Dec. 8th Berkshire Beacon

December 8, 2011Volume II, Issue 29

www.berkshirebeacon.comLenox, MA 01240

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1 Local News 6 Editorial6 From the Tower5 College Sports Report9 Fast Picks10 Calendar12 Fun & Games15 Movies 15 Girl-2-Girl16 The Mount Grant

All your Holiday dress up

needs - Page 3

The Berkshire Beacon

Index

Bridge over troubled waters

see CENTER page 9

see HOMETOWN page 3

Photo Credit / JoesPh C. doboszynski

The bridge over the Housatonic River in Pittsfield has fallen down causing some community members to call for the bridge to be re-placed.

Stockbridge Christmas weekend deemed a success

Susan Wicker GuerreroBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – Ever since she was a child, Ellen Merritt, the new executive director of the Christian Center, says she has had compassion for the poor and downtrodden.

Her parents, Matthew and Anne Merritt, probably had a big influence on her.

They started the former Lenox-based Valleyhead in 1969.

It was a private residential school for troubled teenage girls. Tuition per student could run annually between $100,000 and $150,000, Ms. Merritt said.

She and her five siblings grew up in social services.

“It’s in my blood and in my heart,” she said.

Officially appointed in November but on board as interim director since

last June, Ms. Merritt has already initiated a slew of changes. For example, there’s been a monumental cleaning-up of the Center. The boutique, which offers clothing, has been revamped and organized. It’s now more “user friendly.” Items are now marked and sized.

More changes are in the wind as soon as the new executive director has a chance to catch her breath.

Founded in 1892

The Christian Center was founded in 1892 by parishioners of the First Methodist Church. It’s the oldest nonprofit human services agency in the Berkshires. The Center has a Food Pantry, programs for children, a clothing boutique, and a wide range of other services for those affected by

Photo Credit / kameron z. sPaulding

2500 turnout for Rockwell inspired eventFull Recap Page 8

Giving BackChristian Center names new director

to lead the group into next year

George C. JordanBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD-Paddlers who use canoes and kayaks have described the area along the Housatonic River as one of beauty and a peaceful serenity between people and the natural environment.

Today, a bridge that once trans-pired over the Housatonic River near Fred Garner Park and on land be-lieved to be owned by General Elec-tric on East New Lenox Road has fall-en into disrepair and blocks part of the access to the river for the people

to have access north and south on the river.

Joseph C. Doboszynski writes

Joseph C. Doboszynski of 64 Quirico Drive has become the focal point person of cleaning up one sec-tion of the river to make its appear-ance one without steel railings laying in the water.

Herein is Mr. Doboszynski story: “While kayaking down the Housa-tonic River from Fred Garner Park on

Small damaged bridge near Fred Gamer Park causes community

outrage

2 The Berkshire Beacon December 8, 2011


PITTSFIELD – The city’s an-nual Christmas Tree Lighting cer-emony last weekend attracted scores of adults and children, bundled up to their necks to keep warm in very chilly temperatures.

A cold drizzle of rain fell, too, right before the switch turned on thousands of lights on a towering Christmas tree, donated by Berk-shire Medical Center.

The turn-out for the special event proved, without a doubt, that New Englanders do not let weather dictate their decisions when it comes to participating in holiday events. The mood was uplifted as people buttoned up jackets and hugged their children while waiting for the big moment.

Becky Tefft, Pittsfield’s Recre-ation Activities Coordinator, wel-comed the crowd that jammed together in Park Square. She thanked many people involved in preparing for the ceremony in-cluding maintenance workers who hoisted the tree into its position.

Patrick’s Pub provided free hot chocolate and people waited in lines to get their cups.

The eyes of children, as well as adults, got wide when the tree

lights came on and there were lots of exclamations throughout the crowd. People craned their necks to look way up to the top of the towering tree.

Many people brought non-per-ishable food items, too, for the Christian Center’s Food Pantry.

One teenager in the crowd be-gan to sing “Oh, Christmas Tree” after the all the tree lights came on.

A man with white hair and matching beard, dressed in a red suit and hat, caused a sensation when he arrived via fire engine.

It circled Park Square and San-ta finally got off the truck. He had a special seat waiting for him in the park where dozens of kids came to talk to him.

On his way out of Park Square, one little boy gave his opinion of Santa to his grandmother.

“Grandma,” he said. “That Santa was an imposter.”

“What makes you think that?” the grandmother asked.

“Because his hair looked like wool.”

Despite the little skeptics in the crowd, it was a fun time for all.

The ceremony was part of Hol-iday Pittsfield, a Downtown Cel-ebration that lasted throughout the weekend. All kinds of activi-ties took places including orna-ment-making, films, concerts and the Festival of Trees at the Berkshire Museum.

Catherine KrummeyBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX – Deciding how to display the history of a town like Lenox is quite the ordeal.

But that is what the Lenox His-torical Society will do with their new exhibit at the Lenox Acade-my building at 65 Main St.

The exhibit, which will be on display through April, showcases a variety of items the society has accumulated throughout its 30-year history.

Mrs. Sally W. Schuler, a Lenox resident and historical society member, was one of the attendees at the open house.

“I like what they do here,” Mrs. Schuler said. “They always have very interesting items on display.” For Mrs. Victoria P. Salvatore, the Lenox Historical Society Curator, one of the highlights of the exhib-it is a book of meeting minutes from 1803 from the Lenox Acad-emy, which was founded that same year.

The book is on display along-side a handwritten list of acade-my students and administrators from 1806.

“Those are very special items to

us,” Mrs. Salvatore said. Another focal point of the exhibit is a 1967 hooked rug tapestry, which was based on an 1839 im-age of Lenox and made to cele-brate the town’s bicentennial.

Throughout the two-room ex-hibit, visitors can find about 90 images, documents and other ar-tifacts celebrating the Town of Lenox’s 244-year history.

Mrs. Salvatore assembled the items by pulling three or four items the society has received each year since it was started.

The Lenox Historical Society was first started in 1980, but be-came incorporated in 1981 as an off-shoot of the town’s historical commission.

“Lots of people found things in their basements that were histori-cally valuable, and they didn’t know what to do with them,” Mrs. Salvatore said.

Mr. Charles L. Flint, the cur-rent Lenox Historical Society Board President, has been in-volved with the society through-out its 30 years.

“From the time I was a kid, I’ve been obsessed with history,” Mr. Flint said.

Mr. Flint considers the slag

glass digs he went on with Lenox Historical Society Founder Nan-cy D. Marasco and other society members in Lenox Dale to be some of the highlights of his his-torical society experiences.

Salvatore, a Lenox native, has been involved with the historical society since 1998, and considers the start of the society’s tempo-rary exhibits in 2004 to be an im-portant part of her memories there.

“When we decided to have temporary exhibits, we started with one on weddings prior to 1955,” Mrs. Salvatore said. “We collected photos from friends and relatives to put on display and also had two wedding gowns – one from 1883 and one from 1900 or 1901. The exhibit drew in so many locals and put a fresh face on the historical society.”

Salvatore finds each new exhib-it to be an integral part of the so-ciety and the town.

“It’s very rewarding for us as a board to have these exhibits, each one brings a lot of new faces in,” Mrs. Salvatore said. “Every time I’m here, I learn something new about the Town of Lenox. It’s amazing.”

Lights are on in Pittsfield

Lenox Historical kicks off their 30th anniversary

New exhibit on the town will be on display until April

Photo Credit / Catherine krummey

Lenox Historical Society Board Members Mrs. Marilyn S. Valeri (Treasurer), Mr. Charles L. Flint (President) and Mrs. Victoria P. Salvatore (Curator) at the recent event.

Photo Credit / susan WiCker guerrero

Santa makes his arrival at the Pittsfield lighting.

December 8, 2011 The Berkshire Beacon 3

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PITTSFIELD - If Santa or Mrs. Claus misplace their red and furry white outfi ts this Christmas season, not to worry. Kathy Kearns, owner of be.spoke, a new costume shop in town, has got them covered.

She has a ton of Santa and Mrs. Claus suits that rent for as little as $25 each, minus the white wigs.

be.spoke bills itself as a “cus-tom costuming, design, sales, and rentals” business.

Located on First Street

Located at 146 First St., it’s ac-tually open by appointment. Eventually, Mrs. Kearns plans to have set part-time hours, possibly Thursdays through Saturdays.

After the holidays, be.spoke will be offering vintage retail such as hats, jewelry and clothes, all of which will be for sale. There are fl ashy brooches for sale right now.

Walk into the 850 square feet of shop and there is plenty to see. Racks contain costumes ranging from fl appers and southern belles to cowardly lions and Renais-sance men. There are outfi ts de-picting Civil War attire, cowboys, Indians, Star trek, and George and Martha Washington, too.

Ursula the Sea Witch

A huge purple “Ursula the Sea Witch”costume hangs from above. Mrs. Kearns made it last Christmas for the musical perfor-mance, Romance, Soul, and Rock and Roll. She bought some of the material at Goodwill. She also took apart a black gown to incorporate into Ursula’s digs. The result is amazing.

