Firefly remodels and rebrands itself
Lenox — Longtime Berkshire resident and restaurateur Laura Shack has just guided her restaurant Firefly through its first successful summer season following an extensive, three-month remodel and rebranding. Shack worked with Northampton-based Tom Douglas Architects, interior designer Shoshannah Wineburg, and general contractors D&S Builders to realize her vision of a more casual, lounge-like restaurant.
Shack has revamped her offerings to include an expanded craft beer menu and creative cocktail selections, live music every Friday, seasonally curated specials, extended kitchen hours. Renovation specifics include opening up the dining area to allow for a larger bar, a new lounge area with fireplace and couch seating, and the introduction of custom-crafted wood walls and stenciled design work.
–E.E.
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WAM Theatre makes record donation
Lenox — Every year WAM Theatre donates a portion of the box office proceeds from its fall main stage production to agencies that benefit women and girls locally, nationally, or internationally. The success of its co-production with the Berkshire Theatre Group of “The Bakelite Masterpiece” by Kate Cayley enabled the company to present its largest donation yet to its 2016 beneficiaries the Berkshire Immigrant Center (BIC) and Suzi Banks Baum’s New Illuminations project. Of this year’s total of $9,000, $5,500 went to BIC and $3,500 went to Suzi Banks Baum’s initiative in Gyumri, Armenia. In keeping with WAM Theatre’s double philanthropic mission, a gift presentation was made following the closing performance of “The Bakelite Masterpiece” on Oct. 23.
BIC will use its funds to help women from abused households navigate a path to citizenship in the United States. Banks Baum will use her donation to pay women artists in Armenia a stipend for their work as visual artists.
–E.E.
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BTCF gains new board members
Sheffield — Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (BTCF) has announced that Berkshire County residents Dr. Peter Dillon of Great Barrington and Pamela R. Green of Pittsfield have joined its board of directors.
Dillon was appointed superintendent of schools for the Berkshire Hills Regional School District in 2009, and was recently also named superintendent of the Shaker Mountain School Union. Previously, he was executive director of policy in the Office of Portfolio Planning at the New York City Department of Education where he helped to create and sustain more than 150 new schools. Dillon serves on the boards of the New England School Development Council and St. James Place and is a member of the Berkshire Compact for Education and Multicultural BRIDGE’s Race Task Force.
Green is a partner in the Pittsfield law firm of Smith Green & Gold, LLP. She served as managing editor of the Western New England Law Review and has authored or co-authored articles and book chapters in her practice areas. Green has been named to Boston Magazine’s “Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list and Berkshire Community College’s “Berkshire County 40 Under Forty.” She is on the board of the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority and Hancock Shaker Village’s audit committee.
Dillon and Green, along with Nancy Humphreys of Lakeville, Conn., join a regional board of 20.
–E.E.
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Jewish Women’s Foundation donates to Kids 4 Harmony
Pittsfield — The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Berkshire County has awarded Berkshire Children and Families’ Kids 4 Harmony program a $3,000 grant. Kids 4 Harmony’s programs at Morningside Community School and North Adams’ Brayton Elementary School is based on the internationally renowned El Sistema program of intensive classical music education and social change. The funds will be used to connect Kids 4 Harmony musicians with the wider community of El Sistema programs including the Longy Seminarios at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge.
–E.E.
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Berkshire Center for Justice receives grant
Great Barrington — The Berkshire Center for Justice was recently awarded a grant from Elder Services of Berkshire County to provide 50 hours of legal assistance to Berkshire elders 60 years old or older who can verify that they are low-income. The Justice for Seniors program will address such topics as Medicaid planning, construction of end-of-life documents, consumer protection abuses, elder fraud, consumer disputes including debt and credit card charges, and other legal issues.
–E.E.
