Dec. 1st Berkshire Beacon

December 1, 2011Volume II, Issue 28

www.berkshirebeacon.comLenox, MA 01240

FREE

1 Local News 6 Editorial6 From the Tower5 College Sports Report9 Fast Picks10 Calendar12 Fun & Games15 Movies 15 Girl-2-Girl16 The Mount Grant

Former Pittsfield

athlete on a big stage

- Page 4

The Berkshire Beacon

Index

Bera DunauBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX - The Kennedy Park Bel-vedere controversy seemed to be heading inexorably towards litiga-tion, a situation that each side in the dispute blamed on the other.

But with the threatened lawsuit on hold and a proposed special town meeting called off the issue may be given time to “cool off.”

The major point of contention continues to revolve around the Lenox Scenic Mountain Act.

The Kennedy Park Belvedere was constructed without getting the nec-essary approval from the Lenox Con-servation Commission under Lenox’s Scenic Mountain Act. While town of-ficials and those opposed to the Bel-vedere agree that this occurred be-cause of an oversight, and not as a result of deliberate intent, the two groups differ on a remedy for the situation.

When this issue was first raised

with the town, over a month after construction on the Belvedere was completed, the town initially denied that the Scenic Mountain Act applied to the project.

Once the town was informed by the Lenox Conservation Commission that the Belvedere should have been approved under the Scenic Mountain Act before being constructed, howev-er, the town initiated a process to get retroactive approval for the project from the commission. This process is still ongoing

Attorney Robert Meltzer of the Mountain States Law Group, howev-er, who represents the anti Belvedere group Citizens Advocacy for all, doesn’t think this is possible.

“There’s no where in the bylaw that says the Conservation Commission has the authority (to approve a proj-ect under the Scenic Mountain Act) after the fact,” said Attorney Meltzer in comments to The Beacon.

Buying local a major theme for

the holidaysKameron Z. Spaulding

Beacon Staff Writer

NORTH ADAMS - Holiday spirit will begin to come alive this week in North Adams.

December 1st marks the first of four Thursday night celebrations hap-pening during the month of Decem-ber for the City Of North Adams’ Hometown Holidays. From 6-9 p.m. people can enjoy store specials, music, and other holiday fun.

“Hometown Holidays events are a great way for all of us to connect dur-ing this special season. It is wonderful to see all the excitement in and around

our Downtown. Our local businesses and restaurants have done a wonder-ful job decorating their storefronts to create a welcoming shopping and dining atmosphere, and they are well prepared to serve all of us during this Holiday Season,” said Mayor Richard Alcombright. “Please remember to shop locally and support our neigh-bors and our friends who own, man-age and work our small business community.”

This first Hometown Holidays cel-ebration will see the culmination of the Window Decorating Contest,

North Adams kicks off local shopping events

see MELTZER page 8

see HOMETOWN page 3Stepping back from the ledge

Photo Credit / Bera dunau

The Kennedy Park Belvedere as it stands today. A group of 10 Lenox residents threatened to sue to have the monument removed but now seem willing to compromise.

Groups agree to mediation over Belvedere

Polar Express delivers loads of joy to Lenox children

Full Story on Page 2

Photo Credit / Janel harrison

Brayden Canales and Cole Schadler getting excited to rid on the Polar Express in Lenox.

2 The Berkshire Beacon December 1, 2011

Janel HarrisonBeacon Staff Writer

LENOX - Tis the season for beautiful stories that live in the hearts of us all. Stories that for-ever are imprinted in the minds of ourselves and our children.

The Polar Express is one of those stories because it captures all the splendor and spirit of the season, and makes us all want to believe.

And so wasn’t it a magnificent undertaking to simulate the story on scenic railways across the country for people to experience firsthand? Yes, that’s right things are getting hot-hot-hot at Christmas!

