To the editor:
My name is Joel Hotchkiss. My wife, Sandra, and I have been residents of West Stockbridge since 1993. If you live in this town as we do, the issues are obvious and the motives are transparent regarding the candidates’ stances in the upcoming Runoff Election between Kathleen Keresey and Jon Piasecki. For Mr Piasecki and his supporters, the single core issue in the election is to ultimately challenge the Foundry Performance Venue’s ability to exist and to ultimately put it out of business.
As downtown business owners for 30 years, I have seen a wide range of businesses move into our town and add to the unique diversity and character that West Stockbridge is known for and which attracts people from all over the Berkshires and beyond.
The Orient Express Restaurant and their wonderful founder/owners, Trai and Lui, were one of the first businesses to come to West Stockbridge in the early 1970s and add to that legacy of uniqueness. It feels ironic and disheartening to know that the daughter of Trai and Lui is trying to prevent that tradition from continuing with an endless stream of legal challenges against the fully functioning Foundry while the Orient Express operates with very limited open hours to the public.
Our Mobile Gallery and Studio is arguably the only one like it in the country. The TurnPark Sculpture Park went from concept to fruition and is an impressive and popular venue presenting world class art and events within our downtown Commercial District. No. 6 Depot is a popular and successful café and coffee roasting business that draws people from all over New England and beyond. The Shaker Mill Bookstore is a treasure to the town and to book aficionados nationwide. Baldwin Extracts is a more-than-100-year-old business that has survived because of its distinctive old recipe products and historical charm.
The Foundry represents exactly what West Stockbridge is and should strive to be.
When Sandra and I moved here from Oakland, Calif., we were thrilled to know there was a Vietnamese restaurant, thinking that it was so unusual to find in a small town in western Massachusetts. Oakland is diverse socially with every ethnic group represented, so when we arrived here in West Stockbridge, we were thrilled to discover the Orient Express restaurant as well as a German restaurant in the Williamsville Inn. There was La Bruschetta, an Italian restaurant across Harris Street from the Foundry. Pomodoro was a popular café that was then located in the Train Station. The French restaurant Rouge soon opened up as well. There was also “All Fired Up” Glass Blowing where the Foundry is now. All were unique and all have added to the character and reputation of West Stockbridge over the years.
Mr. Piasecki has behaved with brashness toward Kathleen and for all to witness without apology or regard for protocol at a recent Select Board meeting.
We enthusiastically support Kathleen Keresey, the incumbent candidate who demonstrates a professional demeanor and who wants to keep this tradition of uniqueness alive in our town while being fair to all parties in the process. Kathleen Keresey is the levelheaded leader the town needs.
Joel Hotchkiss
West Stockbridge
