to guaran-tee the retirement benefits of town employees. For this reason, he urged everyone, especially town employees, to rally behind his proposal.

“I urge everybody to get on the bandwagon and say yes, this is a good idea, let’s enact it,” he said.

The other part of the 10-year plan that Selectman Roche em-phasized was the sewer system and the multi-million dollar costs it will take to meet federal phosphorus standards.

Finally, Selectman Roche sug-gested that after April’s select board elections, each of the se-lectmen be given one or two ar-eas that they would report back to their fellow board members about at every meeting.

After Selectmen Roche fin-ished speaking, Selectwoman Trancynger, who has served on the board for two years longer than Selectmen Roche, once again voiced her support for a long-term plan.

She added that instituting one as bold as the one proposed by Selectman Roche would be easi-er said than done and that a fo-cus should still remain on what can be done to fix long-term problems in the present.

“Ten years down the road we can have a great big plan, but there (are) definite structural is-sues that need to be discussed right now,” said Selectwoman Trancynger. “We’ve had multiple retreats, this has been discussed, it hasn’t happened. So, I would be for a 10-year plan but at the same token I think we should be doing something every single meeting.”

The discussion ended with no resolution or votes, but the board agreed to continue discussing the topic of a long-term plan in the future.

“This is a warning to the Channings and Eds and Dave Berkels and Carolines…that’s what your stepping into when you pull your papers for this job,” said Chairman McNinch, referring to some of this year’s candidates for Selectmen.

Ten-year plan waits again

Specialized classes front and center for

Lee School Committee


Editorial:

George C. Jordan IIIEDITOR & PUBLISHER

Kameron Z. SpauldingEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Susan G. RobinsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER

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

Janel M. Harrison,Jacqueline J. Wendling, Nancy G. Shepherd, 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

View From the Tower

Bera B. Dunau

The ball is now in Lenox’s court.

During their Feb. 29 meeting, the Lenox Board of Selectmen voted to no longer pursue the wind power project on Lenox Mountain. This decision was met with applause from the audience gathered, and was reached after months of research and delibera-tion from Lenox’s Wind Energy Research Panel (WERP). It also marked the fruition of months of effort by anti-wind activists from Lenox and Richmond, many of whom are part of the group Pre-serve Lenox Mountain, to portray wind power negatively at every turn.

Some have suggested that Lenox be held up as a model for other communities grappling with how to deal with the issue of wind power. For that to be any-thing less than a deeply disingen-uous proposition, however, Lenox will have to do far more than just say no.

The Lenox Mountain site is an imperfect location for wind pow-er development. As can be seen in the personal statements of the members of the WERP, far more research would be needed to be done before it could be deter-mined whether or not the site is suitable for wind power, and a number of issues, from the siting of the proposed turbines in the watershed to their proximity to some residences, would need to be addressed.

Given this difficulty, it is a per-fectly acceptable decision on the part of the Lenox Board of Select-men to choose to no longer pur-sue the project. What wouldn’t be acceptable, however, would be to abandon the Lenox Mountain project and not pursue other al-ternative energy endeavors.

The wind power debate has ex-posed Lenox and other commu-nities in The Berkshires to the human price of producing electricity.

A Feb. 28 hearing was held in Lee on the recently released Wind Turbine Health Impact Study, which was produced by an inde-pendent expert panel at the be-

hest of the state of Massachusetts and has generated much contro-versy. Many people stood up and gave testimony on the ill effects they’d suffered from having wind turbines erected too close to their homes, including headaches, sleep disorders and stress.

Others in attendance used these stories as a reason for pre-venting wind turbines from be-coming widespread in Berkshire County. One man called for the banning of the technology alto-gether, and another even had the gall to compare the proliferation of wind turbines to the Trail of Tears and the Holocaust.

Yet, for those fighting against the construction of wind turbines in The Berkshires, one must ask where their electricity currently comes from?

Massachusetts currently gets most of its electricity from coal, gas and nuclear sources. While the effects described by those liv-ing near improperly-sited wind turbines are certainly terrible, The Beacon has received no re-ports of anyone having died as a result of such effects.

By contrast, a 2009 study from the National Academy of Scienc-es estimated that about 20,000 premature deaths occur every year in the United States as a re-sult of the burning of fossil fuels.

Similarly, future cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nu-clear Disaster in Japan were esti-mated at 1,000 in an article pub-lished in 2011 in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

When presented with the pros-pect of wind power on Lenox Mountain, the Town of Lenox was given a tiny glimpse into the kinds of sacrifices that other com-munities have had to make in or-der for Lenox to get energy. Lenox is well within its rights not to assume some of these burdens for itself by not pursuing wind power on Lenox Mountain.

Unless it continues to vigorous-ly pursues other methods of gen-erating energy, however, this deci-sion will come to be seen not as heroic, but cynical.

Lenox is already well on its way towards fulfilling this moral duty, as it is proceeding with a solar project that has the potential to generate enough power to cover all of the town’s municipal energy use, and potentially more.

However, as we have seen in nearby Lee, where objections to that communities planned solar project have been made based off property value concerns, solar is not without the potential for controversy either.

It is up to the Town of Lenox to follow through with the imple-mentation and construction of its solar power project, as well as to encourage conservation, if the town wants take responsibility for its energy consumption, and con-tinue to be regarded as a “green” community.

For better or worse, the people of Lenox have a reputation throughout Berkshire County for thinking that they are better than everybody else.

Whether this is deserved or not is subject to debate and individu-al interpretation. What is clear, however, is that if Lenox both re-fuses to develop wind power and fails to pursue its solar project it will be living up to this stereotype in the worst of ways.

Lenox will be saying that the Lenox child living near a wind-mill is more important than the inner city child living near a coal-fired power plant. Lenox will be saying that the property rights of a person living near a solar array are more important than the property rights of a land owner whose water has just been poi-soned by hydraulic fracturing. Lenox will be saying that while other parts of the country and the world have to sacrifice to combat global warming, perhaps the pre-miere moral issue of our time, Lenox can choose to sit this one out, so as not to threaten anyone’s idea of pastoral beauty.

Lenox cannot afford to send this message, and it is the belief of The Beacon that it will not.

But as of this moment, the ball is still in Lenox’s court.

From The Berkshire Beacon’s point of view, our Open Meeting complaint was suppose to be a test case to determine if the Berk-shire County District Attorney or the Attorney General was more prone to ensure that the public’s business was done in open session.

With the past non-efforts by David Capeless’ office and now the attorney general hiding be-hind a date certain, it is unclear which agency is ensuring the public’s business.

The case brought forth to the attorney general was the Belve-dere and after review, it was de-cided not to issue a reprimand on the conduct of the Lenox Select-men or the Kennedy Park Com-mittee citing The Beacon’s failure to adhere to a certain date.

The Beacon, however, argued that if one or a party did not know about a pending transac-tion, how then could one file a letter of complaint until the ac-tion/non-action was revealed?

