2008 Williamstown - July

Volume 3, Issue 2 Complimentary July, 2008

Desperados Undergoing Expansion!By Mary Ann White

In a phone conversation with Desperados owner Dave Atwell, I found out that in December of 1998 he bought Desperados from good friend Randy Ross, who had purchased another business. Dave was a former Brooks employee of 13 years serving as a special project manager. Ross stayed on for a few months and taught Dave how to cook and they worked out recipes together.

“My wife and I always eat at Mexican restaurants, and have from Florida to Maine,” Dave said. They are always try-ing new recipes to see if they work with customers, in fact the menu has grown 75% from the time they bought it.

Dave said that from 2004-2005 he had two restaurants, but found it much easier to run just one.

“We make all our own salsa, chips, and beans fresh every day.” The salsa has become so popular that it is now jarred and sold in several stores from Pownal to Adams. Spices are also sold pre-packaged for those folks who want to make their own beans, salsa or red chili sauce where you would add crushed tomatoes and water.

Many other items are made on sight including Buffalo Wing sauce, corn bread and soups. Cheeses are also shredded and mixed to their own special blend.

Dave recently acquired the space next to Desperados, where the tanning salon was and work is being done to expand the res-taurant, adding approximately 60 feet. The bar and seating areas will be larger.

Dave said his retired father-in-law and another retiree help with food prep in the mornings, but he makes just about every-thing himself.

Continued on page 3Desperados Owner Dave Atwell

Williamstown Theatre FestivalBy Telly Halkias

When I talk to friends who live in the large urban areas that I left behind over a decade ago, they are always asking me: Do you get into New York City to catch a show?

I explain to them that as a reviewer I have plenty of Thespian offerings to whet my appetite locally.

But as a recreational lover of theatre I enjoy putting down my pad and paper to relax with a show from the Berkshire’s crown jewel, the Williamstown Theatre festival.

Now in its 55th year, the summer theater that was once coined “summer camp for the stars” is back with a full slate and new direction.

Gone is beloved creative director Roger Reese, succeeded by Nicholas Martin. Director Martin wasted no time putting his imaginative stamp on the WTF. In working to keep the festival’s high standards, he is ushering in a full slate of shows that will appeal to a broad audience range.

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2 The Village Beautiful July 2008

To be found in the considerable lineup this summer are “Three Sisters” by Anton Chekov, a brooding meditation of unrequited love and difficult life choices that can’t be foreseen, a sure hit for the serious attendee. On the other side of the spectrum, Theresa Rebeck’s “The Understudy” will keep audiences chuckling at its tongue-in-cheek view of the most thankless job in the world of drama.

The remaining shows for 2008 are meant to partake of everything from the ridiculous to the sublime. While changes are abound at WTF, the tradition most certainly continues.

Performances of the Williamstown Theatre Festival take place at the ’62 Center for Theater and Dance in Williamstown. For more info on its 2008 season, call 413-597-3400, or visit www.wtfestival.org.

Telly Halkias is a freelance writer and editor. E-mail: [email protected].

Williamstown Theatre FestivalContinued from cover

A view of the Williams College ‘62 Center for Theater and Dance, where the Williamstown Theatre Festival plays are performed.

She Loves MeMain Stage June 27 - July 12

Broke-ologyNikos Stage July 09 - 20

Three SistersMain Stage July 16 - 27

The UnderstudyNikos Stage July 23 - August 03

A Flea In Her EarMain Stage July 30 - August 10

Not WavingNikos Stage August 06 - 17

Upcoming Productions at The Williamstown Theatre Festival

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Telly Halkias, contributing writer

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Renee Tassone, General Manager

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July 2008 The Village Beautiful 3

Continued from cover

Desperados Undergoing Expansion!

Dave and wife Deanna have three children. They like to take off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for their camp in Vermont. The children attend St. Stanislaus School, where Deanna does a lot of volunteer work, along with volunteering at the church and helping cancer patients.

Dave said they will be celebrating 10 years in the res-taurant in December and business is really good. He is looking forward to the expansion.

Desperados is open every evening from 4 to 9:30 p.m., and lunch is served on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. They are located at 246 Main Street in the Colonial Plaza. Prices are very affordable for a family to go out for lunch or dinner. The entire menu is available for take-out. Orders can be called in to 413-458-2100.

