Editorial

The Residential Exemption Part One

There are all kinds of political debates — this is one about sensitivity and caring, livability, community, and neighborliness. The debate took place at a Select Board meeting. At issue was the Residential Exemption — an optional tax plan made available to localities by the Commonwealth. Town Select Boards can implement the Residential Exemption without Town Meeting approval. So, what did our Board do?

What is the Residential Exemption?

According to Mass.gov, “the residential exemption reduces your tax bill by excluding a portion of your residential property’s value from taxation.” A tax bill is a function of the tax rate and assessed value — reduce the value and thereby reduce the tax owed. It is a way to make Stockbridge more affordable for lower income folks, elderly on fixed incomes, and owners of the less expensive homes. It eases the tax burden on those who need relief the most.

Under rising pressure on our real estate market, it may help Stockbridge retain moderate-priced housing and not become an enclave of only high-priced housing that is dark all winter.

How does the Residential Exemption work?

In an oversimplified example, Stockbridge needs $10/year to run the town. With the Residential Exemption, some pay a reduced tax based on a reduced percentage of the assessed value. Yes, but, Stockbridge still needs $10/year, so the taxes on other houses are raised and $10 still is collected.

How do you decide who pays more and who pays less? The Commonwealth only allows the percentage-reduction for residents — those who live here 183 days or more per year. Non-residents’ evaluations cannot be reduced. Actually, the Commonwealth makes all the decisions but two. The percentage by which the assessed value can be reduced (up to 35% allowed by the Commonwealth) is decided locally.

For those who struggle to pay their taxes; those on fixed incomes, those who may be forced to request tax deferments or to sell due to the tax burden — those folks are relieved. The other local decision? To adopt it or not.

If we do nothing

If Stockbridge does nothing, the marketplace will shape our community. With the Residential Exemption, a different scenario is possible; a correction of the distortion in the marketplace is possible. The possibility our police, firemen, the elderly and young families could live in town.

The Stockbridge Select Board dismissed it by a vote of two to one. Patrick White voted for it.

Carole Owens, Managing Editor

Next Issue Part Two: Why oppose the Residential Exemption?

News

About COVID-19

The administration of vaccines has now shifted to nonprofit healthcare organizations and retail pharmacies. For more information about where, when, and how to get vaccinated — for those 12 years and older and for those seeking the booster — call your pharmacy or visit:

• Berkshire Health Systems: Vaccination Information
• Community Health Programs Mobile Health Unit Vaccination Information
• Commonwealth of Massachusetts COVID-19 Vaccination Information

Fairview Hospital and the Berkshire Public Health Alliance have announced three upcoming flu clinics in different southern Berkshire towns that are open to all community members. Due to COVID-19 precautions, pre-registration is required for all clinics. Please register online at https://home.color.com/vaccine/register/berkshire. This link provides choice of location and registration information.

1. Thursday, October 28th at Farmington River Regional School, 555 N Main Rd, Otis, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
2. Tuesday, November 2nd, at the W.E.B. DuBois Regional Middle School at 313 Monument Valley Rd, Great Barrington from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
3. Tuesday November 9th at Mt Everett Regional High School at491 Berkshire School Rd, Sheffield, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Participants will be required to wear a mask while at the clinic and are asked to wear a short sleeve shirt if possible. Please do not come if you are ill on the day of the clinic. Those registered will receive vaccine that is quadrivalent and preservative free. A limited amount of nasal mist will be available for people ages 2-49 who meet health requirements. High dose formulation vaccine will not be available. There is no charge for the vaccination, but if you have insurance, please bring a copy of the front and back of your insurance card if possible. For more information, please contact Heather Barbieri, Director of Emergency Management at Fairview Hospital at (413) 854-9656