The Berkshire Scenic Railway joined in on the fun and surpris-es, and began The Polar Express’s patented ride in 2009. Seats go on sale in late July at Midnight and fill up with in a few days. Mrs. Pamela Green, Event Coor-dinator said, “We don’t even need to send out press releases as the seats are all occupied quickly.”

The third annual opening weekend Polar Express ride in Lenox had quite the showing as children from all over the county and New York strolled in wearing their pajamas, all ready to jour-ney to the North Pole. Even some Mom’s and Dads joined in wear-ing their flannels.

You could feel the excitement and mystery in the air, and the museum was decorated and stocked with memorabilia from the movie to purchase.

Mr. and Mrs. Jason and Jill Ca-nales were there with their son Brayden who thought it only fit-ting to wear his engineer’s hat along with bright red printed pa-jamas bouncing around in excite-ment with his friends Cole and

Cooper Schadler. “We love the movie,” said Mr. Canales. “and wanted the experience.” Mr. Kyle Schadler said when speaking of their son Cole, “He’s starting to understand the awe of Christmas and Santa Clause.”

The entire ride is full of sur-prises and so for those of you who do still plan to go, there will be no further elaboration, but here is a testimonial of one of the passengers.

Mrs. Laurie Walker who rode with her husband Alan, daugh-ters Libby and Ella, and her par-ents Mr. and Mrs. George and Linda Illingworth said, “The ride is absolutely incredible, you don’t know what will happen next, and it’s magical!”

The engineer of The Polar Ex-press is Mr. Tom Delasco, “I en-joy locomotives,” he said. “sitting in the engine and operating it, and we have a good crew of guys.”

Mr. Rocko DiNicola was the break man who spoke fondly of the historic railroad and added, “It’s a load of fun.”

The Polar Express 2004 com-puter animated motion picture was adapted from the book writ-ten by Chris Van Allsburg. It’s the story of a boy who learns to be-lieve, to understand the meaning of the season, as he journeys on an enchanted ride with The Polar Express to receive “The First gift of Christmas” of his choosing from Santa Clause.

He chooses a magical bell from his sleigh that he jingles to his ear, and as the lasts words beautifully written are expressed the same in both the movie and the book, “Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”

Kameron Z. SpauldingBeacon Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD – The joyful voices of Berkshire Lyric will be heard on high Sunday, December 11, as they present their annual holiday concert Noel Sing We, Music of the Season.

The concert will include per-formances by the 60-person Berkshire Lyric Chorus, as well as the Blafield Children’s Chorus and special guests the Taconic High School Chorus under the direction of Jessica Passetto, at 3:00 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episco-pal Church on Park Square in downtown Pittsfield.

Conducted by Berkshire Lyric Artistic Director Jack Brown of Stockbridge and accompanied by Joseph Rose of West Stockbridge, the performance will feature Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fanta-sia on Christmas Carols” with baritone soloist Tim Passetto of Dalton, a range of contemporary and ancient carols, and popular Christmas selections.

The combined choirs will also lead an audience sing-a-long of several well-known carols and

songs, closing with a traditional encore of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”

The Berkshire Lyric Chorus, the longest running community chorus in Berkshire County, has presented their annual holiday concert since 1963.

Berkshire Lyric has been a fix-ture in the Berkshire musical landscape for 49 years.

Berkshire Lyric started as a lyric theatre performance group and has since grown to be the only multi-generational performance and educational group in the Berkshires.

They provide scholarships, tu-ition-free education, and perfor-mance opportunities to Berkshire residents of all ages.

In 2008, the Berkshire Lyric began the tradition of inviting a local high school chorus to par-ticipate; the Taconic High School Chorus was the first group invit-ed to perform and will be return-ing this year.

The 2011-12 Season will con-tinue with the annual Kick the Winter Blues benefit program on March 18 at Shakespeare & Company’s Founders Theatre in

Lenox, and the Spring Master-works Concert on May 20, which will pair two British choral mas-terpieces: Vaughan Williams’ “Mass in G” from 1922 and Karl Jenkins dramatic “Requiem” from 2005.

