April 12 Issue

April 12, 2012Volume II, Issue 47

www.berkshirebeacon.comLenox, MA 01240

FREE

Kameron Z. SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

GREAT BARRINGTON – Alcohol can lead to arguments.

This logic is nothing new to most but nonetheless, the topic of alcohol law has caused a num-ber of disagreements in Great Barrington since January and now the fight is becoming personal.

At the March 26 Board of Se-lectman meeting, Holly Hamer of the town library board came forward to request a one-day beer and wine license for the welcom-ing party for their new director.

Michelle Loubert, a Great Bar-rington resident, came forward at that meeting to speak against the license being approved.

After the board approved the one-day permit, Mrs. Hamer sent an email to other board members with several negative comments about Mrs. Loubert.

In the email Mrs. Hamer claimed that Mrs. Loubert caused

a “stink,” issued “childish threats” to another member and that they were lucky that she was not a member of the library.

Mrs. Loubert was forwarded a copy of the email and asked the board to reprimand Mrs. Hamer for her comments.

Mrs. Hamer came before the board to apologize for her com-ments, yet Mrs. Loubert was not satisfied and will ask the library trustees to take further action.

The updates on alcohol law did not end there.

After complaints over a Brick House Pub event for New Year’s that included outdoor snow-boarding the town began rework-ing the laws for outdoor entertainment.

Under the new regulations all outdoor events would have to now go to the Development Re-view Team (DRT) before the se-lect board can begin to review their events.

Blame it on the alcohol

Photo Credit/ Kameron Z. SPaulding An event at the Brick House pub has caused months of de-bate over outdoor entertainment in Great Barrington.

see OUTDOOR page 4

Lenox restaurant sale finalized


LEE – Wind power moves for-ward again in Lee.

The landfill, wastewater treat-ment plant and the Stockbridge Road location have moved for-ward to the point where the fa-vored provider will come to the area to offer more information.

Two presentations on the solar program and its possible benefits have been planned for the area.

The first presentation by Broadway, the solar provider, will take place on Thursday, April 12 at 7 p.m. the Lenox High School. The second meeting will take place in Lee on April 19.

The third-party would own the array and sell 100 percent of

the electricity output to the mu-nicipality under a negotiated long-term power purchase and lease agreement. Lee would then receive net metering credits, pro-ducing the savings for the town.

The town has said that their goal is to generate enough power to meet their municipal needs. Those needs include providing power to the ambulance, fire, DPW, library, wastewater, water treatment, elementary school and Memorial High School buildings.

Again the Stockbridge Road location was the center of com-plaints by residents with several coming forward to complain.

“This may produce something green (the energy) but it will de-stroy the green area that is al-

ready there,” said Lee resident Dee Dee Consolati.

If the town did not place pan-els on the three acres at Stock-bridge Road they claim that they would not be able to meet their municipal needs, making the lo-cation key to their plan.

Broadband service

Lee has agreed to be a hub for the fiber of the MassBroadband system. The hub will be located in the town ambulance garage cellar.

The hub could be up and run-ning by the end of 2012.

The system would provide in-creased exposure to high speed

Let the sun shine Controversial Lee solar project looks to be moving forward

see HUB page 4

Photo Credit/ Kameron Z. SPaulding Publicity rolls for The Berkshire Beacon with sale of Fin to local entrepreneur, Whitney Asher.

Bera B. DunauBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX – As first reported in the March 22 issue of The Berk-shire Beacon, prominent Lenox restaurateur Jason Macioge has sold his popular Japanese restau-rant Fin.

Indications that Mr. Macioge is trying to sell his other three Lenox restaurants, however, have yet to be confirmed.

According to a building permit dated March 28, Whitney Asher of 21 Kneeland Ave. is leasing the space and has requested, and re-cieved permission, to make some improvements to the property.

The new restaurant that Mr. Asher is opening at the 27 Housa-tonic Street location will be called Brava Bar. It will be a wine and tapas style bar.

The building permit is for re-configuring the existing bar, add-ing new equipment and building

see FIN page 5

2 The Berkshire Beacon April 12, 2012

Susan M. Wicker GuerreroBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – Bargain hunt-ers, buyers, the curious and sup-porters of the Salvation Army Family Store at 501 Dalton Ave. jammed the parking lot, munched on complimentary do-nuts and drank free Dunkin’ Do-nuts coffee during the store’s re-opening on Monday.

In the first 45 minutes, the store had already gone through seven boxes of coffee, each of which contains 10 cups.

By mid-afternoon, a total of 14 boxes of “joe” had been used as well as 22 cases of or more than 264 donuts.

The store, which sells used books, clothing, furniture, toys and a variety of household items from dishes to bedspreads, was forced to close on Feb. 24 due to extensive damage from inten-tionally-set fires.

Three Pittsfield men apparent-ly tried to break into the building and set fires to part of it. They have been arrested and arraigned on arson and theft charges.

From tragedy to triumph

The entire Family Store had to be emptied. Workers then in-stalled new carpeting in the main section of the 10,000-square foot store, replaced ceiling tiles and painted walls.

The store has also been com-pletely restocked with goods for sale.

The Salvation Army accepts donations of gently-used cloth-ing, furniture and household


PITTSFIELD – Is it time to clean out that spare closet?

Think about donating the bags of still useable clothes in good condition to the Salvation Army Family Store at 501 Dalton Ave.

It’s easier than you think. All you have to do is drive up the front driveway, go to the right hand side of the building and de-posit them inside large bins right inside the doors.

What about that wedding pres-ent from Aunt Jennie? That’s right, the one that’s been sitting on your closet shelf for the past 10 years.

You may not like it but perhaps somebody else would. Think about donating that to the Salva-tion Army Family Store too.

Buying a new couch and don’t know what to do with the old one? The Family Store could use and resell that, too.

If you have no way to get dona-tions to the store, you can call 1-800-728-7825 for a pick-up.

All donated items can be claimed on your taxes.

Every item sold at the store helps people in the Adult Reha-bilitation Center (ARC) in Albany.

The local Family Store is one of 10 stores that contribute to a pro-gram for people with alcohol and drug problems who want help.

Tim Raines, marketing manag-er for the Salvation Army, said clothing is probably the biggest need.

“We take shoes and any kind of household item, too,” he said.

There are more than 100 reha-bilitation centers run by the Sal-vation Army nationwide.

In the northeast, from Ohio, down to Delaware and up as far as Maine, there are 38 rehab cen-ters, Mr. Raines said.

Proceeds from every donated item sold in the store go toward the ARC.

The local store is open daily from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Mon-days, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; on Wednesdays and Sat-urdays, it’s open from 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

The Family Store is closed Sundays.

Donations from clothing to household

goods needed for Salvation Army

Family Store

items. Items can be brought to the side of the building at 501 Dalton Ave.

“The community has been very good to us,” said Salvation Army Captain Patrick O’Gara on the day of the store’s reopening.

He expressed gratitude to the local downtown Salvation Army for their assistance during the time the store has been closed.

He’s administrator and director of the Adult Rehabilitation Cen-ter (ARC) in Albany, N.Y., which benefits from the proceeds made by the Pittsfield Salvation Army Family Store.

Great variety of used goods offered

“I think we have the greatest variety around,” Captain O’Gara said, referring to the local store.

When people buy things at a Salvation Army Family Store, they get good value and, at the same time, help another human being, he said.

Walking into the newly-re-modeled Family Store, one im-mediately notices a lot of chang-es. There is the smell of newness in the air as well as rearranged areas.

For example, the women’s clothing section as well as furni-ture have been moved closer to the front of the store. The book section has been moved to the household goods area.

Down memory lane

Looking at an old-fashioned dining room buffet, one custom-er on Monday said to her shop-

ping companion, “Remember when Grandma had one like this?”

Another customer brought an exercise bicycle up to the counter and paid for it. He said,

“My wife is getting ready for surgery so she wants to be in shape.”

Both men and women looked through dozens of clothing racks, toys and household items.

They were quick to voice their opinions about the changes.

“It’s a brand new store,” one man said while looking around.

Helps people with drug and alcohol problems

The Salvation Army ARC in Albany offers a nine-month resi-dential program for people with drug and alcohol problems, Cap-tain O’Gara said.

It’s a Christian-based holistic adult rehabilitation program. There are no government monies involved.

All of the ARC programs pro-vide spiritual, social and emo-tional assistance. In addition to residential housing, individuals enrolled have group and individ-ual therapy in a clean, wholesome environment, according to infor-mation provided by the organization.

The program in Albany can house up to 90 residents, Captain O’Gara said, and is not at full ca-pacity. People interested in en-rolling can contact intake work-ers to begin the process, he said.

Programs offered free-of-charge

The programs are offered free-of-charge to people who want help, Captain O’Gara said. There is no discrimination. People who want to change and want to re-ceive help will find it there, he said.

Captain O’Gara was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Cin-naminson, N.J. He’s worked in Delaware, New York, Pennsylva-nia and Rhode Island, and cur-rently resides with his family in Albany.

He spent the day in the local Family Store, welcoming custom-ers and making sure everyone got some of those donuts and coffee.

Photo Credit/ SuSan m. WiCKer guerrero

Captain Patrick O’Gara at the recent re-opening.


The Family Store on Dalton Ave in Pittsfield.

After vandalism Salvation Army store opens again

April 12, 2012 The Berkshire Beacon 3


ADAMS – A class reunion for all former students of Hoosac Valley High School and the for-mer Adams High School will benefit the HVHS Class of 2012, who are attempting to raise mon-ey for an all-night, substance-free party after graduation.

The reunion will be held at Ea-gles Hall on Route 8 in North Adams on Saturday, April 28 at 7 p.m.

The annual all-night party is organized by parents and gives the students a safe place to spend the evening together after graduation.

The Class of 2012 has a goal to raise about $5,000.

