In a letter to the editor, Robin Helfland writes, “Not only was the package a genuine help, it was a meaningful gesture of support for local businesses as together we face the challenge of this pandemic.”
Tag: Great Barrington Rotary Club
‘Masked’ businessman returns to Berkshire County bearing gifts from Mexico
The idea for retail businesses is that most will require masks of customers for the foreseeable future. If a customer does not have a mask, businesses can offer them one because they will now have a supply.
Bits & Bytes: Gangspil at Dewey Hall; ‘Acis and Galatea’; vegan Thanksgiving; Rotary Halloween painting
On Nov. 13, Rotary’s weekly lunch at Crissey Farm featured a presentation by Monument Mountain Regional High School art teacher Neel Webber of some of the best work in this year’s Halloween poster contest.
Bits & Bytes: Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival; Rotary Pumpkinfest; ‘True Dreams’ art show; dance workshop at Chesterwood
Pumpkinfest will be a family-friendly event that is considered an opportunity for expanded connections between Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and Columbia County, New York.
Rotary Club Bike & Fly: Fun for the family
The 2019 Rotary Club Bike & Fly, held Sunday at the Great Barrington’s Walter J. Kolodze Airport, had something for everyone, including cow plops.
For many Great Barrington voters, a tough decision for selectboard awaits
“I have no idea how this election will turn out. I put signs up this weekend. I asked some people to put up signs and they said no. They liked everybody.”
— Great Barrington Selectboard Chair Steve Bannon
George G. Francis, 76, of Lenox, former owner of the Berkshire Courier
Mr. Francis was a past member of the Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Squad, Great Barrington Rotary and the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce.
Downtown goblins and ghosts : A Great Barrington Halloween tradition — ‘It’s glorious’
“This event provides our students with the much needed opportunity to contribute their skills and energy to the supportive community where they live.”
— Neel Webber, Monument Mountain Regional High School art teacher
Business Briefs: Berkshire Trendsetter winners; Moulton joins Berkshire Grown; CHP welcomes Strickler; gift for GB Rotary Club; Arts Integrative Initiative
Berkshire Grown’s board of trustees is pleased to announce that Margaret Moulton has assumed the role of executive director.
Berkshire Bike-N-Fly promises day of fun and giving back
The full day of activities will also feature scenic airplane, biplane and helicopter rides as well as hot-air balloon rides. Participants can enjoy demonstrations of paragliding, skydiving and radio-controlled planes and helicopters — or you can try out the flight simulator.
Berkshire Tennis Association celebrates 25th anniversary: community spirit strong despite dwindling youth participation
Berkshire Hills Tennis Association co-founder Karen Johnson looks back fondly on the organization’s early years. She still has reams of photographs showing youngsters enjoying themselves on the new courts, as well as a table full of trophies.
William Dempsey, 100, of Great Barrington
The family moved the Dempsey’s Garage business to Great Barrington in 1937, operating on Railroad Street until 1947 when Mr. Dempsey and his brother, Matthew J. Dempsey Jr., took over the business and moved it to 42 Bridge St.
Great Barrington Rotary reaches million-dollar mark in student scholarships
Supporting student scholarships is one of the major community activities of the Great Barrington Rotary Club.
Tracy Seckler named citizen of the year by Great Barrington Rotary Club
Seckler has done a remarkable job to raise $36-plus million for Charley’s Fund to support research on Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy.
Great Barrington Farmers’ Market begins its 28th season
The Great Barrington Farmers’ Market is a producers-only market in the heart of historic Great Barrington and is lucky enough to be the host of 36 weekly vendors representing a wide array of the Berkshire dynamic food landscape.
Bits & Bytes: Truck Day; Family Cabaret Night at Sandisfield Arts Center; Narrative Film Festival; Polaris Piano Trio at Roe Jan Library
The Polaris Piano Trio performs programs that explore works by women and composers of African descent from the 19th century through the present.
Annual Halloween window painting brings student artists to downtown Great Barrington
“The event offers all the students a sense of accomplishment by having their art chosen to be painted in downtown Great Barrington in what now had become a popular and highly competitive school wide competition.” –Neel Webber, Monument Mountain Regional High School art teacher
Project Connection winds up program providing food for Berkshire Hills families
From September to June, one of every three students at Muddy Brook and one of every four at Monument Valley receives two meals for free or reduced price per day. That translates to 100 meals missing for those families, per child, during the 10 weeks of summer vacation.