In addition to presenting con-certs, Berkshire Lyric supports a wide range of music education projects in Berkshire County in-cluding the annual Young Musi-cian’s Scholarship Program, the Berkshire Lyric Choral Scholars Program and a tuition-free sum-mer Choral Camp for children.

Tickets are $20 and available at the door or in advance from cho-rus members. Tickets can also be reserved by contacting Berkshire Lyric at 413.499.0258 or at berk-shirelyricinfo.org.

Children are admitted free with an adult.

This concert is supported in part by a grant from the Massa-chusetts Cultural Council award-ed by the following local cultural councils Dalton, Stockbridge, Lee, Washington, Becket, Otis, West Stockbridge and Richmond.

Berkshire Lyric has announced their annual

holiday concert date

Photo Credit / Kameron Z. sPaulding

Berkshire Lyric performing at the 2010 holiday concert. This year the 60-person choir will perform on Sunday, December 11th at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Pittsfield.

All Aboard!Polar Express rolls into Lenox

December 1, 2011 The Berkshire Beacon 3

HOMETOWN from page 1

484 Housatonic Street • Dalton, MA • (413) 684-0025Mon-Fri 7am-5pm • Sat 7am-1pm • www.lpadams.com

Everyone has a personality.Shouldn’t your kitchen have one too?With hundreds of distinctive design options, KraftMaid Cabinetry canhelp create a kitchen so personal, it could only belong to you.Visit our showroom where your personalityis the inspiration - and bringing it to lifein your new kitchen is our expertise.

AUTHORIZED DEALER

4 FREE IN-HOME ESTIMATES 4 FREE COMPUTER DESIGN4 FREE DELIVERY

484 HOUSATONIC ST., DALTON, MA 01226(413) 684-0025

HOURS: MON.-FRI. 7-5, SAT. 7-1www.lpadams.com

� FREE IN-HOME ESTIMATES � FREE COMPUTER DESIGN� FREE DELIVERY

641 East St. • Pittsfield, MA • 413-447-8288

Karate • Kung Fu • T’ai Chi • Self Defense

Unlimited Classes All Fall

America’s Foremost Martial Arts Centers

$896 Weeks

Classes Plus FREE Uniform

which is open to all businesses in North Adams. Judging will take place on December 1st and judg-es will include: Mayor Alcom-bright, Representative Gailanne Cariddi, local artist Jarvis Rock-well, Michael Foster of the North Adams Transcript, and Sean Tay-lor from Freight Yard Pub.

There will also be a City Coun-cilor’s Choice Award and a Peo-ple’s Choice Award.

The trolley will take judges and interested members of the public to all decorated sites throughout the city. Prizes and bragging rights will be awarded to the winners.

This year also marks the return of the ‘Mystery Shopper’, a per-son who can be identified by a weekly clue.

This person can be out anytime between 6-8pm in any Down Street location during the Home-town Holiday Thursday night celebrations.

If you are the first to spot a Mystery Shopper you win a $25

gift certificate to a participating business.

This week’s mystery shopper hint is: If you listen closely you’ll hear snow go thumpetty thump thump.

This Thursday the public can view DownStreet Art ON ICE as it returns for a third year running, extending a highly successful Summer/Fall season into the Winter months bringing art openings, live music, events and activity to the streets of down-town North Adams.

This year’s DownStreet Art ON ICE features six exhibition openings, two performances, art deals, art on a stick wandering cart, and more.

Store specials will include a chance to enter for a gift basket worth $200 at Berkshire Empo-rium & Antiques, $20 off a pur-chase of $100 or more at Dilego’s Jewelry, the 99 cents and up art sale at Gallery 51, 10% off special orders at I Got Goodies, the 99 cent rack at Mia’s Consignment Shop, 10% off holiday decora-tions at The Party Place, a $165

one room suite special and 10% off gift certificates ($100 mini-mum) at Porches Inn, 15% off all holiday purchases, or 50% off one item with 2 donations for the local food pantry at River Hill Pottery, and 10% off one item or 20% off one item with 2 dona-tions for the local food pantry at Shima Boutique.

