Oct. 27 Berkshire Beacon

October 27, 2011Volume II, Issue 23

www.berkshirebeacon.comLenox, MA 01240

FREE

1 Local News 6 Editorial6 From the Tower5 College Sports Report12 Fun & Games10 Calendar14 Movies 15 Girl-2-Girl

Monster Mash

- Page 4

The Berkshire Beacon

IndexBera Dunau

Beacon Staff Writer

LENOX - The Lenox Conservation Commission has postponed its public hearing on the Kennedy Park Belve-dere until Nov. 17.

The Conservation Commission was set to review a request for proposal from the Town of Lenox for the Ken-nedy Park Belvedere at its last meet-ing. The RFP the town has filed to the Conservation Commission is a retro-active request for approval of the Bel-vedere under Lenox’s Scenic Moun-tain Act.

Getting approval for the Belvedere

under the Scenic Mountain Act was overlooked by the selectmen when the Belvedere was approved, in part be-cause the Scenic Mountain Act had never been applied in the town of Lenox before.

The Kennedy Park Belvedere was completed earlier this year on the Kennedy Park Overlook. The Belve-dere was constructed in honor of Dr. Jordan Fieldman, an accomplished physician who practiced at Berkshire Medical Center and died at age 38 af-ter a long battle with cancer.

“I know the overlook is a very emo-

Hurry up and waitHearing on Kennedy Park Belvedere

delayed ‘til November

Wind Power?

Lenox to host meeting about Lenox

Mountain wind turbines, while many

protest the ideaBera Dunau

Beacon Staff Writer

LENOX - The Lenox Board of Se-lectmen has appointed a committee to investigate the feasibility of wind power on Lenox Mountain, the pros-pect of which has already generated some controversy.

The six-member Wind Energy Re-search Panel consists of three oppo-nents of wind power on Lenox Mountain, three supporters of wind power on Lenox Mountain, and an alternate from each side. Lenox Se-lectman Ken Fowler is the group’s nonvoting moderator.

“To determine whether or not wind energy is feasible on Lenox Mountain, that’s the committee

charge,” said Selectman David Roche.The Select Board interviewed 10

people who applied for membership on the panel, and asked them, in ad-dition to their current opinions on wind on Lenox Mountain, whether or not they could be open minded. Based off these interviews, the Select

Board chose the committee’s six mem-bers and two alternates.

The Select Board, at their last meet-ing approved all members and alter-nates for the Wind Energy Research Panel unanimously.

“The charge of this committee is not to decide whether or not we’re go-

ing to have wind turbines on Lenox Mountain. Their charge is to get as much information on either side as possible,” said Lenox Select Board Chairman John McNinch after the votes approving the panel’s member-

see WIND page 14

see PARK page 15

Photo GraPhic / Kameron SPauldinG

Above is an artist rendering that shows Lenox Mountain with possible wind turbines, the idea will be discussed further at an Oct. 31th meeting in Lenox.

Bulletin: Rep. Olver announces

he will retireKameron SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. John W. Olver (D-Am-herst) has suddenly announced that he will not seek re-election next year.

“Since 1991, I have had the privi-lege and great honor of representing the people of the First District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Rep. Olver.

“The district has grown much

Rep. Olver (D-Amherst)see OLVER page 11

2 The Berkshire Beacon October 27, 2011

Susan Wicker GuerreroBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD - December will mark the one year anniversary of a very unique and thriving jewel-ry store called Unusual Wedding Rings and More in the Crawford Square Building at 137 North St.

Owners Gayle and Herman Rotenberg had been tourists in the Berkshires for 25 years before moving their New York base of operations from the famed Dia-mond District to Pittsfield. They are now permanent residents of the Berkshires.

Unusual Wedding Rings and More is a full service jewelry store that offers all kinds of rings in-cluding custom designed dia-mond wedding rings. There are friendship and anniversary rings in gold, silver, and gold over silver and so forth.

Bracelets, necklaces, chains, and so on are all also for sale.

“We repair the ‘unrepairable,’ ” Mr. Rotenberg said. They can re-furbish antique jewelry and they recycle jewelry as well.

Customers can come in with sketches and the Rotenbergs will help them with the final decisions of what pieces of jewelry will look like.

“We will help them be creative and help them through the pro-cess,” Mr. Rotenberg said.

“We will work with a customer based on what they like.”

Gradual Move from New York

The owners’ move from New York to this area was gradual. About eight years ago, they bought an apartment in Lee and became weekend residents.

“Come hell or high water, we were here on the weekends,” Mr. Rotenberg, a tall, friendly, and sincere man, said. “New York City is a mish mash. It’s very stressful and everyone wants something yesterday.”

Also, during the last several years, with the shaky economy, doing business in New York be-came very expensive, Mr. Roten-berg said.

Then, they sold the apartment in Lee two years ago, and moved closer to Pittsfield.

“We decided maybe we could start a business here,” he said.

“We asked ourselves ‘why don’t we do what we do best?’” which, of course, was to continue in the jewelry business.

Parents Were Holocaust Survivors

The son of Holocaust survi-vors, Mr. Rotenberg was born in a refugee camp in Germany, un-der American occupation. His late parents, Meier and Liba, came to the United States in 1949 when Mr. Rotenberg was just two years old. He also has a sister who is 15 years older than him. She was a little girl during the Holocaust.

“It is beyond fiction how they survived,” he said of his parents.

The senior Mr. Rotenberg of-ten asked his son to help translate for him since his first language was Yiddish.

Life Takes Different Paths

Mr. Rotenberg’s own life has taken many different paths. He earned a Master of Social Work degree and planned to be a psy-choanalyst. He met and married Gayle Schifrin, a very attractive dark-haired woman.

Her father, Bill Schifrin, had started a jewelry business from the bottom up in the famed New York Diamond District where lit-erally thousands of people are employed. Dealers come from all over the world to do business in the many jewelry-packed build-ings along 47th Street in New York.

When his father-in-law offered Mr. Rotenberg a part-time job in his shop, he accepted.

Enjoys Working With People

“I enjoy people,” he said. “I en-joy talking with them.” He gave it a lot of thought, then decided to move in a different direction and stay in the jewelry business. He said he could still use his skills to help people.

It took him many years to learn the jewelry business. He attended the Gemological Institute of America which is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls.

The business in New York was entirely a family affair and even-

tually when Mr. Schifrin and his wife retired, they turned the busi-ness over to Mr. and Mrs. Roten-berg. Mr. Schifrin, now 93 years old, and his wife, still live in New York.

The Rotenbergs have been married for 35 years. Mr. Roten-berg will be 65 years old in February.

The Rotenbergs are striving to make Unusual Wedding Rings and More a moderately priced store where customers feel com-fortable and not pressured.

“We want them to feel like they are in a living room,” Mr. Rotenberg said. There’s a couch on hand where customers can sit and relax, and try something on. The owners will sit with them and discuss what exactly, it is that the customers want.

Jewelry has emotions attached to it and finance too.

The Rotenbergs are still totally in contact with jewelry artisans in New York who will create rings and jewelry pieces that customers want in different colors of gold, width, color, and so forth.

“This is an unusual situation,” he said. He also added items in the store are “reasonably priced.”

George Whaling Helpful

Mr. Rotenberg said George Whaling of Whaling Properties, Inc., in Pittsfield has been tre-

mendously helpful to them as they established the store.

The store, itself, is in a very spacious 900 square feet of space. Walls have been painted in deep marine blues and greens.

“My wife picked out the col-ors,” Mr. Rotenberg said.

Glittering diamond rings and necklaces, some against black vel-vet, sparkle under lights in the glass lined cases.

The couple is very active in the community and have joined as many organizations as possible such as the Chamber of Commerce.

“We want to give back to the community,” Mr. Rotenberg said.

A customer, Pat Haraden, of Pittsfield, came into the store to pay for a repair. She said the Ro-tenbergs spent a lot of time with her for “a simple clasp.”

“We are getting a sense of what people really like here,” Mr. Ro-tenberg said. “We (the store) are new to the area and people are discovering us. We want to create a non-typical jewelry store and give customers the best value for their money.”

A couple with a unique story opens a jewelry store know for unique items

Photo credit / Kameron SPauldinG

Herman Rotenberg shows a customer a selection of rings at his shop, Unusual Wedding Rings and More, on North St. in Pittsfield.


Owners Gayle and Herman Rotenberg at their store, Unusual Wedding Rings and More in Pittsfield.

