Lenox Garden Club to present annual garden tour
Great Barrington — The Lenox Garden Club’s 2017 house and garden tour will take place Saturday, July 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature five rarely seen properties in the Great Barrington countryside. Included in the tour will be Blue Stone Manor, the home of Dorinda Medley from “The Real Housewives of New York City.”
Blue Stone Manor is a classic Berkshire cottage that has been featured on TV and in Berkshire Magazine, and guests will be able to view several rooms before moving to the rose garden, pool terrace and open vista. Another destination on the tour will be unique family home constructed via the combination of several large antique barns: Visitors will enter the home and proceed to native stone walks, vegetable and perennial gardens, and views of the Green River. A home that appeared on the cover of the U.K.’s Homes & Gardens magazine, a LEED-certified house incorporating a number of ecological systems, and a Veranda magazine-featured property inspired by its owners’ love of classical art and sculpture will round out the tour.
Tickets range from $60–$100 and are limited. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar.
–E.E.
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Great Barrington Land Conservancy to rebuild trails
Great Barrington — The Great Barrington Land Conservancy has embarked on a summer-long project to rebuild the trails at the Pfeiffer Arboretum, a 27-acre nature preserve on Long Pond Road. Beginning this weekend, community volunteers will join Greenagers in removing old boardwalk and bog bridges and replacing them with new structures made from timber harvested in May from fallen black locust trees in the Lake Mansfield Conservation Forest.
“Right now, we are reaching out to our past volunteers and other members of the community to form ‘Friends of the Pfeiffer Arboretum’ to work on the trail construction and provide year-round stewardship,” said GBLC’s Christine Ward. “Volunteers are needed starting in mid-June through August to help remove decayed structures, stage new materials, assist Greenagers in trail construction, prepare planting areas as required by the conservation commission and assist on all work days. Later on, we need to monitor and maintain the trails.” After completion, the community will be able to enjoy the .7-mile-long walking trail with a native plant habitat and views of Long Pond.
An online list of volunteer tasks and work schedules is available. Those interested in volunteering may contact Ward at christine@gbland.org.
–E.E.
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First annual Berkshire Pride festival
Pittsfield — Berkshire Pride and the Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition will present the first annual Berkshire Pride festival on Saturday, June 24, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the First Street Common. The theme will be “Creating Community” and the festivities will include speakers, entertainment, a community resource fair and more. There will also be an LGBTQ Pride Parade around the park loop. The event is free, family friendly and open to the public. For more information, contact berkshirelgbtqpride@yahoo.com.
–E.E.
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Trinity College professor to speak on World War I
Sandisfield — Bill Cohn, visiting professor of history and American studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, will present a talk marking the centennial anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I on Saturday, June 24, at 4 p.m. at the Sandisfield Arts Center.
“Over There – The Great War to End All Wars a Hundred Years Ago, 1917-1918” will focus on how Americans were persuaded to support the war effort and how Cohn’s father, an America soldier on the European Western Front, managed to survive the war while his sweetheart at home worried. Cohn is a retired college administrator and historian who taught European history at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh; was executive assistant to the president at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; and served as associate dean of the business school at the University of Hartford.
Tickets are $10. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Sandisfield Arts Center at (413) 258-4100 or info@sandisfieldartscenter.org.
–E.E.
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Pinning ceremony recognizes practical nursing graduates
Pittsfield — Seventeen graduates of the licensed practical nurse certificate program at Berkshire Community College were recognized June 15 during a pinning ceremony at the college’s Robert Boland Theatre. Pins and certificates were presented to graduates Chelise Rondeau of Adams; Salina Kiplagat of Amherst; Megan Mahoney of Becket; Yormary Shogren of Cheshire; Angela Colson, Brittany Moore-Lusigan and Lindsay Ostellino of Dalton; Samantha Andrews of North Adams; Gregory Martin, Pamela Matson, Railea Rivera and Lesline Rostick of Pittsfield; Stephanie Fredsall of Sheffield; Anna Owuor of Springfield; Shauna Hoffman of Stephentown, New York; Valentina Gavel of West Springfield; and Natalya Sevostyanova of Westfield. The Clinical Award was presented to Ostellino, the Academic Award to Martin and the Professionalism Award to Sevostyanova. Graduates of the 10-month program are eligible to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses exam.
–E.E.