The case here not only required posting by the two agents, but a legal notice of both that a change in use was being considered and thus due notice.

A change in use of public land would in most cases need a two-thirds vote at town meeting to sanction the vote of the two agen-cies. This was not done.

The result has developed into a fractured community between those in favor and those opposed who continued to review their position and consider their next legal action.

That said, there is a likelihood that the monument will not be taken down and perhaps it should not be.

With all the publicity, perhaps today the goal should be to en-hance the Belvedere for the com-munity and tourists.

Perhaps the select board and the Kennedy Park Committee can offer their respective apolo-gies so that the matter may come to rest.

Fixing our energy problem is in our own hands

Why we want open meetings

Early Spring 2012 The Berkshire Sonata 7

“Sweet” Backyard Hobby . .8

In this issue...

The Berkshire SonataArts & EntErtAinmEnt • mAplE syrup sEAson • spring spEciAls

Early Spring 2012Volume 2 • Issue 2


The local art scene is beginning to heat up along with the weather.

Two local venues will kick off spring with events in the coming weeks.

“Prints,” an exhibit by Elizabeth Came, is on display now through April 5 at Berkshire Community College’s gallery at the Inter-modal Transportation Center on the corner of North Street and Columbus Avenue.

Gallery hours are Monday and Friday 10:00 a.m.-noon and Thursday 1-4 p.m. Ms. Came is an artist and student living in Hinsdale.

She has always loved telling stories with art and works with whatever she can get her hands on, but most often creates in draw-ing, painting and printmaking.

Ms. Came’s work explores the natural forms of the landscape as well as personal and cultural mythology, and spirituality.

Ms. Came received her associate degree in visual arts from Berkshire Community Col-lege in 2011 and when she is not walking in the woods, she is studying art and religion at Hampshire College in Amherst.

Fun at The Clark

Families are invited for an afternoon of free fun to celebrate the “Copycat: Repro-ducing Works of Art” exhibition at the Ster-ling and Francine Clark Art Institute on Sunday, April 1 from noon-4 p.m.

A variety of art-making activities, gallery talks, films and events are centered on the themes of cats and various forms of copying.

Drawing and copying workshops and ac-tivities include instructor-led drawing class-es, a copying workshop using the Clark’s portrait of George Washington and a group project utilizing the art-enlarging technique of “squaring up” to create copies of “Dis-mounted” and “Women of Amphissa.”

Visitors can also try their own hand at drawing in the galleries. Family day is the last chance to see “Copy-cat.” Michael Cassin, Director of the Center for Education in the Visual Arts, will lead family-friendly gallery talks through the exhibition.

Exploring the line between innovation and imitation, “Copycat” features 50 prints and photographs that are both original works of art and repetitions of drawings, prints, paintings, sculptures and architec-ture created by other artists.

Art events dot The Berkshires

Photo Credit/Kameron Z. SPaulding

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute will host “Copycat: Reproducing Works of Art.”

Advertiser Directory

Holiday Brook Farm . . . . . .8

Windy Hill Sugar House . . .8

Mead’s Maple Syrup . . . . . .8

Villari’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

West Side Clock Shop . . . . .9

Dennis Pollock . . . . . . . . . .9

Greenridge Variety . . . . . . .9

Pittsfield Precious Metals . .9

Superbounce . . . . . . . . . . .9

Ioka Valley Farm . . . . . . . .10

Lenox Valley WTF . . . . . . .10

Breakfast at the Calf-A . . .10

Spring Specials . . . . . . . . . .9

8 The Berkshire Sonata Early Spring 2012


LENOX – Raymond “Ray” Kirby has the sweetest hobby imaginable.

Every spring, as soon as the weather warms up even just a tad, he makes maple syrup in his backyard.

It’s a hobby he’s been involved in for 35 years. He used to make the syrup with his late father, whose name was also Raymond. He died six years ago and is still very missed.

“We had a lot of fun out here,” Ray Kir-by said while standing in the backyard sug-ar shack-of-sorts.

A Time-Honored Family Tradition

Making the syrup is actually a family tradition.

“We started out nice and slow,” he said.Even today, he usually ends up with just

a couple gallons of maple syrup for use at home and to give as Christmas gifts.

His father read a lot of books about mak-ing maple syrup and also talked with other people who had the same hobby. A lot of his friends made syrup and also had big gardens in the spring.

“You gotta keep moving,” Mr. Kirby said.

Puts Days Off from Work to Good Use

He does his hobby on his days off from his job with the Department of Public Works in town and on vacations.

“This is strictly a hobby,” Mr. Kirby said of his making maple syrup. “There are no sales and it’s a lot of fun.”

It’s also a heck of a lot of work. Mr. Kir-by has to go to a sawmill to pick up at least eight loads of soft woods such as hemlock, pine and spruce. Then it all has to be chainsawed.

A total of 16 taps to trees on his property as well as in another location yield sap which is collected in buckets, poured into big metal milk containers, cooled in the snow and then is eventually poured into a large square pan.

Old Oil Tank-Turned-Evaporator

Mr. Kirby made the wood-burning evap-orator on which the tub sits out of an old oil tank.

He washes felt filters for the sap and runs them through ringers, like the kind used in old-fashioned washing machines.

“It’s very primitive but it works well,” he said of the filters.

“You have to keep all your utensils hot,” Mr. Kirby said. “And you have to keep ev-erything clean.”

He usually stores the syrup in glass bot-tles. When giving syrup as gifts, he pours it into plastic jugs inside his house.

Syrup in the Kitchen

On the day The Beacon visited the back-yard syrup-making operation, Ray Kirby’s friend and helper, Michael “Mike” Gardi-no stood nearby to keep his buddy company.

Mr. Gardino remembers how, in his very young days, he boiled maple sap in turkey roasting pans on the kitchen stove.

He laughed when he thought about how long that operation took. It also yielded a very small, but no doubt precious, amount of maple syrup.

The day of The Beacon visit, Mr. Kirby completed his seventh and final boil of the season.

He explained how it takes temperatures in the late 20s during the night and in the 40s by day, with sunshine, to get the sap running.

The maple syrup season is very short. This year, because of the warm winter, Mr. Kirby started the process on Feb. 18.

“It takes a lot of work,” he said, to make the syrup.

Sap Darkens with the Season

The sap gets darker as the season goes on. He explained the different grades of syrup and their varying colors.

Grabbing a large spoon, he scooped some of the golden liquid out of a pan.

“Here,” Mr. Kirby said. “Try this.”The boiled syrup tasted very much like

liquid penuche fudge.When the sap boils, it takes several hours

to sugar down into syrup. The day The Beacon visited, Mr. Kirby had boiled 20 gallons of sap for about five solid hours. It resulted in a little less than two quarts. He started boiling at 6:30 a.m. and was almost done by noon.

Steam from Boiled Sap Smells Sweet

The sweet smell of maple syrup wafted throughout the air, no doubt creating a tempting fragrance for nearby neighbors.