News

Events

1. Live at Tanglewood — There will be a Fall-Winter-Spring season at Tanglewood for the first time. From November 2021 through April 2022, there will be performances at the Linde Center. The events will include four Chamber Music programs, and a collaboration between BSO musicians and WBUR “Circle Round”. Live performances will be followed by video-on-demand BSO Concert Now streams. For more information, www. BSO.org
2. Norman Rockwell Museum Exhibitions Jan Brett — Stories Near & Far; November 13 – 14. Join us to explore our new holiday/winter exhibition, complete with creative scavenger hunts for children and families; recorded story readings by Jan Brett; and artist signed books available in the Museum Store. Admission free for kids & teens, and members.
3. Naumkeag — Winterlights. Please note: Due to uneven and stepped terrain, accessibility is limited at this event. Tickets required. To purchase tickets, check dates, and dates available go to ww.ttor.org/Naumkeag.
4. Berkshire Botanical Garden —
   • Drawing Dried Leaves — Tuesday, November 2 to Thursday, Nov. 4, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
   • Understanding Soil Health and Structure Tuesdays Nov 2 to Tuesday Nov 23, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
   • Autumn-Inspired Handmade Filled Pasta Saturday Nov 6, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
   • Digging Dahlias, Saturday Nov 6, 11 a.m.to noon
5. Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce is once again purchasing 16 balsam fir trees through the Southern Berkshire Chamber/Wards Nursery for the “Winter Wonderland Walkway” at the Stockbridge Library. All are invited to stroll through a festive walkway of 16 lit and decorated trees Dec. 4th to Jan. 5th, free of charge.
6. Stockbridge Library World Premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s “Music for String Quartet” — Live Saturday, November 6, @ 7:30 p.m. at the Linde Center at Tanglewood — Contact the Library for ticket prices and additional information; Outdoor Storytime, Tuesday, November 2@ 10:30 a.m.; Online Poetry Series: The Refuge of Witnessing featuring Julie Danho Thursday, November 4 @ 12:00 p.m.; Virtual Cookbook Club with Christopher Kimball Thursday, November 4 @ 12:00 p.m.; Virtual Speaker Series featuring author Eyal Press Wednesday, November 10 @ 6:30 p.m.; Simon Winchester — Live — Saturday, November 13 @ 3:00 p.m.

News

Our Schools

From the 8-Town Regional School District Planning Board:

The 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board (RSDPB) has completed conducting three surveys designed to gather public input into studying possible consolidation or enhanced collaboration between the Southern Berkshire Regional School District and Berkshire Hills Regional School District and is now in the process of collating and analyzing the survey responses. The surveys were designed to collect input from three constituencies:

• Student and alumni for students in grades 9-12 who attend either Monument Mountain Regional High School or Mt. Everett Regional High School, and for alumni who graduated from either high school from 2018 to 2021.
• All faculty and staff who work for the two school districts.
• Community members or anyone who lives in one of the eight towns, or anyone who has a child attending either SBRSD or BHRSD even if they live in a different town.

“Getting survey responses from the residents of the communities served by the two districts is essential to our study,” said Lucy Prashker, chair of the RSDPB, when the surveys were first launched. “We want to hear from students and alumni, faculty and staff, elected officials, parents, as well as those who do not have children in the schools. Both permanent residents and those with second homes in the Berkshires are encouraged to participate. Everyone’s input and opinion matters.” Survey results are expected to be made public by the end of November.

Editor’s notes: 1. The Regional School District Planning Board was formed in 2020 to explore collaboration and consolidation possibilities between the two districts, and includes up to three representatives from each of the eight towns served by the SBRSD and BHRSD. 2. The three members of RSDPB from Stockbridge are Sean Stephen, Nick Fredsall, and Patrick White. 3. In July, the 8 Town RSDPB announced the launch of a new website designed to enhance the sharing of information and progress on its work. The results of the survey will be posted when available at the website www.8towns.org or www.rsdpb.org

News

Notes from the Historic Preservation Committee

October 18, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Carl Sprague, Chair
• Peter Willimas
• Chantal Rhind
• Gary Johnston
• Lisa Sauer

Also present; Matt Deres, Andrew Hochberg, and Patrick White

1. Minutes approved as written.
2. Application to demolish 8 Mahkeenac Terrace—Matt Deres and Andrew Hochberg. Application necessary because the building is over 50 years old (built 1962). Williams moved that it was not historically significant. Motion carried. Demolition approved
3. Sprague described what happened with the 18th century St. Paul’s Rectory on Main Street, built circa 1790. It was being “wrapped in plastic.” The bylaw is clear that if more than 500 sq ft is changed then the work must be approved. Sprague called it “so sad” that 18th century decoration and materials were destroyed.
   1. Sprague said, “Mea Culpa” — he should have stopped it. However, so might have Ned Baldwin, Building Inspector.
   2. Williams suggested a letter clarifying the relationship between the bylaw, the role of the Building Inspector, and the Historic Preservation Commission.
   3. Sprague will draft letter to Baldwin for Commission review.
   4. White said the most important thing is protecting our historic buildings

Meeting Adjourned

News

Notes from the Board of Assessors

October 18, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Gary Pitney, Chair
• Tom Stokes
• Michael Blay, Town Assessor

