Times have changed, but the formula remains stuck in 1949. The wealth disparities between neighboring towns simply did not exist at anything like their current scale. The founders of the regional school system could not have foreseen the inequity their formula has imposed on most towns today.
Affordability is the challenge. In relation to income, property taxes in Great Barrington are also higher than elsewhere in Berkshire County. Incomes in Great Barrington appear to be in the mid-range among its Berkshire County peers and neighbors, about equal to the state average and above the Berkshire County average.
Eighty percent of Great Barrington home owners would see their property taxes decrease. For the median home, valued at $294,400, the residential exemption would cut the tax bill 11 percent. Benefits would be concentrated in Housatonic village and Risingdale, where most tax bills would drop at least 20 percent.
Aldo was a 1944 graduate of the former Searles High School, after high school Aldo proudly served his country with the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII. Aldo worked as an area auto salesman for many years, and he was also a past member of the Housatonic Fire Department.
Betty toured with the Pro Musica throughout the United States and Europe for seven years. In 1967, her family transitioned to the Berkshires where she refocused her life on being a mother and teacher. She taught first and second grades at the former Dewey and Housatonic schools for a number of years before devoting her time to teaching voice at Bard College at Simon’s Rock for nearly 20 years.
As the TV anchors and the experts droned on and on with inane commentary, I wondered how many children in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya were being rendered homeless? How many children died of hunger, disease, and exposure while we got to know way too much about the 150 well-fed, adequately clothed, and financially secure people?
Angeline attended Sheffield schools. After school she worked for Monument Mills from 1941-1952 and then at Rising Paper Co. in Housatonic as a paper sorter for 23 years before retiring in 1978.
After school she worked for over 20 years at W.T Grant Department Store until it closed in 1976. After that she worked for Kmart for 32 years before retiring in 2012. Roseina bowled in the Wildcat Bowling League and was a treasurer of the league for more than 20 years.
Each passing aisle of graves is a page in a book. It might read like a mystery to people from away, but for someone who can read each page, there is history and memory, melancholy and remembrance.
In his letter to the editor, Housatonic resident Dave Long writes: "It is absolutely imperative that the School Committee demonstrate tangible progress in securing the health and well being of the district before town meeting season. While the process continues to open up, the Committee needs to formally establish the path to reform."
Marie worked for fifteen years in the shipping/receiving department at the Marian Fathers in Stockbridge before retiring in 1986. She was a member of the Altar and Rosary Society of Corpus Christi Church in Housatonic.
For a minor fire [Housatonic’s] gallons per minute is adequate — for anything major, they’re not. It would require thousands of feet of hose and multiple engines, and a delayed response. It would require a lot of manpower and laying in from the [Housatonic] river.”
-- Great Barrington Fire Chief Charlie Burger
I wouldn’t think piblotoq would be too difficult to diagnose in the Arctic, but given this winter extreme cold and dark I think I’ve had a couple of symptoms of the stuff myself.
We are very anxious to have you attend and take the role of principal speaker of the evening. We also hope to have a short talk by Judge Hinman and Dr. Charles H. Painter, both of whom I think you know. You will find many of your old friends in attendance, and we think we can assure you of a good time.
-- Clarence Sweet, superintendent of the Monument Mills in Housatonic, in a letter to W.E.B. Du Bois in 1925, inviting him to speak before the Alumni Association of Searles School
Winter came in shyly In December, masquerading as delicate snowflakes, but now cabins us in, piles up around our foundation, hangs over us as icicles, dripping melt one minute, a glittering sword to land on our heads the next.
“We want to create zoning that better reflects the fabric of the village. The hope is to have fewer hoops to jump through if people want to invest money in their property.”
--- Planning Board Chair Jonathan Hankin