October 27, 2011 The Berkshire Beacon 3

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PITTSFIELD - Protestors as-sociated with Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice and the Oc-cupy Movement held a vigil for peace, as well as drew attention to social and economic justice issues ,in Park Square in Pittsfield.

The peace vigil has been held on every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m., since the beginning of the Iraq War. Originally started by the BCC based Global Issues Re-source Organization, the event is now primarily organized by Berk-shire Citizens for Peace and Justice.

Attendance at the most recent vigil was significantly boosted by those associated with and in-spired by the group Occupy Berkshires, and organizers esti-mated that approximately 70-plus people attended the event.

Those at the vigil respectfully held signs and talked amongst themselves, as well with any pass-ers by who had questions. Occa-sionally, people in passing cars would honk their horns in solidarity.

At the end of the vigil some of the protestors gathered in a non-denominational prayer circle around a tree that was planted by organizers of the vigil 10 years ago.

“A couple of folks were putting together something for Pittsfield, and wanted to link up with Berk-shire Citizens for Peace and Jus-tice so we (could) come out to-gether,” said Bill Shein, a writer and Alford resident who is one of Occupy Berkshires’ organizers.

Mr. Shein said that Occupy Berkshires, which is associated with Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Movement, has 300 peo-ple on its email list as well as close to 100 people who are members of an email discussion group.

Mr. Shein said that the group regularly holds an event from 1 to 3 p.m., on Sunday in Great Barrington and a general assem-bly that meets at 3 p.m. in Great Barrington afterwards.The Oc-cupy Movement was started about a month ago when a group of activists began rallying on and near Wall Street to protest corpo-rate power and greed as well as income inequality in the United States.

“A lot of people are becoming aware that corporations need to just get out of elections, get out of politics period,” said Ira Birkenfeld, a Pittsfield resident, temp worker and member of the Occupy Movement. “The work-ing class people are taxed way too much and then we have every benefit of ours cut,” said Mr. Birkenfeld. “A CEO, he’ll make (a) couple million dollars every month and I’ll be working three jobs just to pay the bills.”

“This provides the antidote to the tea partiers,” said Sherwood Guernsey, a lawyer and member of Berkshire Brigades who came out to the vigil because of the Oc-cupy Movement. “This group re-alizes what the real issues are. It’s not just to blame government but to blame the real core issues that are effecting this country.”

Notably, there seemed to be no division between veterans of the Park Square peace vigil, and those who’d been drawn to the vigil by

the Occupy Movement. Indeed, many long time at-

tendees of the vigil were also sup-porters of the Occupy Move-ment, and many who came out to the vigil because of the Occupy Movement had attended the vigil previously.

“We’ve just been focused pri-marily on war,” said Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice Member and GIRO founder Marion Lathrop, who along with her husband Donald has regular-ly attended the vigil since it began in 2002. “But that doesn’t mean that a peace vigil has just to do with war.”

In addition to organizing the Park Square peace vigil, Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice show a movie on the second, fourth and fifth Thursday of ev-ery month at 7:30 p.m.

These movies focus on peace and social and economic justice topics and are free and open to the public.

Occupy Berkshires joins long running war protest

Photo credit / Bera dunau

Gordon Dunham with nephew Bob Stone at the Park Square Peace Vigil in Pittsfield. Dunham is one of the protestors.


Answers to Oct. 20Puzzles:

Janel HarrisonBeacon Staff Writer

BECKETT - It’s a dark scary night, when all creatures are out, black witches, goblins and ghosts fly about, jack lanterns, scarecrows and creepy things, clown noses, ti-aras, and angel wings.

Through the tall, wide double doors of the Becket-Washington School there poured from the walls creepy sounds of a haunted realm.

And as one crept down the hall, ghoulish music reverberated from the gym where costumes a plenty hung around partaking in all the fun, including some frightening frocks and rocking dreads worn by parents and teachers.

The children had a ball holding hands and zooming around in frantic circles past monsters, vam-pires, mermaids, witches, clowns, angels, go-go girls, a haunted cheerleader, Rapunzel, Cleopatra and many living zombies, who by the way love cup cakes, candy-cookies and homemade chocolate dipped pretzels, never mind any-thing else!

Pippi Longstocking, Mrs. Amelia Chandler, second grade teacher, was the DJ, and made sure to take requests from the stu-dents for songs like Justin Bieber’s Baby-Baby witch made the girls go wild, Katie Perry’s Firework, and other hit pop songs along with Halloween favorites.

Soon everyone was doing the Monster Mash, and one giant

conglomeration of costumes moved to the center of the gym where the party continued, and the real dancing began.

Meanwhile in the Community Room members of the Becket Washington School PTO stood by with an abundance of refresh-ments including a witch’s brew topped with spider webs, puddles of candy corn, a giant basket of goody bags, decked out cookies and pizza galore from the Becket Country Store!

Mrs. Allison Mikaniewicz, PTO Treasurer said, “This is really such a great turnout tonight and the kid are having so much fun!”

Next up, Michael Jackson’s creepy “Thriller” bled from the speakers as the infamous zombie dance commenced.

As bone like tree branches swayed in whipping currents out-side, the community was warm and cozy inside.

“All Hollow’s Eve” is said to be the one night when the gateway between the living and the dead opens, and it’s just around the corner as kids all over the globe wait in anticipation to go door to door and overflow their sacks, bags and baskets with sweets on that dark, scary night…

Children in costumes saying, “Trick or Treat” brings plenty of tasty candy to eat, the full moon above shines bright down below, making grasses trees and gravestones glow! Soon it’s time to go home, and shut down the lights, next year will come, another dark scary night.

Local school does the Monster Mash

Erik SokolowskiBeacon Staff Writer

LEE - The popular Berkshire-based roots music duo Moon-shine Holler will perform Sun-day, Oct 30 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Starving Artist Cafe & Creperie’s musical brunch series.

The Starving Artist Cafe is lo-cated at 40 Main St., downtown Lee.

Moonshine Holler can only be described as “a two-person music festival that captures the essence of American southern roots music.”

Featuring Appalachian ballads, blues and breakdowns as well as early country gospel music on more musical instruments than they can juggle - fiddle, banjo, guitar, Hawaiian guitar, harmon-ica and ukulele - the duet has per-formed across the country and abroad and recently appeared on WAMC’s acclaimed radio pro-gram Dancing on the Air.

Bradley recently toured Ger-many and the U.S with old-time

darlings Uncle Earl; she has also toured and recorded with banjo innovator Tony Trischka and tra-ditional music powerhouse Bruce Molsky and appears on Trischka�s latest release, Territory, named 2009 Best Americana Album by the Independent Music Awards.

Dillof is a member of the leg-endary NYC-based band Major Contay & The Canebrake Rat-tlers who have been at the heart

of NYC’s roots music scene for over 30 years.

Together as “Moonshine Hol-ler,” they are an engaging and en-tertaining duo.

The Starving Artist Cafe & Creperie is located at 40 Main St. in Lee.

For more information, visit www.starvingart is tcreperie .com or call 394-5046.

Moonshine Holler to perform in Lee


LENOX - The Lenox Board of Selectmen has approved an allo-cation of $2500 dollars for next year and $2500 dollars for the year after to the Laurel Lake Pres-ervation Association.

The Laurel Lake Preservation Association is a non-profit group dedicated to preserving Laurel Lake, located on the border be-tween Lenox and Lee, for current and future generations. For ap-proximately eight years they have been funding tests and scientific studies on the health and status of the lake.

Currently, the group is particu-larly concerned with invasive spe-cies, specifically Eurasian water milfoil and zebra mussels, and the

negative impacts they might have on the lake. Laurel Lake is the only lake in Massachusetts with zebra mussels, which have wrecked economic havoc throughout the Great Lakes region.

Recently, the Laurel Lake Pres-ervation Society funded a study that was conducted by Dr. Ken-neth Wagner of Water Resource Services LLC (WRS). The study looked at the effects of a 30 inch draw down of the Lake that was approved last year by the Conser-vation Commissions of the towns of Lenox and Lee and imple-mented in November and De-cember of that year. The draw-down was supposed to be three feet, but weather and scheduling issues limited it’s scope.

The draw down was accom-

plished and supervised at no charge by Roger Scheurer and was done to help control the eur-asian water milfoil and zebra mussel populations. The WRS study concluded that the draw down had served to dent zebra mussel populations, and there was reasonable evidence that it had reduced the growth of eur-asian water milfoil in the lake as well. This was done without neg-atively impacting native species. As such, the draw down was con-sidered a success.