An immensely talented seam-stress with a bubbly personality, Mrs. Kearns made an intricately detailed and wildly colorful outfi t depicting Joseph’s technicolor dream coat, also for Romance, Soul, and Rock and Roll.

She’s been doing costumes for local productions for years. Her husband, John, is a surgeon who loves to sing and dance in local shows in his spare time.

He’s been very supportive of his wife’s business venture.

A Lenox Resident

Mrs. Kearns, a Lenox resident, worked in her husband’s offi ce for many years but be.spoke is her fi rst venture into the business world doing something that ben-efi ts her own interests and talents.

Both of her grandmothers and mother were talented seamstress-es and it appears that Mrs. Kearns inherited their sewing genes.

“It’s a dying art,” she said of sewing. To help keep it alive, Mrs. Kearns has even taught sew-ing lessons at the Lenox Commu-nity Center.

Her work is startling in its in-tricacy and detail.

She has also done costumes for Broadway to the Berkshires pro-ductions, the proceeds of which have helped heart patients at Berkshire Medical Center.

“One year they raised $60,000,” Mrs. Kearns said.

Romance, Soul, and Rock and Roll has contributed money to the Jimmy Fund as well as to the Colonial Theater.

Found a Rental

Last March, after fi nishing up a Christmas show, Mrs. Kearns de-cided to open up her own cos-tume studio. It took six to eight months to open. When she saw a big “For Rent” sign in the win-dow of the space at 146 First St.,

she snatched it and began plan-ning how to pull it all together.

A small-statured woman with short gray hair, Mrs. Kearns has a ready smile and spirit of optimism.

“This is going to be a really ex-citing store,” she said of her new venture. “I’m here and I’m hope-ful to bring people what they need” in terms of costumes, she said.

If people used to rent from Berkshire Masquerade, they are going to fi nd costumes at be.spoke, Mrs. Kearns said.

She bought two basements fi lled with costumes from the for-mer Berkshire Masquerade, origi-nally known as Parrottphernalia on East and then North Street.

Costume rental from her store is going to be very affordable, Mrs. Kearns said, ranging from $10 to $65 per costume. If teach-ers who need to rent costumes come in to the shop, Mrs. Kearns said she’s ready to give them a “good deal.”

“The sky’s the limit,” she said of her new store.

These days, a lot of people have theme weddings such as Renais-sance or the fl apper era. They will fi nd costumes galore in be.spoke.

“I have an array of nice formal wear,” Mrs. Kearns said.

Even though she will not be making curled elf shoes this Christmas, she is considering one potential customer’s request to sew a tuxedo for a dog!

Photo Credit / susan WiCker guerrero

Kathy Kearns, owner of be.spoke, a new costume shop in town, shows one of the many Mrs. Santa outfi ts available for rent.

Local costume shop gets in the Christmas spirit


Dick SyriacBeacon Sports Columnist

LENOX - If you check the 2011 team picture of the Bentley University basketball squad it ap-pears to be of the standard variety.

Everyone standing up straight, uniforms are clean, everyone has on new sneakers and there are two upperclassmen seated front and center and they both have a hand on the team basketball with the label facing the camera.

Nothing out of the ordinary going on there.

Upon further review you might notice something that Lenox and Berkshire County hoop fans have rarely seen, Kevin Carpenter without a basketball in his hands.

During his stellar career at Lenox HS he always had the ball , primarily because nobody could take it away from him. County coaches, prior to their encounters with the Millionaires would de-vise all kinds of gimmick defenses

, traps and presses to at least slow him down.

If that didn’t work plan B was to keep the ball out of his hands. They knew to beat Lenox they had to not let Kevin Carpenter “ go off ”.

Carpenter went over the 1000 pt. career mark in his senior year , not bad for a kid that seemed to always look to get his teammates involved in the scoring first.

From Drury assistant coach Ed Noel, “Kevin could go for stretches without scoring and he was still the best player on the court.”

“He had a knack for getting the ball to players at the right time for easy hoops, a very unselfish player who always let the game come to him. He was very diffi-cult to pressure and if you fouled him , he was automatic from the line.”

Outgoing Lenox coach Brian Cogswell, currently Dean of Stu-dents, had nothing but praise for his former point guard and be-lieves he can be an asset to the Bentley program .

“Kevin walked on at Bentley and that is not common practice for a school like that. A returning point guard elected to spend this year studying abroad so they needed to replace him. Kevin had introduced himself to coach Law-son early in the year and things worked out . He will learn his roll and will be productive when giv-en a chance.”

Assistant coach Kevin Betten-court , a Peabody, MA native who played his ball at Bucknell said “Kevin stuck his head in the of-fice door and more or less said “if you need a body , I’m here” and we are glad he did. He makes our guards work so hard in practice when its game time they are ready for anything.”

I recall another “walk on“ from Western MA. that made it pretty big. Jay Heaps of Longmeadow HS while on scholarship at Duke for soccer filled a void for Coach K when some players were in-jured and stayed the entire season.

Heaps was recently named coach of The New Eng-

land Revolution. Kevin Carpenter is enjoying

the challenge at the college level and points out “ the game is fast-er , the talent is amazing and I’m doing something that I never did in high school , lift weights”.

Bentley coach Jay Lawson knows a bit about coaching, hav-ing averaged 27 wins a year over the last seven years including 54 straight to conclude the 2008 season.

He added “Kevin is a great kid and is doing an exceptional job as a walk on.”

Bits and Pieces:

* Dylan Kelsey , who had a fine hoop career at St. Joe is on the Vermont Academy roster.They are #20 nationwide in the 5 Star High School Power Rankings.

Ranked #4 is Huntington Prep of West Va. who feature a front line of 7-2, 6-10 and 6-8. They are ranked 4th ???? Where do they find these guys.

* St. Johns lost to Texas A&M

at MSG Nov.18, 58-57. By the way, the Johnies missed 16 foul shots. May I suggest coach Steve Lavin put Kevin Carpenter on speed dial ?

* Watching Blake Griffin do

commercials for KIA reminds me of Wilt Chamberlain climb-ing out of a VW Rabbit back in the 70s.

If I recall correctly Wilt had no lines, just the fact that he could get in and out of the car spoke volumes.

* A safe winter to every-

one’s favorite PGA golf profes-sional John Wells . John resides in Lenox and is a fixture at the Cranwell practice facilities, always willing to help a “game” in need of tweaking.

Winter well partner, lets do lunch at the “Heritage Tavern”soon and this time we will sit INSIDE !

Answers to Nov. 23Puzzles:

Berkshire Sports Guy...

Former “Millionaire” makes Bentley squadKyle Carpenter of Lenox has made the basketball team at the school as a walk-on


College Sports Report

No. 7 Williams men’s basket-ball stretched its win streak to five games tonight with a 70-52 win over Worcester State in the final of the Hockenbury Classic.

The Ephs improved their re-cord to 6-1 on the season with the win, while the Lancers fell to 2-4.

Williams head coach Mike Maker was pleased with the way his team played in the win.

“I thought it was a game where we played some of the better de-fense we’ve played since I have been head coach at Williams,” said Maker. “We held them to 37 percent from floor with defensive discipline. We played great team basketball today, and we shared the ball. Worcester is a tough-minded team, and they are very athletic. Coming away with a tournament championship was a goal of ours ahead of the week-end. This weekend performed well and took steps in right direc-tion. We are better today than we were prior to coming here.”

The Ephs took a 19-11 lead less than 10 minutes into the game, but Lancers took advan-tage of five consecutive Williams misses from beyond the arc to take a 22-19 lead with 7:19 to play in the half. The lead was the Lancers’ last of the game, though, as the Ephs responded with a 17-4 run to close the half with a 36-26 lead.

Worsceter outshot Williams 44 percent to 42 percent in the first half, and both teams made 11 field goals.

However, the Ephs were effec-tive at forcing turnovers, as the Lancers committed 10 in the first half, and Williams was able to earn several more trips to the foul line, hitting 9-10 free throws to Worcester’s 2-2.

The teams traded buckets com-ing out of the break before Wil-liams picked it up and slowly stretched its double digit lead through the rest of the game.

#7 Williams keeps winning at Hockenbury Classic

MCLA placed four players in double figures, led by Vernon Cross' 15 points en route to an 83-75 win over Southern Vermont in the con-solation game of the Tri State Shootout.

The Trailblazers are now 2-5, while Southern Vermont remains win-less at 0-6.

Tyriq Rochester was named to the All Tournament team, following up Friday's solid performance with 13 points Saturday.

MCLA jumped out to a ten point advantage at halftime (48-38) as Tyriq Rochester collected 10 points in the opening period. The Trail-blazers opened up their lead after Bilal Shabazz dropped a pair of free throws extending the lead to 54-40.

After Southern Vermont trimmed the lead to seven, the Trailblazers would again push forward.