Front view of Desperados in Williamstown’s Colonial Plaza

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By Telly HalkiasA few months back, a friend of mine who knows my penchant for all things Mediterranean stopped in to give me a gift of cheese, delivering a healthy sphere of mozzarella.

I took one look and didn’t recognize the wrapping. I wondered how far she had traveled to get the cheese. Her reply was that she picked it up at this farm she had discovered in Williamstown.

I can attest to the fact that the product was first-rate, so I decided to do a little research. Indeed, tucked away at the halfway point of Oblong Road in Williamstown is Cricket Creek Farm. With a sign so small and so high up a tree, you might miss it - as I did - the first time you drive by.

But there is no mistaking what you will find: Yet another fine example of how local farmers can still operate a successful agricultural venue while providing quality products to a market that is feeling the effects of rising fuel costs in its product prices.

On Cricket Creek’s 500 acres one will find a grass-based dairy that is commit-ted to environmental stewardship.

Its products include artesian cheeses, such as the mozzarella I happened upon, and several semi-soft and firm creations. In addition, the facility is state certi-fied to sell raw milk, and farm fresh eggs are also a local favorite.

Also, as availability dictates, Cricket Creek sells pasture-raised beef, and has a good track record of having supplied it in quantity to local schools, including Williams College.

Cricket Creek Farm is located at 1255 Oblong Road in Williamstown. For more info or to check on product availability call 413-458-5888 or visit www.cricketcreekfarm.com.

Telly Halkias is a freelance writer and editor. E-mail: [email protected].

The sign may be small, but the produce is for real at Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown.

Cricket Creek Farm

DID YOU KNOW?(MS) - Summer vacations have long been a tradition in the United States. Perhaps because of school being out for several months during the summer season or the casual attitude summer weather promotes, many people choose to take their vacations in the summertime. While that vacation time is valued, compared to other countries it’s miniscule. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), among the more developed countries the United States lags far behind some of its counterparts when it comes to the average number of vacation days each year. While the average Italian citizen enjoys 42 vacation days per year, in the United States workers enjoy less than one-third of that total. The average American worker gets just 13 vacation days each year, exactly half the number the country’s neighbor to the north, Canada, enjoys each year. Following Italy at the top of the list are France (37 days), Germany (35 days) and Brazil (34 days). Joining the U.S. near the bottom of the list are Korea and Japan, both of which average 25 days of vacation per year.

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CROSSWORD

CLUES ACROSS 1. Pock mark 5. Yes, yes (span.) 9. Cas____: winter melons13. Inter___: intervening period14. Moses’ elder brother 15. ____date: confirm16. Assist in wrongdoing17. Pilfer (slang)18. Ardor19. __, vidi, vici20. ___ian ___: Window coverings22. Zilch23. __ Dhabi, Arabian capital24. A marching procession 27. Winters, opposite31. Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences32. Cause to lose courage34. Paper bag36. Insecticide37. Relative biological effectiveness (abbr.)38. Volume equal to 2 butts39. Sew up a hawk’s eyelids

41. Elastance unit43. Stalk of a moss capsule44. Inanely foolish46. About vision48. Petersen film “___ Boot”49. Saddle horse50. New Haven school57. Tempo58. Skin lesions59. Thought60. Minerals61. Electronic intelligence62. A beloved person63. Totals64. Cheap lodging (Br. slang)65. Sidhartha author H____

CLUES DOWN 1. One of an eastern European people 2. Solid with 6 equal square faces 3. Arabian Gulf 4. To sprout (Spanish) 5. Yemen capital 6. Former Shah’s country 7. ____et: fruit juice ice 8. Ignite 9. Streets10. Without hair

11. Unfortunately12. Violate a law of God14. Digressions21. Big Blue24. Launching platforms25. Heron genus26. Charges per unit27. A type of fencing sword 28. Epic____n: gourmet29. Honey badger30. Roman shields33. Vaccinium or ____berry35. Burl in wood40. Without hat41. No longer in use42. A dense growth of trees 43. Lessen45. No (Scottish)47. Automobile49. Genus geum50. 36 inches51. Breezed through52. __ contendere, plead no contest53. Fleur-de-lis flower54. Famous March date55. Orange pekoe or green56. Agile, lively57. Blue grass genus

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Out of the same era and milieu as the American artists featured in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s summer exhibition Like Breath on Glass: Whistler, Inness, and the Art of Painting Softly, the novels of Henry James and Edith Wharton have elicited a wide range of film adaptations. A free film series, “Visions of a Gilded Age: Film Adaptations of Henry James and Edith Wharton,” will take place at the Clark on Saturdays, from July 12 through August 23, at 2 pm.