Floyd Tuler, of the Laurel Lake Preservation Association, present-ed this information to the Lenox Select Board at their last meeting. In addition to asking for funding, Mr. Tuler also asked the Select

see LAKE page 15

Laurel Lake Preservation Association moves forward

Town of Lenox agrees to make two $2500 payments to the group

Photo credit / Janel harriSon

Vienne Peltier and Hope Harrison buddy up at the Becket- Washington Halloween dance


College Sports Report

Kameron SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

On the strength of an unde-feated fall season Erika DeSanty's Williams women's golf team has improved its preseason rank of 10th to 8th at the end of the season.

The Ephs are the highest ranked NESCAC team with Middlebury 15 and Amherst 20.

The 10/26 Golf World/NGCA Division III College Women's Coaches' Poll has been released, combining the resources of Golf World magazine and the Nation-al Golf Coaches Association (NGCA).

Methodist College retained the top spot in the Golf World/NGCA women's Division III coaches' poll, earning 18 of 22 first-place votes.

The Monarchs have won twice through the first two months of the 2011-12 season, taking the titles at the O'Brien National In-vitational and the Martin & Wal-lace Invitational.

Washington University of St. Louis claimed the other four first-place votes and jumped to the No. 2 spot in the ranking, thanks to four victories in five starts this fall.

One of the Bears wins came at the NCAA Fall Preview, played at the site of next spring's NCAA

Championship.

Rounding out the top five are DePauw, Centre and Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

One new school joined the top 10: No. 9 St. Olaf.

Five new schools moved into the top 25: No. 12 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 14 Wart-burg, No. 20 Amherst, No. 22 Ithica and No. 25 St. Benedict.

Visit Golf World Senior Writer Ryan Herrington's "Campus In-sider" blog to find out the latest on collegiate golf: http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/blogs/campusinsider.

National Golf Top Ten

1. Methodist 2. Washington (Mo.) 3. DePauw4. Centre 5. Wisconsin-Eau Claire6. Gustavus Adolphus 7. George Fox 8. Williams 9. St. Olaf 10. Illinois Wesleyan

Golf World/NGCA Coach-es’ Poll for NCAA Women’s Division III was released on October 26th.

Williams golf finishes year in the top ten

Victoria Student from the Class of 2013.


The Williams men's basketball team is getting a lot of press be-fore the season even starts.

The team has been ranked 4th in the preseason by the Sporting News in its College Basketball Magazine.

The Ephs went 29-3 last season and returned to the Div. III Final Four for the second straight sea-son. Senior guard James Wang (Sydney, Australia) was named a Preaseason All-American by the magazine.

The Ephs will have three start-ers back from last year's team, in-cluding Wang, who averaged 18.4 points per game, 4.8 re-bounds and 3.3 assists.

The preseason nods have also come in from D3 Hoops as well. They named Wang a 2011-12 preseason First-Team All-Ameri-can as well. Returning after a Third-Team All-American honor last season, Wang helped lead the Ephs to a 29-3 overall record and a 9-0 record in conference play during 2010-11.

Over the course of three years, Wang has accrued 1,182 points, placing him sixteenth on the all-time scoring list at Williams. He has achieved back-to-back 500-point scoring seasons, total-ing 1,143 points.

Wang led the Ephs in seven in-

dividual statistical categories last season: total points (589), scoring average (18.4 points/ game), total assists (105), free throws made (129), field goal attempts (391), field goals made (189), and turn-overs (99).

D3 Hoops also named Wil-liams #3 in their preseason poll. They added that “All-American big man Troy Whittington is gone, as is Harlan Dodson, but James Wang returns at point guard, along with Nate Robert-son in the backcourt and three-point shooter James Klemm. Hayden Rooke-Ley and Taylor Epley return after combining for 37 minutes per game off the bench.”

Williams is not alone in the top

ten. Local rivals Amherst, #4 and Middlebury, #5, join them in the D3 Hoops rankings.

Williams season last year took them to the Final Four. The team is again guided by head coach Mike Maker who last season was one of 17 finalists for the Glenn Robinson Division III National Coach of the Year award.

Last season, Maker in his third year at Williams guided the Ephs to a 29-3 mark and a second straight trip to the national semi-finals in Salem, VA.

For the second consecutive year Maker's Ephs went undefeated in NESCAC regular season play and undefeated in post-season play at home in Chandler Gym.

Williams College ranked high in basketball pre-season

Coach Mike Maker looks to lead the Ephs to another good season.


Editorial:

George C. Jordan IIIEDITOR & PUBLISHER

Kameron Z. SpauldingEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Janel M. Harrison, Susan M. Wicker Guerrero Bera B. Dunau, Erik M. SokolowskiCONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Susan G. RobinsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Janel M. Harrison, Jacqueline WendlingADVERTISING SALES

The Berkshire Beacon is published weekly. The Beacon is distributed throughout Berkshire County, MA. The Berkshire Beacon assumes no financial responsibility for failure to pub-lish an advertisement, incorrect placement or typographical errors published. Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertising and claims and offers contained within their advertising. The Berkshire Beacon reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason. All contents copyright ©2011 The Berkshire Beacon. No portion may be repro-duced without written permission of the publisher.

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View From the Tower

George C. Jordan III

The goal of the Open Meeting Law and that of the Attorney General is to see that the law is not abused and that the public is informed.

By the nature of the issue of the Belvedere in Lenox, the actions of the Kennedy Park Committee and the Select Board, on the sur-face, met the minimum “test” of information by posting its agenda as noted by Town Manager Greg-ory T. Federspiel.

The posting failed noting: “In-tentional violation-an act or omis-sion-by a public body or a mem-ber thereof, in knowing violation of the open meeting law.

Each board should have known that the requirement for change in use requires not only a noted public hearing by definition (de facto) that a change was being planned, but also was required to formally state in a legal notice that consideration of a change on public land was being discussed at a date and time certain.

Many people rely on legal no-tices to ascertain changes within the community, certainly in zon-ing issues. In this case, they (Committee and Select Board) hid behind the building inspec-tor’s decision, who said that no permits were needed.

This still is a subject of review by the Lenox Conservation Com-mission and the Scenic Mountain Act. due to be heard on Nov. 17 at 7:30 in Town Hall.

Open Meeting Guidelines as noted by former Atty. Gen Thom-as Reilly who outlined the purpose which was adopted in 1958 its first open meeting law applicable to governmental units at the state, county and municipal levels.

The purpose of the Open Meet-ing Law is to eliminate much of the secrecy surrounding the de-liberations and decisions on which public policy is based. It accom-plishes this purpose by requiring open discussion of governmental action at public meetings.

While not formally an execu-tive session, one may perceive that failure to fully inform the

community is tantamount of an executive session where discus-sion are held out-of-camera.

It seems that no one knew about the discussions by the Ken-nedy Park Committee other than the members and the petitioner. It also seems that when the Select Board took up the discussion, no one knew about the contents and changes proposed other than the members. Certainly not the public.

When one comes before the se-lect board or the zoning board, there has to be due notification, like in the case of liquor licenses; zoning changes for special permit and variances.

When one comes before the se-lect board for change in use of open public land, there has to be notification. This land belongs to the people.

Perhaps the argument could be made or will be made under the Scenic Mountain Act, which was ignored and now is being re-visit-ed by the Lenox Conservation Commission.

When in doubt elected bodies, as well as appointed committees, are duly obligated to inform abut-ters, neighbors and where possi-ble the electorate-at-large.

I find that the Kennedy Com-mittee by some unknown doc-trine empowered itself to make a decision out-of-camera and the select board rubber stamped the issue without any feedback. Who did they ask other than the com-mittee before voting?

I think former Atty. Gen. Reilly captured the essence of the Open Meeting Law as to its intent.

Failure to inform its citizens of a change in use of public land is a violation of the spirit of the Open Meeting Law and may be argued that the select board in giving the Kennedy Committee the right to make an agreement, as its chair-man alluded, noting that they were a function of the select board this may constitute a marked departure of who was re-sponsible for action allowing the Belvedere.

As the select board’s agent, were they empowered to make the “deal” subject to a final vote of the select board?

Or were they, as agents of the select board, responsible for alert-ing the public to a change under their jurisdiction pertaining to the open space i.e. Scenic Moun-tain Act?

In any case, there was failure to notify the public that a change was to occur or that a vote was to take place beyond the so-called posting of their agendas.

What do you need to know about your community?

Public notices are announce-ments from all levels and branch-es of government, from business-es and from individuals.