All former students of the school along with their partners or friends are invited to attend the event.

There will be prizes and com-petitions for the class with the most people, the class with the most school spirit, best class dancers, singers and more. There will also be a huge Chinese auc-tion, a 50/50 raffle, door prizes and free finger foods.

Tickets are $10 per person in advance or $15 at the door. Tick-ets are available at Val’s Variety Store or from Class of 2012 parents.

The next planning meeting for the parents of the Class of 2012 is at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 23 at the former Adams Memorial Middle School.


LENOX – The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has delayed its decision on whether or not to grant Hoff ’s Mobil permission to convert from a full-service gas station into a combined gas sta-tion/convenience store until after the board has made a site visit to the establishment.

Attorney Jeff Lynch, of Lynch Scrimo Attorneys at Law, repre-sented Hoff ’s Mobil owner Glenn Hoff at the hearing.

Atty. Lynch argued that remov-ing the service station portion of Hoff ’s would remove a non-con-forming use from the historic dis-trict, replacing it with a by right use, in the form of a retail store.

Because of this, he asserted that the ZBA did not even have to is-sue a special permit to grant Hoff ’s the authority to convert.

Furthermore, Atty. Lynch ar-gued that replacing the service station portion of Hoff ’s with a convenience store would be an overall improvement to the district.

“Certainly this is going to be an improvement to what is there,” said Atty. Lynch, pointing out that currently cars were being towed to and repaired at Hoff ’s at all hours of the day.

Atty. Lynch also said that the parking shown in the plans for the converted building, the mini-mum amount required under town law, would be sufficient.

Attorney Alex Glover, of La-zan, Glover and Puciloski, repre-senting Daniel O’Brien, owner of O’Brien’s Market, which borders Hoff ’s Mobil, disagreed with Atty. Lynch’s assessments.

She contended that converting Hoff ’s from a full-service gas sta-tion to a gas station/convenience store would actually be an expan-sion of a non-conforming use, that of the gas business, and that it was the purpose of zoning to eliminate, not expand, non-con-forming uses.

Atty. Glover also questioned the adequacy of Hoff ’s proposed

parking plan.Atty. Glover also said that her

client’s concern with the conver-sion wasn’t with the potential competition, but with the expan-sion of the non-conforming use and the potential parking issues that could arise from it.

She said that if Hoff ’s convert-ed into a convenience store and also removed its gas pumps, that her client would have no objec-tions to it.

The last person to speak was Lenox resident George C. Jordan III. Mr. Jordan, the publisher of The Berkshire Beacon and a for-mer member of the Historic Dis-trict Commission, took issue with the aesthetics of the pro-posed design for the conversion of the building.

He also objected to Atty. Lynch’s contention that the pro-posed conversion would improve the historic district.

“I disagree. I think it’s, for lack of a better word, an abomina-

tion,” said Mr. Jordan.After hearing these testimonies,

the ZBA decided that they would be best served by scheduling a site visit to the property before mak-ing a decision on the application.

In particular, the ZBA mem-bers wanted to examine the park-ing situation.

The ZBA arranged with Hoff ’s Mobil Owner Glen Hoff to stage their visit for 7 p.m. on April 18 and to continue their hearing on the application at 7:30 that same day in the land use meeting room at town hall following the site visit.

Mr. Hoff also said that he had spoken with Mr. Jordan about his aesthetic concerns and, should he receive permission to convert Hoff ’s, he was open to changing the design of the renovation.

He also said that he wasn’t sure whether or not he would convert the service station and at this point he was just exploring the option.

Photo Credit/ Kameron Z. SPaulding Glenn A. Hoff, the owner of Hoff ’s Mobil in Lenox, has been seeking approval from the town to turn his gas station into a full convenience store.

Catherine M. KrummeyBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX – It was a social event for a social icon of The Berkshires.

On Wednesday, family mem-bers, friends and colleagues of Mary-Jane English Tichenor, for-mer social editor and reporter for The Berkshire Eagle, gathered at Roche Funeral Home and Kim-ball Farms to celebrate her life.

Ms. Tichenor, 89, died of heart failure on April 9 in North Fal-mouth after spending Easter with her family there.

For the memorial service, St. Ann Church Pastor Fr. Christo-pher J. Waitekus asked attendees to share their memories and thoughts of Ms. Tichenor.

Several of her great-grandsons stood up to speak, simply saying that they loved their great-grand-mother, who they referred to as “MJ,” and would miss her.

“She always cared more about what other people had to say than what she had to say, and I think that’s a great quality for a person to have,” one great-grand-son said at the service.

Ms. Tichenor’s colleagues from The Eagle also shared a few re-

Hoosac reunion announced as

class fundraiser

Conversion of local gas station put on hold again by zoning board

membrances of her time at the paper.

There were thoughts of her well-maintained physique, her impeccable style compared to the rest of the “frumpy” journalists at The Eagle and admiration for her transition from a social reporter to a hard news reporter.

“When The Eagle’s social sec-tion ceased, she took on the hard news,” said Judy Storie, who worked as a copy editor at The Eagle with Ms. Tichenor for nearly 30 years. “She was a bit fearful, but she never held back.”

Credit/ BerKShire eagle

Former Eagle social reporter Mary-Jane English Tichenor.

Local writer left great impression


“Are there people who might end up getting stuck by these new rules?” asked Selectwoman Alana Chernila.

Chairman Sean Stanton agreed, questioning, that if this extra layer of review is added, if it would be possible that some event planners will no longer ask for any pre-approval and just “ask for forgiveness” after the fact.

Mrs. Loubert, a Housatonic resident and neighbor of the Brick House Pub, also came be-fore the board asking for these new regulations to be made even stricter.

In a letter to the board, Mrs. Loubert expressed concern that events could begin as early as 9 a.m. on Sundays and that this concerned her.

Mrs. Loubert was also request-ing that more neighbor notifica-tion be added to the outdoor event process. This was not add-ed to the current forms.

In the end the new series of ap-provals for events were approved with the caveat that the DRT would update the members of the board on how the new pro-cess is working.

OUTDOOR from page 1

internet for the town. As of now there are 21 providers that are au-thorized to use the states fiber system. Verizon and Time War-ner, the two providers in the town now, will not be included in the system.

Customers in the town would be able to still use Time Warner and Verizon if they please through each company’s existing wires.

“This system would create competition and allow home owners more options,” said Se-lectman Gordon D. Bailey.

The agreement would be for five years and can be renewed four times for a possible total length of 20 years.

HUB from page 1

Catherine M. KrummeyBeacon Staff Writer

LEE – The Lee Public Schools are set to receive $7,888,171 from the town after the school committee voted to approve the fiscal year 2013 budget.

“We consider this a real invest-ment year,” said Lee Superinten-dent Jason P. McCandless during the public budget hearing that was part of the school commit-tee’s most recent meeting.

After Superintendent Mc-Candless’ presentation, the school committee vote was unan-imous (with the exception of School Committee Member Thomas Consolati, who was not in attendance) to go forward with a 3.07 percent increase from the FY ’12 budget of $7,652,955.

One of the major factors in the increased budget is the projected loss of $125,000 in school choice money between FY ’12 and FY ’13.

Of the 3.07 percent increase, 1.52 percent accounts for a one percent increase in salaries for 154 employees for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years.

The schools will also be mak-ing their part-time technology employee full-time for FY ’13.

Other increases include full funding of the schools’ athletic program at $113,002, up from $87,725 in FY ’12.

Superintendent McCandless said this number was similar to the schools’ late ‘90s athletic bud-get, something the administra-tion is happy about after “years and years of chopping.”

The schools will also be put-ting money into funding addi-tional Advanced Placement (AP) courses at Lee Middle and High School and new math textbooks and materials for Lee Elementary School.

Superintendent McCandless has worked closely with the Lee Finance Committee and town representatives in preparing the budget, and it seems likely that it will be further approved to go forward to Town Meeting on May 10.

“We don’t play games with this budget,” Superintendent Mc-

Candless said. “I’m very grateful that we have a town administra-tion and finance committee that will work with us.”

Virtual learning

After approving the budget, the school committee saw pre-sentations from LMHS Guid-ance Counselor Dan Korte, LMHS Principal Kerry Burke and LPS Technology Administra-tor Charles Flynn on how the schools are integrating virtual learning into their programs.

Each semester, Lee juniors and seniors are given the opportunity to take classes using Virtual High School (VHS).

“It allows us to offer a diverse list of courses that work well with our own half-year electives,” Mr. Korte, who works as Lee’s VHS site coordinator, said.

Students take classes online in-structed by teachers from across the country and with about 25 other students nationwide, ac-cording to Mr. Korte.

The VHS website enables the Lee students to submit assign-ments to teachers and work on group projects with other students.

Odyssey Compass Learning al-lows students who for one reason or another (illness, early gradua-tion, drop-out prevention) to take a class prepared by a Lee teacher online.

“It’s been a really valuable tool,” Principal Burke said.

These courses, available to LMHS students at all grade lev-els, are monitored and graded by Lee teachers, with reports docu-menting student progress, ac-cording to Principal Burke.

“The beauty of the Compass Learning program is not that it’s a virtual high school, it’s a virtual program that utilizes our teach-ers,” Mr. Flynn said.

IXL Learning is an online math skill/drill program available to all Lee students in grades K-8 and for high school algebra students, according to Principal Burke. There are no classes in the IXL program; it is used as an enrich-

ment activity for students.

Other business

In recognition of the April 10 meeting possibly being School Committee Chairman Michael Bullock’s last one, Superinten-dent McCandless took the op-portunity to thank him.

“I’d like to thank you for all of your years of service,” Superin-tendent McCandless said, which was met by applause by those in attendance.

The school committee also vot-ed to approve the opening of a re-volving account for the recently expanded LMHS choral program.

