Berkshire County — The last few months of 2024 brought a fair amount of both cheer and sadness to Berkshire County. The Butternut Fire broke out in late November, and while the wildfire burned an estimated 1,670 acres, residents throughout the area rallied to support the firefighters who battled the blaze.
Around the same time, Bard College at Simon’s Rock announced that it would be shutting down its Great Barrington campus.
Despite the sad moments, people still came together throughout the holiday season at events including Sheffield’s tree lighting and Great Barrington’s Holiday Shop, Sip, and Stroll. These were the last four months of 2024 as covered by The Berkshire Edge.
September
On September 3, Great Barrington Selectboard Vice Chair Leigh Davis won the Democratic primary for the 3rd Berkshire District seat in the State House of Representatives, defeating fellow Democratic candidates Patrick White and Jamie Minacci, who are both members of the Stockbridge Select Board.
Housatonic Water Works (HWW) appealed the Great Barrington Board of Health’s Order to Correct on September 5. At the Board of Health meeting, attorneys for HWW stated that the company had “done nothing wrong.”
On September 7, Sheffield held its 23rd annual Sheffield Fair at Town Park. The fair included 44 vendors, booths from various town organizations, livestock from local area farms, children’s activities, music entertainment, and arts and crafts from local area businesses.
On September 11, Great Barrington held a 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the town’s firehouse. The event was co-organized by American Legion Post 298 and Veteran of Foreign Wars Adams-Budz Post 8183.
Also on September 11, in recognition of her virtue of service, Ruby Chang received the Rotary Club’s Citizen of the Year Award at Crissey Farm. Chang is a retired pediatrician who worked at Bayside Medical Center, Fairview Pediatrics, and Berkshire Health Systems over the course of her 40-year career, before retiring in May 2022.
On September 13, The Barn at Lee theater organization started its first season. The group uses the barn on 345 Spring Street in Lee to develop its programs and experimental theater art, including a residency program to allow for the development of theater art.
On September 14, the South County Recovery Center held its Smash the Stigma community event at Great Barrington Town Hall. The event was held to support those dealing with addiction, and community partners at the event included the Railroad Street Youth Project, MA Young People in Recovery, Spectrum Health Systems, Common Collab, and the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery.
The three-day Lee Founders Weekend was held from September 20 to September 22. The event was a celebration of town spirit and a commemoration of the 247th anniversary of the town’s founding.
The Taste of Lee was held during Founders Weekend on September 20.
On September 23, after two years of work, Egremont held a celebration at the Town Green of a road reconstruction project. The project started in October 2022 after the state’s Department of Transportation gave the town a $7.77 million grant for the project. The project included reconstructing 0.7 miles of state highway, from Creamery Road to North Undermountain Road, to create a “complete streets” design.
For the second year, the Berkshires/Columbia Counties Pay Equity Coalition held its Pay Equity Summit at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on September 25. The coalition, which was launched during a Multicultural BRIDGE Inclusive Leadership Cohort back in 2021, is funded in part by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
October
On October 8, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) cited Housatonic Water Works for withholding poor manganese test results. MassDEP subsequently fined the company $10,205 in November for the violation.
On October 9, Great Barrington Town Manager Mark Pruhenski announced that he would be leaving his position in January. Great Barrington originally hired Pruhenski in 2005 as its health agent.
The next day, on October 10, the town of Middlebury, Vt., announced that it had hired Pruhenski as its new town manager.
On October 11, the Lenox Select Board unanimously voted to hire Jay Green as its new town manager.
On October 20, the Great Barrington Rotary Club held its annual Truck Day and Pumpkin Drop event at Ski Butternut. The event was a benefit for the organization’s various community projects and its scholarship program.
On October 21, Berkshire County Superior Court Associate Justice John Agostini issued an injunction barring Great Barrington’s Health Department from enforcing an Order to Correct against Housatonic Water Works. The board first issued the original order on August 22 after three public hearings.
On October 22, Egremont resident Marlene Soudant was honored at a special town meeting for being the longest-serving poll worker in the commonwealth. Soudant first worked as a poll worker on November 3, 1964, when Democratic presidential candidate Lyndon B. Johnson went up against Republican Barry Goldwater.
On October 23, 28 immigrants became naturalized United States citizens at a ceremony held at the Norman Rockwell Museum. The newly naturalized citizens hailed from 21 different countries: Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Congo-Kinshasa, Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ghana, Hati, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Liberia, Russia, Uganda, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
On October 25, students from Monument Mountain Regional High School, W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School, Berkshire Waldorf School, and Hillcrest Educational Center all painted Halloween-related posters to be displayed in storefronts in the downtown Great Barrington area. The event has been held for the past 75 years.
On October 28, consultants from DPC Engineering LLC of Longmeadow and Harwich Port, Mass., presented a report on the value of Housatonic Water Works’s infrastructure at a special Selectboard meeting held at Monument Mountain Regional High School. The consultants stated that, while the fair market value of HWW’s infrastructure is $2.3 million, if the town were to acquire the company’s infrastructure, it would have to invest at least $33 million in repairs.
November
On November 1, owners of Gorham & Norton, a downtown Great Barrington staple, announced on their Facebook page that the store would close on December 31. The package store, located on 278 Main Street, was founded in 1911 by E.R. Humphrey.
On November 5, Democratic candidate Leigh Davis won in the race for the 3rd Berkshire District seat in the State House of Representatives. Davis defeated independent candidate Marybeth Mitts and took the seat of William “Smitty” Pignatelli, who announced in February that, after 22 years in office, he would not be running again.
On November 7, the Stockbridge Selectboard approved a bench to be dedicated by the family of Franklin Ripley on Elm Street. Ripley, 72, was the victim of a hit-and-run incident on Route 102 in Stockbridge early on the morning of September 28.
On November 11, the first Annual Gundam 22 Walk was held in Lanesborough. The event honored the life and service of 24-year-old Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob “Jake” Galliher, who was killed with seven of his fellow crew members in an Osprey V-22 when it crashed near Yakushima Island, Japan, in November 2023.
On November 18, a wildfire broke out on East Mountain in Great Barrington, soon to be dubbed the Butternut Fire in Great Barrington. As the wildfire raged on, smoke was reported in various towns and cities throughout Berkshire County and Connecticut.
On November 19, Great Barrington’s Selectboard declared a state of emergency, allowing the town to call in additional resources to fight the wildfire. Local residents, companies, and organizations, all stepped up to donate water, packaged foods, and gift cards to firefighters fighting the fire.
On November 19, Bard College Board of Trustees and Bard College at Simon’s Rock Board of Overseers announced that Bard College at Simon’s Rock will be leaving Great Barrington. The campus is slated to move to Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., in fall 2025. As part of the move, around 100 full-time staff members will be laid off, along with 100 part-time employees.
December
On December 4, the Berkshire Hills Regional School District’s Building Committee approved pursuing the construction of a new high school building. If the project is completed, the new building would replace the existing Monument Mountain Regional High School building, which is located at 600 Stockbridge Road and opened in 1968. The school district serves students in Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge.
On December 6, NBC’s “Today Show” broadcasted from Stockbridge.
On December 8, Sheffield held its 97th annual tree lighting event.
Great Barrington held its annual Holiday Shop, Sip, and Stroll in the downtown area on December 14.
In late December, Great Barrington Fire Chief Scott Turner wrote in an email to The Berkshire Edge that the Butternut Fire was out and that the blaze had burned an estimated 1,670 acres. Turner added that the cause of the fire may remain a mystery.