Mr. Kirby said he uses maple syrup on

his oatmeal every morning. It can also be used on pancakes, waffles, French toast, in cakes, coffee, tea and on ice-cream. One of Mr. Kirby’s favorite ways of using it is on grilled pork chops.

“For me it’s a very simple backyard op-eration,” he said, of his syrup-making hob-by. He thoroughly enjoys making syrup for home use.

Mr. Kirby said his son Eric has helped him out a little bit in making the syrup. He hopes that someday his son will carry on the tradition of making maple syrup in the former oil can evaporator in the family homestead’s backyard.

After all, some traditions are worth keep-ing for a long, long time.

“Sweet” backyard hobby keeps local man busy every spring

CSA • Grass Fed Lamb and BeefPasture Raised Pork • Compost • Maple Syrup

100 Holiday Cottage Rd. • Dalton413-684-0444

holidaybrookfarm.com

The Mollison’sWINDY HILL SUGAR HOUSE

March - AprilSat & Sun 8 am for Breakfast

Making Our Own Pure Maple Products for Over 60 Years

Maple Desserts

Off Rt. 112 • Sam Hill Rd. • Worthington, MA • Watch for Signs

413-238-5869 • 413-626-0920

ALL YOUCAN EAT

Pancakes, Wafflesor French Toast

Winter & Jude MeadCanaan Valley, CT [email protected]

MEAD’SMaple Syrup

Photo Credit / Catherine m. Krummey

Raymond Kirby has been involved in make maple syrup each spring for 35 years at his Lenox property.

Early Spring 2012 The Berkshire Sonata 9

Spring Specials

DENNIS POLLOCK413 441-9338

Flowering Crabapple • HemlockNorway Spruce • Firs

Delivery & Planting Available

641 East St. • Pittsfi eld, MA • 413-447-8288

Karate • Kung Fu • T’ai Chi • Self Defense

Unlimited Classes All Spring

America’s Foremost Martial Arts Centers

$896 Weeks

Classes Plus FREE Uniform

1086

SOUT

HST

.,DAL

TON

HOUR

S:MO

N-FRI

5AM

–9PM

SAT

6AM

-9PM

,SUN

6AM

–7PM

ANYO

FOUR

6INC

HSP

ECIA

LTY

GRIN

DERS

LIMIT

EDTI

MEON

LYOF

FER

VALI

DTH

ROUG

H2/

29/1

2

Beer

&Wi

neSp

ecial

s

TUESDAY&WEDNESDAYONLY

1557

268

LOTTERY,GR

OCERY,DELI

ANYS

IZE

COFF

EE&

1DON

UT1086 SOUTH ST., DALTONHOURS: MON-FRI 5AM – 9PMSAT 6AM - 9 PM, SUN 6AM – 7PM

ANY OF OUR6 INCH

SPECIALTYGRINDERS

LIMITED TIME ONLY OFFER VALID THROUGH 2/29/12

Beer& Wine

Specials

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY ONLY

1557268

LOTTERY, GROCERY, DELI

ANY SIZECOFFEE &1 DONUT

1086 SOUTH ST., DALTONHOURS: MON-FRI 5AM – 9PMSAT 6AM - 9 PM, SUN 6AM – 7PM

ANY OF OUR6 INCH

SPECIALTYGRINDERS


Beer& Wine

Specials


1557268



1086 SOUTH ST., DALTONHOURS: MON-FRI 5AM – 9PMSAT 6AM - 9 PM, SUN 6AM – 7PM

ANY OF OUR6 INCH

SPECIALTYGRINDERS


Beer& Wine

Specials


1557268


ANY SIZECOFFEE &1 DONUT1086 SOUTH ST., DALTON

HOURS: MON-FRI 5AM – 9PMSAT 6AM - 9 PM, SUN 6AM – 7PM

ANY OF OUR6 INCH

SPECIALTYGRINDERS


Beer& Wine

Specials


1557268



1086 South StreetDalton

Hours: Monday-Friday 5am-9pmSaturday 6am-9pm Sunday 6am-7pm

WEST SIDE CLOCK SHOPGUARANTEED WORK ~ QUALITY SERVICE

449 North St., Pittsfi eld • 413.442.5484 • Mon-Sat 10-5

MEMBER OF N.A.W.C.C.

House Calls for Grandfather Clocks!

We Buy Clocks

REPAIRS & SALESof Antique

& Modern Clocks

NOW OPEN AT THE BERKSHIRE MALL!bouncy houses • BOUNCY SLIDES • birthday parties • and more!!bouncy houses • BOUNCY SLIDES • birthday parties • and more!!

Super Bounce Bouncy House is BACK! Located at the Berkshire Mall, just outside Best Buy! Old State Road & Route 8 • Lanesborough, MA • 413-441-3845

Mall Hours: Monday - Saturday 10am - 9pm • Sunday 11am - 6:00pm

Fast PICKScheck out these top shopping picks of the week

To advertise your special product of the week, call 413-637-2250

PITTSFIELD PRECIOUS METALS93 First St.

Pittsfield, MassachusettsMon.-Fri. 9:30am - 5:30pm

Sat. 10:00am - 3:00pm

(413)443-3613

1-800243-4420

DEALERSWELCOME

GEMOLOGIST, GIA ON PREMISES

BUYING atGUARANTEED HIGHEST PRICESYour Unwanted Gold, Silver, Platinum & Coins

Immediate Payment!

BERKSHIRES’ OLDESTPRECIOUS METALS BUSINESS

PCGS, NGC, ANACS Authorized Coin Dealer

32 Years Same LocationSame Owners

BRINGEVERYTHING

Don’t make the mistake of thinking your things aren’t good enough for us.

We have helped many people discoveritems of great value among the most

unlikely things. Whether you think your things are worth a little or a lot, bring

them to us. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL.We buy at the TOP PRICES and PAY CASHIMMEDIATELY. Even higher premiums are paid for larger quantities. There is never a

charge for our opinions or advice.

GOLD, SILVER, PLATINUMIN ANY SHAPE,

CONDITION OR FORM

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HIGHESTGOLD, SILVER & PLATINUM PRICES

IN THE LAST 25 YEARS10k, 14k, 18k, 21.5k, 22k, 24k

Pins, ChainsRingsWatch CasesSchool Rings

BraceletsCharms, EarringsDental GoldCoins/Bullion

Sterling Silver Flatware, Tea Sets, etc.

WE PAYCASH FOR:

10 The Berkshire Sonata Early Spring 2012


HANCOCK – It’s only a little after 8 a.m. and the dining room inside the Calf-A, a former calf barn-turned restaurant, is almost completely full.

Waitresses bustle to and from the kitchen to the two dining rooms, carrying plates piled high with pancakes, sausage and ba-con or cream cheese and blueber-ry-stuffed French toast.

The first thing one notices when entering the Calf-A is the sweet smell of maple. All the ma-ple syrup served with the break-fasts has been made right there at Ioka Valley Farm.