Public notices inform you about government actions, envi-ronmental conditions and eco-nomic changes. Public notices alert you when the interests of your family, your neighborhood or your business are affected by what others do.

The public should have been made aware of the decision when the Kennedy Park Committee took up the discussion and when the issue was to be heard by the Board of Selectmen. I have raised subtle issues that pertain to the Open Meeting Law and whether they are enforceable, noting that the public-at-large was unaware and that constituted an omission of following the intent of the Open Meeting Law.

Thus, the attorney general’s of-fice should take the action of a fine, reprimand and/or conduct-ing at minimum rules and regula-tions of the Open Meeting Law for all elected and appointed of-ficials in Berkshire County.

The conduct of our public of-ficials has been brought into questions by the acknowledge-ment that officials, while meeting some type of notice, certainly did not meet the standard purposed to fully inform the community.

In retrospect, there is no evi-dence that the community was informed by newspaper reports.

The funeral for John F.X. Keator, 45, of Johnson Hill Road, Washington, formerly of Schermerhorn Park, Lenox, who died Saturday at his home, following an 18-month battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), was yesterday in St. Ann Church, Lenox.

This is the second death within a year for the family. His younger sister, Katie, died this past May.

The Rev. Christopher J Waitekus, pastor of St. Ann, said Wednesday before the service: “Say a prayer for John and his family.” The Rev Warren Savage of Westfield gave the homily.

On this soggy day, the turn out from the Berkshire County community was overwhelming for this man who fought the good fight medically to the end.

An outdoor-type individual, he was well mannered, kind and considerate. Perhaps his death coincides with the fall season where in past years he was instrumental in the an-nual “Pumpkin Walk” that he put on for the community, which combined his talent for pumpkin carving with the building and lighting of the bonfire.

Perhaps in his memory we can take the lighting of the bon-fire as a sign of his lighting a torch to lead the community into a rewarding life of friendship and good deeds.

For this moment, we’ll pause and acknowledge our deep sorrow and sympathies to his parents George and Sheila Ke-ator and his six brothers and sisters: David, Mary, Frederick and Matthew, all of Lenox; Bridget Thomsen of Dedham, and Timothy of Park Ridge, N.J.

A Prayer of Remembrance


Susan Wicker GuererroBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX - Almost six years have passed since Elizabeth Tierney lost the love of her life, the late Jim Tierney, to dementia.

Despite the passage of time, her eyes still welled up with tears fre-quently during a interview at the Lenox Library, which she gra-ciously agreed to.

She is a petite woman with a very pretty face and short gray hair. Remembering something her husband said or did would bring the emotions.

She’d lift her tortoise-shell-like glasses slightly and wipe the tears that trickled down from the cor-ners of her eyes. Regardless of how much time goes by, it’s never easy to heal a broken heart.

Mrs. Tierney’s eighth book, “Dignifying Dementia,” pub-lished by Oak Tree Press in Ire-land, where the Tierneys once lived, came out in paper on Sept. 30. The Kindle version was ready earlier.

It’s the tragic, heart-squeezing story of her vibrant husband’s di-agnosis of dementia, possibly Lewy Body Dementia or LBD, and the nine years she served as his caretaker before he died. The “possibly” comes because only an autopsy would have substantiated the type of dementia he had.

She knows all about the agony of seeing a beloved spouse lose his grip on life. She’s lived through the struggles of finding good help to ease the burden of caring for a spouse who has become a patient.

She survived the immense chal-lenges of keeping it all together when everything around her was falling apart.

All of that and more can be found in the 158 pages of “Digni-fying Dementia.”

A life-long, dedicated educator, Mrs. Tierney holds a Ph.D. in ed-ucational administration, a Mas-ter of Arts in teaching with an emphasis on English, and a Bach-elor’s Degree in literature.

She settled back in a chair in the library. She wore pearl ear-rings, a turquoise ring, black pants, and a grey top over a white

shirt, shoes and black socks with large white polka dots.

Her smile came easily and she was immediately at ease.

Asked what she missed most about her husband, Mrs. Tierney carefully weighed her words. She thought and waited before almost whispering her answer.

“I miss his calm center,” she said, “and his absolutely incredi-ble sense of humor. His disease caused the loss of such an incred-ible human being.”

The only way for the “insanity” of what both she and her husband went through is to have her book be able to help somebody else, she said.

Possessor of a type “A” person-ality, Mrs. Tierney was born in Manhattan. Her mother was a so-cial studies teacher.

Both her father and grandfa-ther were medical doctors. Con-sequently, she said she had an “in-ordinate trust” in doctors which, unfortunately, was shaken during the nine years of taking care of her husband.

“It shocked me to see how some doctors consider their profession a business,” she said. She had many instances where the human side of care giving was lost entirely.

There should be a greater em-phasis on effective communica-tion, she said.

There also needs to be more

sensitivity on the part of doctors to listen to people.

Mrs. Tierney, like her husband, loves reading, communicating, and music. Her cell phone rings to the tune of “Gabriel’s Horn” from the movie, “The Mission.”

After the nine year siege was over, Mrs. Tierney struggled to find her niche in the world as a woman, alone. Her life partner was gone and her role as caretaker vanished as well.

“I didn’t prepare for after the fact,” she said but she never gave up striving to find her way.

She lived for awhile in Oregon where her daughter and family, including grandchildren, live.

Being from the east, however, made it difficult to fit into the culture of the Oregon. Things were done differently. Despite all it had to offer, Portland was not home. In addition, her daughter and family all had their own busy lives. Mrs. Tierney decided to move on.

She did some teaching in Spain but kept asking herself, “now what?”

Because she and her husband had lived in and loved the Berk-shires, (they even had a condo in Lenox), she returned to live here.

Someone suggested she do some volunteering, and she did. She met Rae Eastman who had worked in publishing for a long time. Mrs. Tierney had a boxful

of notes she had kept during her husband’s illness.

Mrs. Eastman read the random notes and told her,

“Stop volunteering and write the book.”

“It was incredible,” Mrs. Tier-ney said. She finished volunteer-ing at the end of summer in 2010 and worked non-stop on the book from September through the following April.

Since the book’s publication in September, Mrs. Tierney said there has been a level of disbelief that it’s all happening.

Because the publisher is in Ire-land, the processes are different, too, she said. Getting the book known is being done primarily through “slow, steady word-of-mouth.”

Extremely genuine and person-able, Mrs. Tierney is busy on the lecture trail. She has numerous presentations planned which can be found on her website www.dignifyingdementia.com.

Time certainly has helped ease the sorrow of losing her husband.

“There’s no question that I still feel his loss profoundly,” she said. “Is the wound less raw? Sure.”

Elizabeth Tierney, always the communicator and teacher, is a testimony to the resilience, cour-age, and perseverance of the hu-man spirit.

“Dignifying Dementia, A Care-giver’s Struggle,” written by Lenox resident Elizabeth Tierney, is a book that is bound to touch the heart.

It’s the true story of two educa-tors who fell in love, married, traveled to Europe, lived in Ire-land, and had many idyllic experiences.

It’s also the story of how Mrs. Tierney’s vibrant, loving, hus-band, “a gentle soul and a good man,” was diagnosed with de-mentia and how, for nine years, she struggled to care for him at home as he slipped further and further into the clutches of the devastating disease.

A Triumphant Love Story

The book has rightfully been described as “a triumphant love

story” and a “memoir of love and almost impossible dedication.” It is all of those things and more.

The author had written other kinds of books, and had no inten-tion of writing a book on her role as her ill husband’s caretaker for so long. It just evolved.

During some of the devastat-ing, difficult years when Jim Tier-ney was so ill, Mrs. Tierney would leave him in the care of helpers. She would “escape” from the apartment and go to a Starbucks, sit with her laptop, and write about what was happening at home. At that time they were liv-ing in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

“I wrote about bizarre things as anecdotes, a get them out of my head,” she said. She had files on her laptop labeled like “Angels in America” in which stories about

the good people who were help-ing her care for Jim would go.

There was one called “The Col-or of Money” which contained all things financial and “The Way We Were,” filled with things the way they used to be.

Hard to Put Down

“Dignifying Dementia” is one of those books that is hard to put down once the reader begins to read it. Mrs. Tierney writes in a simple-to-read manner, as if she were engaged in conversation.

She tells what happened with pathos and heartbreaking hones-ty. It’s a story one hopes is not true, but it is. It happened and the author shares her agony and almost impossible decisions on every page.