Present via Zoom:

• Doug Goudey

1. Report on tax classification
   1. Public Hearing held as part of Select Board meeting October 14.
   2. Select Board approved a residential factor of 1 (Blay said, “keeps the tax rate at single rate and does not shift to commercial”).
   3. No adoption of residential exemption or small commercial exemption (see editorial)
2. Next the tax rate is set.
3. It is uncertain if the tax bills will go out November 1.
4. Commission went into executive session re: tax exemptions

Meeting adjourned

News

Notes from the Planning Board (PB)

October 19 — Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Bill Vogt, Chair
• Marie Rafferty, Vice Chair
• Gary Pitney
• Wayne Slosek
• Nancy Socha

Present via Zoom:

• Kate Fletcher
• Carl Sprague

Also present: Jennifer Carmichael, Denny Alsop, Robert Ackroyd and Patrick White

1. Minutes of last meeting approved.
2. Amended plans for 37 Mahkeenac Road approved. If the PB requested new plans to reflect the change, it would require a Public Meeting. As an alternative, the Chair proposed calling the change an amendment and approving that night.
3. Continued discussion of Natural and Historic Resources Protection Zoning (NHRPZ)
   1. Reflecting that the PB is on an advanced draft, Selectman Patrick White said, “It shocks me that Jeff (the consultant) hasn’t walked the Town with you guys. Why wasn’t that the first step?” Chair replied that they are doing it now.
   2. White also asked that when they show the consultant the town and “consider what to build, to protect neighborhoods they also consider what not to build.” He used the example of opening a bar in a residential neighborhood.
   3. Slosek strongly disagreed with any suggestion that there be no bars or restaurants in residential districts. He pointed out most Berkshire Cottages are in residential districts and developing those properties would include mixed use.
   4. Sprague suggested the PB set aside time to discuss the results of a resilience report which seemed to conclude a majority of Stockbridge residents “respect the limits” placed on growth and development that prevent urban sprawl.
4. After discussion, PB set a date for the consultant’s visit to Stockbridge

Meeting adjourned

Editor’s notes: 1. In general, a Community Resilience Report measures the ability of communities to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity and other factors. Hope PB follows Sprague’s suggestion so we can be made aware of report specific to Stockbridge. 2. John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” In the year plus that PB labored over NHRPZ, the real estate market in Stockbridge changed radically. There was an influx of new residents, renovations, demolitions and new buildings. The activity has redefined development in Stockbridge. (See article by contributor Lis Wheeler). The growth and rise in property values is nothing short of stupendous. The attraction to Stockbridge was in no small part due to its low density and residential character. The task for PB seems to have shifted from promoting growth to managing it. The relevance of NHRPZ may have waned.

News

Notes from the Select Board (SB)

October 21, Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Roxanne McCaffrey, Chair
• Patrick White
• Chuck Cardillo

Also present: Michael Canales, Town Administrator; Ron Brouker, Chair Conservation Commission; Nicole Fairoux, Parks and Recreation

1. Minutes approved as written
2. Six new members appointed to Cultural Council as others step down. The membership will be 10 — a range of 5 – 22 is permitted.
3. Reserve fund transfer ($40,488.76) approved. $37,011.24 remaining in that fund. White wanted to make clear there are additional reserve funds with amounts over $1,000,000 — Stockbridge is not reduced to $37,000 on hand.
4. Brouker requested support for a Conservation Agent for Stockbridge or in concert with other towns e.g., a Tri-town Agent. He listed the many issues before ConCom including tree removal, house demolitions and construction around The Bowl, and the Lake Drive Association’s need for connection to town sewer or some other solution for failing septic systems. With meetings, permit requests, and site visits, the volunteer Commission could use the help. Apparently, this request has been before the SB for some time and the hope is it will be acted upon soon. In addition, Brouker thanked Hugh Page for cleanup at Transfer Station, and reported on progress at Gould Meadows including the barn being closed in and primed for painting.
5. Nicole Fairoux talked about the issues before Parks and Recreation including relocation of kayak racks, improvement to beach parking lot and request for proposals to repair tennis courts and re-fence them. She mentioned the vacancy on the Highway Department and urged to SB to fill it. The Highway Department under Supervisor Hugh Page does much for Parks and Recreation and a full staff would be so helpful. Cardillo recommended devising a plan for improving the playgrounds and offered to help.
6. Canales gave project reports on the bridges and the Chime Tower. They are all “on track”.