Some of the aroma comes from the nearby Sugar House, when the sap is being boiled down to make the syrup.

Missy Leab Greets Guests

Melissa “Missy” Leab, one of the hard-working family mem-bers responsible for the success of Ioka Valley Farm, greets visitors as they come through the door.

She seats them at long tables covered with specially-ordered cloths in a black and white cow pattern.

Her mother-in-law, Dorothy Leab, who founded Ioka Valley Farm with her husband, Robert, in 1936, made matching cow patterned valences for the restau-rant’s windows. She also still works in the kitchen with Mr. Leab.

Once seated at a long table, a waitress brings plastic knives, forks and spoons, wrapped snug-gly in napkins.

A waitress, wearing a name tag with “Adriana” on it, waits on vis-itors from The Beacon. Her perky personality and warm smile before 8:30 a.m. is as welcome as the coffee she brings to the table.

Creamers in Small Buckets

Small tin buckets hold the cof-fee creamers in the Calf-A. Bright silk flowers in vases dot the cen-ters of the long tables.

Outside the window waves a brightly colored flag that reads,

RecipesHere are two recipes, compliments of the Ioka Valley Farm.

Baked Maple Bananas

Ingredients2 tablespoons butter3 tablespoons maple syrup4 bananas, peeled and sliced lengthwise1 tablespoon lemon juiceDirectionsIn a medium-sized baking dish or fry pan, melt butter on high. Stir in maple syrup. Place bananas in dish and coat well with mixture. Cook on high one minute. Turn bananas and cook one and a half minutes more. Sprinkle lightly with lemon juice. Serve warm.

Chunky Maple Beef Stew

Ingredients¼ cup flourSalt and pepper1 tablespoon crushed garlic1 stalk of celery1 and ½ pounds beef, cut into ½-inch cubes1 large can tomatoes½ cup red wine½ cup maple syrup4 medium-sized potatoes, cubed2 large carrots, slicedDirectionsPreheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, beef and seasonings. Put into a plastic bag and shake to coat beef. Place in a casserole dish and add remaining ingredients. Cover and bake for four hours. Recipe may be adapted for pressure cooking. Use method and timing for beef stew. Yield: six servings.

Celebrating 75 Years! Bring this ad to receive

$1.00 off “Uncle Don’s

Favorite Meal”

3475 Rt. 43, Hancock, MA • (413) 738-5915 • IokaValleyFarm.com

Calf-A Serving Our Delicious Pancakes, Waffles, & French Toast with Our Pure Maple Syrup!

Open Weekends Feb. 11th- April 7th • 8am- 3:30pm

Come sample our Maple Products!

Weekend Maple Sugaring Activities

in Sugar House!

Maple Sugar Season!

“Welcome to Our Funny Farm.” Smiling to beat all on the flag are a chicken, cow, horse and pig.

Menus tell that all the food served is made from family recipes.

During maple syrup season, between 300 and 400 people a day come to feast on pancakes, French toast, waffles, donuts, corn muffins, cinnamon French toast, English muffins and on and on into culinary ecstasy.

One can order maple ice cream pie or a “Dream Sandwich” of French toast, ham and cheese with maple butter.

How about an Uncle Don’s Fa-vorite? It’s touted to be “the hun-gry man’s meal.” Dieters must be-ware. This dish is not for them!

It consists of two Belgian but-termilk waffles topped with homemade strawberry sauce, ice cream and whipped cream. It also comes with three pieces of bacon or two sausages, homemade ap-plesauce and three mini corn

muffins with maple butter, all for $10.95!

That must be quite a breakfast.The Calf-A-menu notes that

extras such as blueberries, pecans, apples and cinnamon, butter-scotch, chocolate chip, M&Ms and Heath Crunch can be added to pancakes.

Opened in 1997

The Calf-A was converted from a calf barn in the spring of 1997 and has been pleasing the palates of hundreds of people, both chil-dren and adults, ever since.

It’s open from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. daily.

For more information, call (413) 738-5915 or check the farm’s website at IokaValleyFarm.com.

Visitors to Ioka Valley Farm can purchase syrup, maple grano-la, maple popcorn and many oth-er products. They are also avail-able for purchase online.

French toast, pancakes, waffles and more tempt

palates at the Calf-A

NOW OPENBring your trash and pay by the bag.Purchase a Trash Punch Card and Recycling is Free!

Hours:Mon-Fri 7-4 • Sat 7-noon

COMMERCIAL HAULERS ROOFERS, GENERAL CONTRACTORS, HOMEOWNERS We have a certifi ed truck scale. Bring all your construction debris to our indoor tipping fl oor. Our facility is state of the art. We’d love to open an account with you!

P.O. Box 243 Lee, MA 01238 • Ph:(413) 637-1101 • Fax: (413) 637-1102Physical Address: 64-65 Willow Creek Rd • Lenox, MA 01240

LENOX VALLEY WTFWaste Recycling Transfer Facility

64-68 Willow Creek Rd. Lenox, MA

(Just Past Berkshire Scenic Railway)

413-637-1101www.LenoxValleyWTF.com

Photo Credit / SuSan m. WiCKer guerrero

The Calf-A at Ioka Valley Farms in Hancock serves fresh pan-cake breakfast every weekend.



LENOX – The Lenox Board of Selectmen is forming a commit-tee to look into placing a conser-vation restriction on Yokun Ridge, which is located within the Lenox watershed.

The idea of placing a conserva-tion restriction on Yokun Ridge came up when the Lenox Board of Selectmen formally decided not to pursue a long debated wind power project on Lenox Mountain at their Feb. 29 meet-ing, a project that would have placed wind turbines on the ridge.

This led to the issue being an agenda item at the select board’s March 14 meeting.

Selectman David Roche took the lead for most of the brief dis-cussion of the topic.

Noting the recent success of the Wind Energy Research Panel, Selectman Roche suggested that a similar committee be formed to investigate the possibility of put-ting the area under a conserva-tion restriction. Selectman Roche said that the committee should include stakeholders, and sug-gested Lenox Department of Public Works Commissioner Jef-frey Vincent and retired State Forester Warren Archey as possi-ble members.

Selectmen Roche also got con-firmation from Town Manager Gregory Federspiel that towns generally worked with a third party partner when putting a conservation restriction on a piece of land.

After Selectman Roche brought up the Berkshire Natural Re-sources Council as a suitable partner and Manager Federspiel agreed that they would be appro-priate, Selectman Roche said that its president, Tad Ames, might be solicited to participate in the process.

“We should come up with some guidelines as to what we’d like to see,” said Selectman Roche, who said that while it had been determined that Yokun Ridge was not suitable for wind power, the possibility that the area might be used for hydro or

solar power should be explored.He also said that he would like

the town to be able to expand and maintain the town’s reservoirs, in-cluding possibly constructing a more efficient water treatment plant, and that he would like to see the property’s fire roads and hiking trails maintained.

Selectman Roche volunteered to be the liaison between the se-lect board and the new committee.