Richard Krzynowek, 70, of Egremont, former president of Isgood Realty
He became the president of Isgood Realty in 1980, a position he held until his recent retirement. His broad knowledge of the marketplace, business acumen and personality made him the “go to” person amongst peers, earning him the title of the dean of Berkshire county real estate.
Airport to hold annual Bike-N-Fly this Saturday
On Saturday at the Walter J. Koladza Airport on Egremont Plain Road, there will be a full schedule of activities, the proceeds of which will benefit the Great Barrington Rotary Club’s higher-education scholarship program as well as various other local charitable organizations.
Rotary honors Terry Chamberland: Firefighter, coach and tireless volunteer
Chamberland’s portfolio of volunteerism and community involvement is extensive includes, but is not limited to, 41 years with the Great Barrington Fire Department, with a current rank of deputy chief; eucharistic minister and usher at St. Peter’s Church; and coach and director in numerous girls’ softball and basketball leagues.
Pastor Van, ‘Community Minister,’ retires after 30 years of service
Although the pivotal role of a Congregational minister in Massachusetts’s civic life has been greatly diminished, a minister like Pastor Van can still play a consequential role in a community. And for thirty years, Pastor Van was seemingly determined to do so.
WHAT’S COOKIN’: In the kitchen with Oskar Hallig
While living in Germany in the early 2000s, Hallig became addicted to cooking shows, and gradually came to realize that entertaining was what he really liked.
Bits & Bytes: Halloween window painting; Stardust Jazz performances; Deborah Golden Alecson lecture; Doctor Gasp at Dream Away Lodge; Berkshire Theatre Awards winners
The window painting is a longstanding downtown tradition that gives students a chance to casually interact through a positive activity with storeowners who help the students throughout the day.
BerkShares welcome at grassroots events: Bike-N-Fly, Oldtone Roots Music Festival
The sixth annual Berkshire Bike-N-Fly, a benefit event for the Great Barrington Rotary Club’s scholarship fund.
Bits & Bytes: Berkshire Bike-N-Fly; OLLI University Day; ‘Alternate Gravity;’ MiC documentary screening; art salon at L’Atelier Berkshires; ‘Cupcake War 2016’
“From Madness to Music” illustrates the power of music to bring people, particularly young people and those living in conflict regions, together on common ground.
Great Barrington Rotary Club awards $45,000 in college scholarships
In the past 15 years, the Great Barrington Rotary Club has given $600,000 in college scholarships to students from Monument and Mt. Everett high schools.
Bits & Bytes: Truck Day; Writers Read; paint & oil collection; Petrichor album release; new website for BNRC; Camphill Ghent tribute orchard
Truck Day will feature more 40 vehicles such as dump trucks, bulldozers, snow groomers, 18-wheelers, snowmobiles, police cars, and fire trucks for children to look at, climb on, sit in.
Jeane Kolburne Weinstein, 90, former director of Kolburne School in New Marlborough
In 1968, with the relocation of Kolburne School from Norwalk, Conn., the Weinstein family made their home in New Marlborough.
Notes, footnotes & queries
Great Barrington isn’t the precious theme park those living in the town’s Upper West Side imagine it to be.
Bits & Bytes: Ze’eva Cohen at Berkshire Pulse; Berkshire Grown holiday markets; ‘Fine Horses’ at Ventfort Hall; Lauren Clark gallery events; Watson Fund helps families
The Watson Fund collects food, clothing, and monetary donations during the holidays to be distributed by the Great Barrington Rotary Club to Berkshire County families in need.
Bits & Bytes: Spencertown Academy art exhibition; GB holiday decorations; MASSPIRG thanks Subway; Cash for Candy
‘Fur. Fin. Feathers.’ art exhibition at Spencertown Academy Spencertown, N.Y. — Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents its second annual juried regional art exhibition, entitled “Fur. Fin. Feathers.” Carrie Haddad of Carrie Haddad Gallery served as judge, selecting 56 oil paintings, watercolors, engravings, monoprints, mixed media assemblages, and photographs created by 27 local artists. On Saturday, October