Meeting adjourned

News

Notes from the Select Board (SB)

October 28, Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Roxanne McCaffrey, Chair
• Patrick White
• Chuck Cardillo

Also present: Michael Canales, Town Administrator, Hugh Page Highway Superintendent and Matt Boudreau, Chair Agriculture and Forestry Commission

It was a brief meeting with 3 agenda items.

1. Tri-Town Health Department requested funds for a Food Standards employee to certify restaurants. White questioned if, before voting on the measure, they might ask Tri-Town about the percentage breakdown: Lee (33%) $23,100; Lenox (43%) $30,100; Stockbridge (24%) $16,800. White said since Stockbridge has only a handful of restaurants the percentage seems like “subsidizing the other two towns”. Canales suggested it was probably based on percentages paid by each town to Tri-Town. The measure was passed without double checking percentages.
2. Matt Bourdreau was present to request approval of the grant application for injecting the trees in Ice Glen (See Notes from the Agricultural and Forestry Commission). White reminded everyone that there is a fund, donations tax deductible, for continued care of the Old Growth Forest and encouraged folks to contribute. Motion passed. Grant will be submitted.
3. Two positions in the Highway Department are now filled. The applicants recommended to SB for approval. Both candidates approved by SB. Canales said the Highway Department will now be fully staffed.

Meeting adjourned

Opinion

A Special Thank You from Stockbridge Updates

Fifty years ago, if you walked into Town Hall, there was a single paid worker. Her name was Helen Pigot. She was a wonder, and no amount of thanks would have been enough.

Today we have more paid workers than one, but Stockbridge is still run by an army of volunteers. Generous folks willing to spend their free time in meetings making tough decisions. They all deserve our thanks, and sometimes, a special thank you.

1. Highway Superintendent Hugh Page for reclaiming ground at the Transfer Station and making it look 1000 times better. Page not only saw the need but rolled up his sleeves and did the work.
2. Lisa Bozzuto, Shelby Marshall, and Patrick White for writing a grant to supplement funding to save our trees. (Town Meeting voted funds for spraying the Old Growth Forest in Ice Glen. When sufficient spraying was disallowed by the Commonwealth, the more expensive injection method had to be adopted.) Without stopping to complain, Stockbridge Agriculture and Forestry Commission members wrote a draft grant. That is hard, usually professional, work.
3. Ron Brouker, and his team, for the beautiful restoration and transformation of Gould Meadows while simultaneously chairing the time-consuming and arduous Conservation Commission.
4. Chuck Cardillo for his enthusiastic willingness to roll up his sleeves and help rejuvenate our playgrounds. It is that spirit of love and willingness to work for Stockbridge that makes us who we are.

Opinion

The Latest Kerfuffle

The backstory: The Select Board (SB) and Conservation Commission met with the president of the Stockbridge Bowl Association (SBA) on September 28. The results were mixed: some questions went unanswered, some tensions remained, but overall it felt less acrimonious than it was during litigation. The Berkshire Eagle ran a story highlighting the divisions on Oct. 4; Stockbridge Updates echoed that sentiment in a subsequent editorial. Then, approximately ten days ago, the SBA president and our SB chair wrote a joint statement taking issue with the SU editorial. The SB chair unilaterally ordered that it be distributed as a Press Release from the Town to the Eagle, which ran the story last week, rather than as a letter-to-the-editor to the Eagle or Stockbridge Updates.

I have some observations.

To my Select Board colleagues: Press releases indicate Town policy. I should not be learning about policy in the Eagle. I remind my colleagues we only have authority as a Board; we do not have any authority as individual members of that Board. Beyond that, we don’t get to determine what people should write or read. Your decision to ignore Stockbridge Updates, going so far as to quietly ban the Town Administrator from engaging with it, does a huge disservice to the vast swath of the Stockbridge community that relies on it for information.

To Town employees: There is a chain of command in place for a reason. If you are a team member, your manager is your department head. If you are a department head, your manager is the Town Administrator. If you are the Town Administrator, your manager is the Select Board, which is required to make decisions in public in an open meeting. The Select Board as a whole, not individual members, is the executive of the town.

To the SBA: Our success at repairing our relationship will be based on actions, not press releases. We are making progress but it will take time.