Selectman Roche’s proposals received no objection from other select board members and it was decided that the committee would consist of five members.

Select Board Chairman John McNinch said that he would like to see the committee formed by the select board’s next meeting, and said that those interested in serving on it should submit their

intentions to Manager Federspiel.

Before the select board moved onto other issues, Harley Keisch, a Richmond resident and active member of the anti-wind power group Preserve Lenox Mountain, asked if the select board would consider applicants for the com-mittee from Richmond.

“Sure, put your name in,” said Selectman Roche.

When the members of the se-lect board were asked by The Bea-con whether they were unani-mous on the issue of placing Yokun Ridge under a conserva-tion restriction, Chairman Mc-Ninch said that while they had never voted on it, they had all ex-pressed interest.

He also confirmed that the new committee would be exploratory in nature.


This steel plate has been covering the damage on the bridge but now the bridge has been closed.


The Yokun Ridge region of Lenox has gone from a potential wind site to possibly being protected land.

Yokun Ridge might receive a conservation

restriction

BRIDGES from page 1

term maintenance plan,” said Se-lectman David Consolati. “A plan can extend the life of our bridges five to seven years, a plan where we are cleaning and maintaining these bridges.”

The selectmen then pointed out several forms of maintenance they would like to see, including annual pressure washing.

Christopher Pompi, the Super-intendent of the Department of Public Works, refuted many of their ideas, explaining that many of them, like the washing, are not applicable to bridges.

Mill Street and Chapel Street bridges are also in dire need of restoration and once the repairs to Meadow Street have begun, those bridges will be the next in line for mending.

“These bridges have 75 years of neglect,” said Superintendent Pompi. “And they have lived there expected life”

The next tense exchange oc-curred over the town’s request that Superintendent Pompi de-velop and research more language over utility road cutting.

Superintendent Pompi ex-plained that is busy schedule had not allowed him to craft the lan-guage yet.

“I have not had time,” said Su-

perintendent Pompi. “If you want that to be my top priority, I’ll make it my top priority.”

Selectman Consolati respond-ed, “No I don’t want it to be your top priority but we spoke about this is October, I mean we all have things to do. I have things to do, you have things to do, we all do.”

The exchange didn’t stop there.Selectman Consolati then ex-

plained his concern that a recent meeting of the Department of Public Works Committee was canceled by Superintendent Pom-pi and that it should not have been.

“If Bob (Nason) called me and canceled my meeting I would blow my top,” said Selectman Consolati. “That is not his job to cancel my meeting, you have a DPW (committee) chairman and it is his job to cancel meetings, not you.”

Superintendent Pompi replied that he did not cancel the meet-ing in question.

“But this is not a one-time oc-currence,” replayed Selectman Consolati.

Superintendent Pompi again retorted, “I have never canceled a meeting since I have been here Dave, I don’t know where you’re getting your info.”


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

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

Advertise Your Business Herefor Only $25 a Week!

Need Work?

Your Ad Could Be Here for

Only $25 a week!

Call 413-637-2250 for info


Philip S. KampeWine and Beyond

In 2011, U.S. wine exports set a record high of $1.39 billion in sales. That was a whopping 21.7 percent increase over 2010.

What is that telling us? My quick answer is that the U.S. wine market is alive and well and is healthy overseas.

The European Union bought 34 percent of our exported wine, followed in sales by our northern neighbor, Canada. Wine sales to Hong Kong, Japan and China rounded out the top five.

California wine accounted for 90 percent of our wine exports. My column (this is the first) may zig-zag, like this one from one topic to another.

Wine is the main focus, with The Berkshires as a backdrop. The Berkshires are blessed with many wine shops whose owners and staff live for one thing and that is the Love of Wine. Those are the shops that I frequent.

I look for the knowledgable

staff who educates the consumer, either through in-house tastings, online education, wine tasting events or wine dinners.

Self-education is often the way to go.

Read, buy, taste and discuss the wine and its region and you will know as much as I know. Every year a new vintage arrives and replaces the prior year's vintage.

That, to me, is what makes this industry exciting.

Once you learn about a wine and that year's vintage, a new vin-tage is released and a new set of rules pertain to that wine. The variables are simple: sun, rain, cli-mate and terroir change year to year.

One year the wine is great and receives high scores, the next year the wine is flat and loses its edge to others in the market.

Critics and scores are normally consistent year in and year out re-garding new releases.

Where do I taste wine for free in the Berkshires?

I have learned that Saturday af-ternoon is prime time to learn about wine.

Nejaime's on Lenox Road is the best choice to learn about wine. Every Saturday afternoon from noon to four, a wine/beer tasting takes place.

Representatives from the win-eries and breweries are normally on-hand to pour their wines or beer and explain in layman’s terms about their products.

It is a perfect hands-on way to develop your palate and to begin the understanding and nuances of wine.

Saturday, March 2412-4 p.m.Nejaime’s (Lenox Road at

Route 7)Tasting of “Values from Around

the World”Guest pourers will pour wines

from Chile, Argentina, France, Australia, California and much more. These wines will taste as if they cost twice as much. Price: Complimentary.

Saturday, March 24Italian Wine Dinner led by

Dave Abbott of Masciarelli Wine Company,

Dave is an expert on Italian Wines and will walk you through a five course dinner with match-ing wines from Masciarelli and the Villa Gemma Series.

The event takes place at Firefly Restaurant in Lenox and is $75 for the complete event which in-cludes Dinner, Wine, Tax and Gratuity.

Reserve by calling Firefly di-rectly at 413-637-2700

We are fortunate to live in a country that has taken wine growth and development serious-ly. Napa Valley is a great example of who visits vineyards.

I telephoned the Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau and learned the following:

Age of Visitors

25-44 54%45-54 17%55-64 4%65+ 8%

Mean household income is $53,600, more than double the

$24,000 national average.

Education At least some college 80% College Graduate 43% Master’s Degree 21%

Hometown

East Coast 17.5% Midwest 17.5% Southern U.S. 17.5%International 11.5%

Northern California 31% Southern California 5%International visitors led by Canada, Germany, United

Kingdom and Japan.

Visitors 4.7 million annual visitors3 million day visitors spend

$150 per day1.7 million overnight visitors

spend $300 per overnight stay (average 2.9 days)

Year-Round Visitation January-March 27% April-June 17% July-September 38% October-December 17%

Although locals like to say that Napa Valley gets as many visitors as Disneyland, the figures speak for themselves.

Eighty-one percent of the visitors come to Napa to visit the wineries. Wine is the focus.

Some background on the wine business:

Wine and Beyond

Starting to learn the art of fine wine

Anna W. ShippeeBeacon Staff Writer

Whether it is a pesky hangover or tons of leftover potatoes, corned beef and Irish soda bread, I can help by dealing with the leftovers may help nurse you back to health from your hangover.

Here is a recipe for Corned Beef Hash to have with eggs to drive your headache away and use up your abundance of pota-toes and corn beef.