Source: Lee Public Schools

Photo Credit/ Catherine m. Krummey Lee Public Schools proposed budget comes in at under $8 million for next school year.

Lee school budget set for Town Meeting review

If You Go:Solar Power DiscussionDate: Thursday, April 12th

Time: 7 p.m.Location: Lenox Memorial

High School



GREAT BARRINGTON – It looks to be a very busy spring at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.

The Mahaiwe will present the “Met Opera Ring Cycle: Encore Title Series” with documentary films (May 7-20) and broadcasts of the Met’s new productions Manon (April 11) and La Travia-ta (April 14 and 22), as well as an HD broadcast of This American Life – Live! (May 18).

There will also be screenings of the original versions of two pop-ular movies, Titanic (April 15) and Willy Wonka and the Choc-olate Factory (April 18), and a school fieldtrip performance of the New Orleans’ Corbian pro-duction Darwin the Dinosaur (April 26).

“We’ve had such appreciation for the Met Opera’s HD broad-casts, that we’re thrilled to pres-ent Susan Froemke’s exceptional documentary film about the technical and musical challenges of this Ring Cycle, as well as all four Wagner operas with Robert LePage’s groundbreaking produc-tions,” said Mahaiwe Executive Director Beryl Jolly. “It’s going to be a feast of music for our opera fans and a unique perspective for the documentary film lovers in the region.”

The Mahaiwe will screen Wag-ner’s Dream, a new documentary film by Susan Froemke, on Mon-day, May 7 at 6:30 p.m. and Fri-day, May 11 at 8:00 p.m.

An intimate look at the chal-lenges of live theater, this two-hour film takes you deep into the artistic process behind the daring and ambitious attempt by the Metropolitan Opera House to tackle the production of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle – the four-part, 16-hour work that the composer first presented in 1876.

The production team battles with the most ambitious staging in Met history, featuring a 90,000-pound set (“The Ma-chine”) designed to realize all of Wagner’s scenic requirements, representing everything from the depths of the Rhine to a breath-taking ring of fire.

Backstage moments of heart-

break and triumph are captured, as “The Machine” malfunctions on the biggest opening night in the opera world but pulls off the stunning, show-ending coup de théâtre at the next performance.

In conjunction with the docu-mentary film, the Mahaiwe will also screen encore presentations of all of the Met’s Ring cycle pro-ductions: Das Rheingold (May 9 at 6:30pm), Die Walkure (May 14 at 6:30pm), Siegfried (May 16 at 6:30 p.m.) and Gotterdam-merung (May 20 at 12 p.m.).

Tickets are $12 for the film, $20 for each opera or $85 for a subscription that includes the May 7 documentary film screen-ing and all operas.

The Mahaiwe will broadcast WBEZ Chicago’s hit radio show This American Life on May 18 at 8 p.m. Host Ira Glass and popu-lar contributors will present sto-ries, plus things you could never do on the radio, including dance, animation, video and more.

Captured live May 10 and broadcast from the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the event will fea-ture stories by David Rakoff and Glynn Washington, a new short film by Mike Birbiglia, music by OK Go, comedy by Tig Notaro and special surprise guests. Tick-ets are $20.

The Mahaiwe will present the original versions of two popular movies: Titanic (1953, NR) star-ring Barbara Stanwyck and Clif-ton Webb on Sunday at 7 p.m. and Willy Wonka and the Choc-olate Factory (1971, rated G) starring Gene Wilder on Wednes-day at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 each (general admission).

Mahaiwe monthly movies are sponsored by Don Buchwald and Associates and family movies by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

A-HA! Mahaiwe Daytime pro-vides school-time programs to share world-class talents with lo-cal youth via field trip presenta-tions and in-school workshops. New Orleans’ Corbian will per-form Darwin the Dinosaur on Thursday, April 26 at 10 a.m.

In this innovative theater expe-rience, electroluminescent cray-on-like creatures light up the stage with a heart-rending tale of a dinosaur discovering the true meaning of love.

This program is sponsored by Cain Hibbard and Myers and the Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation.

The cost is $6 per student, with one free chaperone per 10 students.

To make field trip arrange-ments, please call (413) 644-9040, ext. 105.

Photo Credit/ Kameron Z. SPaulding The Mahaiwe has announced a series of spring performances including screenings of several popular movies.

Mahaiwe Theater plans a busy spring

FIN from page 1

SourCe: FaCeBooK

The new owner of the Fin restaurant, Whitney Asher.

So, the story goes on a Wednes-day when we have production at The Berkshire Beacon a casual conversation at O’Brien Market leads one to take a ride by Fin on Housatonic Street to view the restaurant.

The conversation noted that Fin was closed and the windows were covered up with The Berk-shire Beacon. This was not your general week edition.

This was the 44th edition; the March 22 issue of The Berkshire Beacon that declared that one of Jason Macioge’s restaurants was on the block. The price of the transfer was not disclosed.

Mr. Macioge started Fin res-taurant in 2004 and catered to a clientele that included Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, among others.

It turns out three weeks later that The Beacon was on top of the news: Mr. Macioge had sold the restaurant to Whitney Asher of Lenox with some paperwork being signed as early as March 3.

Fin, on its website, is described as a sushi and sake bar.

Editor’s Note:

Looking back at the coverage

new shelves and a hardwood bar top. Additionally, the bar will have a new brass foot rail.

The renovations will also result in all of the space’s walls and ceil-ings being repainted.

Tim Supranowicz of D&S Builders, Pittsfield, has been con-tracted to do the renovations at an estimated cost of $64,000.

Brava Bar LLC successfully ap-plied for a transfer of Fin’s liqour license at a hearing at the Lenox Board of Selectmen on Wednes-day night. The Select Board also approved a change in the license from a Wine & Malt Liqour to an All Alcholic Restaurant license.

“It’s not going to be Sushi any-more,” said Mr. Asher at the pub-lic hearing, but he also raised the possilbility of making Sushi as a special.

The transfer of and change in the liqour license will now be sent to Boston for final approval from the Massachusetts Alcholholic Beverages Control Commission.

Mr. Asher purchased the busi-ness assets of Fin Sushi & Sake Bar for $175,000 from Mr. Ma-cioge and his brother Nick Ma-cioge according to the informa-tion he provided on the license application.

Mr. Asher has not yet announced a date for Brava Bar’s opening.

“I know Whitney will do a good job with it. He’s a smart guy and will be a nice new concept for the town of Lenox,” said Mr. Macioge of the new owner.

Mr. Macioge first entered the Lenox restaurant scene when he opened Bistro Zinc in 1999. A combination bar and classic French bistro, Bistro Zinc soon grew to become, and remains, one of Lenox’s most popular wa-tering holes.

Mr. Macioge went on to open three other Lenox restaurants: Betty’s Pizza Shack in 2002, Fin Sushi and Sake Bar in 2004 and Frankie’s Ristorante Italiano in 2007, all of which have met with success.

Mr. Macioge first announced his sale with a celebratory tweet on twitter.

“Yum! This is one of my favor-ite wines to drink when celebrating!

Sold one of my restaurants today!� tweeted Mr. Macioge on April 9, including a link to a pic-ture of a three-quarters-full bottle of 2009 Peter Michael La Carrière.

For those Lenox residents who don’t follow Twitter, however, it is still clear that Fin is under new management as the restaurant has been closed with its windows cov-ered in Berkshire Beacon newspa-pers headlining its announcement of a pending sale since April 11.


Editorial:

George C. Jordan IIIEDITOR & PUBLISHER

Kameron Z. SpauldingEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Susan G. RobinsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Janel M. Harrison, Jacqueline J. Wendling, Nancy G. Shepherd, Glenda LeeADVERTISING SALES

Bera B. Dunau, Rae A. Eastman, Susan M. Wicker Guerrero, Janel M. Harrison, Catherine M. Krummey, Dick L. SyriacCONTRIBUTING WRITERS

The Berkshire Beacon is published weekly. The Beacon is distributed throughout Berkshire County, MA. The Berkshire Beacon assumes no financial responsibility for failure to publish an advertisement, incorrect placement or typographical errors pub-lished. 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 ©2012 The Berkshire Beacon. No portion may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

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Sometimes people and non-profits think money from the Community Preservation Act (CPA) grows on trees and thus there is a certain entitlement.

While some CPA members may agree in spirit on places to spend the money, the Lenox Select Board appar-ently is not buying into vari-ous ideas at the tune of $548,300.

The Berkshire Beacon is a supporter of creating the CPA and its ability to help create open space and help historic properties.

Yet, there needs to be an open discussion and trans-parency of where to spend its funds.

The Beacon did not sup-port the purchase of the low-income property (Sawmill Brook) on Housatonic Street for more than a half million dollars.

If it was worth $600,000 a couple of years ago, today it is probably worth $420,000 or 30 percent less.

At a future date, The Bea-con will offer some sugges-tions on where to spend the CPA money that may be of benefit to the public-at-large.

In the meantime, the CPA should look at creating an enterprise fund where the amount of money given by the CPA is matched in full by the beneficiary.

Note: The beneficiary would have to have their amount in a bank account before the CPA would make its contribution.

As to those who sought funding, here are the issues to be examined before any payment is issued.

- $350,000 set aside for open space. Need details on where this land is located and its purpose.

- $50,000 for the Mount’s

stable restoration. Plans should be made available.

- $45,300 for Church on the Hill’s Steeple restoration. This begs the question of where income from AT&T’s lease for a cell tower is spent. There is no question this is one of the town’s icons (and on the National Historic Reg-ister). However, they have an on-going source of revenue that may be used for this restoration.

- $28,000 to Lenox Hous-ing Authority for restoration of its porch. The Curtis Hotel is owned by the Common-wealth and should be re-sponsible for its mainte-nance/repairs. The town has already given money to the project.