She has plenty to say in the

book, both good and bad things, about doctors she dealt with. In the course of her husband’s ill-ness, she said she met many won-derful members of the medical profession who exhibited “in-credible compassion.” Then there were doctors who had no com-passion and who undermined her, she said.

Compassion Lacking

“The nature of the industry re-sults in a lack of compassion,” Mrs. Tierney said. Many doctors simply don’t have much time to spend with patients.

“I’m very leery about the medi-cal profession,” she said, adding that she is tending to embrace Eastern rather than Western medicine.

Then there was an army of

caretakers she hired to help her. Again, some were dedicated, lov-ing assistants. Other came and left almost immediately and one who even tied Mr. Tierney’s shoes together to prevent him from leaving the apartment where they lived in South Carolina.

“There were eight million sto-ries and an equal number of prob-lems,” Mrs. Tierney wrote. Also, she said it seemed that most care-givers had little or no interest in her husband or his likes and dislikes.

“Dignifying Dementia” will, at times, make you laugh and it will almost certainly make you cry. It’s a book that can educate as well as illuminate.

It’s definitely a story, so human and so tragic, that will stay in your thoughts for a long, long time after you close the cover.

Book Review: Dignifying Dementia a Caregiver’s Struggle

Lenox resident and author Elizabeth Tierney is a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit



SHEFFIELD - The key to making any good spirit is water. As basic as that sounds any bever-age, alcoholic or not, is only as good as the water used in it.

Chris Weld sure knew that when he founded Berkshire Mountain Distillers (BMD).

The distillery is located on a small farm below East Mountain in Great Barrington, the granite springs that come up all around the property give Weld the per-fect water to be a canvas for his spirits.

“The water is great,” said Weld. “These springs were long bottled and shipped to New York City until the early 1900s.”

That water even caused a hotel to be built where the distillery now stands. The hotel offered spas using the water until it burnt down in 1880.

Great local water isn’t the only local product to make it into each bottle. BMD uses local Berk-shires goods to help create a truly authentic artisanal brand, like the corn used in both their bourbon and whiskey that comes from a farm only a couple miles from the distillery.

The line of spirits now includes six constant products, Greylock Gin, Ethereal Gins, Ragged

Mountain Rum, Ice Glen Vodka, Berkshire Bourbon and New England Corn Whiskey.

The crew at BMD is now be-ginning to harvest the apples on the farm for their apple brandy.

“I got into the business because the farm was starting to finally pro-duce and I had to come up with someway to use it all,” said Weld. “What better way than to make liquor.”

So liquor is what Weld made, and by most accounts very good liquor at that.

The awards have really piled up for BMD. The highly regarded San Francisco Spirits Competi-tion gave both of the gins gold medals and a double gold to the rum. The gin also got a 91 from Wine Enthusiast.

The Greylock Gin really is a

top flight spirit. Right away you can detect a slight wintergreen taste and the drink finishes with a citrus hint.

The Ethereal Gin is another in-teresting spirit. It is complex, with over 15 botanicals that Weld can rattle off at will.

Even with all the national at-tention Weld has stayed tied to The Berkshires.

“We are always staying involved,” said Weld. “We have been involved in as many events locally as we can and try to help out.”

“The Berkshires have been a great home and a great starting point, they have supported us from the beginning,” said Weld.

Weld’s Berkshire roots truly do go deep. His uncle is William Weld, the former governor of MA.

Local company hopes to become the “spirit” of The Berkshires


Above: Chris Weld stirs as corn is added to the mash of the next batch of Berkshire Bourbon.Below: Freshly bottled Greylock Gin waits for labels at the Sheffield distillery.

Susan Wicker GuererroBeacon Staff Writer

NEW LEBANON, N.Y. - Ghost researcher David J. Pitkin’s first encounter with a ghost took place many years ago when he was a young teacher.

He overheard a student tell about a ghost that lived in her family’s barn.

Pitkin is the author of several self-published ghost oriented books, the latest of which is “New England Ghosts.”

Out of curiosity, he got permis-sion from the student to come to the barn to check out her story. Mr. Pitkin said he thought may-be there were rats in the walls making the noises, or at least some other logical explanation.

However, when he got to the barn, the walls were only boards on a frame. It was a completely

empty building, except for a loft. He stayed for a while and noth-

ing happened, so he decided to leave.

Just as he was about to walk out of the barn and back to his car, he heard a loud “clump” just four-feet above his head.

Then he heard footsteps where there was no floor. He distinctly heard 10 to 12 footsteps coming from mid-air.

“What else does he do?” he asked the student about the ghost.

“He just walks,” she said.Mr. Pitkin said he started to re-

search who lived in a nearby farmhouse before the student and her family moved in. He found out that a family whose son had emotional problems had inhabit-ed it.

One day, he was told, the trou-

A ghostly good time

Writer David Pitkin shares his tales at local reading

Photo credit / SuSan WicKer Guererro

Author David J. Pitkin signs copies of “New England Ghost” at a recent signing in New Lebanon, N.Y.

see STORY page 9


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bled young man went up a ladder to the hayloft in the barn, put a rope around his neck and jumped, committing suicide.

“The footsteps were him taking his last walk over and over and over again,” Mr. Pitkin told about two-dozen people at the New Lebanon Library during a talk this month.

It just so happened the night he spoke was rainy and cold, and still people came out to hear about ghosts.

“The ghosts of suicide victims are more durable and it takes a long time to move them on,” he said.

An author, researcher, speaker and storyteller, Mr. Pitkin held the attention of the audience with this rather skin-prickling topic.

He wore black pants and a bur-gundy colored turtleneck under a button down shirt of the same color. A rather striking looking man, he had a shock of white hair and matching goatee, mustache, and sideburns. White eyebrows accentuated his blue eyes.

In his latest book, “New Eng-land Ghosts,” Mr. Pitkin men-tions two places in western Mas-sachusetts, purported to have ghosts.

He writes about The Whistler’s Inn in Lenox, near the Church on the Hill. He visited the Inn in the autumn of 2009. In the din-ing room, he said he saw a gray-haired woman “swathed in a light blue robe as she faced the large window.”

He also mentioned seeing a “thin, spirit woman with black hair done up high” who was pos-sibly a former servant in life. Ap-

parently an overnight guest once awakened to see a “filmy woman

at the foot of the bed.”More details about the Inn as

well as about a house with spirits in Lanesboro can be found in the book.

He told the audience he does not fear ghosts and likes to edu-cate people about them.

“I love this stuff,” he said as he recounted story after story about his more than 1,000 interviews with people on the subject of ghosts. “The dynamics of a story captivate me.”

“Spirits have distinctive per-sonalities,” Mr. Pitkin said. “Their energy fields remain after the body dies.”

“Spirits are still working on something they didn’t complete” while on earth, he said. It’s possi-ble spirits who still walk the earth need to be forgiven for something they did while alive.

Mr. Pitkin told the story of a woman who rented a farmhouse. After she moved in, she was sure there were ghosts in the house, including a man in a wheelchair, wearing a U.S. Army uniform.

Through research, it was deter-mined that a Mr. Hall had lived in the house and almost beat his wife to death. He served 20 years in prison prior to his death, Mr. Pitkin said.

Mr. Pitkin taught American history for several years. He said he tries to be very honest and re-searches the ghost stories he tells.

Sometimes ghosts are attached to objects, such as antiques, and vibrations can also be connected with old jewelry. “They connect with objects they have owned,” he said.

Happy Halloween from the Berkshire Beacon

The staff at the Beacon would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween.

On the back page you can find a list of each towns trick-or-treating

So do all of us at The Berkshire Beacon.

Our writers care about what’s on your mind and they care about your children.

We want you to be able to clip articles to send to friends and family members,

especially if they are about your kids.

Please help us keep publishing.

Do you want a newspaper that carries stories about things your children are participating in?

THE GUIDING LIGHT OF THE BERKSHIRES

T H E B E R K S H I R E

BEACONCall us at 413-637-9822 or write to [email protected]

STORY from page 8


Community Calendar

Erik SokolowskiBeacn Staff Writer

STOCKBRIDGE - Stock-bridge is one step away from ful-filling its goals toward becoming a green community, as set down in last year’s Green Community Action Plan.

The remaining barrier, criteria one, As-of-Right Siting, calls for “renewable and alternative ener-gy generating, research and devel-opment and manufacturing facili-ties in designated locations.”

The town set upon its small in-dustrial zone, as a good place to, “maximize economic develop-ment opportunities that would benefit the year-round popula-tion and help secure a more via-ble year-round jobs/housing bal-ance.”