Ingredients2-3 tablespoons unsalted

butter1 medium onion, finely

chopped (about 1 cup)2-3 cups finely chopped,

cooked corned beef2-3 cups chopped cooked po-

tatoes, preferably Yukon goldSalt and pepperChopped fresh parsley

Directions1. Heat butter in a large skillet

(preferably cast iron) on medium heat. Add the onion and cook a few minutes until translucent.

2. Mix in the chopped corned beef and potatoes. Spread out evenly over the pan. Increase the heat to high or medium high and press down on the mixture with a metal spatula.

3. Do not stir the potatoes and corned beef, but let them brown. If you hear them sizzling, this is good. Use a metal spatula to peak underneath and see if they are browning. If nicely browned, use the spatula to flip sections over in the pan so that they brown on the other side. Press down again with the spatula. If there is too much sticking, you can add a lit-tle more butter to the pan. Con-tinue to cook in this manner un-til the potatoes and the corned beef are nicely browned.

4. Remove from heat, stir in chopped parsley. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper and add salt to taste.

Serve with fried or poached eggs for breakfast.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

I have a ton of leftover Irish

Soda Bread even though I have been grabbing a piece every time I go by the bag.

I decided since the bread is starting to get dry, the best solu-tion is to whip up some bread pudding. I came up with this rec-ipe on my own-it just spoke to me.

The soda bread is perfect for bread pudding. It is a sturdy and will hold its shape in the custard but it has some nice flavor pro-files that will shine through.

So here is my recipe for My Irish Soda Bread Pudding:

Ingredients1/2 of a loaf of few-days-old

Irish Soda Bread (cubed)2 cups of buttermilk (which

used up the leftover buttermilk from making the bread in the first place – this can easily be re-placed with milk or cream)

3 eggs3/4 cup of sugar3 tablespoons of melted butter1 teaspoon of vanilla1 teaspoon of cinnamona few dashes of nutmeg

DirectionsSet the oven at 350 degrees.

Place the cubed bread in a greased 8x8 baking dish. Whisk the re-maining ingredients together and then pour evenly over the bread.

Then bake for 45-55 minutes until the custard has settled and the top is golden brown.

From hangovers to leftovers:

Dealing with what St. Patty’s leaves behind


Irish soda bread can make a great bread pudding.


Girl-2-GirlThe Boy Who

Cries Mama IIJanel M. Harrison

Beacon Staff Writer

It’s that time again! Let’s crank up our the talk on the infamous MB (mama’s boy).

He could be like the shark that sneaks into your story and his mother could bite ya! For any of you who have encountered that, raise your hand. I thought so.

So we learned last week about how the MB is created and how he ticks with his mama, thanks to some knowledge from CNN’s Dr. Debra Mandel, author of Dump That Chump: From Door-mat to Diva in Only Nine Steps – A Guide to Getting Over Mr. Wrong, along with a touch of commentary from me. We are well on the road to understand-ing and avoiding such a man, un-less you really love him and he wants to get help, then maybe – it’s your decision – but first let’s measure.

FAQ 3: When evaluating the health of a guy’s relationship with his mom, what should a woman look for?

A guy in a healthy relationship can say no to his mother and make decisions on his own. He likes it when his mom is busy en-joying her own life. If she’s doing his laundry every week and cook-ing daily meals, run!

FAQ 4: What would you rec-ommend a woman do if her man has these issues but Mom seems perfectly normal?

An unhealthy dependency was created during his childhood but Mom let go when he reached adulthood and he isn’t ready to leave the nest. Cut your losses un-less he gets help, however he could turn you into his mom. Oh boy!

FAQ 5: What if Mama is not ready to cut the cord, but he’s not reaching for the scissors either?

In this case it’s time to set good old boundaries. Say to him, “How about we have dinner with your mom once a month instead

of every Sunday?” He needs to be ready and willing to give her the message; if he doesn’t and you take it to the next level, she’ll be-come a MIL (mother-in-law) from hell; good luck with that.

FAQ 6: Is it ever smart to con-front Mom directly?

No! Not if you and he are just in the beginning stages of your relationship. She could most like-ly stick her pitchfork in and make him choose, and since you’re new in town, wonder who he’ll pick?

If you’ve been together a while, then Dr. Mandel says invite her to lunch for a chat and speak openly: “I get the sense that it’s hard for you to let your son really become his own person. I wish you wouldn’t feel like you’re los-ing him to me, but that you’re just developing a new relation-ship with him that also includes me.”

Not sure I’d word it quite that way. Don’t do this without his support or she could go back to him and cause big trouble; he’ll think you’re sneaky too.

FAQ 7: Can a mama’s boy ever be rehabilitated?

Yes, but only if he acknowledg-es that the relationship is un-healthy and needs to be restruc-tured. If he’s taking even baby steps then great, don’t be pushy and aggressive or judgmental, be-cause her loving arms will be full and yours won’t.

If however he just isn’t stepping toward the light and tells you not to butt in, then bye-bye birdie! You don’t need that underwear in your life.

It’s time to find a “real man,” if there’s such a thing. Just kidding – there sure is, I think? And now that you dumped this chump, maybe you’ll find him; go diva-girl!

-Ciao Bella

Rae A. EastmanBeacon Staff Writer

This recent biography of Kurt Vonnegut is an absorbing ac-count of the novelist who is often called the most influential writer of the 20th century.

In it, we learn that he was al-ways a seriously depressed man. John Updike wrote (to the au-thor) “his disarming voice marked its pain with a shrug.”

One of his landladies felt she was “protecting a wounded, mean animal.”

Vonnegut never wanted to be anything but a writer, despite the fact that for years his short stories failed to sell. Even after he be-came well-known – awarded any number of honors, piled up speaking engagements – he was, paradoxically, dissatisfied. Where was that Pulitzer Prize?

Handing the author a huge dic-tionary of contemporary authors, Vonnegut asked him to look up Jack Kerouac, whose entry he found easily.

“Now look up Kurt Vonne-gut,” he said. There was no entry.

His life was permanently af-fected by his parents – not unsur-prisingly – they were not only distant, but socially active and concerned with their own lives; his father, an architect, hardly considered writing a profession.

His mother committed suicide when the elegant lifestyle she was used to fell apart. Vonnegut at-tributed his own depression to his parents’ disinterest.

“No one taught me anything; even how to ride a bike,” Vonne-gut complained.

He was also puzzled at an early age by a comment of his older brother’s: “you were an accident.” His alcohol and smoking habits started in high school.

During the war, he was cap-tured in Dresden, Germany (es-caping death during the Ameri-can bombing of the city because he was in a basement). Prisoners were deprived of food, worked long hours, forced to march for days (a march many did not sur-vive) and finally liberated by the Russians.

He returned to that city, which

had been devastated by the Amer-icans, with a fellow prisoner much later, for the material that became Slaughterhouse-Five, one of his most famous books. It sold 66,000 copies, despite his long unorthodox sentences and sparse punctuation.

This and his other books be-came a lynchpin for the 1960s generation. He had caught their spirit and found himself their spokesman alongside Burroughs and Barth and other ‘60s authors. His humanity and originality caught their spirit.

He also wrote a great deal of science fiction. “He has helped el-evate the pulp genre of science fiction,” according to the Dic-tionary of Literary Biography, “to the level of critical recognition.”

They made pilgrimages to Cape Cod – where he had moved his family because, in those days, that’s where writers lived – to see what he looked like. Here was a social observer and popular phi-losopher with “something bad to say about everything.”

Living on the Cape, he felt iso-lated; out of the stream.

“I felt subhuman,” he said.Few people knew that he felt

overwhelmed by his children – three of his own and three of his sister’s.

He was often broke and never felt he was a success at the many colleges at which he was invited to speak. Sometimes he would startle audiences by saying “this is a speech I’ve given a hundred times, but I do it to make money.”

He was less than a success. Of-ten they felt disappointed that he wore Brooks Brothers suits and wasn’t by any means a hippie.

When he was invited to speak at the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Conference (Robert Lowell had had to drop out), almost all his novels were out of print. One evening there he saw Saul Bellow – already famous – standing alone.

“What made you come here?” he asked.

“Loneliness,” said Bellow.Depression and loneliness also,

of course, defined himself.He did have a brief affair there,

though, to which he attributed a

And So It Goes – Kurt Vonnegut: A Life

By Charles J. ShieldsAvailable in bookstores

and on AmazonHenry Holt and Co. $30

(hardcover)

new sensitiveness in the writing of his love scenes.

He was bewildered by his fame, which did nothing to assuage the loneliness that was always with him. His marriage broke up and he left the man who had made his fortune for him, Knox Burger (to whom this biography is dedicated).

He became an unpopular pro-fessor at Harvard; students found him rambling and distracted. There was a Broadway play and a stint in Hollywood.

He became a commencement speaker, using colorful, unusual language for which he never apologized.

He was a satirist of American life, but feeding at the trough of celebrity; a counter-culture hero; a leftist to his fans, a wealthy in-vestor to his broker.

He divorced his wife and mar-ried the photographer, Jill Krementz.

To add to his depression, he got the strong feeling he had out-lived his time. When he spoke at Smith College, for example, he was made to understand he just didn’t cut it, which brought back his old feelings of inadequacy.

Even his publisher declined to publish a new work by Vonnegut.

Vonnegut’s biographer talked with him only a few days. After his last talk with him, in April 2007, Vonnegut started to take his dog for a walk. At the base of his brownstone in Manhattan he tripped over the dog’s leash, fell to the concrete, striking the right side of his face. He never regained consciousness.

A depressed tale of very talented writer


405 South Main Street, Lanesborough • 413.445.5584www.skyline-cc.com

Breathtaking Views in the Beautiful Berkshires

Special Events:Weddings • Banquets • Stag Party • Jake and Jill • Benefi ts • Private Party

Conference meetings • Comedy show • Live bands • Golf camps Fully stocked bar and pub menu open daily

Tournaments:Charity tournaments • Member tournaments • MGA (Massachusetts Golf Association)

Benefi t tournaments • Corporate tournaments

What our Pro shop offers:Variety of golf clubs • Putters • Bags • Clothing for women & men

Golf balls, tees, gloves. etc. • Shoes from FootJoy • Golf club repair by certifi ed Professionals

Lessons available by a variety of local PGA Professionals

Dick L. SyriacBeacon Staff Writer

An old friend from Springfield, Henry B. Carey, could captivate an audience. When he was fin-ished with a yarn, he would tell his audience, “you know, I’ve been around.”

Henry and I were in the eleva-tor at the Sheraton Hotel in Springfield with Jim Valvano be-fore his NC State squad squared off with David Robinson and the Navy in the Tip Off Classic.

Henry told the coach, “My name is Henry and I was in the Navy and I’ll be rooting against you tonight.”

Valvano calmly and respectful-ly responded, “Well Henry, you are a loser,” and shook his hand.

NC State later prevailed in a close game later that night.

At the time, Henry was in his 70s.

Last week, some golfing bud-dies were going down memory lane and one of them said, “wow, you’ve been around!”

As they say, it got me to thinking.

*I saw Julius Erving of UMass play at AIC and as he missed his first six shots, I thought, “He is the best player that I have ever seen.”

*The largest crowd ever at Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College was gathered to see Bridgeport play the home team. The reason for the frenzy: Manute Bol was in town. All 7’6” and 190 lbs. of him. I was in the front row.

*I saw Mark Belanger of Pitts-field High School light up the Field House in the Western Mas-sachusetts Tourney and make 6’6” Wheels Wheeler of the Worcester team look silly. I recall people asking, “who is that kid?”

*I witnessed “the shot heard round the Armory” in 1966, when Fred Scully of St. Joe in North Adams beat the buzzer to down Drury with a corner shot that hit the overhang of the bal-cony and went in. The place and the town went bonkers.

A few years later, Westfield State was trailing NASC (now

MCLA) and time was short. The Owls had to foul. Joe Zavattaro told the troops to get the ball to Scully. They did, and Westfield kept fouling him. As a result, he made his last eight and 14 for the game. The Mohawk/Trailblazer coach had watched at practice earlier in the week, when Scully made 100 straight from the line and then he shut the lights out.

*We would attend the NIT and Holiday Festival Tourneys at Madison Square Garden. Bob Knight coaching Army, Coach K as his point guard, Bob Cousy coaching Boston College, Pete Maravich dazzling the crowd and Jerry Tarkanian recruiting in the hotel lobby are all recollections.

*Thanks to my chauffeur Bob Montagna and a borrowed car from Mike Mancivalano, I played four basketball games in one day. Pittsfield CYC at 9 a.m., Boys Club at 10:30, Troy, N.Y., YMCA at 2:30 p.m. and the 7:30 finale in Northampton at Smith School. For the record: four wins, zero losses, one case of mono, one flat tire, no citations and very little homework were completed.

I was not the only one; I had sightings of Dave Sturma, Billy Callahan, Tom Sinopoli, Bill Sar-muk and Dave Southard at mul-tiple venues that day, but I was the only fool in Northampton.

*I had a good view for a Friday double-header in the Field House in Springfield when, in the open-er, Henry Payne of Commerce tossed in 64 and, in the nightcap, Gene Ryzewicz had a meager 54 for Cathedral. Henry later played at AIC with Pittsfield’s Paul Pro-copio, while Gene went to Dart-mouth to star in baseball and football.

*Mark Hall and Commerce won the Division I State Hoops tourney in Worcester over a Cam-bridge Rindge team that included two players that would start at Providence the following year in Jerry Scott and Rudy Williams.

Commerce was coached by Mike Martin, who starred at North Adams State for three years. We made that trip over the Mohawk Trail and got lost in Petersham.

*I wish I could say I saw Travis

Best score 81 against Putnam, but like the 5,000 people that have told me they were there, I’d be lying.