After a Cross layup, MCLA led comfortable at 81-65 with just 3:17 to play. SVC would never threaten from there.

Cross was 6-7 from the floor and added 6 rebounds on the night. Tyriq Rochester added 13 points and 7 caroms. Chris Harris also col-lected 13 points, while Shabazz added 10 off the bench.

Jordan Santiago led SVC with 22 points. Taeshon Johnson added 20, while Robert McQueen added 15. Avery Mitchell chipped in with 13.

MCLA notches big road win

The Ephs led by as many as 22 in the half, and Williams ulti-mately outscored Worcster 34-26 half, allowing the team to walk away with the 70-52 victory.

Williams shot far better from the field in the second half, hit-ting 54 percent (13-24) of their field goals.

They also improved their de-fense, holding the Lancers to 31 percent (9-29) shooting from the floor.

Taylor Epley paced the Ephs with 16 points. Michael May-er came off the bench to add 12 to Williams’ tally, while James Kl-emm and Hayden Rooke-Ley rounded out the Ephs in double figures with 11 points apiece.

Four Lancers were able to score in double figures on the game, led by Robert Hunter with 14 points. Hunter also pulled down a game-

high 11 boards. Epley was named to the all-

tournament team, and Wil-liams’ Nate Robertson was named the tournament MVP. Although Robertson only scored three points and had three assists on the night, and averaged eight points and five assists per game over the two games, he was inte-gral to Williams’ success in the tournament.

“It’s not about statistics,” said Maker. “We’re a better basketball team when Nate Robertson is on the floor. He’s our quarterback. We are not concerned with indi-vidual honors – we concern our-selves with team play. I am very pleased that Taylor [Epley] was named to the all tournament team, and that Nate was the tour-nament MVP, but I am really happy with how we played as a team today.”

MCLA placed four players in double figures in rolling past Johnson State 85-39 for their sec-ond straight win.

The Badgers are now 1-6 over-all while MCLA stands at 4-2 overall, 0-0 Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC).

The Trailblazers put four play-ers in double-figures led by Alie Dobrovolc who scored a game-high 21 points. Jen Wehner scored 17 and grabbed eight boards, Lucy Tremblay scored a dozen, and Danielle Beauchamp had a 10-point, five-rebound night.

JSC was paced by senior guard Andrea Deuell who scored 14 points and had five assists, five re-bounds, and two steals.

Freshman Brittany Robertson added nine points and six re-bounds while Madeline Pritchard chipped in with eight points.

The game was back and forth

for the first four minutes with MCLA holding a 12-11 lead but the Trailblazers took off on a 19-5 run over the next six minutes to grow lead to 31-16 and not look back.

MCLA shot 58% from the floor on the night while hold-ing the host Badgers to just 22%. The Blazers were able to accumulate a 48-23 rebound advantage for the evening as well.

Jen Wehner has 17 pts. against Johnson St.

MCLA Women improve to 4-2

William’s guard James Wang drives to the hop for the lay-up against RPI earlier this season.


Editorial:

George C. Jordan III

George C. Jordan IIIEDITOR & PUBLISHER

Kameron Z. SpauldingEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Susan M. Wicker GuerreroCOPY EDITOR

Janel M. Harrison, Bera B. Dunau, CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Susan G. RobinsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Janel M. Harrison, Jacqueline Wendling, Catherine KrummeyADVERTISING SALES

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Moving forward from grief

View From the Tower

The name Millionaires con-jures up an image to some which seem outdated, an embarrass-ment to others. Still others it is a way of separating the town of Lenox from other communities in Western Massachusetts and maintaining its historical signifi cance.

While the town retains upper-income residential areas, most of the residents are middle-income, clustered just outside the historic village district.

Ironically, the high school ath-letic teams are called the Lenox Millionaires — a tongue-in-cheek reference to the town’s his-tory as a seasonal retreat for the wealthy.

Today, under the radar there is another push to rid the Village of the Millionaire?

Many members of Lenox’s multi-generational families worked for the famous million-aires of the past, including the Astors, Andrew Carnegie, the Morgans, the Vanderbilts, George Westinghouse and Anson Phelps Stokes.

Echoes of class divisions from the distant past still surface occa-sionally, especially in times of controversy.

Lenox operates its own school system for the town’s 801 stu-dents. The school’s athletic teams are called the “Millionaires,” in acknowledgement of the town’s history, and their colors are ma-roon and gold.

The period from 1880 until 1920 is dubbed the Berkshire Cottage era, when the small New England town was transformed into a Gilded Age resort similar to Newport, Rhode Island.

The wealthy and their entou-rage opened immense houses for recreation and entertaining dur-ing the Berkshire season, which lasted from late summer until early fall.

One event was the annual Tub Parade, when Main Street was lined with ornately decorated car-riages. Property values jumped as millionaires competed for land

on which to build showplaces. Blantyre, is the name given to

the palatial residence constructed by Robert Paterson in 1901. Blantyre went through many dif-ferent transitions over a 60-year period, but is now, under the ownership of Ann (Fitzpatrick) Brown, an award winning luxury resort.

Mr. Paterson was a successful merchant. His good friend John Sloane, another successful mer-chant, invited Mr. Paterson to visit Lenox. Mr. Paterson loved the area and decided to make Lenox his home.

Mr. Paterson’s wife’s ancestral home is located in Lanarkshire, Scotland which (Bantyre) is pat-terned after. The residence is lik-ened to a castle with “feudal ar-chitectural features,” and even included gargoyles.

A pretty impressive piece of construction, considering the ar-chitect supposedly drew the plans on the back of an envelope.

They were the industrial ty-coons who became millionaires reaping the bounty of the indus-trial age, who were drawn to the beauty of the Berkshires. They lived in wealth and splendor in the large cities, such as New York and Boston.

They had need to fi nd a place away from the rapid pace of their home towns. What better place than The Berkshires.

In time, the Berkshires was to become known as the “inland Newport.”

William Aspinwall Tappen, a railroad tycoon, fell in love with the area and purchased a large tract of land in Lenox, so vast that it extended into the neighboring town of Stockbridge.

He named it “Highwood.” He and his family set to task to

adorn the property with beautiful landscaping. The property also included some smaller cottages along the shores of Lake Makeen-ac, also known as “Stockbridge Bowl.” One of these cottages was rented to Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The name “Tanglewood” re-placed “Highwood” as Tappen

was enchanted by that name from the tenant’s children’s stories en-titled the “Tanglewood Tales,” written while he resided there. Unbeknownst to either of them at that time, that name would ul-timately become synonymous with one of the world’s most fa-mous music festival sites.

By the 1890s, there were 93 “cottages” in the Berkshires. Business cycle up and down thus all good things come to an end, even for millionaires.

It must be remembered that ev-erything earned by them was tax-free. They kept it all, thus being able to afford all those goodies.

In 1917, when the United States entered the First World War, Congress enacted the in-come tax law.

That was the beginning of the end of the “Gilded Age.”

It is believed that the fi nal nail driven into the coffi n occurred during the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression that ensued.

The “cottages” became “white elephants”, whose upkeep was too expensive to maintain.

In 1925, W. Roscoe and Mary Minturn Bonsal purchased Vent-fort Hall after seven years as ten-ants. They later sold it to Art Martin and his son, Art Martin, Jr. who sold off lots around the mansion.

They were carpenters and they built many of the stick houses still standing today.

Ventfort Hall had a series of owners and was used as a dormi-tory for Tanglewood students, a summer (The Festival House) hotel, the Fokine Ballet Summer Camp and later sold to Bible Speaks before it was sold to a cou-ple from Milton, who lost it to foreclosure.

Liberty Bank of Boston sought to turn it into condos, but the market disappeared and later sold it to Art Ivey of Great Barrington, whose plan was to tear down the mansion and build a nursing home on the site. Mr. Ivey was denied zoning Board permits and appealed twice and lost.

Ann Capitanio spoke of her fa-ther, Mario Capitanio, as the “perfect father” in her homily Saturday before a full congrega-tion in St. Mark’s Church, Pittsfi eld.

Before she began her com-ments, she paid tribute to The Berkshire Eagle for their portray-al of her father, who died Nov. 28th at home and for the “testi-monials” which honored her fa-ther in The Berkshire Beacon.

Obituaries are the last testa-ments to those who have died and note their accomplishments while they were living. Many newspapers have gone to a paid death notice and/or to a paid obituary notice and even to the point where family members have created them.

Today, we are partnering with funeral homes across Berkshire County to have those obituary notices transmitted to us at [email protected] so that our paid reporters may fol-low the Associated Press Style Book and honor people rich and poor.

We, like other newspapers, will charge $10 a column inch and run a free photo with each notice. We will not exaggerate or dupli-

cate the commentary, thus run-ning up a bill.