The goal was to allow a re-search and development facility to meet the first criteria’s requirements.

“With the way our zoning laws are set up,” Stockbridge Town Administrator Jorja-Ann Mars-den said, “the best place was in the industrial zone. However, the entire zone lies in a flood plane. So that wouldn’t work.”

Ms. Marsden also stressed the delicate balance needed between fulfilling the plan’s requirements, and keeping the picturesque heri-tage of the town.

“There is a concern we could become a green community,” Ms. Marsden said, “without ac-tually getting the designation be-cause of the first criteria. We will continue to look at it throughout the year, and monitor the situa-tion.”

With the other four criteria met, through expedited permit-ting, the purchase of fuel-effi-cient vehicles, energy surveys and adoption of Stretch Codes, the remaining barrier is finding space for green research and development.

“We are trying to find the best way to keep the integrity of Stockbridge,” Ms. Marsden said.

Stockbridge News and Notes

-The Selectmen are prelimi-narily investigating the possibility of installing a memorial wall at Stockbridge Cemetery by Land-scape Architect Walter Cudnohu-fsky. More details will follow in future editions of The Beacon.

-The Board of Selectmen will next meet Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., on the agenda is a proposed change by Verizon Wireless to the Stock-bridge Sportsman Club tower. See next week’s edition of The Beacon for the full story.

It ain’t easy being green

Stockbridge moves forward with green initiatives while protecting

the towns traditions

ThursDay, OCtOBEr 27tH

NEW CITIZENS CELEBRATIONPittsfield, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.The Berkshire Immigrant Center will host a celebration of newly naturalized citizens on Thursday, at the First Baptist Church, 88 South Street, Anyone who has become a naturalized citizen dur-ing the past year is invited to at-tend along with their families. New citizens are asked to please confirm their attendance in ad-vance by calling (413) 445-4881 or [email protected].

JOHNNY MERCER HITSWilliamstown, 4 p.m.Vocalist Judy Reichert, accompa-nied on piano by Steve Dankner, will present a concert of Johnny Mercer hits at Sweetwood of Wil-liamstown Retirement Commu-nity, A reception will follow. This event is free and open to the pub-lic. 413-458-8371.

FICTION READING BY NAMI MUNWilliamstown, 4 p.m.There will be a fiction-reading by writer, Nami Mun, author of Miles from Nowhere, on Thurs-day, in Griffin Hall, room 3. The event is free and open to the pub-lic. Mun’s first book, Miles from Nowhere, is a 1980s urban odys-sey in which Joon-Mee, a 12-year-old Korean-American, leaves her troubled Bronx family for the life of a New York City runaway. Mun grew up in Seoul, South Korea, and the Bronx.

“MELVILLE, HAUNTED”Pittsfield, 7:30 p.m.Candlelight Tour of Arrowhead, ghostly visitations by Melville’s friends, family and characters from Typee, Moby Dick and Billy Budd, and a dessert buffet hosted by the Ghost of Nathaniel Haw-thorne. Reservations call 413-442-1793.

BERKSHIRE CHILDREN & FAMILIES ANNUAL MEETINGPittsfield, 6 p.m.Sherri Killins, Ed.D, Commis-sioner of Early Education and Care for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, will help Berk-shire Children and Families in-troduce Kids 4 Harmony - an El

Sistema inspired program of mu-sic and social change - at the BCF Annual Meeting.

FrIday, OCtOBEr 28tH

BERKSHIRE CHILDREN & FAMILIES ANNUAL MEETINGPittsfield, 6 p.m.Sherri Killins, Ed.D, Commis-sioner of Early Education and Care for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, will help Berk-shire Children and Families in-troduce Kids 4 Harmony - an El Sistema inspired program of mu-sic and social change - at the BCF Annual Meeting.

SLIGHTLY SPOOKY STORIESWilliamstown, 6:30 p.m.The Milne Public Library, will hold a pajama/costume story time for little people on Friday, Festivities will include a read-aloud of some not-too-scary sto-ries from our favorite authors, warm cider and doughnut snacks, a flash-light tour through the li-brary in the off-hour darkness, and a special treat made by librar-ian Fern Sann.

SPECTRUM PLAYHOUSE EVENTLee, 4 p.m.Friday, Lee Youth Association and SEDF present a ‘Communi-ty Halloween Costume Contest’. Lee Youth up to 12 yrs old are in-vited to participate. Two $15 prizes - 1 prize for up to 6 yrs old, 1 for 7-12yrs. Spectrum Play-house, 20 Franklin Street.

FIFTH ANNUAL HAL-LOWEEN BASHPittsfield, 8:30 p.m. to MidnightBerkshire Young Professionals, a program of the Berkshire Cham-ber of Commerce, will host its fifth annual Halloween Bash at Baba Louie’s, 34 Depot Street, on Friday, This year’s party will, once again, feature music by Bob Heck Entertainment, prizes, and treats for all attendees.

saTurDay, OCtOBEr 29tH

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN GHOST TOURSLenox, 6 p.m.Combination Tour and Reading - Join us for an evening ghost tour followed by a special reading

and light refreshments. The tour will include the historic stable and the pet cemetery as well as se-lect areas of the house. The dra-matic reading, which will take place at 8 pm in the drawing room after the tour, will feature one of Wharton’s most chilling ghost stories, “The Triumph of Night,” performed by Ariel Bock and Jonathan Epstein. Cider and doughnuts will follow.

HOPS & VINES HAL-LOWEEN PARTY & COSTUME CONTESTWilliamstown, 9:30pmHalloween Party & Costume Contest. Be Creative, Wear Your Most Original Costume, And Win a Prize. Ask your friends on Facebook & Twitter to vote for “The Best Costume”. The winner will get a $200 Hops & Vines gift certificate.

SPECTRUM PLAYHOUSE EVENTLee, 11 a.m.Saturday, ‘The Beatles: Their songs in context of the 1960’s-A Cultural Awakening’ Lecture with Rodrigo Tarraza. Free with Suggested $10 Donation. Spec-trum Playhouse, 20 Franklin Street, For more information call 860-318-1812.

sunDay, OCtOBEr 30tH

11TH ANNUAL TRICK-OR-TREAT FOR CANNED GOODSPittsfield, Noon to 7 p.m.Berkshire Community College (BCC) will hold its Eleventh An-nual Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods on Sunday, BCC students will canvas selected neighbor-hoods on Sunday, to collect canned goods.RELAY FOR LIFE BENEFIT SPOOK FOR A CURENorth Adams, 6 to 9 p.m.Haunted Hayride, Historic Val-ley Campground, Windors Lake, $5

PET HALLOWEEN COS-TUME PARADEAdams, Noon - 2 p.m.The Adams Friends of Animals and the PNA of Adams, in col-laboration with the Berkshire Humane Society will hold a Pet Halloween Costume Parade on Sunday, Participants will meet in St. Stanislaus School parking lot on Summer Street.

Worth The Trip...


Angels of Harmony Gospel Choir from Eastern University in Phila-delphia will be performing in up-state New York in the coming weeks.

The performance is slated for Nov. 5th at 5 p.m. at the Bottskill Baptist Church in Greenwich, N.Y.

The group is a multi-ethnic Gospel choir that performs music from the African-American church tradition.

Angels of Harmony was founded in 1971 by Eastern students with a “desire to share God’s word through African American and African gospel music and song.”

The choir is made up of 50-70 dedicated members who perform lo-cally during school, as well as nationally and internationally during breaks. The choir traveled to Eastern Europe this past summer, visiting Austria, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Gospel choir to perform in nearby N.Y.


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LEE - Meghan Gaul of Lee moves the ball up field in a 3-0 loss to Hoosic recently. “In the first half we handled them well,” said coach Lauren Finnegan. “But they came out very quick on us in the second, and did a great job capitalizing on us be-ing on our heels.” Lee will host Mt. Everett Friday night, and Monument Nov. 1.

larger from the district as it was in 1991, and these twenty years have been tumul-tuous years for America,” said Oliver, who turned 75 in September. “Last De-cember, I announced that I intended to seek to continue my congressional ser-vice beyond 2012. Over the past six months, circumstances within my fami-ly have substantially changed, and I now find I must reconsider my earlier decision.”

The decision came to many as a sur-prise, just last week Rep. Olver told Masslive.com, “You know I’m running, my intent is to run. I’m operating on that basis.”

The move comes as state lawmakers are planning to announce a new con-gressional map for the state. Which will eliminate one district.

Legislators hope to wrap up the high-ly anticipated process by the time they break for the holidays on Nov. 16.

