Wednesday, June 18, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

Bitter battle in Southern Berkshire Regional School District over teacher and staff contracts continues

When contacted by The Berkshire Edge, SBREA President Andrew Rapport, who is also a social studies teacher at Mount Everett Middle School, disputed many of the details in a press release published on behalf of Superintendent Beth Regulbuto regarding the contract negotiations.

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Stones Are The First To Rise’ by David Giannini

Tthe tone in every poem, and in the closely fitting entire volume, comes like songs on the breezes of the various seasons, where we are blessed by a genuine and believable optimism once again.

BRIGHT SPOTS: Week of June 18, 2025

Journalists are reporting on the constant chaos, but they are not featuring the Congresspeople who are speaking up. Here are a few; there are many more.

BITS & BYTES: MASS MoCA Community Day; Gabrielle Senza at Studio Lab Eleven; Hancock Shaker Village celebrates exhibits; Shawn Colvin and Rodney Crowell at The Mahaiwe; ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ at Tanglewood; Brooklyn Youth Chorus at PS21 Chatham; Taconic Music’s 9th summer festival opens; Music at the Southfield Church presents Rebecca Brudner and Dan Rubin; ‘A Eulogy For Roman’ at The...

Highlights of MASS MoCA Community Day include a "Roots & Rhythm” vocal workshop with Martha Redbone, a Cultural Apothecary activation in ‘The Prow” with Alison Pebworth, a talk on Ecstatic Aesthetics and Queer Mysticism with Transdisciplinary artist and educator MX Oops, a reading of “Super Gay Poems.”

LEONARD QUART: My time in America

My being at odds with dominant American values in Ohio gave me a clarity that living amid New York's many complex subcultures had not.

Berkshire Busk! to return for fifth season

“We’ve always said that we will do this as long as the community wants us to do this,” Berkshire Busk! General Manager Carli Scolforo told The Edge. “When I see people meeting up with their friends or children coming and dancing every single weekend, it makes me feel like we’re doing something important here."

CONNECTIONS: Bring back civics

If civics is dead, if the civility that underpins it and the citizenship that insists upon it are dead, then democracy is dead.

THEATER REVIEW: ‘Hurricane Diane’ plays at Hartford Stage through June 29

Madeleine George’s play in this excellent production is a hit of the season and deserves to be a sell-out smash. Get your tickets now!

PREVIEW: Anne Legêne and Larry Wallach to perform final concert on Sunday, June 22, at Kellogg Music Center

Bard College officially closes its Massachusetts campus at the end of the 2025 spring semester.

A celebration of meaning, purpose, joy, and happiness: Hevreh of Southern Berkshire’s 50th anniversary concert on June 29

“Hevreh has connected a sense of community where everyone feels connected,” Hevreh Senior Rabbi Jodie Gordon told The Berkshire Edge. “This is not a place where you go do Jewish activities and then you leave. We are all connected, both in people’s homes and out in the world."

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Crissey Farm

Crissey Farm is now booking weddings for 2024 and 2025. We host weddings for 80-180 guests. Make our beautiful home in the southern Berkshires your...

Live Event Paintings by Gail Fitzpatrick

Gail Fitzpatrick has been painting on location at wedding receptions and ceremonies in New England for fifteen years. With an artist’s eye, Gail captures...

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Cheryl A. Petell, 70, of Dalton

Calling hours will be held Thursday, June 19, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m., at Dery-Foley Funeral Home in Dalton. A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, June 20, 2025, at 10 a.m., at St. Agnes Church, officiated by Rev. Christopher Malatesta, Pastor. Burial will follow at Ashuelot Cemetery.

Lynn B. Herzig, 75, of Pittsfield

A memorial service for Lynn will be held on Wednesday, June 18, at 11 a.m., at the Christian Assembly in Pittsfield. There will be no calling hours, and burial will be private.

Marie Weatherhead, 90, of Lenox

A memorial service is planned at Roche Funeral Home in Lenox on Saturday, June 28, at 11 a.m. A reception will follow at Mazzeo's Ristorante in Pittsfield.

Theresa Ann (Kot) Macchi, 98, of Great Barrington

A Funeral Mass for Theresa will be held on Saturday, June 14, at 10 a.m., with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at Saint Peter’s Church in Great Barrington, with Reverend William P. Murphy Pastor officiating. Burial will follow in Saint Peter’s Cemetery.