There will be enough deaths re-ported weekly to fi ll The Berk-shire Beacon’s pages, thus, space is critical. Yet, the written notice with be read by the public-at-large and be on our website: www.berkshirebeacon.com

While Ann paid homage to her father, many others knew of Ma-rio’s kindnesses and support with-in the community and its people. I, for one, thought that most of his earnings came from

The Eastside Café but on mak-ing an inquiry or two found that he was a master cabinet maker and sole proprietor, and that he also had worked for Tom Garrity, Sr., in Lee and at Sears and Roe-buck, Pittsfi eld, installing kitchen cabinets.

With the funeral mass and burial complete, we, as a commu-nity, have mourned our loss, but Mr. Capitanio in death has given us-The Berkshire Beacon staff-the spirit to move forward in our quest to provide a better weekly with editorially written obituar-ies. Mr. Capitanio was a steward for his family and the City of Pittsfi eld. Peace be with you, Ma-rio. Amen.

Millionaire’s History


November 24, 2011 The Berkshire Beacon 5

College Sports Report

WILLIAMSTOWN - How the mighty can fall. Number 3 in the nation Williams dropped a tough early season game to Salem State 83-69 in the final game of the Williams Invitational.

Williams fell to 1-1 on the sea-son, while Salem State improved its record to 3-0.

The loss came after Williams won the first game of the tourna-ment 87-58 over Southern Vermont.

Williams played its second consecutive game without in-jured guards Nate Robertson and Hayden Rooke-Ley.

Point guard Justin Nieves led the way for the Vikings, pouring in 29 points on 10-17 shooting, including seven threes.

Nieves also pulled down six re-bounds and had three assists. Bri-an Clark added 20 points and six rebounds for Salem State, and Nate Simpson had 11 points and nine rebounds.

James Wang led the Ephs with 11 points and eight rebounds, but the pre-season All-American went only 3-12 from the field.

Wang is still coming back from off-season surgery.

Michael Mayer and Taylor Ep-ley added 10 points apiece for the Ephs.

"Give a lot of credit to Salem State - They played awfully well," Williams Head Coach Mike Maker said. "We lost to a good basketball team today. I think once we understand our identity as a team, we're going to be good. And until then we're going to have nights like the one we had today. I have a lot of confidence in our players and in our pro-gram. Right now we're just going through some growing pains."

The game was a battle in the first half. The Vikings started the game on a 17-7 run; John Wein-heimer managed to stem the tide for the Ephs, however, scoring five straight points to make the score 17-12, first with a bank-

shot, then an and-one driving la-yup on the left side with 13:23 to play in the half.

The Ephs slowly closed the Vi-kings' lead from there, and took a 29-28 lead with 5:36 remaining on a hook shot from Mayer.

Williams slowly extended the margin from there, taking its big-gest lead for the game with 3:21 to play on a three from James Kl-emm that made the score 37-32.

After buckets from Nieves and Tavone Wynder, a jumper from the left corner from Matt Mc-Creary in the left corner at the buzzer gave Williams a 39-36 lead headed into the half.

Both teams were solid offen-sively in the first half, with Wil-liams shooting 53 percent from the field and Salem shooting 51 percent.

The second half was a different story. Salem State came out of the gate hard, retaking the lead less than two minutes into the half 43-41 on a jumper from Daniel Clark.

The Ephs drew even twice in the next five minutes, but after a Jordan Mickens lay-up made the

score 52-52 with 14:34 to play, the Vikings went on an 8-0 run capped by a Daniel Clark lay-up with 13:41 to go.

They did not look back, shut-ting the down the Ephs offense almost completely the rest of the way, as Williams scored only 17 points for the remainder of the game on 3-20 shooting from the field. Salem State continued put-ting the ball in the hoop, and Williams could not stem the tide; the Vikings walked away with the 83-69 victory.

Williams shot only 23.5 per-cent from the field in the half, while Salem shot 50 percent. Williams notably went 2-14 from three in the second 20 minutes, while Salem went 6-9.

"I am proud of our team and how we competed," Maker said. "We weren't as patient as I would like, and we missed a lot of chip-pies around the basket. Obvious-ly from three I think we're a bet-ter team than we showed today."

Williams will next face Wesley-an at home on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Salem will face Gordon Col-lege on Tuesday at home at 7 p.m.

MCLA's Tyriq Rochester tal-lied a team high 22 points, but MCLA fell to tournament host Endicott College 77-75 in the championship game of the North Shore Collegiate Tip-Off Classic.

The Trailblazers are now 1-2 on the season, while Endicott moves to 2-1.

Endicott's Lance Greene con-verted a layup with two seconds left to give the Gulls the win. Endicott led 41-34 at the half and extended to the largest lead of 51-40 following an Andre Makris layup. Greene was also named the tournament's most outstanding player.

MCLA would begin to claw their way back into the game, trimming the deficit to just five points at 55-50 after a Richard Johnson dunk. The Gulls an-swered with a Makris triple, but then the Trailblazers kept chip-ping away.

They finally pulled even at 73 apiece after a Rochester layup. After trading scores, the latter of which was a Chris Harris drive to

the basket, the host Gulls set up a play and Greene converted with just two seconds remaining.

Harris was the only other Trail-blazer in double figures, finishing with 11 points. For Endicott, five players scored in double fig-ures, led by Makris with 15. John Henault scored 15 off the bench, while Tyler Burkhart added 12. Greene finished with 11 and Lachlan McGee added 10.

MCLA's Rochester and Chris Harris were named to the All Tournament Team.

Tyriq Rochester made the All Tournament Team

MCLA splits tournament games

No. 3 Williams gets shocked at home, 83-69

Preseason All-American James Wang struggled to get his shot to fall against Salem State. It was the first non-NESCAC loss for Williams in 3 years.

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George C. Jordan IIIBeacon Staff Writer

Customers of Western Massa-chusetts Electric Company (WMECO) are expected to see electric delivery rates decline ear-ly in 2012, partially offsetting proposed increases in supply rates for customers who choose to pur-chase energy supply through WMECO.

Overall, bills are expected to increase about five percent due to increases in the energy supply rates.

There are two main portions of electric bills; delivery and supply.

If approved by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), the de-livery portion of electric bills should decrease about three per-cent due to proposed declines in transition and transmission charges and the new revenue de-coupling mechanism.

There will be a five percent in-crease due to energy supply rates.

The bottom line: A two per-cent increase monthly.

WMECO is required to pro-cure energy supply, known as ba-sic service, for customers who do not purchase service through a competitive supplier. Basic ser-vice is bid twice a year for resi-

dential and small commercial and industrial (C&I) customers and four times a year for medium and large commercial customers.

“The most recent competitive bidding process for electric sup-ply is showing at least a tempo-rary increase in the price of elec-tricity after a prolonged period of decline in prices,” said Peter Clarke, President and Chief Op-erating Officer of WMECO.

“The increase in price is likely a reflection of seasonality and we encourage customers to shop for a competitive supply price,” Clarke said.

From January 1 to June 30, res-idential customers on basic ser-vice will see

a supply rate of 7.741 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh), compared to 6.998 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) for the previous six-month period.

Small C&I customers will see a supply rate of 8.264 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh), compared to 7.498 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) for the previous six month period.

Both residential and small C&I customers’ basic service supply rates change twice a year (in Janu-ary and July) and remain in effect for six months.

WMECO rates on the rise again

Catherine KrummeyBera Dunau

Beacon Staff Writer

LENOX – Following com-ments made by Lenox Memorial Middle and High School junior Jeel Shah at a recent Selectmen meeting about changing the mas-cot from the Millionaires, it ap-pears as though the topic is not an issue at the school.

The request to change the mas-cot has not been made official within any student leadership at the school, including the student council.

“There is no formal discussion of the subject at the time,” said Mr. Gary Miller, the teacher who oversees the school’s student council.

Mr. Miller added that students bring the issue up every once in a while but that they wind up de-ciding against getting rid of the Millionaires.

“There is discussion from time to time among some of the stu-dents about changing the mas-cot,” Mr. Miller said. “It came up three years ago and the vote was not to change.”

Miss Shah originally brought up the topic at the Nov. 30 Town of Lenox Selectmen’s meeting, but is not looking to press the is-sue right now.

“We’re not moving any further at this time,” Miss Shah said.

That is a change in tone from ear-lier in the week when a changed seem far more likely.

“We’re going to probably come up with a few options of what dif-ferent mascots could be. I think we’re going to take a school vote and have the principal in on it, and see where we get,” said Ms. Shah, outlining to the Beacon, early in the week, what the Stu-dent Council planned to do next on the issue.

No matter what the students decide to do this time around, it seems as though the school ad-ministration stands behind their students.

“I would be open to working with the students on any goal they want to pursue,” said Lenox Middle and High School Princi-pal Michael E. Knybel. As far as the Town of Lenox Se-lectmen go, the topic seems to be a somewhat divisive issue.

Like Principal Knybel, Select-man Ken L. Fowler would sup-port the students’ push for a change.