- $20,000 for Ventfort Hall’s proposed elevator that they claim the building inspector has demanded for use of the upper floors. Rather then ex-pansion at this time, it seems to this observer that im-proved infrastructure of wa-ter/sewer lines along with fire hydrants on the property are more important than the ele-vator. Yes, both the mansion and the carriage barn need to be developed in conjunc-tion with the neighbors cor-poration. If an elevator is needed, it should be shared on a cost basis dollar to dollar.

- $20,000 for the Village Improvement Committee. This should be placed on hold until a public hearing is presented and approved.

- $20,000 for open space and recreation plans. Again this needs to be put on hold until the public is fully informed.

- $15,000 in an Affordable Housing Trust. This segment is not clear.

It will be up to the town meeting members to make the final determination.

View From the Tower

George C. Jordan III

NOTE: The Lenox Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) hears ap-peals for special permits and vari-ances, and normally does not view issues of historic perspec-tive, integrity or alterations of said building as prescribed for the Lenox Historic District Commis-sion (LHDC)

However is the pending case of Shanlen Realty Corporation (Hoff Mobil Station), 90 Main St. (Map 43, Parcel 192), located in the commercial district. The petitioner’s requests a special per-mit under Lenox Zoning Bylaw Sections 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 to allow for the operation of a gasoline station/retail convenience store opened up Pandora’s box for re-view of architectural design.

First the LHDC failed to pro-tect the historic district and gave the petitioner, Glenn A. Hoff, the vote to change the exterior of his filling station into a convenience store without much discussion and with no call to improve the integrity of the building in keep-ing with the historic buildings along Main Street.

Architect Harry M. Pisila of Chatham, N.Y., employed by Lipton Energy, was hired by Mr. Hoff to draw a rendering of the proposed changes which looks more utilitarian (i.e. functional architecture) rather than trying to blend into the historic district.

The design should have mir-rored the architectural street look of white clapboard along Main Street rather than an arbitrary look of dark red brick from a nearby building.

Attorney Jeffery Lynch, in his presentation on April 4 before the ZBA, filed briefs of case law on why both the filling station and the proposed convenience store should be allow as a non-con-forming use and in so doing not-ed that the proposal before the board was “an improvement to the Historic District” (but not in the eyes of this observer) which was original designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive.

Now the petitioner comes for-ward with a proposed change in use and thus the opportunity to make the corner one of historic icon and to blend the building into the neighborhood.

As in a legal court case, when the petitioner or his counsel opens up an issue, it becomes germane for opposing counsel, the board and even an observer to question the integrity of the LHDC vote.

The Beacon believes that the Hoff property is an icon and that people driving into town from Church on the Hill are going to identify the filling station by the historic architecture of the old women’s home now owned by Nathan Winestanley – a white

clapboard building that fits the definition of the historic district.

Before approval may be grant-ed by the ZBA, the issue should go back for a re-hearing before the LHDC. They may need to hire their own expert to offer a written opinion.

Once the design is agreed to, then the special permit applica-tions may proceed and be fully addressed by the ZBA.

Attorney Alexandra Glover of Great Barrington, who is repre-senting Daniel O’Brien of O’Brien’s Market argued in part that the lot can not be segmented into two parts – one for the fill-ing station and one for the conve-nience store. The permit goes to the property.

Meanwhile, the ZBA has set a visitation on April 14 at 7 p.m. to view the property with a full load of vehicles to determine if, in fact, there is enough parking spaces as required by the by-laws along with the six pumps that the filling station/convenience can operate simultaneously.

Mr. Hoff said it would cost $50,000 to turn the pump island to a 45-degree angle so as to serve both the motoring public and convenience store shopper.

Meanwhile, the question of two convenience stores next to each other on acceptance by the ZBA of the special permit re-mains to be determined.

As to the intended ownership of the Hoff ’s, it is unclear wheth-er he will continue to operate it, or lease or sell it to a local oil company.

What is clear is that there is case law by both lawyers.

CPC spending needs lots of thought


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LENOX – The race is now in full swing.

The five candidates running for Lenox Select Board this year have a lot in common with one anoth-er, but at a debate organized by the Lenox Council on Aging, their differences began to show.

The five people running for the Lenox Board of Selectmen are standing for the seats of retiring Selectwomen Claudia “Dia” Trancynger and Linda Messana.

These candidates are:

Jedd Hall: A Lenox Dale resi-dent and lawyer with a general practice based in Lee.

Ed Lane: Lenox’s recently re-tired postmaster of 25 years, a Lenox Finance Committee mem-ber and self-described “local guy.”

Dave Berkel: Lenox School Committee member who served 20 years as Lenox’s police chief.

Carolyn Barry: Kimball Farms and Pittsfield Gazette employee who’s been attending select board meetings for the last two years.

Channing Gibson: Television producer and writer who served on the Lenox Wind Energy Re-search Panel and was inspired to get involved in politics from the experience.

The candidates met on April 10 at the Lenox Community Center for a debate that lasted an hour and 45 minutes.

The debate was moderated by Dan Holmes.

For much of the debate, the candidates could only be differ-entiated by how they phrased the same answer.

All in agreement here

All candidates expressed con-cern with the scope of the pro-posed Charter Review Commis-sion that will be voted on at Town Meeting this year, worrying about its potential for overreach.

All candidates agreed that a property tax override or a cut in town services were two things that needed to be avoided, and

advocated closer cooperation and sharing of services with neighbor-ing communities in order to avoid this.

All candidates said that their schedules permitted them enough flexibility to put in the time com-mitment required to be an effec-tive Lenox selectman.

All candidates said they sup-ported bringing more jobs and business to Lenox.

All candidates said they’d be willing to entertain reducing the three percent Community Preser-vation Fund tax across the board in order to deal with budget is-sues, while, at the same time, ev-ery candidate affirmed the value of the program and that it should not be eliminated.

It was only when the candi-dates were asked about the Dis-cover Lenox website and how it was originally set up to only con-nect with the Lenox Chamber of Commerce, that real and sub-stantive differences between the five candidates emerged.

“I think that Discover Lenox should be more inclusive,” said Mr. Hall, although he was unsure how non-chamber businesses would be included.

“I don’t think it’s the point of the town government to promote business per se,” said Mr. Gibson who, nevertheless, like Mr. Hall, believed that the town website should include both chamber and non-chamber businesses, al-though he wasn’t sure how non-chamber businesses could be in-cluded without making it too cumbersome.

“I’d like to see the chamber of commerce take this whole thing over,” said Ed Lane, who, in a marked departure from the posi-tions of his colleagues, advocated phasing out the town’s role in Discover Lenox and limiting it to giving money to events to get them started.

“I don’t think its fair to every business in town to make them become a member of the cham-ber,” said Mrs. Barry, who object-ed to public money going to sup-port a private institution. “I think every business in town has to have an equal voice.”

“Anyone who has a business in town should be entitled to be on that (the Discover Lenox web-site),” said Mr. Berkel, who firm-ly advocated for a website open to all businesses. “Lenox as a whole includes everybody, from the smallest guy to the biggest guy.”

Differences were also displayed when the candidates were asked about the Lenoxology marketing campaign.

Mr. Lane continued to assert that the town should not com-pete with the chamber of com-merce and opposed placing all the businesses in town on a town website.

“I just don’t think that’s our purpose,” said Mr. Lane.

“It’s not bad,” said Mrs. Barry on the subject of Lenoxology. “I agree with the philosophy. I think it needs to be used more.”

“I’ve never been a fond person of the term, however, I support the fact that the town does need to participate to help every busi-ness in town to get promoted,” said Mr. Berkel, who emphasized the town’s role in helping small businesses.

Mr. Hall expressed his dislike of the Lenoxology campaign, and suggested, half-jestingly, that they get fifth graders to come up with slogans for the Town of Lenox, relating how the six-year-old child of a friend had recently come up with the catch phrase, “Lenox marks the spot.”

“I was disappointed originally that we didn’t...tap into the mar-keting talent that exists in this town,” said Mr. Gibson, pointing out that many Lenox residents have experience in marketing campaigns.

Still, Mr. Gibson was in favor of continuing on with the Lenox-ology campaign and seeing if it was effective.

“We have to see if the cam-paign works,” said Mr. Gibson.

The election for Lenox Select Board will be held on Monday, May 7.

Voters will have the option of voting for up to two candidates, and the two candidates with the most votes will be elected to the board of selectmen.

Lenox debate kicks off campaign season

Candidates agree on most issues at first event

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Berkshire Carousel: A dream in-the-makingSusan M. Wicker-Guerrero

Beacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – Some people have great dreams that never come to fruition. Others, like Jackie and Jim Shulman, through determination and perseverance, make their dreams come true.

They are the dynamos behind the future $1.4 million Berkshire Carousel, projected to bring 200,000 visitors a year.

Target date for completion is May 2013.

No doubt the 33 handcrafted and brilliantly painted ponies (plus three extras), two chariots and one spinning tub on the future carousel will also provide millions of smiles from children and adults.

One of the chariots will be handicapped-accessible.

The Berkshire Carousel project began in 2005. Mr. Shulman, a Pittsfield native who now lives in Ohio, started the ball rolling on his dream of having a carousel in this area.

Maria Caccaviello, who had years of human services experience under her belt, both at Goodwill and the Elizabeth Freeman Center, was hired as project director. Her initial contact with the Shulmans was through Mr. Shulman’s sister, Margie Shulman.

“I have always loved the arts as a form of communication,” Mrs. Caccaviello told The Beacon.

Consequently, the job as director of the Berkshire Carousel project was a perfect fit for her.

The Berkshire Carousel will be a legacy for the community, she said. The entire process, so far, has been quite an undertaking.

Feasibility studies of communities that have carousels were done as plans to make the

Shulmans’ dream into reality began in earnest.

The Berkshire Carousel project has two goals, the director said. The first is to actually build the carousel from scratch and secondly, bring people together to do a project for the good of the community, Mrs. Caccaviello said.

