Dear Carole,
Can you please include the following details in a Stockbridge update (hopefully before September 12)? There will be a benefit concert for The Stockbridge Library, September 12, 2025 at 7 PM. The concert will take place at the First Congregation Church, 4 Main Street Stockbridge, and will include music by Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Sheila Silver. Tickets are $35 and 100% of the proceeds will benefit The Stockbridge Library. Sweet and savory treats to be provided by The Lost Lamb at a reception following the performance. Tickets are now on sale at the front desk of the Library and will also be available at the door.
Robin Dumas
Dear Robin,
Always a pleasure to help our library. It is an asset to Stockbridge and is now even more vibrant.
Carole
Carole –
I am reluctant to send the draft minutes until they have been reviewed/approved by the Committee. I try not to do anything “unilaterally”. If there is something important, please call and I can fill you in.
THAT BEING SAID….
Unfortunately, we may not have a September meeting because there isn’t very much NEW. So it would mostly be reviewing the updates.
The June minutes have been posted (hopefully on the website) and there wasn’t a meeting in July (zoom wasn’t working)..
August was mostly “updates” (you can see on the agenda) – and the Committee voted to recommend that Neel Webber be appointed by the Selectboard to the Committee to replace Pat Flinn.
One cool thing is that there is now a sign in the chamber of commerce kiosk, with an arrow pointing to the EV chargers and public bathrooms.
I feel so good about the current committee – technical expertise, thoughtful, practical — care for Town and environment and our mission to “do good for both”….
Hope this helps. we meet the 2nd Wednesday of every month…. HOWEVER, we may not meet in September because again it would only be update… In that case, I will ask if there is any problem sending you the draft minutes from August.
Maybe easier if we have a brief conversatio…. AND, I can check in with the committee to see if all are okay with sending draft minutes….
Warmly,
Laura Dubester, Chair
Green Committee
Dear Laura,
Thank you for the draft minutes. I admire your leadership style of collaboration.
Carole
Hi Carole,
I was hoping you could put an update in the next issue about our new vendor at the farms market, Stuart Kelso wrote a little something about it and sent it to me. Let me know if its too long we can make it shorter. Also he sent photos for it if that is warranted.
For the August market, our newest vendor is Lion’s Tooth Farm, a small family farm in Windsor MA.
“Our products are made as cleanly and organically as possible. Our beef, lamb, and goat are entirely grassfed and finished. Our pork is pasture raised and fed a local certified organic soy-free grain. All of our animals receive no antibiotics. They forage on pesticide-free trees and grasses as well as our own hay.
We grow and blend our own herbal cosmetics, herbal wellness products and animal-based cosmetics. Everything is organically grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.
We will have organic sweet corn available every Wednesday afternoon at the Stockbridge farmers market.” – Lions Tooth Farm
Come out and enjoy fresh local certified organic produce and fresh baked goods at the Stockbridge Farmers Market every Wednesday from now to September 24.
Market hours are 3pm to 6pm.
In addition to sweet corn we are also planning to have kale, radishes, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, a variety of leafy greens, a wide variety of baked goods from Berkshire Mountain Bakery, honey, maple syrup.
The Stockbridge Farmers Market is located at 50 Main Street in Stockbridge.(the front lawn of the Town Offices Building.)
Our vendors are The Abode Farm, Gaetanos Farm, Berkshire Mountain Bakery, Konkapot Apiary honey, Millbrook Sugar House maple products and Lion’s Tooth Farm.
SNAP recipients can purchase food at half price. Come to the market manager’s desk for details.
Hope all is well, Matt B
Matt Boudreau, Chair
Agriculture and Forestry Committee
Thanks Matt — Carole
Hi Carole,
Thank you for your caring involvement in numerous issues dear to you that we all benefit from. Although I’m not on staff [at Kripalu] I do volunteer work attempting to keep the standard of care beyond life support. I pushed the conversation of the Gatehouse collapse along for several years. My guiding philosophy and passion is eco-friendly grounds-keeping without borders transforming blight into beauty. Seeing the Gatehouses neglect has been like a pebble in my shoe. The Gatehouse is not only a reflection of Kripalu but I consider it visual introduction (Gateway) to the Town of Stockbridge for visitors arriving from the North. A branding if you will be complimenting Gould meadows. Jennifer, COO, would be the contact person.