*The two biggest human be-ings (besides Manute Bol) I ran into were Wilt Chamberlain at his Hall of Fame induction and 6’8” Ron Texeira of Catholic Me-morial High School.

In ‘64, Dave Wall, Mike Mar-tin and yours truly were instruct-ed to “Hack a Tex,” resulting in the big center going 13-14 from the line: final score CM 88-Ca-thedral 80.

Oh yeah, there was a guy named Patrick Ewing beating up on Holyoke High School in the Springfield Civic Center, I guess he fits in there also.

*I saw Rebecca Lobo of South-wick High School dominate in the Western Massachusetts Tour-ney when she was in seventh

grade (and eighth, ninth, 10th 11th and 12th).

People don’t seem to remember her brother Jason also was a good player at 6’9”. He went on to Dartmouth. Smart kids those Lobos.

Rebecca also excelled at serving up coffee and donuts at Mrs. Murphy’s in Southwick.

*On June 5, 2004, the Syriacs and the Pennas of Pittsfield were on the finish line at Belmont Park when Smarty Jones came up short on his Triple Crown bid and lost to Birdstone. I could not believe that 110,000 people could sound so quiet.

When Vince Scully covered golf on TV he once said, “listen to the silence.” On that day, I knew what he meant.

*I’ve played golf with Tip O’Neil and John Barrett III from the political arena, Gerry Cheev-

ers, John “Pie” McKenzie, Ray Bourque and Jim Roberts of NHL fame, K.C. Jones of the Celtics and played behind a four-some that included Bob Lanier and his size 22 golf shoes. I asked K.C. how long he had been play-ing golf and his answer was, “since I’ve been black.”

I think he was trying to tell me enough with the dumb questions.

*If my memory isn’t 100-per-cent accurate you can email The Beacon and let us know, that way we will know that we have your attention.

Berkshire Sports Guy:

Looking back at all those local connections and tales from the years

March 22, 2012

SportsThe Berkshire Beacon

The Williams College softball team dropped a pair of contrasting games Tuesday at the National Training Center, opening with a 4-3 loss to Allegeheny College when a seventh-inning rally was snuffed out by a fine defensive play and then getting shut down by Wisconsin Eau Claire in the nightcap, 7-0.

The Ephs are 1-3 on the trip to date. They took Wednesday off before taking on Western Connecticut and Hope on today.

In Tuesday's first game, Williams took a 1-0 lead in the first when Ali Hart singled up the middle and stole second. After a one-out walk to Kaitlin Dinet, Aly Ensor lined an RBI-single to center to score Hart.

The Gators bounced back, scoring four unanswered runs to take a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. Hart ignited an Eph rally with a lead-off double. With one out, Dinet reached on an error as Hart raced around to score. Ensor then came through with another RBI-single to make it a 4-3 game.

The Ephs put the pressure on Allegheny in the seventh as Zoe Dillon-Davidson singled to

lead off the inning. Following a sacrifice bunt, Allison Hart reached on a fielder's choice as Marina Scarantino was torn between making a play at the lead runner and the easy put out at first.

With one out and two runners in scoring position, Nealer struck out Mo Frank to set the stage for Dinet, who was robbed of a game-winning hit on Sadie Stuart's lunging stop on a hard-hit grounder to the right side.

Hart was three for four with two runs scored for Williams, which had seven hits. Ensor was two for three with two RBIs. Dinet started and went the distance for Williams, allowing nine hits over seven frames, walking four and striking out five.

In the nightcap, WECU hurlers Ashley Meinen and Laura Raflik combined on a six-hit shutout. Lindsey Precht was two for three for the Ephs. Emma Harrington got the start and went 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs, five earned, while walking two and striking out five. Megan Casey finished up with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The MCLA baseball team held off Gordon College in the open-ing game of a doubleheader, 10-9, before completing the sweep in the nightcap, 8-5, to end their Florida trip at 5-4 overall.

In the opener, the Trailblazers erupted for seven runs in the sec-ond inning to take command.

The inning was highlighted by three straight run-scoring singles by Alon Willing, Chase Preite and Derek Lescarbeau. Rory Slat-tery capped off the inning with a towering two-run homer to give MCLA a 7-0 lead.

Gordon rallied quickly though, pushing across four runs to cut the margin to 7-4 after three in-nings. The Scots collected two more in the fourth to pull within a run at 7-6 before MCLA ex-tended the lead once again in the fourth.

Willing singled to lead off the frame and came around to score on Mike Sullivan’s RBI hit. Joe Duncan came up big with a two-out, two-run single giving MCLA a 10-6 advantage.

Gordon added one in the fifth and two in the sixth before Dan-iel Gaines came in relief to shut

the door. He recorded the final five outs

in order, including a strikeout to earn the save.

DJ Clark earned the win in relief.

In the nightcap, MCLA fell be-hind 2-0 after one frame before having another outbreak in the top of the second. The Trailblaz-ers scored four times in the in-ning highlighted by Mike Man-civalano’s two-run double and Preite’s single.

Ross Miner shut down the Gor-don offense, tossing the first five innings. He allowed only three hits while striking out six. Slat-tery pitched the final two innings to complete the sweep.

Slattery and Preite each had three hits on the day, while Dun-can drove in three runs.

MCLA baseball wins doubleheader


NORTH ADAMS – Have you ever wondered what exactly a “trailblazer” is? Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is giving the public the power to decide.

MCLA is seeking input and ideas from everyone and anyone – students, alumni, faculty, staff and fans throughout The Berk-shires and beyond – to come up with a mascot to represent the Trailblazers.

“To have an actual ‘face’ repre-sent this college is pretty excit-ing,” said MCLA Senior Jackie Nash, who is one of six students on the mascot search committee.

The school will accept submis-sions until the end of the month via email at [email protected].

The search committee will meet in April to go over the sug-gestions before the ideas are passed along to the President’s Athletic Advisory Council (PAAC), which will make the fi-

nal decision on the mascot.The new mascot will be intro-

duced in October at “Midnight Madness,” the traditional start of MCLA’s basketball season.

MCLA adopted the Trailblazer name in 2002 in reference to connections to the historic and recreational trails in the North Adams area, including the Afri-can-American Heritage Trail, Ap-palachian Trail, Mohawk Trail and Taconic Trail.

“We have been talking about having a mascot that would com-plement the nickname Trailblaz-ers ever since we changed the

nickname,” said MCLA Director of Athletics Scott Nichols. “The idea is to have something we can have some fun with at games and other events like the fall foliage parade and camps and clinics. Hopefully, we can get a mascot that we can dress up and create some excitement with.”

Previous nicknames and mas-cots for MCLA include “Stacey” (a doll), “Gremlins,” “Professors” and “Mohawks.”

More information about the mascot search can be found on-line at mcla.edu/mascot.

Help MCLA find a new mascot

Senior Dan Gianes

Williams softball drops two

close contests

march 22 issue

Documents