About 200 volunteers have worked on constructing the carousel ponies to date. Volunteers spend between 800 and 1,500 hours on each pony.

The carousel workshop for about the past year is in a sweeping donated space at the Berkshire Mall in Lanesboro, across from JCPenney. Because there are huge glass windows, passersby can look in and see the carousel project in action.

A large banner that reads “We Can Make It Happen” hangs from the top of one window.

Volunteers from the community can be seen behind huge chunks of basswood. Some of the pieces have legs of future ponies jutting into the air.

The volunteers are sanding, pounding and carving. It’s a fascinating workshop of busy “human” bees.

Tours of the workshop are available. To date, a total of 4,000 school children have come in to see the carousel-in-the-making.

Community groups are welcome to have luncheons in the workshop, too, Mrs. Caccaviello said. She also encourages more volunteers to come forward and work on the ponies.

“Everybody should be part of this,” she said.

The volunteers who have participated so far have exhibited a “phenomenal amount of talent,” the director said.

They come from all walks

of life and professions such as architects, art teachers, cabinet makers, engineers, homemakers, students and so forth.

There have been volunteers as young as nine years old and as old as 85.

One of those volunteers is Sue Burns from Canaan, N.Y. She’s been hard at work working on ponies for the past three years.

“We are very happy to be here,” she said of the mall location. “We

are very fortunate.”She explained how Walter

Ruess, carving director, travels frequently from his Mansfield, Ohio, home to oversee the work the volunteers are doing.

He spends long hours a week at a time and supervises, Mrs. Burns said.

Design of the ponies is based on classical figures made in the United States during the “Golden Age of Carousels,” according to

one of the project’s brochures. This was from 1880 to 1930.

Individuals from The Berkshires have sponsored three sizes of ponies being made. To sponsor the biggest ones costs $15,000 each.

Sponsors of middle-row ponies paid $12,000 per pony and sponsors of the smallest inside-row ponies paid $9,000 each.

All of the ponies are sponsored and fully paid for, according to


For the past three years, Doug Cowan of Richmond, shown above, has been working on the ponies for the carousel.



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the brochure. There are still sponsorships

available for artwork to be done the actual carousel, Mrs. Burns said.

Exact location of the future carousel has yet to be determined, Mrs. Caccaviello said.

“We are exploring options,” she said. One possible location is near CVS Pharmacy and Big Y.

Another option being seriously explored is in Lanesboro, she said.

Mr. Shulman wrote a book about growing up in Pittsfield. It has been a big part of fundraising, Mrs. Caccaviello said. It costs $38 and a total of 800 books have been sold. A lot of people bought them as Christmas presents, she said.

The Berkshire Carousel project is a vibrant, exciting undertaking for The Berkshires. The director said every day when she walks into the workshop at the mall, she thinks, “I am so lucky to be part of this project.”


Volunteer, Sue Burns, of Canaan, NY poses with one of the many new horses for the carousel.



HOLYOKE – When it comes to the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round, Administrative Manager Maureen Costello has seen it all.

As a child, her father used to take her and her sister to ride the merry-go-round at Mountain Park, its original location. The park opened in 1894. The merry-go-round was built in 1927 and was installed there in 1929.

Mrs. Costello, like thousands of others, has fond, happy memories of riding the glorious merry-go-round.

When the park closed in 1987, it could have been curtains for the popular ride. However, the late John Hickey, who was manager of the Holyoke Water Power Company at that time, wanted to save a piece of Mountain Park for the City of Holyoke, Mrs. Costello said.

“I’m going to save this merry-go-round,” he said.

He got the mayor of Holyoke and other community leaders together and a monumental undertaking of saving the merry-go-round began. In 1988, the private non-profit Friends of the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round, Inc. came into being.

There was a five-year massive fundraising effort, Mrs. Costello said. Dozens upon dozens of activities attracted people from all

over. Theater groups and schools throughout the city got involved.

People from all over the United States who remembered riding the merry-go-round at Mountain Park began to send in contributions, Mrs. Costello said, as well as people who were carousel lovers outside the country.

The Friends raised close to $2 million and bought the merry-go-round for a total of $850,000.

School children in Holyoke raised more than $30,000 of the money and there were corporate contributions as well.

“It was an incredible experience,” Mrs. Costello said, remembering those years of community organizing to save the merry-go-round.

Then, in 1993, the merry-go-round opened in the eight-acre Holyoke Heritage State Park, right in the center of the city.

“It’s a safe location and people have been very respectful because of the joy it brings,” Mrs. Costello said. “It’s a wonderfully happy place. It’s special.”

She said it’s a joy to watch the interaction between parents, grandparents and children riding the merry-go-round.

Today, the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round draws a total of 50,000 visitors annually. They come from all over the United States as well as from several different countries.

There have been weddings there, all kinds of special holiday

celebrations and many birthday parties.

Over the 19 years the merry-go-round has been in Heritage Park, there have literally been hundreds of them.

“There’s no question it’s an exciting concept,” Mrs. Costello said of the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round. “We are fortunate in that we are located in a park that has other attractions” such as the Holyoke Children’s Museum.

She stressed the importance of location. The park, itself, is near a mall which has access to more traffic and there is plenty of

parking, Mrs. Costello said. It’s important to have an

attraction such as a merry-go-round in a park where there are trees and grass, too, in addition to other activities nearby, she said.

Mrs. Costello said one of the major events for the merry-go-round for the past 15 years is an annual First Night Jr., a New Year’s Eve event with a special focus for children.

It offers unlimited rides, admission to other activities in the park, magic shows, balloon sculptures, jugglers, ice sculptures and so on.

Since 2003, a total of 22 ponies

on the merry-go-round have been undergoing restoration through the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol, Ct. It’s a painstaking process that requires removing four to five layers of paint, restoring the integrity of the wooden bodies and then repainting.

“They have done a marvelous job,” Mrs. Costello said of the people doing the restoring at the Connecticut museum.

One thing for sure is that on opening day of the Berkshire Carousel, people from the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round will be there to lend their support, she said.

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Community Calendar FrIday, aprIl 13

BERKSHIRE BALLROOM DANCEPittsfield, 7 - 11 p.m. At the Masonic Temple, 116 South St. A ballroom dance, with a free basic lesson in Tango, from 7:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. taught by Dan DeBennedetto. Then, danc-ing from 7:45 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. with DJ music by DeBen-nedetto. Admission: $13 each, $9 USA Dance Members, $5 Stu-dents. Free light refreshments. For more information, call 413-684-1510.

ROOTS, FRUITS, AND GREENS GALLERY RECEPTIONPittsfield, 5 - 7 p.m.Recent still-life paintings by Mar-ion Grant of Richmond will be on view in Gallery 25 at 25 Union St. throughout the month of April. The public is invited to attend. More information about the artist may be found on the gallery website.

BUCKY LEWIS COMEDY SHOW TO BENEFIT ROPESNorth Adams, 6:30 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. showComedian Bucky Lewis will per-form a benefit one-man adult-comedy show to help raise money for the Northern Berkshire Youth ROPES Summer Program on at the Eagle’s Club, located on 515 Curran Highway. For more info, see the story.

Saturday, aprIl 14

PIANIST YEEJIN YUK RECITAL AT BERKSHIRE MUSIC SCHOOLPittsfield, 3 p.m.Berkshire Music School is located on 30 Wendell Ave. Free-will do-nation. For more information, call 413-298-3137.

DANCIN’ AT THE MAN-SION AT VENTFORT HALLLenox, 7:30 p.m.The Greg Caputo Quartet featur-ing vocalist Vivian Caputo, will perform a few songs that were played on the Titanic. They will also be playing an assortment of well-loved standards at “Dancin’ at the Mansion.” For more infor-mation, visit the Ventfort Hall website.

CHILDREN’S ATTIC SALE FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMSStockbridge, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.The children’s and maternity consignment sale, with up to 150 families selling clothes, toys, books, baby items and sporting goods, will benefit the Commu-nity Health Programs Family Network programming. The sale will take place at the Housatonic Community Center on 1064 Main St. in Housatonic. For more info, call 413-644-0104, ext. 1159.

HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE HOSTS VOL-UNTEER MEETINGPittsfield, 10 a.m.Hancock Shaker Village will be holding a volunteer meeting for those interested in volunteering are invited to learn more about 2012 opportunities. Hancock Shaker Village is located on Route 20, west of Route 41 in Hancock. For more information, call Trish Farrell, Volunteer Coordinator at 413-443-0188 ext 274 or visit www.hancockshakervillage.org.

METHODIST CHURCH DINNERNorth Adams, 5 - 6 p.m.New Hope United Methodist Church will be holding its monthly “Take-Out or Eat-In” Dinner at the First Congrega-tional Church Kitchen, 134

Main St. The cost for dinners is $9 for adults and $4.50 for chil-dren. To reserve your dinner, call Sally Ottman at 413-663-7585 by 5:00 pm on Thursday, April 12. Leave your name, telephone number, the number of dinners needed (whether adult or child) and if you will be eating in or picking up your dinner.

Sunday, aprIl 15

CHILDREN’S ATTIC SALE FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMSWilliamstown, 9 a.m. - noonThe children’s and maternity consignment sale, with up to 150 families selling clothes, toys, books, baby items and sporting goods, will benefit the Commu-nity Health Programs Family Network programming. The sale will take place at the Housatonic Community Center on 1064 Main St. in Housatonic. For more info, call 413-644-0104, ext. 1159.

ELIZABETH MORSELenox, 2 p.m.All area residents are cordially in-vited to attend a free performance featuring Elizabeth Morse, harp-ist, at the Becket Arts Center on Sunday, April 15 at 2:00 P.M. Se-lections by George Frederic Handel, Carlos Salzedo, and John Williams will highlight the pro-gram. A medley of Irish Tunes ar-ranged by Dewey Owens also promises to capture your attention.