To the readers: Get your news from many sources! Read the Eagle, the Edge, Stockbridge Updates. All of these publications cover news, and give leaders and readers a forum to submit letters to comment on or correct the record. Claims of “fake news” and “misinformation” are an attempt to undermine the press and avoid accountability for the actions being covered. This playbook has no place in our local discourse.

by Patrick White

Perspective

Stockbridge Then & Now

The iconic grist-and-saw mill on Yale Hill Road in Stockbridge is shown in the above, circa 1930s view. It was built about 1810 along Kampoosa Brook and later operated by Allen Sikes Yale (1800-1891), a successful lumberman and farmer related to the prominent Yale family of Connecticut. In the 1920s, the mill was converted into a home by author, playwright and philanthropist Nina Duryea (1874-1951).

Ms. Duryea was honored with awards and decorations by several European countries for her considerable relief efforts during World War I. She and her colleagues distributed clothing, food, and medicine to thousands of war survivors and refugees. Her gardens reflected an assortment of beautiful plantings, some of which were donated in honor of her accomplishments.

After Duryea’s death, the mill was purchased by Tony Award-nominated actor and artist Eleanor D. Wilson (1908-2002). Wilson appeared in numerous plays and films including “Weekend” by Gore Vidal, “Reds” starring Warren Beatty, and Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant.” She also graced the stage in dozens of plays at the nearby Berkshire Playhouse.

The 24-foot waterwheel had sturdy oak spokes. Decades later, the wheel was neglected and rotting away. The present owners, however, have restored the mill to much of its former glory — as shown in the bottom photo. Another handsome mill still stands just a bit further downstream, but that is a story for another time.

Editor’s note: Gary, thanks for the memory: having tea at the Old Mill, Marge Champion, Mary Flynn, Maureen Stapleton, and our gracious hostess, Eleanor “Siddy” Wilson. You are a wonderful local historian. This article also appeared in The Berkshire Edge October 25, 2021

by Gary Leveille

Perspective

My Experience on the School Board

As the newest elected member to the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee, I was asked to share my thoughts and impressions for the readers of Stockbridge Updates. While I am happy to give everyone a feel for the past year, I think right now, it is more important to make sure the residents of Stockbridge know how their voices can be heard.

Last November, I joined Jason St Peter and Sean Stephen as the third representative from Stockbridge. We are joined by others from Great Barrington and West Stockbridge, and it is a wonderful group of people. We are mothers, fathers, and grandfathers. We are lawyers, retired teachers, doctors, and nurses. We meet on average, twice a month (Thursdays at 6pm) and due to COVID, we now offer the option for the public to join in via Zoom. The agendas and live links to the Zoom calls can be found on the district calendar. The full calendar of meeting dates can be found here. Previously recorded sessions are online at CTSB Education. Over the past year our meetings have covered everything from COVID protocols, new district diversity initiatives, budget discussions and submitting our most recent application for state aid for the construction of a new high school.

Views of proposed school merger

There has not been much talk in our School Committee meetings of the proposed school merger since we are in the info-gathering and exploratory stages of this process. I certainly agree that finding ways to improve educational outcomes for our students while controlling costs for the towns is a worthwhile and important initiative. An 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board has been created and they have been running focus groups and conducting surveys. Please be sure to visit their website at www.rsdpb.org or www.8towns.org where you will find calendars for meetings, links to minutes and contact tabs to join mailing lists and to directly submit comments. We are here to represent you — whether it be the School Committee members, or the 8 Town research team so please get involved, stay involved and keep sharing your thoughts. Thank you!

by Corey Sprague

Perspective

Stockbridge Real Estate… Homes, Sweet Homes

Real estate sales in Stockbridge have been very busy in 2021. According to the third quarter report provided by the Berkshire Board of Realtors and based on properties listed and sold through the REALTOR’S® MLS database (Link to Market Watch: http://berkshirerealtors.net/wp-content/uploads/2021-3rdQuarter_BerkshireMarketWatch.pdf), thirty residential homes were sold, nine pending, three under contract, and nine others still active and awaiting their new owners. The number of houses sold by this time last year only increased by one (3%), the change in the total dollar amount of sold properties has gone up 66%.

How can that be? Well, twelve of the homes sold to date ranged from $1,000,000 to $4,025,000. If one were to take a look at pre-Covid prices, you would see the clear difference: before higher priced homes were on the market for longer periods of time and there were fewer of them. Why? These days we have seen an influx of people from cities where our local prices are bargains — larger square footage on nice parcels with privacy.