The news was quickly felt by other lo-cal politicians, including Senator Ben Downing.

“For the past 20 years John Olver has been what he promised he would be, a workhorse, not a show horse, represent-ing western Massachusetts in the U.S. House,” said Sen. Downing.

“It was an honor to work on his staff and I was proud to work closely with him as a State Senator. I learned much about what it takes to be a good public servant from Olver, and for that I can’t thank him enough.”

Editors Note: A complete update on Rep. Olver’s decision and a preview of possible candidates to replace him will be in next week’s Beacon.

OLVER from page 1

After tough 3-0 loss the team gets ready to play Mt. Everett this Friday night

“Last December, I announced that I intended to seek to continue my congressional service beyond 2012. Over the past six months, cir-cumstances within my family have substantial-ly changed, and I now find I must reconsider my earlier decision.”

—Rep. John W. Olver (D-Amherst)





The remake of Footloose is an infectiously fun crowd-pleaser that’s sure to win over even the most skeptical of audiences.

I’m sorry to say that I’ve never seen the original 1984 film star-ring Kevin Bacon. I tried to watch it before writing this re-view, but I couldn’t get my hands on a copy. Still, while I’m unable to say how the new Footloose stacks up against the old, I can definitively say that the remake is a fine movie in and of itself.

Like the original, Footloose tells the story of Ren McCormack, played by Kenny Wormald, a teenage boy who moves from a big city (Chicago in the first movie, Boston in the new film) to the town of Bomont. Social dancing is banned in Bomont, and soon the rebellious Ren be-gins a crusade to get the ban re-pealed. This puts him at odds with Rev. Shaw Moore, played by Dennis Quaid, the architect of the ban, who also doesn’t approve of Ren hanging around his will-ful daughter Ariel, played by Juli-anne Hough.

One of the smart things Foot-loose does is that it updates the plot just enough for it to be fresh, without messing with the origi-nal’s tried and true formula.

In the remake, the dancing ban wasn’t just created to protect the morality of Bomont but was a re-action to a car crash that killed five high school seniors, one of whom was Rev. Moore’s son.

Another update to the plot is that Ren has moved to Bomont not because his mom has re-lo-cated there, as in the original, but because his mother passed away from leukemia. This allows Ren to express angst and frustration without being clichéd or obnoxious.

Of course, no discussion of Footloose would be complete without looking at its music and dancing, both of which are fan-tastically done in the new movie.

In addition to songs from the original, Footloose has a great mix of rap, country and rock music that is ingeniously weaved into the dancing and non-dancing ac-

tion of the film.As for the dancing, Ren is

played by professional dancer Wormald and Ariel, the rebel-lious preacher’s daughter, is played by Dancing with the Stars champion Hough. Both of these dancers put on impressive perfor-mances, but what really makes Footloose shine are the group dance numbers.

Perfectly skating the fine line between naturalistic energy and choreographed polish, these numbers are some of the best parts of the film. The movie opens on one of these scenes, the dance party that was held before the tragic car crash, and after the first minute, I can almost guaran-tee you’ll be hooked.

Another place that Footloose succeeds is in its portrayal of teenagers.

Like most films set in high school, Footloose is a fantasy, and it certainly isn’t striving for any-thing gritty or true to life. That being said, the interactions be-tween Ren and his classmates feel

genuine, and there is a definite chemistry amongst the cast. In-deed, with the exception of some of the elements surrounding Ari-el’s older boyfriend (specifically a demolition derby style race with school buses), the lives of the teenagers in footloose feel refresh-ingly grounded in reality. Credit should also go to Miles Teller who plays Ren’s friend Willard in what might be the best perfor-mance of the film.

One thing for certain is that if you don’t like dancing, you won’t like Footloose. If you enjoy danc-ing, or are neutral on it, however, then chances are you’ll enjoy this film.

Footloose has a lot going for it; good acting, great music, amaz-ing dancing and a classic plot that has been tweaked just enough to have it work in the modern day. If you want to see a movie that’ll appeal to a diverse group of friends, or simply want a good film to take a date to, the new Footloose cer-tainly won’t step on your toes.

WIND from page 1A remake that will make your toes tap

Photo credit / Paramount PictureS

Julianne Hough, who plays Ariel, from the set of Footloose

ship took place. “This is a think tank sort of information gather-ing committee.”

The issue of wind Turbines on Lenox Mountain first rose to prominence in 2010, when the Concord New Hampshire based company Weston Solutions was hired by the town of Lenox, after a competitive bidding process, to do a year long study to measure the wind resources on Lenox Mountain, as well as to investi-gate how these resources could be harnessed and what impact such a project would have on residents and the environment. Completed in March 2011, this study was done to see whether it would be feasible to erect a wind turbine on Lenox Mountain to help power the town’s water treatment plant and other facilities. Weston Solu-tions concluded that the site had an excellent wind resource, and was appropriate for one or two turbines, with the erection of a second turbine not providing sig-nificant extra challenges.

The very prospect of wind tur-bines on Lenox Mountain has al-ready generated some stiff oppo-sition, both in the Town of Lenox and among residents of the Town of Richmond who live near Lenox Mountain.

The group Preserve Lenox Mountain is one of the leading voices against wind power devel-opment on Lenox Mountain. The group asserts that putting tur-bines on Lenox Mountain would be damaging to Lenox’s tourism industry, as well as the value of nearby properties. Preserve Lenox Mountain has also expressed the concern that Lenox Mountain’s location overlooking the Lenox watershed would make any tur-bine construction there an unac-ceptable environmental risk.

A Statewide IssuePreserve Lenox Mountain is

also a part of a larger battle state-wide against the proposed legisla-tion known as the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act or WESRA

If approved, WESRA would radically change how wind power projects are sited in the state of Massachusetts.

The bill would stipulate that every municipality with a signifi-cant “wind resource area,” as des-ignated by the Massachusetts De-partment of Energy Resources, appoint a local wind energy per-mitting board within 30 days of receiving a letter of intent from an applicant wishing to apply for siting of a wind power project of

two megawatts or greater. Each board would have three or five members and would have the au-thority to decide whether or not to approve any siting requests for wind power projects of two mega-watts or greater in their jurisdic-tion. Any decision by a board to reject a proposal could be ap-pealed by a developer through the courts. Any decision by a board to approve a proposal, however, would have to be appealed by op-ponents to the Energy Facilities Siting Board and then to the state Supreme Judicial Court.

Supporters of the bill say that it will help streamline the approval of wind energy projects, and help to increase the amount of green energy produced in Massachu-setts. Governor Deval Patrick has set a goal of producing 2,000 megawatts of wind energy in the state by 2020.

Opponents, however, say that the passage of WESRA would usurp local control. They also point to the different appeals pro-cesses for opponents and propo-nents of wind power projects as an example of the bills unfairness.

All members of Berkshire County’s Massachusetts State House of Representatives delega-tion, with the exception of newly elected 3rd Berkshire District rep-resentative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, have expressed their opposition to WESRA.

Mrs. Farley-Bouvier has not re-leased a position for or against WESRA as of this time. State Sen. Ben Downing, however, whose district includes the entire-ty of Berskhire County, has sup-ported the bill in the past, and co-chairs the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, which is currently considering WESRA. Sen. Down-ing has not released his current position on the bill as of this time.

Preserve Lenox Mountain will be hosting a presentation by Ela-nor Tillinghast, president of the Group Green Berkshires, on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Lenox Com-munity Center. Ms. Tillinghast’s presentation will cover WESRA, the prospect of wind turbines on Lenox Mountain, and some of the negative impacts of wind power.

Lenox’s Wind Energy Research Panel will hold its first meeting on Oct. 31 at 8 a.m. at Lenox Town Hall in the Selectmen’s meeting room. The panel is ex-pected to present its findings to the Lenox Select Board sometime early next year.


Girl-2-GirlCheaters II

Janel HarrisonBeacon Staff

Last week we discussed the sub-ject of cheating in a relationship and one slightly twisted dude so-licited by Cosmopolitan Maga-zine gave us his take on why he cheats.

Now I’d like to talk about how to tell and what to do when you find, and/or suspect your hus-band or significant other cheating.

First of all it’s not easy to find and it leaves us drained and bro-ken hearted, like a squeezed out, grimy, old, still-damp-even-though-twisted mop.

I remember back, what seems a lifetime ago, of a relationship I was in at the tender age of 23, where I found things that bla-tantly told me he was cheating. I’m talking big red flags girls, be on the look out for those.