CANTILENA CONCERTLenox, 3 p.m.The Cantilena Chamber Choir will present a concert “Soul & Spirit: Karl Jenkins’ Sacred Songs” for chorus and orchestra. Reservations: 413-637-2440 or [email protected]. Trinity Church is located at 88 Walker Street in Lenox.

rae a. EastmanBeacon Staff Writer

Writing about the human con-dition is about as good as it gets if the story is by Ann Patchett. She is, of course, the well-known au-thor of the famous novel Bel Canto. This one, enigmatically enough, is called Run.

In it the author gives the reader a sense of the Doyle family, who lives outside of Boston, through one 24-hour period in the near present.

One story from the past sets the spiritual symbol. Grandfather Doyle wandering Ireland, very much in love with his wife-to-be, takes a small wooden statue of the Virgin Mary from an aban-doned church because its face is much like hers.

When his now-wife learns it is, in effect, stolen, she literally shows him the door. Later he brings the figure back and it is subsequently handed down to the eldest girl in each family.

As the current story begins, Doyle, father to two adopted Af-rican-American boys, Tip and Teddy (now teenagers), has in-sisted they accompany him to a lecture by Jesse Jackson on the night of a dreadful snowstorm.

Just as a car is about to hit Ted-dy, a woman throws herself in front of him, sustaining injuries herself. She is accompanied by Kenya, her daughter. They all go to the hospital, and Kenya is sub-sequently taken back with the Doyles to their house.

Kenya and her mother, Tennes-see, have watched that house and

each of the Doyle boys for years and it gradually becomes appar-ent that Tennessee is the mother of the two boys, and that there-fore Kenya is, of course, their sister.

At home, the Doyles find their older brother, who has been in Africa since causing an automo-bile accident which killed his fi-ance, thus ruining chances that Doyle senior – who had been the mayor of Boston – could run for higher office.

There are subsequent events, recognitions and changing rela-tionships in the novel, and they come about so naturally in the flow of the narrative.

They are simply the means the author uses to develop and deep-en character as is her use of story and dialogue. The reader gets to know them really well and this reader, anyway, was reluctant to give them up.

RunBy Ann Patchett

Available in bookstores and on Amazon

Harper $25.95 (hardcover)

What to Read

“Run” to the book store to

pick up this one

For information about advertising in

The Berkshire Beacon Call 413-637-2250



BEACON


Girl-2-GirlViruses, bugs and bunny hops oh my!

Janel M. HarrisonBeacon Staff Writer

Hello to the moms out there! Tell me, I know I’m not the only one who got hit the last few weeks with these nasty bugs and viruses that say, “I don’t think so – you and your children are my prison-ers! You shall sweat, freeze, starve, toot (amongst other things), throw up, your throat will throb, your head might explode and you will utterly succumb to me!”

I’m telling you I must have picked up my girls from school four times in the last two weeks, and even my husband and I were graced with the damn thing! 1 0 2 - d e g r e e temps, need I say more? (Gives plenty of reason to swear.)

Oh, you think it’s gone, right? And the next day – back at your door without knocking. You never know who it will attack next, the nerve of the pesty little microbes.

Here you are sleeping soundly in your bed dreaming you’re fly-ing through starry skies when you hear that vulnerable sounding, “MOMMY,” then the deep sighs come and that toss and turn as her bed creaks, and you just know, boy do you know what lovely occurrence comes next as they bound for the bathroom, the race is on!

Of course you gather yourself then hop out of bed like a frantic Peter Rabbit ready and willing to assist – “Mama’s here” – to be that mommy they’ll never forget was right by their side whenever they became sick, tying up their hair, cleaning, wiping, drying, brushing their teeth, applying cold compresses and let’s not for-get the hugs for years to come.

It’s the hardest thing in the world to see your children sick, but it’s also frustrating to get oth-er things done, manage work schedules, errands and everything

else, so I just gave myself a free “no laundry pass,” which isn’t dif-ficult for me.

Yeah, that’s right, then I had this horrific dream that my laun-dry pile in the bathroom, which has grown to a heaping mam-moth complete with hair and eyes, actually thumped into my room in the night growling, “Wash me!” – its flailing arms composed of the jeans my hub-by’s been complaining he can’t find now for two weeks, reaching out to snatch more laundry lying on my bedroom floor, enabling it to grow bigger and bigger.

Now larger than life it comes with one quest, to

digest us all! Scary thing,

those laundry monsters.

Guess it has been

tough huh? So gals if you’re feeling frustrat-ed and ready to

tear your hair out, whether the bug just hit

your family, you’re in the midst of its dreadful horror or just relieved the thing fled by now, I want you to feel free to scream, yell or whatever you do when you just need to let go. Give yourself a free pass, just watch out for live laundry.

Family life isn’t all smiles and rainbows, Easter egg hunts and finding the afikomen, sometimes we face the dark clouds of illness, sorrow and all that envelop them, but if there was no dark, we’d never know the wonderful beauty of the light. Wishing you wellness.

Ciao Bella

Bera B. DuanuBeacon Staff Writer

Mirror Mirror is one of the prettiest, most visually striking films that I’ve seen in awhile.

A reimagining of the Snow White story, retold with a star-studded cast and gorgeous visual flair, Mirror Mirror accomplishes the difficult task of being light without being forgettable. Much of the credit for this accomplish-ment should go to director Tarsem Singh, who is quickly be-coming one of the most distinc-tive, effective and versatile cre-ators making movies today.

Mirror Mirror centers itself around two lead characters: Snow White, played by the luminous Lily Collins, and her stepmother, Queen Clementianna, played by Julia Roberts.

The set-up is the basic Snow White story: Snow White is a princess in an unnamed land, her father the king disappears, and her stepmother assumes control of the kingdom.

The queen bullies Snow White and keeps her cowed and isolat-ed, all the while heavily taxing the populace to fund her lavish lifestyle. When Snow White be-gins to threaten her stepmother’s hold on power, her stepmother plots to have her killed.

Snow White, however, manag-es to escapes her fate, and is taken in by a group of seven dwarves, from whom she gathers the skills and courage needed to retake her kingdom.

The movie explicitly sets itself up as a tug of war between Snow White and her stepmother, and each character is given about an equal amount of screen time.

Julia Roberts is perfectly ade-quate in her role as Queen Clem-entianna, although I think she could have pushed her perfor-mance further.

Roberts portrays the queen petty and selfish, rather than sin-ister, and while this approach works fine at first, I found myself wanting just a bit more mali-ciousness from her, especially in the film’s final act. On the other hand, Roberts’ role as the queen’s reflection in the magic mirror is hilarious, and the exchanges be-tween her two characters are

great.Lily Collins’ Snow White, by

contrast, keeps getting better and better as the film progresses. Col-lins perfectly captures Snow White’s transformation from tim-id princess into bold heroine, and by the end of the movie she has become a captivating presence that absolutely commands the center of attention.

Armie Hammer as Prince Al-cott and Nathan Lane as Queen Clementianna’s hapless servant Brighton also do a good job bringing life and character to the movie, but the true acting stars of Mirror Mirror are the seven dwarves.

The seven dwarves, all of whom are played by little people, are portrayed as an eclectic group of bandits with hearts of gold. Every one of the actors playing a dwarf absolutely nails their character, and they infuse the entire film with a charm and pathos that gives Mirror Mirror some needed weight.

The man who makes Mirror Mirror really work, however, is its director, Tarsem Singh.

The costumes are gorgeous, the set design is inspired, and the cin-ematography is breathtaking. From the lavish dresses at Queen Clementianna’s court to an open-ing sequence with CGI puppets reminiscent of the beginning of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, to the Dwarves’ rustic abode,

Tarsem imbues every shot with both a sense of style and a sense of place. Tarsem also makes the decision not to have everybody speak with a British accent, a unique choice for a fantasy film, and one of whom I whole-heart-edly approved of.

Mirror Mirror won’t be every-one’s cup of tea, but I suspect that will be more a matter of taste rather than any real failing on the part of the film.

Mirror Mirror is an uncompro-misingly light film, harkening back to the tone of Shelley Du-vall’s Faerie Tale Theatre, the crit-ically-acclaimed television pro-gram of the 1980s. This lightness doesn’t make Mirror Mirror sim-ple, nor does it make it shallow. Indeed, some of its scenes have an intricacy that’s reminiscent of the best of Terry Gilliam. What it does mean, though, is that Tarsem constantly chooses to make us smile and laugh rather than cringe and be frightened.

In a year when another, seem-ingly much darker, Snow White retelling is coming out (Snow White and the Huntsman) some viewers will be turned off by this approach.

For my part, however, I appre-ciated that Tarsem was able to re-tell the Snow White story in a sweet and charming manner while still making a movie that was both interesting and exciting.

Is this movie the fairest of them all?


FRANK A. CONSOLATIJEFFREY J. CONSOLATI

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Frank Consolati Insurance Agency, Inc.GENERAL INSURANCE

71 MAIN STREETLEE, MA 01239

Coming to Newsstands on April 26, 2012The Berkshire Sonata’s Bridal Guide

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To advertise in the Bridal Guide

call 413-637-2250or emailgeorge@

berkshirebeacon.com

LOCKER ROOM SPORTS PUB

Locker Room Pizza~ Any Day, Any Time ~

Kitchen Open 10am - 10pm

232 Main Street, Lee243-2662Family

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KENO • 12 TVs • MLB Baseball Package

LYNCH SCRIMO ATTORNEYSPurchases, Sales & Refinance, Commercial & Residential Zoning

68 Main Street • Lenox, MA 01240Contact: Jeff Lynch, Esq.413-637-1300 • Email: [email protected]

WANTED WANTEDUNWANTEDGOLD JEWELRY

$ Silver Coins $Coin Collections, etc.

