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Business Briefs: Lenox trunk show; grant for CDCSB; Nature Matters launch; land trusts celebrate success; Berkshire Co-op Market board nominations

The Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire has received a $16,235 grant to to build low-to-moderate income housing.

Lenox businesses to collaborate in summer trunk show

Lenox — The Lenox Chamber of Commerce will present a multi-shop trunk show on three consecutive weekends in August. Each participating gallery will showcase guest designers and their work, with many having a designer/artist on hand for visitors to meet.

Pearls by Laurie Donovan Designs. Photo courtesy Lenox Chamber of Commerce

MacKimmie Co. will host Lizzy Lane Florals Saturday, Aug. 11, and Sunday, Aug. 12. Guests will meet Judy Stoklosa, local floral grower and designer and proprietor of Lizzy Lane Florals, and get a chance to pick up the perfect bouquet. Sohn Fine Art will present a trunk show Saturday, Aug. 11, and Sunday, Aug. 12, featuring jewelry by designers Dawn Wain and Jillian Greg, who utilize unique findings from around the world, often with cultural or historical meaning. Laurie Donovan of Laurie Donovan Designs will celebrate the opening of her new location at 63 Church St. and showcase a pearl collection in her sixth annual pearl show Saturday, Aug. 11, and Sunday, Aug. 12.

Annie Selke Lenox, 36 Main St., will feature a collection by designer Regina Andrew Friday, Aug. 17, and Saturday, Aug. 18. Her collection is founded on the belief that “everything we do should electrify the soul” and sparks self-expression and creativity through design. An American Craftsman will feature the work of Richard Rothbard’s Boxology, described as “poetry, psychology and philosophy in wood”; and Dan Hedblum of  Claymoon Copper, who creates three-dimensional copper wall art. The shop will be hosting the artists all three weekends of the show.

–E.E.

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Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire receives grant

Great Barrington — The Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire has announced that the Rural Local Initiatives Support Corporation has made a $16,235 grant to CDCSB, funding its work building low-to-moderate income housing and creating jobs in the Berkshires. This grant will provide capacity building support for the organization’s work in incorporating environmentally healthy housing into comprehensive, sustainable community revitalization efforts in the southern Berkshire region.

Rural LISC, a national program created to expand LISC’s reach beyond urban areas, provides a wide range of services including training, technical assistance, and information and financial support to help rural community developers address the problems rural communities face. It uses its Comprehensive Community Development Strategy to support its partners in expanding investment in housing and real estate, increasing family income and wealth, stimulating economic development, improving access to quality education, and growing healthy environments and lifestyles.

–E.E.

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Nature Matters founder Jen Leahey with a red-shouldered hawk. Photo courtesy Nature Matters

Nature Matters animal education program launches

Lee — New 501(c)(3) nonprofit Nature Matters offers educational programs featuring direct experiences with live animals and the outdoors for audiences of all ages at Leahey Farm on Reservoir Road and local venues including schools, libraries and community centers. The curriculum is designed to provide meaningful experiences and involve in-depth discussion while encouraging questions and exploration.

Founder Jen Leahey has held a lifelong passion for the natural world. Raised outside of Boston, she was the assistant curator of live animals at the Museum of Science and coordinator of farms at Old Sturbridge Village. Now living in Lee with her husband and two young children, she has started Nature Matters.

All of the animals are authorized and licensed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Animal educators include amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals including non-releasable wildlife such as foxes, skunks, tortoises and birds of prey. “Animal Experiences” workshops, offered with various time allotments, offer an introduction to a variety of species while other targeted themed programs such as “Nocturnal Animals” and “Adaptations” invite a closer look.

–E.E.

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Left to right: Stockbridge Land Trust President John Hyson ; Berkshire Natural Resources Council President Jenny Hansell and Laurel Hill Association President Shelby Marshall at a July 27 gathering in Stockbridge celebrating local land trusts. Photo courtesy Housatonic Valley Association

Local land trusts celebrate success

Stockbridge — On Friday, July 27, more than 50 friends and supporters of the Housatonic Valley Association gathered at the Stockbridge train station to highlight the collaborative efforts of HVA and its local land trust partners. Representatives from Laurel Hill Association, Great Barrington Land Conservancy, Sheffield Land Trust, Monterey Preservation Land Trust, Berkshires Natural Resources Council, Stockbridge Land Trust, Egremont Land Trust and New Marlborough Land Trust joined the celebration.

Hosted by longtime HVA supporter Richard “Stebbie” Stebbins of New Marlborough, the event offered guests cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a gallery tour of featured artwork from the River Art Project. Glendale artist Jim Schantz was in attendance, and he and his fellow artists have generously offered to donate a portion of the proceeds from their art sales to support HVA and Riverkeeper as they continue on their mission to protect the Housatonic River.

In keeping with the theme of the night, “Celebrating the Beauty and Preservation of the Housatonic River Valley,” HVA’s Berkshire director Dennis Regan shared a few words about the partnerships that are making the work successful. Today, more than 65 percent of the core woodland corridor in the Berkshires region is protected thanks to the efforts of local land trusts.

–E.E.

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Berkshire Co-op Market board of directors calls for nominations

Great Barrington — The nominations committee of Berkshire Co-op Market‘s board of directors has officially opened the election season with a call for nominations for its annual vote in October.

Every year, the more than 3,000 owners are invited to vote in the Co-op’s board elections. The board of directors, made of nine members, helps to steward and strengthen the Co-op as an important community-owned resource that contributes to a flourishing local food system; supports local farmers and food producers; and sells an outstanding selection of natural, local and organic foods.

There are four seats on the board open for election this year. Everyone is welcome to purchase a share in Berkshire Co-op Market and every shareholder in good standing who is over 18 years of age is eligible to run for a seat on the board and vote in the October election. The application deadline is Friday, Sept. 7.

For more information, contact marketing@berkshire.coop.

–E.E.

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