Dear Carole,

Great reporting — many thanks — we are blessed to have this resource.

Mary Balle

Dear Mary,

Thank you for the kind words. You will note this was written a while ago. Sorry it took so long to post. It was due to what my grandmother called good trouble. We receive so any letters, one or more gets lost. But here is yours. Hope it is a case of better late than never.

Thank you, Carole

Dear Carole,

I privately had the idea [starting a Town newspaper] several years ago, when town politics was at a low point, that we would all benefit from (a) more information about the running of our town (most of us don’t have the time to attend every board and committee meeting) and (b) more opportunities for the year-round residents of the town to come together and forge relationships (e.g., Founder’s Day celebration). As a working dad and husband, I just don’t much time to contribute to such efforts at the moment.

I often think of journalism in the language of “necessary and sufficient conditions” that was impressed upon me when I was in law school: thoughtful journalism may not be sufficient on its own to create a healthy democracy, but it is absolutely a necessary condition of such a democracy. Your efforts, and those of the other contributors to Stockbridge Updates, help create a more informed citizenry, and for that I am grateful.

All the best,

Jon Geldert

Dear Jon,

Aren’t you nice! Please contribute your thoughts to SU any time.

Thank you, Carole

Dear Carole,

Here’s a condensed version of what happened at the Feb. 10 Select Board Meeting. As requested, the Select Board included an item on the agenda as follows: “Discussion of Stockbridge Democratic Town Committee Warrant Article request that requires the continuation of hybrid and remote meetings”.

There was a brief discussion of the pros and cons of hybrid meetings during which Patrick White pointed out that the unique characteristics of Stockbridge and our residents increase the importance of continuing hybrid meetings. The board acknowledged receiving a significant number of emails in support of hybrid meetings. I thank those who wrote to express your opinion.

The chair acknowledged that the town has the technology in place to continue hybrid meetings. However the SB tabled the agenda item until a future meeting. They decided to wait and see if the state issues legislation on this topic. They expect it to be mid-March since the Governor’s extension ends April 1. Roxanne asked Michael Canales to post a handout of the presentation that she and Patrick attended on the topic of remote meetings. I’ll send the link when it’s available.

The Democratic Town Committee will pursue this. Transparency is a priority. There will still be time for the select board to discuss and vote on supporting a warrant article.

As a postscript, sadly, I am a good example of the benefit of remote meetings. I attended the Feb 10 meeting in person but due to snow, ice and physical issues, I was late. The continuation of hybrid meetings is a priority. It enables increased participation by committee members as well as full and part-time residents.

Anita Schwerner

Anita,

Thank you for your efforts — many agree with you

Best wshes,

Carole

Hi Carole,

Kathy Beebe from the Stockbridge Library gave me a solution to the picture-too-big-to-fit-on-one-screen problem. Hold down the Ctrl key and move the mouse wheel toward you to decrease size, away from you to increase size. Worked like a charm for this issue’s pictures. Note: This will adjust the whole window contents, including text size.

Thanks, Pat Flinn

Hi Pat — thank you.

As always you contribute wherever you go.

Carole

Dear Carole,

I used to fish a lot around here 50 years ago. You could still catch native brook trout in the Stockbridge Bowl back then. There were brown trout in Larrywaug Brook. We did not know much about PCBs in the Housatonic. Yet.

I was always outside, and it looked different here in Stockbridge than it does now. There were fewer tall trees. We were still connected ever so slightly to the earlier farming era of the town, so there were more fields, some still in use for hay, some well along in reverting to scrubby second growth forest, but not tall.

You could see. Ridge lines were more in evidence everywhere. More lines of sight, long and profound in places. The deep orange and pink sunsets touched more places than they do today, playing off the fields and hills. Much of the Bowl was visible from Tanglewood. Not many trees were taller than me from the front of my house down to Larrywaug Brook.

At night there was no ambient light pollution from Lenox, or beyond Prospect Hill. Not a lot of streetlights. The Four Corners intersection of Rts. 102 and 183 was regulated by a couple of stop signs, not the eternal blinking traffic light.

We had a bigger sky and billions of stars, an astronomer’s dream.

Now the trees are tall and the sky not so big. I have missed the old-fashioned look of farmland in the town’s outer belt. We have more houses. Many views are gone. Unless the trees surround you, you can see ambient light on the horizons most nights. The little second growth pines are now grand forests.

The same trees that took the views are the trees that are helping to cool us in the growing heat of summer. I see just a little of the hills from my house now, but I know that nature has been getting us ready. The trees scrub and clean the very air we breathe. These are nature’s changes, not mankind’s, and they may help save us in spite of ourselves.

I cannot find a shooting star so easily now, but I know they are there, and this is still Stockbridge. It has not really changed that much. Yet. Hold it close as long as you can. Keep it safe. there are not many towns like this left.

Bruce Blair

Dear Bruce,

Gosh you bring back memories as I arrived 50 years ago and remember what you describe.

What a lovely word picture.

Thank you, Carole