For after-hours fun people can head over to the Minerva Arts Center (MAC) on Massachusetts Ave for a 7:30 p.m. production of Fiddler on the Roof, or they can check out Patrick Gray Jr playing music at PUBLIC Eat & Drink on Holden Street.

This event is just the first of many for the North Adams Hometown Holidays series, a month of spirited fun, family ac-tivities and shopping bargains leading up to Christmas.

This year, Hometown Holidays events will take place on the nights of December 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd from 6 to 9 p.m. and will feature a variety of spe-cials and activities for people to enjoy downtown.

To advertise in The Berkshire Beacon

ClassifiedsCall 413-637-2250

PITTSFIELD-The funeral for Mario Capitanio, 84, of 9 Lom-bard St., who died Monday at home after a long illness, will be Saturday with a Concelebrated Liturgy of Christian Burial at St. Mark’s Church at 9 a.m. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery.

Mr. Capitanio and his wife, Dolores (DiMassimo) Capitanio, owned The East Side Café for 31 years, which became a gathering place of many groups and couples over the years.

He was a professional cabinet maker and was employed by Ver-nier’s Construction Company for many years before forming his own business, Mario’s Cabinet Shop,

As a master cabinet maker, his work of 50 years remains in many homes in the Pittsfield area and unmatched along with his cus-tom cabinets.

Their charcoal-fired pizza-a novelty among pizza lovers-was the talk of the town from the days of General Electric where workers would wonder into The Eastside for a drink and cash their weekly payroll checks.

The Eastside is one of those small family operations where each member of the family takes a shift and each one has their own

following as a member of the family. There are some employers not directly related, but equally valued that bring forth a family-run operation catering not only to the local Italian community but also to the Pittsfield community.

People from Berkshire County seem to find their way to the Capitanio family Italian restau-rant that has made it mark at the corner of Lombard and Newell Streets.

In a statement by the family: “Mario could brighten up a room with his presence. He was an easy-going as they come. He will be sadly missed by his large ex-tended family and many friends. He was a devoted husband and father, who dedicated his life to his family and ensured that his family was always his top priority.

“ Nonno was one of a kind. He was an unforgettable grandfather that left us with so many cher-ished memories. Those memories will be carried on to the genera-tions that follow for many years to come.”

Between the Eastside, DelGal-lo’s Restaurant and The Home Plate Restaurant-the three acted like a bank for the thousand of

workers, issuing cash in place of their checks. The restaurant own-ers would themselves make trips to the bank to bring back cash to honor the General Electric checks.

One of the stories was that the house took all the change from a check. Say a check was $250.55. The house would take 55 cents for cashing the check. These charges ranged from a low of 5 cents to ninety-five cents.

Daniel M. Reed, a bartender at DelGallo’s recalled, “Mario was a great guy. If he could help some-one, he was there.

“When he had time off, he en-joyed going over to OTB for an afternoon,” according to Mr. Reed.

Gerald M. Lee, Pittsfield City Council president and former Pittsfield Police Chief, said he vis-ited with Mario at his home a few days before he died and shared some stories of his involvement during World War II.

