To the editor:
Having bought home in Great Barrington 30-plus years ago, with three young daughters the attraction was the combination bowling alley, pin ball machines and indoor miniature golf at the Cove. It was soon after that we realized how fortunate we are to live in a community made up of nice people, just like Bedford Falls.
It’s a wonderful life is a story about George Bailey, who during a run on his bank considers ending his life until an angel named Clarence steps in to show him how important his life has been to those around him. The Frank Capra-directed film shows how an entire community can come together to avert a catastrophe.
I am sure there are curmudgeons here, just like “old man Potter” in the movie, but I haven’t met anybody who qualifies for that definition. Instead, whether it’s the folks who work at Price Chopper, Nancy the barber at Prime Cuts, Ed Domaney of the wine and spirit shop that bears his name, or countless others here that literally define the word “nice.”
Housatonic’s questionable water quality is our “run on the bank” catastrophe. Rather than people throwing up their hands saying, not my problem, instead, as a Town we are all in. The other day, many people attended a Selectboard zoom meeting to understand exactly what is going on, ask questions and as a community, work to fix the problem. (It brought to mind the Rockwell “Four Freedoms” painting in which a man stands up to ask a question at a town hall meeting.)
It is clear that our friends and neighbors who have been knee deep in this problem aren’t alone. Somehow the Selectboard will figure it out, hear a bell tinkle and just like Clarence, earn their wings. I am confident they will.
Frank Gunsberg
26 Hemlock Hill Rd.
Great Barrington