Yes, the Covid-19 pandemic brought a lot of people here but we were beginning to see this trend in 2018 when the sale of residential homes in town rose 76% from the previous year and the total dollar amount of sold residential homes went up 70%. The pandemic is not the only reason we see more sales but also climate change. The northeast is a very attractive place to live with storms and fires threatening other parts of the country.

Land is a different story. There are sixteen active parcels on the market, many more than there have been in a long time. Six have sold this year alone. Twenty-one parcels have sold since 2018. If you look at the previous years from 2014 until 2017 there were only 5 parcels sold in town.

Why build when our older homes offer the history that drew many here and were more readily available? Some speculate the houses available aren’t large enough, too close to town center, or not as modern as wanted, noting the building of larger houses and the rehabilitation and enlargement of older properties especially around the Stockbridge Bowl.

It will be very interesting to follow the market in the next few years to see whether this market holds or levels out as the country gets closer to our pre-pandemic norm. Will people start flocking back to the cities or be enticed by the beauty and sense of community that led them to this beautiful town? Time will tell.

Editor’s note: Elisabeth Wheeler has been a Stockbridge resident for 53 years. She returned to real estate sales in 2017 after 27 years as a mental health counselor.

by Lis Wheeler

Perspective

About the Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG)

BTG has been fortunate to produce live theatre throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, creating immersive experiences on multiple stages in both Pittsfield and Stockbridge. In July 2020, BTG produced Godspell, the first musical to earn approval from Actors’ Equity Association during the Pandemic, outside The Colonial Theatre. In December 2020, despite chilly temperatures, BTG produced Holiday Memories in the Courtyard Outside the Unicorn Theatre.

Throughput the summer, BTG presented the outdoor Colonial Concert Series that included the singer-songwriter-guitarist Ryan Montbleau, Massachusetts-favorite Whiskey Treaty Roadshow, multiple Grammy Award-winner Chris Thile, folk-rock music legend Tom Rush and urban folk & jazz musician KJ Denhert. A blockbuster lineup of Broadway talent was added to this concert series with performances by Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara; Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis; three-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello; stage and screen actor Krysta Rodriguez; Tony Award-winner Stephanie J. Block; and two-time Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin and Broadway and television actor Graham Rowat.

This summer and fall, inside The Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, BTG staged The Importance Of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s much loved, exhilarating and enduring comedy masterpiece; Nina Simone: Four Women, which was set in the aftermath of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963 and imagined a conversation, often through music, between Simone and three African-American women; and Shirley Valentine, following a middle-aged Liverpool housewife who finds herself in an unsatisfying rut and goes on an unexpected journey of self-discovery when she joins her best friend on a vacation to Greece. BTG also welcomed back the well-loved community production outside The Colonial with the reimagined musical adventure, The Wizard of Oz.

Audiences have returned into the historic Colonial Theatre with a diverse lineup of local and regional talent. This fall, Concerts at the Colonial included Berkshire Blues & Brews Fest, Lez Zeppelin and Reelin’ in the Years: Celebrating the Music of Steely Dan. Upcoming concerts are The Linda Ronstadt Experience with American Idol Star Tristan McIntosh on November 6 and Rev Tor 25th Anniversary Jam on November 20.

This holiday season The Colonial will be transformed into a snow globe come to life as BTG celebrates the season with the must see spectacular, White Christmas, a spectacular festive feel-good musical full of dancing, laughter and some of the greatest songs ever written.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.

by Amy Moorby

Analysis

Notes from the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission

October 15, Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Jamie Minacci, Chair
• John Loiodice, Vice Chair

Present via Zoom:

• Charles Kenny
• Michael Nathan

1. Minutes from last meeting approved.
2. Loiodice reported that Water and Sewer Commission did not discuss any matters related to the Bowl.
3. Kenny said a sighting of a cyanobacteria bloom in Laurel Lake was reported. The usual procedure would be to report it to the Commonwealth Department of Public Health (DPH). DPH would send a representative to photograph and return results. Closing a lake due to a bloom would be at the recommendation of MA DPH. DPH said they would no longer provide that service and it was up to the locality. Kenny, Chair of Tri-town Health, Jim Wilusz, Executive Director of Tri-town, and the Board will have to develop a plan to determine when to close a lake and when to reopen.
4. Nathan said they have done what was required to promote dredging and hoped the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) will go to next step
5. SBSC will be meeting only once a month beginning in November.

Meeting adjourned.

Editor’s question: It was mentioned at previous meetings that harvesting could continue into October or even later for a clearer weed-free lake. However, it does not appear that there was any harvesting after the Josh Billings Run Aground. Is that true?