“I am for it if that’s what the kids want to do,” Mr. Fowler said. “The kids are the ones that have to put the uniforms on. If they come up with a good enough alternate name, I’d vote for it.” Selectwoman Dia Trancynger however, shared Selectman Fowl-er’s sentiment.

“Sometimes it’s not a pleasant

thing,” said Selectwoman Dia Trancynger, who has had children in the Lenox School system for the last ten years.

Select Board Chairman John McNinch acknowledged that the Millionaires name did put a tar-get on Lenox athletes for oppos-ing teams, a view that was shared by Ms. Shah and Selectman Roche. Chairman McNinch not-ed how a friend who had coached high school soccer in the Spring-field area told him that Lenox was the easiest team to prep against.

“All I have to say is the Million-aires are coming to town, let’s get these rich boys,” said Chairman McNinch, paraphrasing his friend.

Still, Chairman McNinch voiced his support for the old mascot, fondly remembering playing ice hockey for Lenox with the monopoly man on his uniform.

When asked why students wanted to change the name, Mi-iss Shah said that in addition to not knowing the history behind the name, students didn’t like be-ing given a hard time about it from other schools and that it sounded a little “stuck up.”

Conversely, Selectman David Roche would like the school to stick to the Millionaires.

“I’m a traditionalist, it’s been the Millionaires for a long time,” Mr. Roche said.

Name change push in Lenox losing steam?

Mount Greylock

repeats as Super Bowl Champs

Kameron SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

Mount Greylock beat Lee 16-0 Saturday at Westfield State Uni-versity to retain the title of West-ern Mass champions.

“The onslaught of Lee’s blitz-ing was just continuous and we felt we would soften them up when we would spread the field or run Kent out on sprint outs,” Greylock coach Shawn Flaherty said after the game.

“It was tough to establish our running game against them and you have to go with what was working.”

Photo Credit / stePhen FauCher

Ethan Ryan carries the ball for Mount Greylock.


Kameron SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

STOCKBRIDGE - For at least one small town here in The Berk-shires, Christmas is more than just the commercialized version you see on TV.

This past weekend Stockbridge held its 22nd annual Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas and again the event was a great success.

The highlight event of the weekend is always the recreation on Sunday of the scene depicted in the famous Norman Rockwell painting, Main Street at Christ-mas, complete with vintage auto-mobiles parked in the spots occu-pied in the painting.

The festivities celebrated Rock-well’s popular depiction of what for many is the quintessential small New England town, with all the longing for a simpler time that it represents.

Rockwell began painting the popular image in 1956, but did not complete it until December 1967.

This years recreation drew a

crowd of over 2500.“The event has grown over the

years,” said Michele Kotek, inn-keeper at the Red Lion Inn and president of the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce. “But we are really happy that the event is still so great for the whole family.”

Over the years the event has grown to include many other events including the popular house tours, horse drawn rides, a visit from Santa, caroling, and a holiday concert.

The annual house tour allows attendees to visit some of the town’s historic properties, B&B’s, and inns.

According to organizers the self-guided tour is always a crowd favorite. The numbers were strong again this year with around 650 paying $20 to take the tour.

This year’s tour featured the Merwin House, Laurel Hill Place, The Old Corner House, Samuel Deming House, Chesterwood Museum, Linwood House at Norman Rockwell Museum, and the Fire House at the Red Lion Inn.

The Old Corner House, the former location of the Rockwell Museum, now serves as the offic-es of RTR Technologies, but it was still decorated. Several em-ployes brought in their own deco-rations for the offices, giving the space a nice feel.

The Fire House also drew large crowds during the tour. The fire-house keeps the Rockwell tradi-tion alive, the building was the focus of Rockwell’s “The New American LeFrance is Here” painting.

A print of it hung on the wall of the firehouse during the tours.

The Saturday evening Berk-shire Lyric Theatre Chorus per-formance led by Jack Brown at the First Congregational Church was another popular event that sold out early Friday.

“We are more than happy with the turnout,” said Barbara Zanet-ti, executive director of the Stock-bridge Chamber of Commerce. “The numbers have been going up the last few years and great weather like we have is always a big help.”

It’s beginning to look a lot like ChristmasStockbridge hosts annual Rockwell Christmas weekend.

all Photo Credits / kameron z. sPaulding

ABOVE: The decorated front entrance of the Old Corner House from the house tours on Saturday.BOTTOM LEFT: Looking down into the grand parlor at the Samuel Deming House during the house tours on Saturday.BOTTOM RIGHT: During the recreation on Sunday many lined up to have a photograph of their head on one of several Post covers.


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poverty.A tall woman with short, dark

blonde hair and blue eyes, Ms. Merritt is defi nitely a multi-tasker, a skill that must come in handy as the executive director of a full-fl edged agency that has numerous roles in the community.

“I feel extreme compassion toward people struggling in one way or another, “ she said. “I feel compelled to help.”

Moved to the Berkshires

Born in Queens, New York, Ms. Merritt’s family moved to Massachusetts from Queens, New York, when she was just four years old.

They lived in South Egremont for four years, then moved to upstate New York for two years.

At that time, both of her parents worked in private schools.

They moved to Lenox in 1969 and started Valleyhead .

As a teenager, Ms. Merritt

served as a lifeguard at the residential program and also taught typing.

After studying human services at the University of Massachusetts, she began a long career at Valleyhead.

28 Years at Valleyhead

Over the course of the next 28 years, she held several positions including Residential Director, Care Staff, Care Staff Supervisor, Residential Director, Admissions Director, Executive Director, and Program Director of the Walker Street site.

“I feel really blessed in my life to have the ability to make people feel comfortable” Ms. Merritt said. “I’m able to motivate people to create change in their lives.”

When Valleyhead closed in 2008, staff, including Ms. Merritt, were distraught and sad.

However, residential living programs were on the downswing and the decision was made to close the doors of Valleyhead

while things were still positive, Ms. Merritt said.

She still keeps in touch with staff and even some of the young people with whom she worked at Valleyhead. A school reunion is currently being planned.

Her parents are retired but still have ties to the Bennington School in Vermont. It’s a private residential school, similar to the former Valleyhead. It has been a family business since 1980, Ms. Merritt said.

Unemployed for the First TimeAfter the school closed, Ms.

Merritt found herself unemployed for the fi rst time in her life.

She was unemployed for almost two long years.

“That was a really diffi cult time,” she said. However, it helped her connect with a whole different part of society.

“I never earned more than I needed to live on,” Ms. Merritt said. “I never had to ask for help.” Being unemployed was a big blow to her and she felt “less than” when walking into the

Unemployment Offi ce.“It helped me connect with

people who were down and out and in transition,” she said.

She began to understand what other people go through.

“I often ask God ‘What’s your plan for me?’” Ms. Merritt said, adding that unemployment was actually quiet preparation for her next step in life.

Joined Board of Directors

She came to the Christian Center by a very circuitous route. Ms. Merritt was asked to join the Board of Directors at the Center. The former director, Cheryl Nolan, was in retirement transition.

Ms. Merritt offered to be interim director, a position she began last June. It was her way of helping to “hold down the fort.”

After three weeks on the job, the Christian Center got into her blood and under her skin, she said.

She started to envision how it

could grow, change, and take on a new face in the community.

Appointed November 1st

She applied for the job of executive director. Several others did, too, and there were many interviews and weighing to see who would be the best person for the job. Finally, on November 1st, Ms. Merritt was offi cially designated as the new executive director.

“There’s a lot to do,” she said, which is actually an understatement.

She manages a small part-time staff and several volunteers, all of whom accomplish a lot for those affected by poverty in the community.

The Center is almost always a hubbub of activity with people coming and going throughout the day.

So far, the executive director said, she has “no regrets.”

It appears that the Christian Center is in very good hands.

1. A Volunteer Coordinator. She hopes she can fi nd money in the budget for this badly needed position. Volunteers are at the hub of the Center.

2. A computer person is high on her list of priorities. Someone is needed to develop a website, she indicated. The Center needs to make better use of technology.

Until payment can be secured, even a volunteer computer person would be welcome.

3. Volunteers. Volunteers are always needed, Ms. Merritt said. Meals are served daily at the Christian Center. People also come in for clothing in the boutique or to obtain items through the Food Pantry. All of the varied services require manpower.

If anyone in the community has the time and desire to volunteer at the Center, their services will be needed and appreciated.

4. Christmas Gift Items for Teenagers such as sweatshirts, nail polish, some electronics, and anything else teens use.

5. Personal hygiene items such as shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, and toothpaste.

6. Low sodium and healthy food items for the Food Pantry.

7. Supermarket cards. These could be used by the Center, itself, to buy food items and/or distributed to the most needy families short on groceries.

What they need:

A short list of needed supplies from Director Ellen Merritt

CENTER from page 1

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Community Calendar

If you have an event you would like listed in our

calendar please email us at

calendar please email us

[email protected]!

THURSDAY, DEC. 8TH

BERKSHIRE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS TO GRANT HOLIDAY WISH-ESGreat Barrington, 5 - 7 p.m.All young professionals living and/or working in Berkshire County are invited to attend the Berkshire Young Professionals Networking Social @ Allium, 42 Railroad Street, Great Bar-rington, on Thursday.

SMALL JAZZ ENSEM-BLES PERFORMWilliamstown, 7 p.m.Small jazz ensembles perform at Williams College on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. This free event is open to the public.

FRIDAY, DEC. 9TH

MAKE IT AND TAKE ITPittsfi eld, 6:00 to 8:00 pmGreat Gifts and More is offering a Make it and take it night. The cost is $15 and includes the class and all materials. Three classes are being offered, faux boxes or frames, holiday card, and a glass ornament.

NORTHERN BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY COALITIONNorth Adams, 10 a.m. to NoonJoin us for nbCC’s December Fo-rum on Friday, when the teenag-ers of UNITY’s Youth Leadership Program will lead a discussion on Facebook and internet safety. At the First Baptist Church in North Adams.

A FREE CONCERTLanesborough, 6:30 – 8 p.m.A free Concert sponsored by Alarms of Berkshire County will take place on Friday, at the Mount Greylock Visitors Center, Adams’

based entertainer and speaker Richard Fabozzi will perform.

SATURDAY, DEC. 10TH

DANCIN’ IN THE MAN-SION W/KATHERINE ANDERSON JAZZ QUARTETLenoxVentfort Hall and Guilded Age Mansion, 104 Walker Street, 413-637-3206. Ventfort Hall, where the elegant ambiance of the past is re-created, is offering one evening a month dances at which attendees can indulge in one of the pleasures of the past, couples dancing to great music.

CRAFT FAIR & COOKIE SALELanesborough, 10 am to 4 pmLanesborough Elementary School, 188 Summer Street,. Free Admission. There will be craft vendors, a cookie sale, raffl es, food, and more.

HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZASandisfi eld, 5 p.m.On Saturday, an assortment of performers will take the stage at the Sandisfi eld Arts Center in cel-ebration of the holiday season.

LENOX CAROLING FESTIVALLenox, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Decked out in holiday splendor, the streets of this quaint Berk-shires village will be fi lled with Holiday music sung by singing groups from throughout the Northeast.

FULL MOON HIKE & BONFIRERichmondOur expert guide, Holly Brouker, will lead the group on an interac-tive hike of approximately 1-1.5 hours. The hike is on moderate terrain with some elevation for scenic view. Bonfi re, wine tasting

and entertainment immediately following hike.

HOLIDAY FAMILY EVENTAdams, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.The Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum, 67 East Road, will host a holiday family event on Saturday,

SUNDAY, DEC. 11TH

LENOX LIBRARY HOSTS MAYOR RUBERTOLenox, 4 p.m.Pittsfi eld Mayor James Ruberto will expound upon “Leaving the Mayor’s Offi ce” as part of the library’s Distinguished Lectures series.

HOLY COW! HOLIDAY CRAFT MARKETWilliamstown, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.Williams College is proud to announce it’s fi rst-ever Holy Cow! Holiday Craft Market, a celebration of local food, art, and crafts that will take place on Sunday, in Greylock Hall.

7TH ANNUAL GINGER-BREAD HOUSE COMPE-TITION AND SILENT AUCTIONLenox, 1 - 3 p.m.As part of the Lenox Caroling Festival weekend, The Lenox Library is hosting the 7th Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Silent Auction, the library. Refreshments will be served, and children may decorate their own gingerbread man to take home.

BRUNCH WITH MR. AND MRS. CLAUSLenox, 11 a.m.Mr. and Mrs. Claus at the Lenox Community Center on Sunday, for brunch, crafts, and have your picture taken with Mr. and Mrs. Claus! This event is free.

Janel HarrisonBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX - Families came one and came all to the Pediatric De-velopment Center’s Third Annual Brunch with Santa at the popular Dakota Steak House.

It was quite the spirited affair as families with children totaling just under 200 came to eat, visit, sing and play with Santa and Mrs. Claus who were as fun and jolly as they could be.

There were lots of hugs and “Ho-ho-ho’s” as the brightly dressed couple made their way to each and every family to spread their holiday cheer.

All the children and families sat on Santa’s lap, took pictures, par-took in a raffl e for some “in de-mand” toys, and singing of Christmas carols.

Elf carolers from Music To-gether fl oated about, sang and sold raffl e tickets. Music Togeth-er: The Joy Of Family Music is directed by music teacher Mrs. Sandy Russell who happily said the best part of directing is, “Watching the kids grow.”

Music Together classes are “based on the recognition that all children are musical, all children can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat, and participate with confi -dence in the music of our culture, provided that their early environ-ment provides such learning.”

Everyone enjoyed Dakota’s highly-desired, mouth-watering brunch full of any omelet to or-der, vanilla fl avored waffl es topped off with coconut banana cream, maple bacon and potatoes done just right, and lots of delec-table desserts along with health-

conscious salads. Mrs. Anne Wildgoose, event

coordinator on the fundraising committee and Secretary on the Board of Directors of The PDC, attended with her husband, Dave and sons Jack, David and Alex.

She said, “We really wanted to do something to give back to the people we serve, as well as receive exposure of the services we pro-vide.” Mrs. Wildgoose added her son Jack received speech services from the PDC, “Now he can’t stop talking, and I attribute that to them.”

When Jack completed his ser-vices she was asked to be on the Board, and she thought what bet-ter way to “Pay it forward.”

The Pediatric Development Center is a nonprofi t early inter-vention program providing thera-peutic services for children be-tween birth and three years of age living in Central Berkshire Coun-ty, Massachusetts.

Ms. Maureen O’Connell At-wood, Executive Director of PDC, said, “We like to see our-selves as a resource for families with young kids, and it’s really wonderful for us to have an op-portunity for people in need of services to know who we are.” Anyone can call and get a developmental assessment with no charge, and referrals are also received from physicians through-out Berkshire County.

When the afternoon ended be-fore heading back to the North Pole to fi nish up last minute de-tails and navigation strategies for Christmas, the jolly old elf hum-bly said, “It was our pleasure to be here to see all the kids enjoy Santa and Mrs. Claus.”

Christmas breakfast draws big crowd


105 Stockbridge RdGreat Barrington (413) 528-1898

48 North St.Pittsfi eld

(413) 236-8111

Bera DunauBeacon Staff Writer

The Berkshire Music School Chamber Orchestra prominently featured the work of local com-poser Simon Brown in recent performances.

While the main focus of the Berkshire Music School is on in-dividual instruction, it also has a number of children’s choirs, string quartets and chamber groups.

The Berkshire Music School Chamber Orchestra is one of these chamber groups and its membership consists of a mixture of students and adult amateurs with occasional participation by members of the faculty.

It is conducted by Norman Thibodeau, who is also the Berk-shire Music School’s fl ute instructor.

For the past four years, the Berkshire Music School Chamber Orchestra has had the unique op-portunity of being able to work with a living composer, Berkshire resident Simon Brown. A 2011 graduate of Westfi eld State Uni-versity, Mr. Brown has had four of his pieces performed by the Berkshire Music School Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Brown’s fourth piece for Berkshire Music School Chamber Orchestra, Witch Dance, formed the centerpiece of the group’s se-mester ending December 6 concert.

Before Witch Dance was per-

formed, Mr. Brown was asked to say a few words by Mr. Thibodeau, as well as Berkshire Music School Executive Director Tracy Wilson, both of whom expressed their ap-preciation for Mr. Brown, and his relationship with the music school.

For his part, Mr. Brown ex-pressed great pleasure at being able to work with the Orchestra, saying that working with the group made him feel, “Like Hayden.”

The performance of Witch Dance itself, a driving, forceful, piece with dynamic fl ourishes reminiscent of eastern European music, was very well received, and Mr. Thibodeau and Mr. Brown marveled at how well the orches-tra had been able to pull it off af-

ter only four practice sessions.“I think this relationship with

Simon, with a living composer is great for us because he gets to play around with us, and good for him because he sees that each se-mester our group is a little differ-ent so he’s got to tailor his piece to the abilities of our group,” said Berkshire Music School Execu-tive Director Tracy Wilson after the concert.

In addition to premiering Witch Dance, The Berkshire Mu-sic Orchestra played the fi rst movement of Bach’s, Branden-burg Concerto, Number 2 (abridged) as well as Mozart’s Quintet KV. 581 for clarinet and strings and Mozart’s Impresario Overture in the concert.

The concert’s program will be

reprised on Sunday, February 26 at 3 PM at a free concert at West-fi eld State University.

The Berkshire Music School Chamber Orchestra’s second term will begin on Februray 7, 2012. Those interested in joining the Orchestra should call the front desk.

“Many of the players that we’ve had haven’t been playing so very long,” said Mr. Thibodeau, who encourages people to give the or-chestra a try even if they are un-sure about whether or not they have enough experience on their instrument.