Berkshire’s #1 Gold, Silver & Coin DealerPeter Karpenski

WHO PAYS THE MOST?Shop & Compare! Call for Free Quotes

Berkshire hills Coins & estate Jewelry, inC.222 Elm St., Pittsfield (corner of Holmes & Elm) •1-800-298-7064

VOTED BEST OF THE BERKSHIRES 5 TIMES!

O’Laughlin’s Pub342 Merrill Road, Pittsfi eld

Open 7 Days a Week • 11:30am - Midnight

MISCELLANEOUS

Classifieds

FOR SALE: 1998 Dodge Ram 1500, V-6 3.9L, 8’ bed, 120,000 miles, automat-ic, am-fm cassette, working a/c and heat., asking $3,200. Call 413-770-2910

FOR SALE: 99 Ford 2x2, 200,000 miles but runs good. All in working order and new tires, asking 3,000 Call 518-232-8735

AUTO HELP WANTED

Graphic Artist - Part Time Knowledge of Quark Express, Inde-sign and Photoshop preferred. Please send resume: R. Ried P.O. Box 932, Pittsfield, MA 01202

Berkshire United Way Rx Round UP Saturday, April 28, from 10 am to 2 pm, at the Lenox Town Hall. Bring your unwanted or expired medica-tions in for safe disposal.

Do you have an item for sale or a job to fill? If so we here at the Berkshire Beacon are here to help. Our classified rates are among the best in the coun-ty and we have a devoted readership. Call for more info 413-637-2250.

NOTICE

The Water Division of the Lenox De-partment of Public Works announces the annual flushing of the Town wa-ter system. The flushing will begin on Monday, March 26 and continue for several weeks. The mains will be flushed during regular working hours of 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Flush-ing may cause localized discolored water and reduced service pressure in and around the immediate area of flushing. Should discolored water be experienced, customers may wish to let the water run for a short period of time to clear. If the discolored water or low pressure conditions persist, please contact the Public Works De-partment at 637-5520

To advertise in The Berkshire Beacon

Classifieds Call 413-637-2250

Your Ad Could Be Here for

Only $25 a week!

Call 413-637-2250 for info


Philip S. KampeWine and Beyond

The week I recently spent in Portugal was highlighted by at-tending the famous “SISAB Food and Beverage Show” in Lisbon.

Portugal is a country that stim-ulates the food and wine senses. From sausage to tuna to port wine, this small country that oc-cupies the west coast of Europe stimulates the taste buds from morning to night.

The Portuguese people are friendly, happy and are ready to entertain guests in a way few countries can.

From the captivating Fado mu-sic at night to the classic architec-ture by day, Portuguese culture never ends. Culture and tradition exist in their foods, especially baccala, the national (cod) dish.

Portuguese cuisine is character-ized by rich, filling and full-fla-vored dishes that are closely relat-ed to the Mediterranean cuisine.

A wide variety of spices are used, due to the influences of Portugal’s former colonial possessions.

Desserts varied from rice pud-ding, decorated with cinnamon, to an outrageous caramel custard. Queijo da Serra, a cheese from the region of Serra da Estrela, was served with every meal. Sheep and goat’s milk cheeses dominate the array of Portugal’s cheeses.

And then there are wines. Portuguese wine is the result of traditions introduced by ancient civilizations such as the Phoeni-cians, Greeks, Romans and Carthaginians.

Some of the many Portuguese wine regions include the Douro Valley, Dao, Alentejo, Barrada, Colares, Moscatel and Vinho Verde.

It is easy to focus on all of the wines of Portugal because each wine and each region has grape varieties and 26 DOCG wines to

verify the quality of the grapes. Instead, I am going to write about my favorite Portuguese white wine, Vinho Verde.

Vinho Verde is from the Minho region of northern Portugal. This is an area I have not visited, but I have heard from others how ma-jestic the region is.

Vinho Verde means “Green Wine,” but when translated by the vineyard owners and wine-makers they say that Vinho Verde actually means “Young Wine.” The wine can be white, red or rose.

Some facts about Vinho Verde:

-The Romans reached Portugal 2,000 years ago carrying Vinho Verde’s first vines. ++First recorded sales transaction of Vinho Verde occurred in 870 A.D.

-Vineyard were planted by reli-gious orders to take tax breaks.

-In the 12th century, wines were exported to Germany, Eng-land and Flanders.

-With the arrival of corn in the 16th century and lack of space to plant the crops, the vineyard owners were told to drape the vines on trellises and use ladders to pick the grapes, thus making room for the corn.

-The Vinho Verde region was recognized by law on Sept. 18, 1908.

-Regulations controlling Vinho Verde were set up in 1929.

-Vinho Verde received its DOC in 1984.

-Currently there are over 90,000 acres (35,000 hectares) of vines planted in the Minho re-gion of Portugal.

-There are over 600 bottling plants in the region.

-80 million liters of wine are produced annually with 85 per-cent white, 13 percent red and two percent rose.

Here are a few of my favorites: Fonesca 2010 “Twin Vines,” $9.99 a bottle.

Fuzelo 2010 Vinho Verde, $7.99 a bottle.

Casal Carcia 2011 Vinho Verde, $6.49 a bottle

Gazela 2011 Vinho Verde, $6.69 a bottle.

Wine and Beyond

Portugal can be had in a glass Kameron Z. Spaulding

Beacon Staff Writer

Springtime home-brewing em-braces the transition and excite-ment of the season: amber-col-ored ales, full-bodied and tart wheat beers, even something a lit-tle more robust for those rainy days.

It marks the passing of the Im-perial this or that, and ushers in casual brew days, shorter fermen-tation periods and the promise of friends and BBQ to help enjoy the next five-gallon batch.

Let’s look at a few beers you can make to embrace the season. All of these can be found in kits from Northern Brewer.

First, the Speckled Heifer: Those among us who are or were farm boys and girls will correctly identify them as Holsteins; to the rest of the citified, sissified world they’re “spotted cows.” This multi-grained Midwestern take on the American cream ale is an uncomplicated, unfussy, lovable guzzler.

Pouring straw gold with a snowy pillow of froth, the nose is gentle and sweet, full of its con-stituent blend of malted and flaked barley and corn, and the flavor is more of the same. Hops give a little whisper of flowers and

spice from the background. A tranquil time-out in a pint glass, a pastoral idyll, a sociable session ale dairyland-style: hey, some-times a beer is just a beer.

Second, the Lefse Blonde: From the little-known Lutheran monasteries of northern Minne-sota comes this artisanal Abbey beer. Pale, self-effacing and easy to get along with, this Belgian-style blonde ale features the same generous malt profile and spicy yeast character of stronger Dub-bels and Tripels, but its more modest gravity means you can enjoy a couple and remain up-right and hard-working past Compline.

Third, the Head Scratcher In-dia Pale Weizen: Dry hops in a Hefeweizen – awesomeness meets totally sweet, or more like mud-flaps on a sleek Bavarian roadster? Perhaps it’s better to think of it as a Jules Verne-esque sci-fi Hanse-atic steampunk steam beer by way of a wheat field, or a Dampf-bier (non-wheat beer fermented with Weizen yeast) dragged through the hopyards of first the Hallertau and then the Willa-mette Valley… behind a mud-flapped Bavarian roadster. A me-dium-bodied, doughy and pillowy Hefeweizen is propped up with some caramel malt, the

better to withstand a high-bitter-ing charge of German hops. Fer-mentation with a traditional Weizen yeast before staggered ad-ditions dry-hopped Cascade. Wheaty goodness with toffee-like caramel, a lashing of not-unrea-sonable bitterness, a bouquet of yeasty plum-and-banana suffused with a little hoppy grapefruit cit-rus showboating – no fruit was harmed in the brewing of this wheat beer.

Keep spring alive for a while longer by brewing up one of these beers, sharing it with friends, and marking those spring memories with the taste of beers that embody the season.

Photo Credit/ Kameron Z. SPaulding Its home brewing season.

Want great beer? Brew itBrewtown

Romero's hard work and per-sistence paid off, as he was one of 102 players invited to the USL Pro Soccer Combine in Braden-ton, FL, at the end of January. Romero opened a lot of eyes when he netted four goals in the event's final scrimmage.

Working with his agent Rome-ro accepted the Charleston Bat-tery's offer of a tryout. Romero netted goals in two preseason scrimmages for the Battery in-creasing his value and the Bat-tery's interest in signing him.

"Very excited that my journey has brought me to Charleston," Romero said. "It's a first-class orga-nization and a great city." Romero will be the third Eph to line up for the Battery, joining Dan Cali-chman and Josh Bolton on the Battery's all-time list of players.

"I've been playing both winger and forward throughout the pre-season," noted Romero. While Romero wore number 3 at Wil-liams he will wear number 17 for the Battery, but even more im-portant he has become the 13th Eph coached by Mike Russo to join a pro league.

Romero's life as a professional soccer player normally includes training in the morning, lifting weights a few times a week, and the occasional team yoga session. "We also make team appearances around Charleston to give back to the community and hopefully recruit some new fans for the club, " Romero stated.

The 10-team USL Pro League has teams in Antigua (The Barra-cuda), Charlotte and Wilming-ton in North Carolina, Dayton, Harrisburg (PA), Los Angeles, Orlando Pittsburgh, and Richmond.

ICELAND from page 16

Did you think newspapers were obsolete?The Berkshire Beacon is alive and thriving.

Help us stay that way by advertising with us or by supporting our advertisers.

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


any announcer that wants to re-turn to Augusta in 2013.

*Tirico informed us that the patrons were starting to arrive – not the fans, not the galleries, not the people, but the patrons. Throughout the entire coverage that is the only way they will be described. If you refer to them in any other way you will be bussing tables in Butler Cabin next year.