One in particular was a receipt for a bouquet of $60 flowers tucked under his car seat. I hap-pened upon it while doing a little cleaning. I also found phone numbers. He was working selling cars in Miami with his cheating dad who was the financial man-ager. Anyway, he just happened to work out more, push-ups on the living room floor (looking good hun!), and Mr. Mirror was now his new best friend along with his spanking pair of bloom-ing biceps.

But even before I found any-thing, I knew something wasn’t right. I think it’s a women’s intu-ition, just raw instinct, that little voice in your head that says, “Wake up girl! It’s time to do a little digging.”

Do you know he never admit-ted to anything? Others did for him, but not him. Even still … the trust was gone. I left and nev-er looked back. My good friend Sean once told me, “Never look back with regret, just move on.” And that is exactly what I did

So what do you do when you find it? First of all let’s talk about some tell tale signs of cheating - It is stated in divorceandwomen.com, “You know the old saying - If you are asking yourself the question “Is my husband cheat-

ing?” he probably is. Around 60 percent of married men and somewhere between 16 and 40 percent (personally, we think it’s closer to 16 percent) of married women are now having their own affairs.”

Here are some of the signs:- Significant changes of groom-

ing behaviors.- Working late or “work” trips

more often.- Drop offs in money at the

bank.- Buying a separate cell phone,

the deletion of all incoming phone calls, or a certain call made frequently.

- Incoming home phone calls where he hangs up suddenly and/or speaks in a low voice and exits the room.

- He wants sex more often or less often.

- Less interested than usual in home life, and may stop confid-ing in you or seeking your opinion.

- E-mails all incoming and out-going deleted, and increased computer time after you’ve gone to bed.

- If you have a gut feeling some-thing isn’t right, check things out! It’s that women’s intuition again.

If you do find out your hus-band or significant other is cheat-ing and you have definitive proof, seek out emotional and/or profes-sional support, and do not act out or make any brash decisions like kicking him out, burning his clothes or selling them for a pen-ny on the front lawn, don’t seek a form of revenge even though he just may deserve it, telling every-one you know, ignore or pretend it’s not happening, don’t confront him without the 3 P’s: Proof, a Plan, and a Purpose, and lastly do not waste your time on the other woman. Harassing or threatening her could only make him come to her aid, bringing them closer, and you on the wrong side of the law.

In closing about this traumatic, crushing sorrow, it is my solemn wish that when you find your true love, you don’t know betray-al, but if you do, there is life on the other side. After the tears fall, you will learn to love again.

tional subject. We are not here to say whether it’s right or wrong for the location (of the Belvedere) or who does or doesn’t like it,” said Conservation Commission Chairman Neal Carpenter at the opening of the hearing. “We are here to determine whether it is permitted under the Scenic Mountain Act and if so are there any conditions.”

After Chairman Carpenter’s opening statement, however, Town Manager Gregory Federspiel in-formed the committee that a law-yer representing a group of citi-zens opposed to the Belvedere, Citizens Advocacy for All, was unable to attend the hearing be-

cause he was observing a religious holiday.

Because of this, Mr. Federspiel said that he, along with Town Counsel Frederica McCarthy, was requesting, on behalf of the town, that the commission postpone the hearing to its next available date. Mr. Federspiel said that he had consulted with the select-men, as well as those opposed to the Belvedere and that both groups had no objections to this arrangement.

The commission discussed the request to reschedule the meeting briefly, with member Rosemarie Fitzgerald Casey expressing the concern that a later meeting might mean that a final decision on the RFP would take effect

during the winter, which would make any modifications to the Belvedere very difficult.

The commission decided, how-ever, that with both the town and those opposed to the Belvedere in agreement, the hearing could be postponed, and unanimously voted to do so.

“Their lawyer initiated a con-versation with our lawyer about the possibility,” said Town Man-ager Gregory Federspiel, when asked about how the agreement to ask for the postponement of the hearing had been reached.

The Conservation Commis-sion’s hearing on the Kennedy Park Belvedere will be held at the Conservation Commission’s meet-ing on Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

PARK from page 1

Board if they had any suggestions for foundations or grant sources that the association could apply to for additional funds.

The WRS study cost the Laurel Lake Preservation Association $15,500, and studies associated with a new draw down, set to be-gin this December, are expected to total at least $13,000, if not more.

The association has already ap-plied for support from the Berk-shire Environmental Endowment Fund and the Massachusetts En-vironmental Trust.

The Select Board praised the work that the Laurel Lake Preser-vation Association has been doing.

Selectwoman Linda Messanna suggested that the town of Lenox

meet with the Town of Lee in or-der to discuss how to better pro-tect the lake. Selectman David Roche suggested that the Laurel Lake Preservation Association should ask the Massachusetts Di-vision of Fisheries and Wildlife for funding, as the Division stocks Laurel Lake and considers it a prime fishing area.

Selectman Roche also suggest-ed that the Laurel Lake Preserva-tion Association consider sup-porting a fee for those who live on the lake, which could be spent on activities like the ones the as-sociation has been paying for.

Mr. Tuler was receptive to the idea of asking the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife for fund-ing, but felt that a special tax on those with lake front property would be unfair to those individ-uals, as the majority of people

who use Laurel Lake don’t live on it.

The Laurel Lake Preservation Association plans to initiate an-other three-foot drawdown start-ing this December, after which it will once again fund studies to measure the results and report back to the Conservation Com-mission’s of Lenox and Lee. The Laurel Lake Preservation Associa-tion will be approaching the town of Lee at their Select Board’s next meeting to ask for funding for next year.

Additionally, the association is looking for new members, so that it can continue its efforts to pre-serve and protect Laurel Lake. Membership is $15 per person and $30 per household

LAKE from page 4

Photo credit / Bera dunau

Lenox Conservation Commision members left to right: David Lane, Vince Ammendola, Chairman Neal Carpenter, Tim Flanagan and Rosemarie Fitzgerald Casey.


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Trick or Treat HoursOn Monday, October 31 unless otherwise noted. Please leave your lights on if you

wish to receive trick-or-treaters.

Adams: 5:30 to 7:00Becket: 5:00 to 7:00 Cheshire: 5:00 to 7:00Clarksburg: 5:00 to 7 :00Dalton: 5:30 to 7:00Egremont: 6:00 to 8:00 Florida: 5:30 to 7:30Great Barrington: 5:30 to 7:30Hancock: 5:00 to 7:00Hinsdale: 5:30 to 7:00Lanesborough: 5:00 to 7:00Lee: 5:00 to 7:00Lenox: 5:30 to 7:00Monterey: 5:30 to 7:00New Ashford: 5:00 to 7:00New Marlborough: 5:00 to 7:00North Adams: 5:30 to 7 :00Otis: Friday, Oct. 28; 5:00 to 7:00Pittsfield: 5:00 to 7:00Richmond: 5:00 to 7:00Sheffield: 5:30 to 7:30Stockbridge: 5:00 to 7:00Savoy: 4:00 to 6:00Washington: Friday, Oct. 28; 6:30 to 7:30 West Stockbridge: 4:00 to 6:00Williamstown: 6:00 to 7:30Windsor: 5:00 to 7:00

or2011

Trick TreatHalloween Recipesby: Chris D Gardner

Ghoulish Eyeballs • 6 hardboiled eggs • 6 oz. cream cheese, whipped • oz green olives, with pimiento • Red food color • Toothpick

Remove the shell off the eggs and remove the yolks. Stuff the hole with whipped cream cheese so as to form the eyeball. Press one olive to every eyeball. Make sure the pimiento faces up. Now, draw broken blood vessels in the stuffing using the toothpick dipped in red food color.

Stale Bath Water • 12 oz frozen lemonade • 2 liters lime soda • Half a gallon sherbet

Thaw the sherbet for about 15 minutes and place in a container. Prepare the lemonade according to package instructions and blend with the lime soda and the sherbet. At this point, the sherbet should melt and turn into grayish-brown liquid, much like used bath water. You may use colored mints to float on your scummy-looking drink.

Gooey Brains • 1 pack jello • 1 carton cottage cheese, small-curd • 1 can of berries of your choice, in thick syrup• Food coloring

First, make the jello according to instructions. Set aside to chill. In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese and your choice of berries carefully, as cheese constitutes the brain matter. Add food color. On a serving plate, place a few table-spoonfuls of your jello, which makes for your brain fluid. Drizzle with thick syrup. Top with the cheese-berries mixture. Serve.

Madison Powell

Documents

Oct. 27 Berkshire Beacon