Mr. Thibodeau says that he ad-justs the repertoire of the Orches-tra depending on the strengths and blind spots of the players, as well as his own.

Berkshire Music School hits the right notes


LENOX - State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D-Lenox) has been appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee by Speaker Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop).

The announcement was made Tuesday.

Berkshire County will now have a voice on the influential Ways and Means Committee in the Great and General Court.

The committee has oversight of all bills related to financial matters before the state and drafts the House budget each year.

The Berkshires have not had a voice on this committee for sev-eral months.

The last Berkshire County state representative, who was a member of the Ways and Means Committee, was Christopher N. Speranzo of Pittsfield.

He resigned to become clerk of the Massachusetts District Court, Pittsfield.

Rep. Pignatelli, the dean of the Berkshire Delegation, is in his 5th term in the House of Repre-sentatives and feels strongly that this appointment is of particular importance to The Berkshires be-cause of the prior lack of repre-sentation on this committee.

Rep. Pignatelli named to Ways and

MeansFirst time since

Rep. Speranzo that The Berkshires has a seat at important

committee

October 25 as a pre-paddle for an upcoming Berkshire Knapsacker Water Hike, we were totally blocked from progressing down river by an abandoned steel bridge that had collapsed into the river during Hurricane Irene.

“While we were able to paddle back up river a little way to climb up the steep banks and portage several hundreds yards around the fallen bridge, it was not with-out difficulty.

“This presents a dangerous sit-uation to paddlers on the river, especially since there is no sign posted at the Fred Garner Park to notify paddlers of the obstruc-tion.” Mr. Doboszynski said.

“Regarding the collapsed metal bridge in the Housatonic River in Pittsfield. We heard about this in the end of October this year and reported it to the city of Pittsfield,” Dennis C. Regan of Becket. Berkshire Director for the Housatonic Valley Associa-tion, said.

“They replied that they already knew about it and were talking with the landowners on either side of the bridge which are MA Dept of Fish and Wildlife and GE,” Mr. Regan noted.

“I don’t know much about his bridge but it was abandoned years ago and may have been used by the occasional walker who wanted to get across the riv-er. It was always a conversation when you had to paddle under this structure. The site is located between East New Lenox Rd and New Lenox Road in a very rural location,” according to Mr. Regan.

Mr. Doboszynski said, “ In ad-dition, the collapsed bridge is a major trap to debris flowing down the river as can be seen in the accompanying pictures.”

This blockage is about 2.25 miles downriver from Fred Gar-ner Park and about 3.75 upriver from The Decker Boat Launch-ing on New Lenox Road.

Pittsfield bridge demolition

It appears the bridge has al-ready been demolished, and its removal is now the subject of whose responsibility is it?

According to Mr. Doboszyns-ki, removal of the bridge as soon as possible is absolutely necessary.

“ We brought the matter to the attention of The Housatonic Val-ley Association, the Pittsfield Ward 4 Councilman (the bridge is in Ward 4 a few hundred yards from Eric Drive), and the Ward 4

Restoration of the River Watch Committee and has received ex-cellent cooperation from them but they have not been able to advise as to who, if, and when ac-tion will be taken.

“The Pittsfield Department of Community Development has indicated that there is a question of bridge ownership, i.e. GE owns the land on one side and The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife owns the land on the other side but neither wants (to take) the responsibility for the bridge’s (removal) in the middle, sort of like the Indian translation of Lake Chargoggagoggman-chauggagoggchaubunagungam-augg in Webster, MA,

“You fish on your side, I fish on my side, nobody fishes in the middle,” Mr. Doboszynski said.

“The bridge I’m sure predates the acquisition of the properties by these organizations by 100 years. (It would be interesting to know the history of the bridge.)

“The Ward 4 Restoration of the River Watch Committee might bring the matter to the at-tention of the EPA at an upcom-ing meeting with them on Dec.14 when they discuss the PCB river cleanup but removal of the bridge should not have to wait that long,” he argued.

This section of river is proba-bly the most scenic section of the entire Housatonic River. It is a true asset to the city of Pittsfield. It is unacceptable to have it blocked by this unsafe downed bridge, Mr. Doboszynski said.

“Whoever is responsible for the bridge (the city, the state, the County, GE,), should be required to remove it immediately.”

Bridge Location

A map showing the bridge location

“Until it can be removed a sign should be posted at Fred Garner Park advising paddlers of a poten-tially dangerous situation down river. Waiting for this to happen under the PCB cleanup is totally unacceptable,” he noted.

Mr. Doboszynski’s statement

Mr. Doboszynski, in a state-ment, said: “Blockage of the river by the collapsed bridge has rein-forced my opinion that a new kayak/canoe landing is needed on the river in Pittsfield, located half way between Garner Park and the Dexter Boat Ramp of the George Darey Wildlife Management area on New Lenox Road, Lenox.

An ideal location for this land-ing is in existing city parkland lo-cated behind the houses on East New Lenox Rd. and Joseph Dr., which is accessible from Maria Drive.

With this access point, many more people will be able to enjoy the river in Pittsfield, a section that has much more charm than the Lenox section of the river be-tween Decker Landing and Woods Pond.

If city tax or grant money isn’t available for this, adapting a sec-tion of the parkland for a kayak/canoe landing is probably some-thing that could be undertaken as an Eagle Scout project for a boy scout.

Why wait for the PCB cleanup to make the river more accessible. Let it become an asset to the City of Pittsfield as the Ashuwilticut Trail is to Lanesboro.

Let’s get the bridge removed, and a kayak landing installed-now.”

Photo Credit / JoesPh C. doboszynski

The bridge over the Housatonic River in Pittsfield has fallen down causing some community members to call for the bridge to be replaced.


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Anna ShippeeBeacon Contributor

Now that we are in the full hol-iday swing its time to start baking like the season. I love gingerbread men.

So this weekend I felt festive and I wanted to make them. But I did not have a recipe and so I just googled one.

I ended up with a Betty Crock-er (which claimed to be gift mate-rial) and I trusted the Betty Crocker name as she has done me no harm in the past. Now most of the time with Betty you cannot go wrong, well this time you sure could.

The gingerbread was very cake like, I tasted more fl our than mo-lasses, ginger, and cinnamon. I know this may not be popular but I hate cake so naturally a cakey-cookie is not my thing.

I mean the BC cookie has 7 cups of fl our- holy gluten! It tast-ed like a gingerbread cookie that was mass-produced and shipped out for millions aka store-bought!

I am not hating on Betty (truth

be told I love her) but this cookie was no good and I now have doz-ens of them (hence the 7cups of fl our)!

So I went and found a winner of a recipe for you to use this year.

So after looking around I was surprised who made the recipe I love the most. It turns out that this is the Better Homes and Gar-dens recipe. I just love it. It is such a strong spiced taste; the ginger really shines through.

They are great as cookies but my family loves to cook them a bit longer and use them as crack-ers with brie.

This combination may sound a bit strange but trust me and try this for your next holiday party-you will need puff pastry, a brie wheel, a favorite jam and some gingerbread cookies.

So take your brie and cut it in half. Place the jam in between the two circles ( you could also use apples and walnuts if desired but I love using raspberry jam) and then seal the inside of the puff pastry.

Bake until golden brown and puffed, then enjoy!

Solving the gingerbread mystery this year

Kameron Z. SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

Remember these numbers: 4, 9, 10, 13, 16, 17.

The Pick-6 Lotto, they’re not. But they are winning numbers, nonetheless.

Two of them are Saturdays – Dec. 10 and Dec. 17. The other four are Exits from the Cellar.

A shortage of brewing capacity and plans to exit Cherry Hill for bigger digs in Somerdale, about 10 miles south, have iced any hopes of Flying Fish releasing this year’s trio of brews under the Exit Series banner, as was the per-year plan when the brewery began re-leasing the specialty brews in 2009.

This year, it’s been Exit 9, and Exit 9 alone, that saw release.Alas.

Flying Fish is a small craft brewery who opened up shop in Cherry Hill, NJ back in 1996. They have grown to be the big-gest craft brewer pn MY amd

they ship all the way up here to The Berkshires.

But with everything that’s been going on at Flying Fish, some-thing had to give. So the brewery has come up with another Exit strategy.

Which means, Flying Fish is digging into its private stock of previously released Exits, namely Exit 4 American Trippel, Exit 9 Hoppy Scarlet Ale, Exit 13 Choc-olate Stout and Exit 16 Wild Rice

Double IPA, and making the 750 milliliter bottles available for pur-chase during Saturday tours of Dec. 10th and 17th.

As most everyone knows, Exit 4 is available in six-packs these days. But in the big bottle, with the ruby-red wrapping on the top, it’s the original release.

Exits 1 (oyster stout), 6 (Wal-lonian rye) and 11 (hoppy wheat), sadly, are history.

Flying Fish exit

plan


Girl-2-GirlRed

PaperJanel Harrison

Beacon Staff Writer

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat! So we all know what that means right girls? And if you’re the nurturing type like me, we try to think of the needy and the lonely at this time of year.