*As usual, Augusta National is the only golf course in the world that does not have any rough.(For the novice, rough on a golf course is basi-cally any grass that is taller and or thicker than the short grass on all fairways. These ar-eas are to be avoided if you want to be suc-cessful and win the championship.)

If you have been watching the coverage I’m sure you have no-ticed taller grass lining each fairway so you think that I need an upgrade of my progressive lenses. At Au-gusta that grass is referred to as first cut and second cut. If an em-ployee of the networks call it rough, they will be weed whack-ing it next year for a living.

*The winner’s share of the Mas-ters purse is $1.44 million and the runner-up gets a mere $864,000, but don’t expect any announcer at the Masters to even mention prize money. The play-ers at Augusta don’t want to win for the money; they only want to win a green jacket.

Upon losing in a playoff, Jim Nantz felt that Louis Oosthuizen would be disappointed that his good friend and last year’s win-ner, Charl Schwartzel, would not be presenting him with the green jacket. I guess the $600,000 doesn’t matter.

*On Sunday, if you were won-dering what happened to some golfers that you had been follow-ing for three days, golfers that the network has heaped praise and camera time on for three days, let me set you straight. They did not have to catch an early Learjet, they simply didn’t play up to a standard that made them worthy of face time by the Masters producers.

Fred, Sergio, Rory, Miguel, Ja-son and Keegan: thanks for com-ing, pick up your gift packs on

the way out. Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.

*I noticed that Jim Nantz was on his best behavior, had his bald spot covered up and took his shoes off again this year before entering Butler Cabin.

Does he really know all the wives and kids of all the players on the tour? I’d hate to pay the postage when he sends out his Christmas cards.

*It was a great Masters, but I was hoping that Bubba

Watson would tell Chairman Billy

Payne to keep the green jack-et and “just give me the check.” And maybe toss

this one in there, “Hey Bil-

ly, does my caddie have to wear those

goofy coveralls again next year?”

*At the end of regulation, they

could not wait to tell us that they knew

Bubba’s first name: “Gary ‘Bubba’ Watson, Jr. is headed to the playoff for a chance to win the Masters.”

That’s all well and good but his first name is Gerry.

*Did you notice that Chris Berman was nowhere to be found in the ESPN coverage? His per-sonal touch on players’ names would not have been appreciated by the green geeks of Augusta. They were not ready to hear “a fine shot by ground control to David Toms.”

*Is the green jacket really a jacket? It does not have a zipper or a collar, so doesn’t that make it a blazer or a sport coat?

*The Masters is referred to as “a tradition unlike any other.” I guess that eliminates Thanksgiv-ing, Christmas, Mother’s Day and, of course, the Billy Fuccillo Huge-a-Thon.

John V. GrazianoWildcat Weekly

LEE – This is the first edition of “Wildcat Weekly.” Wildcat Weekly will be a column in the paper devoted strictly towards Lee High School athletics.

Each week I will go over sched-ules, results and maybe even an interview of a student or two for doing something spectacular.

Baseball

I’ll start with the baseball team who as of right now are 2-0 with a 4-2 win over Berlin and a 10-2 victory over Gateway. In the game against Berlin, Lee didn’t play their best baseball but still

managed to win.Lee then beat Gateway 10-2 on

April 6. On Friday, the baseball team will host Lenox at 4 p.m.

Softball

The softball team got off to a rough start, losing first at home to Pittsfield and then 13-0 at Drury, but has rebounded against McCann winning 9-2 to get to 1-2 so far this season.

The team has a game away to Putnam today at Blunt Park in Springfield that starts at 4 p.m.

Tennis

The tennis teams play the same schedule so they both played

Sabis at home last Friday. The boys did very well, winning all five games for their first win of the season.

The girls faced a very tough Sabis team, losing 1-4.

The tennis teams will host Greylock today and Drury on Monday. Both matches start at 4 p.m.

Lacrosse

Lastly, we have the new sport at Lee: lacrosse. The girls played their first game ever away to Pitts-field last Friday and won 12-9 for the first win in school history.

The boys team started strong as well getting a 16-4 win over St. Joe’s in their season opener.

Wildcat Weekly

Lee baseball starts out hot

The Trailblazers scored only one run during a rough afternoon as they were swept at Springfield College 7-0 and 9-1.

Ashley Marino of the Spring-field College softball team hurled her second no-hitter in a 17-day span as she led the Pride to a 7-0 victory in game one.

In game two, an eight run fifth led SC to a 9-1 victory.

In the first game, Marino was dominant in facing the minimum 21 batters in the contest. Kendra Hobbs was the only Trailblazer to reach first on Marino's overthrow of first base on a ground ball back

to the pitcher. Hobbs was picked off first a short time later and no-body else would reach.

Marino struck out 11 and walked none. The remaining 10 outs were all of the routine vari-ety. She struck out seven of the first 11 batters she faced.

Ainsley MacDonald took the loss for the Trailblazers, giving up 10 hits and five earned runs. MacDonald went the distance.

In the second game, sopho-more right-hander Jen Joseph raised her record to 7-2 by pitch-ing a complete-game five-inning 9-1 victory.

MacDonald also took the loss in game two for MCLA.

It was a 1-0 lead, however, for the Trailblazers through three in-nings. Kendra Hinkell led off the top of the third with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Taylor Warnock. Hobbs singled in Hin-kell with two outs to go-ahead 1-0.

In the fourth, Springfield tied it with a home run and then added eight runs in the fifth.

Kaitland Hager had the only other MCLA hit on the day.

MCLA will next play Saturday versus Worcester State at 12 p.m.

MCLA gets no hit during tough double-header

MASTERS from page 16

April 12, 2012

SportsThe Berkshire Beacon

dick SyriacBerkshire’s Sports Guy

March Madness (the NCAA tournament, not the car deals be-ing offered to everyone that did not buy a car on President’s Day) has not disappointed.

Hoop fans and non-hoop fans become experts for a day, a week or, if you get real lucky, for the entire show. When you make out your brackets one can look like a genius or a total fool.

There is nothing worse for a college hoop fanatic than losing the pool to the receptionist, cleaning lady or – even worse – one’s wife who is not quite sure whether the ball is stuffed or blown up.

Some personal thoughts on the madness and March 2012 in general:

*The officials that worked the Syracuse-Ohio State game should never be allowed in another arena unless it is to sell cotton candy. They destroyed a potentially great match-up by thinking that people paid big money to watch them blow their whistles or watch oversized men shoot foul shots.

The number one responsibility of any referee is to be in control of the game and not let it “get out of hand.” When they wear out their whistles by halftime they prove that they are not capable of doing this. Let them play, but still control the game; it’s very simple.

*How good is Kentucky? If they played the Charlotte Bob-cats or the Washington Wizards of the NBA, they would be giving points, even on the road. Last year’s college player of the year, Jimmer Fredette, could not start for the 2012 Wildcats.

*I wonder how many classes the “one and done” college stars will attend once the tourney concludes.

* I’m glad I did not buy a ticket to the Celtic-Bobcat game on March 27 in Charlotte. I would have been forced to watch 80 foul shots, of which only 59 of them went into the basket. I’m sure Paul Pierce was able to get anoth-er game out of his headband

without washing it. * Thoroughbred trainer Bob

Baffert survived a heart attack while in Dubai. He needed three stents put in two arteries and is recovering. Love him or hate him, whenever he enters a horse you have to respect his chances. Baffert got his start in the busi-ness as a jockey.

*What a great day it was at Joe Wolfe Field in North Adams when MCLA hosted Norwich. What is better than watching a baseball game in March, under the sun, on a 75-degree day?

Ernie Banks would have want-ed to play two. MCLA, under the tutelage of Lee native Jeff Puleri, fields a young and exciting team featuring many former Berkshire County high school standouts.

*University of Kentucky has had many famous basketball players but my favorite has to be Scott Courts who played on the ‘77-’78 team. Courts was a 6’10”, 230-lb. center who scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his one-year stint at UK.

He is my No. 1 Wildcat be-cause of this quote, “Everything’s easy at Kentucky for a basketball player. Easy friends, easy money, easy grades. I never had a date in high school and I had nine gor-geous women ask me out at registration.”

Check the tapeMasters edition

I have been glued to the Golf

Channel, ESPN and CBS since Monday, April 2 trying to gain as much knowledge as I can about this unique golf event. I haven’t missed the Masters since televi-sion was invented except for the time my drill sergeant at Fort Jackson in South Carolina decid-ed a 12-mile hike and three-day bivouac was a better activity for that weekend.

However, when Mike Tirico kicked off the coverage on Mon-day during practice rounds I real-ized that not much will change this year. Actually nothing will change regarding the coverage by


Not many folks from the Bos-ton area make a side trip to Ice-land on their way to Charleston, SC, but Mansfield, Mass. native and former Williams College striker Charlie Romero did and as a result has succeeded in land-ing on the roster of the Charles-ton Battery of the USL Pro League.

Normally the trip from Man-sfield, MA to Charleston, SC is only about 950 miles, but Romero's journey included an important side trip to Iceland that helped him earn a spot in the USL Pro Combine in the winter.

Romero's quest to play pro-fessionally included a 2-game stint on the New England Revo-lution Reserve Team and the trip to Iceland, where he trained vigorously with two teams in Reykjavik.

Working hard and continuing to develop as a player and a scorer were traits that Romero refined at Williams, tirelessly working on becoming a threat

to score and topping the Ephs in scoring as a junior (12 goals, 6 assists) and a senior (9 goals, 7 assists) on his way to earning

Third Team All-America honors in 2010.

From Iceland to playing pro soccerA mad March

is in the books

Berkshire’s Sports Guy

Photo Credit/ Kameron Z. SPaulding Charlie Romero a 2011 Williams graduate will join the Charleston Battery of the USL Pro Soccer League.

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see ICELAND page 15

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Documents

April 12 Issue