How ever I can be of help keep me informed. Sometimes getting things moving can be like pushing a wet spaghetti up hill. Also sending some attached pictures of before and now. Hope you get them.
And I still owe you a hike around Shadowbrook.
Moose/Kevin “Moose” Foran
Hi Moose,
Here is what Berkshire Preservation Inc (BPI) has done so far to assist with the Shadow Brook Gatehouse.
BPI Board members met with Kripalu Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Wallace, Facilities Manager Anthony Sgueglia, and Gift and Gratitude, Jennifer Joyce.
We measured and photographed the structure. I contacted an architect and a restoration stone mason. We agree it is falling down, there is a tree growing in the center of the interior, and nonetheless, it should be saved.
BPI will be helping with grant applications and architectural input from a noted restoration architect. We are so excited.
I understand you may be giving a tour of the pieces of Shadowbrook still extant after the great fire in addition to the gatehouse. So excited to tag along. Thanks Moose just for being you.
BPI is helping with every aspect. Let’s get it done. Let’s pitch in and save the last vestiges of Shadowbrook.
Warm wishes Carole
Dear Carole,
I did my presentation on the Hoffmanns and it went very well. So many in the community were simply unaware of their significant contributions, and it was great to be able to share their story. Also I did a story on them in my monthly column in a local paper.
Thanks for your help.
Cheri McKinney
Dear Cheri,
Stockbridge’s own gets recognition in California. I love it, thank you, and it was my pleasure to help.
Carole
Editor’s note: Cheri is a resident of Santa Barbara, CA and writes for the local newspaper. Among other contributions to Stockbridge, Bernard and Irene Hoffmann donated the land (8.5 acres) and founded the Berkshire Botanical Garden.
Carole,
Thanks for your opinion piece in The Eagle that ran yesterday. I enjoyed the one in Stockbridge Updates also.
Yes, we can set up Forums so that candidates – participants in democracy – can answer questions – each given the same amount of time – each give the questions in advance to be able to consider what to say… there are no tricks to this trade!
It made me very pleased for the future of Stockbridge.
Whether we have 3 or 5 Select board members for 1800 voters, I dunno. But we do need to vote IN the good ones.
Imagine if another Select board member decided to step down? That was a bold suggestion!
I asked one of the candidates after the Forum if they decided to run for the vacancy because the term was shorter and they could see how the role fitted them, rather than commit to 3 years – OH NO! She said.
I hope you are right and that they’ll both be in there by next spring.
All the very best,
Ramelle
Ramelle Pulitzer, Chair League of Women Voters
Dear Carole,
Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s nice…
Fabulous phrase.
Especially loved the column today about the two women. Not running against, running FOR. A lost concept too often. I was a selectperson with two selectmen for six years in the 1970s. It was an education!! And a great experience.
Best always
Ruthie Bass
Editor’s note: Ruth Bass is a columnist for The Berkshire Eagle and perhaps the longest running columnist still on staff.
Carole,
I realize that the piece I sent you yesterday may not be relevant when it comes time to publish your next SU issue. And, frankly, you may not love it!
I won’t be offended or upset if it never sees the light of day. It was, for me, simply an inspired moment.
Thanks. Be well. Laurence Ackerman
And then there was the rain (6:12 pm Thursday, July 31)
Started around 10 in the morning. A slow emergence of sky-water.
And then it grew. And grew. And grew, as it does even now.
The day got wet. The land soaked in the rain that became unceasing, like baby birds with open, wanting mouths.
The reservoir filled its lungs with new oxygen, feeding the fish what they had been asking for, for days. Weeks?
So quiet. No one strolling the roads. No one driving around. (Where did they — we — all go?)
Home?
The rain brought silence to Stockbridge. A badly needed silence that invited me to do nothing but stop.
Be still. Listen. Do nothing.
To the rain outside. To the rain inside myself.
What do I do now, when the morning comes and the sun arrives? The rain gone?
What do I listen to then?
Dear Carole, please post this. Thank you, Tri Town Health
Adults:
Children:
