Thursday, January 23, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

HomeLife In the Berkshires

Life In the Berkshires

BITS & BYTES: American Mural Project joins Museums for All; Olana summer art and nature program; Kitchen residency at Heirloom Lodge; Berkshire Theatre Group...

“We want to ensure that everyone, regardless of their financial circumstances, feels that they belong here,” said Amy Wynn, Executive Director of American Mural Project.

How Share the Bounty got started

I was struck by the notion that every dollar donated — in serving three goals —would effectively triple in value: supporting a local farmer, preserving our rural landscapes, and providing fresh, healthy food to community members in need. -- Jonathan Hankin, founder of Share the Bounty

Food Justice: So others may eat

According to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, roughly one in eight people continues to experience hunger in this part of the Commonwealth, an eye-opening fact. Furthermore, one in five children lives in food-insecure households.

Connections: Elm Court epitomized the (past) Gilded Age

'Elm Court…has become famous…as an example of what the progressive modern spirit, backed up by abundant capital, can accomplish.' -- Berkshire Resort Topics, 1904

Fairgrounds improvements on hold, awaiting required floodplain engineering studies

We are not professional developers. We’re the leading edge of a community movement to get this done and to make this happen at the fairgrounds. -- Janet Elsbach, co-proprietor of the Great Barrington Fair Ground

World Cup fever mounts in the Berkshires

It is a soccer extravaganza with an estimated worldwide viewing population of 3.2 billion humans, long anticipated and riddled with controversy. Yet soccer itself is the everyman’s game, ferociously beloved by both rich and poor, and everyone in between.

Living Room Theatre to pop up in Rotary Way: Taboo is the topic

We’re collecting performances about those things we don’t want to talk about, varying from the serious to the funny, like sex, death and politics." -- Pooja Ru Prema

Chelm 01262: On the march for a county of ‘bridges’

"We already have West Stockbridge and now we could get Lenox as North Stockbridge, Lee as East Stockbridge, Great Barrington as South Stockbridge and even Pittsfield as FarNorth Stockbridge." -- The Elders of Chelm 01262

David Magadini: Mayor of Main Street

He argues that by exercising his rights as a citizen of the United States – in this case, to vote and be a free citizen even though he has chosen to remain homeless -- he serves as a model to strongly encourage others to exercise their freedom as well.

Connections: The Bank Heist

The issue is not if drug and alcohol abuse constitute a legal defense; the issue is that there is a statistically significant relationship between addiction and crime.

They’re back … airborne guests at The Red Lion Inn

“If anything happens to this chimney at the Red Lion Inn," Chad McCormick worries, "a whole population of birds could be wiped out."

Rites of spring

Twenty years ago, in 1994, there were only 1,755 farmers' markets in the U.S. By 2013 the number had jumped to 8,144, and this year promises even more.

Mother Goes to Town Meeting

I look up and see Moses standing at the ready nearby, ready to lead us through another annual round of democracy. Next year, in the high school.

Negotiating the Berkshire Shuffle: Bowl of Cheerios deconstructed

Sometimes I dream of what it would be like to hand the wheel over to a co-pilot, just to gaze out the window for a bit.

Chelm 01262

He heard that there may have been more doctors for the treatment of psychological ailments per citizen in Stockbridge than in any other town or city in the world.

Negotiating the Berkshire Shuffle

I thought to myself at the time, “I’ll never have to resort to that -- after all here I am I'm a tenured professor."

If all goes according to plan…

In about 10 years Great Barrington should have newly reconfigured water lines and sewer system, bike lanes on all the major roads to offer an alternative to the automobile, a renovated railroad line to the New York Metropolitan Area.