Berkshire County — In the final part of our 2023 year in review, we look at the last three months of the year, from October to December.
The main highlights of the last few months of the year include the downfall of a proposed eight-town school district merger, along with political events including pro-Israeli and pro-Palestine rallies. Celebrations of history and heritage were held in Great Barrington with the annual Festival Latino of the Berkshires event and Alliance for a Viable Future’s annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrations.
These are the stories The Berkshire Edge covered for the remaining months of the year of 2023, from October to December.
October
On October 2, The Berkshire Edge published an article about the annual Festival Latino of the Berkshires event, which took place in downtown Great Barrington on September 30. The event was a celebration of the contributions of Hispanic Americans to culture and society.
After completing a long-in-the-works renovation project, the swimming pool at the Berkshire South Regional Community Center reopened on October 4. The 25-yard, six-lane swimming pool is part of the Norris Aquatics Center.
The Alliance for a Viable Future held its annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrations on October 6, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, and October 9, at Giggle Park in Great Barrington. The holiday honors Native American peoples and their cultures and takes place on the second Monday in October, on the Columbus Day federal holiday.
Multicultural BRIDGE (Berkshire Resources for Integration of Diverse Groups through Education) celebrated its 15th anniversary at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket on October 8. Over the years, BRIDGE has provided multiple services and programs for the Berkshire County community, including cultural competence community training, racial justice programming, women’s groups, and other educational support programs for schools and businesses.
On October 9, The Berkshire Edge covered The Red Lion Inn’s 250th anniversary. The Stockbridge-based business opened back in 1773.
Barbara Faecher Watkins, owner of Evergreen Fine American Crafts, announced on October 9 that she would be retiring at the end of March. Watkins started the store 44 years ago at 9 Railroad Street, where GB9 is presently. She subsequently moved the store to 34 Railroad Street before moving to its current location at 291 Main Street, where it has been for the past 34 years.
On October 10, the Berkshire Communists group led a pro-Palestine/Hamas protest in the downtown area. The group protested against Israel in front of Town Hall before marching down Main Street in Great Barrington.
On October 11, hundreds of residents from throughout Berkshire County came out for a community vigil for Israel at Park Square in Pittsfield. The vigil was a response to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel when, during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah on Shabbat, Hamas fired thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Great Barrington’s Rotary Club held its annual Truck Day and Pumpkin Fest at Ski Butternut on October 15. The event was a fundraiser for the club’s projects, along with organizations the club works with, including the Berkshire South Regional Community Center, Community Access to the Arts, Fairview Hospital, the People’s Pantry, Railroad Street Youth Project, the Watson Fund, and various scholarships for graduates from local schools.
In late October, a long-in-the-works school district merger agreement between Berkshire Hills and Southern Berkshire Regional School Districts went down in defeat at special town meetings. For the merger to have gone into effect, residents at eight special town meetings would have all had to have passed the agreement. On October 21, a majority of residents at the Egremont special town meeting voted against the agreement. Meanwhile, on October 23, residents of the towns of Monterey, New Marlborough, and Sheffield, all part of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District, voted down the agreement at their respective special town meetings. Alford was the only town in the Southern Berkshire Regional School District to approve the school district merger agreement at its special town meeting.
Students from Monument Mountain Regional High School, W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School, Berkshire Waldorf School, and Hillcrest Educational Center all took part in the annual Halloween window-painting contest on October 25. The contest, which goes back several decades, was sponsored by the Great Barrington Rotary Club.
Great Barrington held an unveiling ceremony for Elizabeth Freeman Way on October 28, in front of Town Hall, adjacent to where the signs commemorating Elizabeth Freeman Way were installed.
November
The Berkshire Waldorf High School held its annual open house event on November 3 to celebrate the school’s students and classes, as well as its future with a new building on the horizon.
More than 50 people took part in a pro-Palestine protest in front of Town Hall on November 4. Before the protest, at least one poster advertising the event was placed on the campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock. According to the poster, the protest was co-organized by the Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, the Coalition of Simon’s Rock Student Groups, and the Berkshire Communists.
Those who served were celebrated all across the country on Veterans Day, November 11, including at a low-key event in Sheffield at Barnard Park, which was organized by the Sheffield Historical Society,
The current state of farming and agricultural issues were discussed at the 10th annual ThinkFOOD conference on November 4. The event was held at the Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
Five months after closing its doors, and after several struggles and dramas surrounding its ownership, Triplex Cinema reopened on November 17. The community-based nonprofit Save The Triplex purchased the cinema from the previous owner, South Egremont resident Richard Stanley, in late July for $1 million.
The holiday season got off to a harmonic start on Saturday, November 25 as Berkshire Bach held its annual community sing-along of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.”
December
On December 1, it was confirmed that U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob “Jake” Galliher died in a plane crash on November 29. Galliher, 24, a Taconic High School graduate, was one of eight crew members who were flying in an Osprey V-22 that crashed into the ocean off the coast of Japan.
On December 4, after three applications, Great Barrington Selectboard approved Price Chopper’s liquor license. The store is located at 300 Stockbridge Road.
Hundreds of people gathered throughout the downtown area for the annual Holiday Shop, Sip, and Stroll event on December 9. The annual event was organized by the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce and included activities for the whole family throughout the downtown area. Multiple local businesses and nonprofit organizations took part in the day-long event.
On December 11, a few months after the Alford Select Board received media attention due to the situation between the town and property owner James Chambers, who leads the Berkshire Communists, the Select Board voted at their meeting to shut down Zoom access to its meetings. Despite multiple warnings against Chambers, the town had yet to take action against him and his “People’s Gym,” on his property 274 East Road, for use of the property outside of its permit. Later on, it was revealed that neither Chambers nor his attorneys ever responded to any of the cease and desist letters sent by the town.
At the beginning of the December 12 Great Barrington Selectboard meeting, Chair Bannon announced that the board had instructed Town Manager Mark Pruhenski to conduct “what we believe will be the final study in this process” to determine whether or not the town would acquire Housatonic Water Works. The announcement was the latest chapter in the long-running saga concerning the troubled company.
The year ended on a very controversial note in Great Barrington as it was revealed that the Police Department conducted an investigation at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School over the book “Gender Queer.” The investigation was covered by national media outlets. Subsequently, Police Chief Paul Storti issued an apology. On December 28, the department released bodycam footage of the investigation. Going into 2024, the controversy continues to linger on.