We just went to church the other day, and we have a basket for giving gifts to the poor at Christmas.

As I was looking through the bright red clouds of paper, I saw requests for “a tank of gas”, “a gift certificate”, and a couple of oth-ers, I forget.

But then I found one from a child… a 12 year old boy… and do you know what it said? It said, “Sweater S 2 med.”, and at that moment I just started to cry… at the thought that this 12 year old boy isn’t asking for a game for his DS, Wii or Xbox Connect, he’s not asking for a football or hock-ey skates, he’s not asking for a TV or computer for his room, or a snowmobile!

He’s asking for a sweater.I began to ponder is he happy?

Does he have a loving family? Is he hungry? Where does he live? Maybe he just wants a sweater to wear for Christmas, a thick and warm cable-knit red one would look nice on him I thought. My girls even started to ask questions.

Are they like Dicken’s “the Cratchets” with every bit of emo-tional fulfillment, but not much in the monetary area? My Pub-lisher told me to go and buy the boy’s family a “big bird!” from “The Beacon” speaking of Dickens!

I know things aren’t easy for any of us in this economy, but when we think of what we don’t have, maybe we should think of what we do…

I will do my best to fulfill this child’s wishes and more, and thanks, George, for The Berk-shire Beacon’s contribution… Come on gals how bout you!

If everyone just did one act of kindness for people who are in

need, we would be in a much bet-ter state of affairs than we are now. And especially for children who have no control and are un-able to work.

As women with our soft flower hearts, perhaps we can empower ourselves to take on this cause, and I know many already are much more than me, and God Bless you for that!

Poverty is defined as “the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter.”

Do you know that according to the U.S. Census Bureau:

More than one in five children in the United States (15.75 mil-lion) lived in poverty in 2010.

More than 1.1 million children were added to the poverty popu-lation between the 2009 ACS and the 2010 ACS.

Ms. Suzanne Macartney writes:Poverty is a critical indicator of

the well-being of our nation’s children. Changes in child pov-erty rates over time can provide an evaluation of a particular anti-poverty initiative and help to identify people and groups whose most basic economic needs re-main unmet. Children who live in poverty, especially young chil-dren, are more likely than their peers to have cognitive and be-havioral difficul ties, to complete fewer years of educa tion, and, as they grow up, to experi ence more years of unemployment.

As Moms this information is heartbreaking to read because we do everything we can to assure our children grow with all the love and let’s be truthful, a mate-rial possession or two or three…

Red paper floating in a basket spoke to me, and as I sit here writing this and gazing at it on my desk, I’d just like to say, “thank you” to the boy and his sweater for putting things in per-spective and shining his light.

-Ciao Bella

Bera Dunau Beacon Staff Writer

Despite its shortcomings, Im-mortals is a movie that leaves you wanting more.

Immortals is a fantasy adven-ture film, set in ancient Greece and loosely based off the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.

Directed by Tarsem Singh, whose works include the visually stunning, critically acclaimed masterpiece, The Fall, Tarsem’s singular touch is apparent throughout the film. This serves to separate immortals from a number of recent action movies set in Ancient Greece, such as 300 and the remake of Clash of the Titans, and gives it a distinct identity.

Unfortunately, while Tarsem’s efforts are quite promising, they aren’t enough to elevate Immor-tals beyond the simply adequate.

The plot of Immortals is driven by two characters: the warrior Theseus (played by Henry Cav-ill) and the cruel King Hyperion, (played by Mickey Rourke).

Once a commoner, King Hy-perion rose to become ruler of the Heraklions. As a result of see-ing his family die of plague, King Hyperion developed a grudge against the gods, and an over-whelming desire to destroy them. In order to do this, Hyperion be-gins a campaign to find the Epi-rus Bow, a legendary weapon lost in the war between the gods and their ancient enemies, the Titans.

Hyperion wants the bow in or-der to liberate the Titans from their captivity, and leads a mas-sive army that tortures, kills and enslaves anyone they come across on their quest to recover it.

By contrast, Theseus is a man who is only concerned with pro-tecting those he loves. The bas-tard son of a peasant woman, Theseus has nevertheless become a skilled fighter, thanks to the careful tutelage of an old man (played by John Hurt), who is also Theseus’ close friend.

Unknown to Theseus, howev-er, the old man is actually Zeus, king of the gods (played by Luke Evans), in disguise.

Zeus believes that Theseus has the ability to successfully lead his fellow Greeks against the forces of King Hyperion. Zeus, howev-er, asserts that the choice of

whether or not to fight against Hyperion must be made by The-seus alone, and forbids the gods from directly interfering in hu-man affairs, threatening death to anyone who disobeys him.

In order to find the Epirus Bow, King Hyperion seeks the Virgin Oracle Phaedra (played by Frieda Pinto), who is gifted with visions of the future.

While doing so, Hyperion sacks Theseus’ village and kills Theseus’ mother before his eyes. Sent to work in the salt mines, Theseus meets Phaedra along the way and, before King Hyperion can question her, they escape, and set out on a quest to destroy the tyrant.

Immortals is a visually striking film, and a number of its scenes are incredibly beautiful. Its cine-matography, sets and costumes are all top notch, and are definite-ly the movie’s greatest strengths.

The acting in Immortals is also quite solid. Although some char-acterizations fall flat, the main cast does a fine job portraying their roles sincerely and ably.

It also has two standout perfor-mances: Mickey Rourke as King Hyperioin, who animates his role with a calm and measured brutal-ity, and John Hurt as Zeus in his human form, who is able to por-tray the archetypal role of mentor figure with such charm and spark that it almost feels as if we are see-ing it for the first time.

It should also be noted that ev-ery scene involving the gods is fantastic. Tarsem is able to por-tray the gods as formidable and powerful while not modernizing

them or turning them into super-heroes. Instead, Tarsem’s vision of the Greek gods is both painfully human and incredibly alien which, despite signifigant liber-ties taken with the mythology, is much closer to the source mate-rial that it draws from than most films that take their inspiration from Greek myths.

Where Immortals falls short, however, is in its plot.

The plot points and themes in Immortals are all quite strong, but they either aren’t given ade-quate time to develop, as is the case with Theseus and Phaedra’s and relationship, or not fully ex-plained, as is the case with Zeus’ insistence that the gods not inter-fere in human affairs.

The result is that while the plot of immortals is sturdy, it lacks the necessary emotional heft needed to drive it forward and make the audience truly invested in what is happening on screen.

Still, despite these failings, Im-mortals does have a number of simply gorgeous moments, both savage and tender. It also has as a breathtaking last 5 minutes that significantly boosts the quality of the film, and makes you wish that the entire movie was of a similar quality.

So, should you go see Immor-tals? If you like action movies, and are looking for a film to go to with a bunch of like-minded friends, then I would say yes. But, if you are looking for something with crossover appeal, or are seek-ing to get the most bang from your buck, then I would go elsewhere.

Immortals has lasting effect

Immortals has flaws but overall a good winter action movie.


Inquiring PhotographerThanksgiving


The Inquiring Photographer asked people the following question:

Besides your family and turkey, what do you like best about Thanksgiving?

Denise “Dee” Crane of Pittsfi eld

“What do I like best about Thanksgiving? That snow is on the way. I like to snowshoe.”

Barbara Kochapski of Pittsfi eld

“Giving gratitude is the central part of living. When you are thankful, you are happy. When you live in a world of ‘give me, give me, give me,’ it’s important to say thank you for what you have.”

Dawn Colli of Pittsfi eld

“Everybody being together and I don’t have to cook.”

Carole Fulvi of West Springfi eld, shopping at the Huntington Country Store

“My friends, stuffi ng and pumpkin pie. Also, my family really does come fi rst.”

Cindy Howe of Lenox Dale

“Remembering Thanksgivings from the past and talking about people who are no longer with you, like my dad who passed in 1988. He’d take a piece of each kind of pie—slivers of apple, blueberry, chocolate cream, pumpkin, and squash. And he’d eat them with ice cream!”

Sherri Kaubis of Westfi eld

“A day off from work and bread stuffi ng!”

Inquiring PhotographerChristmas


The Inquiring Photographer asked people the following question:

If you had one wish for Christmas, guar-anteed to come true, what would it be?

Jim Daley of Pitts� eld

“Peace on earth.”

Lee Rose of Pitts� eld

“For everyone to get to know who Jesus is and understand His will. This has been on my heart since I was 17 years old.”

Janet Staley of Great Barrington

“ For people to have a roof to sleep under.”

Laura McConnell of Pitts� eld

“For all the world’s needs to be met.”

Domonique Colmenares of Pitts� eld

“I’d probably wish magically that my dad would get a green card and be able to come to the United States from Mexico to be with our family.”

Cindy Hand of Pitts� eld

“� at there’d be much peace in the world.”

Dec. 8th Berkshire Beacon

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