July 12: The Heiress (1949, 115 min., not rated)

William Wyler directs this adaptation of Henry James’ Washington Square. Olivia de Havilland won an Oscar for her portrayal of the beset daughter of domineering father Ralph Richardson, who fends off her fortune-seeking suitor Montgomery Clift.

July 19: The Innocents (1961, 85 min., not rated)

Deborah Kerr stars in Jack Clayton’s atmospheric and chilling adaptation of the James novella The Turn of the Screw as the governess on a country estate.

The children in her care are haunted by ghosts, or is she the one succumb-ing to evil visions?

July 26: The Bostonians (1984, 120 min., PG)

Vanessa Redgrave and Christopher Reeve lead a distinguished cast in this adaptation of the James novel, set amongst the women’s suffrage move-ment in 19th century New England.

August 2: Portrait of a Lady

(1996, 142 min., PG-13) Jane Campion directs Nicole Kidman as the James heroine Isabel Archer, a spirited and independent American woman abroad, who falls under the sway of worldly Europeans Barbara Hershey and John Malkovich.

August 9: The Golden Bowl

(2000, 130 min., R) Merchant Ivory takes a sumptuous look at James’s final novel, about a wealthy American played by Nick Nolte who is collecting art in Europe with a plan to build a museum back home. His young wife Uma Thurman becomes entangled with the marriage of his daughter Kate Beckinsale.

August 16: The Age of Innocence (1993, 138 min., PG)

Martin Scorsese’s direction dazzles in this adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel about New York society in the 1870s. Proper lawyer Daniel Day Lewis is engaged to Winona Ryder, but can barely resist the charms of the scandalous Michelle Pfeiffer.

Visions of a Gilded Age Film Series at the Clark

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August 23: The House of Mirth (2000, 140 min., PG-13)

In Terence Davies’s stark but sensitive adaptation of the Wharton novel, Gillian Armstrong is the precarious social climber trying to make her way into New York society at the mercy of ruthless characters like Dan Ackroyd and Laura Linney.

Like Breath on Glass: Whistler, Inness, and the Art of Painting Softly features forty beautiful paintings by James McNeill Whistler, George Inness, and other American artists working around 1900 in an examination of the art of painting softly. As Whistler once stated, “Paint should not be applied thick. It should be like breath on the surface of a pane of glass.” The result of this counsel is a body of contemplative and medita-tive paintings that, like the mist of breath’s condensation on glass, appear on the canvas without evidence of the artist’s hand. Like Breath on Glass is on view through October 19.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown. The galleries are open daily in July and August from 10 am to 5 pm (closed Mondays September through June). Admission June 1 through October 31 is $12.50 for adults, free for children 18 and younger, members, and students

with valid ID. Admission is free November 1 through May 31. For more infor-mation, call 413-458-2303 or visit www.clarkart.edu.

Continued from page 6

Visions of a Gilded Age Film Series at the Clark

DID YOU KNOW?(MS) -- As oil prices continued to soar, U.S. motorists finally began to cut back on their reliance on fuel in early 2008. According to data from the Energy Information Administration, a 12-week period between November 2007 and February 2008 saw gasoline purchases decrease by 1.5 percent nationwide. As a point of reference, consider that gas consumption had increased by 1.4 percent each year since 2000, highlighting the growing concern over fuel costs and the efforts of many to make lifestyle changes that lessen their reliance on fuel. Such a trend is illustrated in the lessening demand for fuel since 2007. A report from MasterCard Advisors shows that the demand for gasoline in the United States continues to decline as well. That report said that in the week ending February 15th the demand for gasoline had dropped 4.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. That indicated the largest one-week drop since December of 2007. While one might think a softer demand for gasoline would bring fuel prices down, the Energy Information Administration has suggested that is not the case, and expects prices to continue to increase in spite of the declining demand.

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