“He was just a great guy,” Mr. Lee said noting his cabinet work, which he had done in his former house. He worked for Sears and Roebuck installing kitchen cabi-nets at one point during his

see MARIO page 14

Mario Capitanio,athlete and restaurateur


OPEN 7 DAYS • TAKE OUT • DELIVERY

RESTAURANT & LOUNGE

FULL CHINESE POLYNESIAN MENUEVERY DISH COOKED TO ORDER

101-103 WAHCONAH STREET(ENTRANCE TO WAHCONAH PARK)

PITTSFIELD, MA

413-499-4711

THETAHITITAKEOUT.COM

Daily Specials • Take-Out • Full Bar • KENO • Outside Dining - SeasonalAppetizers • Wings • Salads • Sandwiches • Wraps • Quesadillas

Pizza • Burgers • Chicken • Steak • Fish & Chips

The Olde Heritage Tavern

The “Heritage”... Great Homemade Food... in a Casual Atmosphere... at Non-Lenox Prices

12 Housatonic St.Lenox

(413) 637-0884Open Every Day

Dick SyriacBeacon Sports Columnist

During last year’s NCAA March Madness basketball tour-nament a first round match up found North Carolina and LIU of New York.

The last time I recall LIU play-ing a meaningful game was at Madison Square Garden in 1967 when Luther Green hit one at the buzzer for a big NIT win.

I was there, and my good friend Leroy Vivaldi of North Adams had made a sizable wager on the Blackbirds so we were able to square our tab at the Hotel New Yorker , and then some.

In 2011 the Blackbirds were big underdogs to the Tar Heels and I don’t think many people had them circled on their brack-ets. LIU gave UNC all they could handle and eventually fell 102-87.

Contributing to those 87 points was Pittsfield sharpshooter Mike Culpo who tallied 9 points and hit 2 of 4 from deep.

It is not very often that West-

ern Mass produces a D1 player and it was great to see Mike do so well on the big stage.

Springfield has given us Travis Best (Georgia Tech), Marc Hall and Ricky Wallace (Minnesota), Vinny DelNegro (NC State), Derrick Kellogg (UMass), Mike Martin (Brown) come to mind. Adam Harrington (NC State and Auburn) made the D1 jump from tiny Pioneer Regional in Northfield.

Berkshire County sent some fine players to UMass over the years including Mike Mole, Kirk Leslie, Bob Eichorn, Bucky Ad-amczyk and Bill Preavy. Pittsfield HS was represented by Fred Cox at Duke , yes that Duke, and Vinny McKeever who took his talents to Boston College and Mickey Mahoney of St. Joe had a fine career at Sienna.

Mike Culpo is in his senior year at LIU and through 5 games is averaging over 11 points a game. “We have a lot of experi-enced guys back this year and we will be tough in our conference”, he told The Beacon before get-

ting ready for practice.As a junior , he was 5th in The

Northeast Conference hitting over 40% of his long range bombs, and has 143 for his ca-reer. His high water mark came against Bryant last season when he was 6-8 on triples and finished with 22 points.

Culpo began at St. Joe and fin-ished his scholastic career at St. Andrews Prep in Barrington RI .

“I wanted to play at a competi-tive level for a program that would give me the exposure needed to make it to a Division 1 university,” said Culpo. “LIU was the last school to offer me a schol-arship and after visiting the school and meeting Coach Ferry I knew it was the place for me. It has been great.”

Mike’s grandmother Made-line of Pittsfield was one of the fans who made it to Charlotte last year for the UNC game. “I was there, we were so happy for Mike, he works very hard. I hope that he makes it home for Thanksgiving but he may have practice.”

From the “things that I didn’t know when I woke up this morning department”:

* Long Island University is in Brooklyn

* Luke Walton is an assistant coach for Memphis. He has two years remaining on his Laker contract as he awaits the fate of the NBA.

* Mike Culpo played three years of AAU ball in New York state with NCAA Player of The Year, 1st Round NBA draft choice and Glens Falls native Jimmer Fredette.

* Mike Culpo is a classy young man and a gentleman, and his grandmother is very proud of him.

Answers to Nov. 23Puzzles:

Mike Culpo of Pittsfield goes up for a shot against UNC in last years NCAA Tournament. Culpo is averaging over 10 points per game this season.

Berkshire Sports Guy...

Local basketball product makes it big in the NCAA


College Sports Report

Kameron Z. Spaulding Beacon Staff Writer

LEE - Julia Warner, a 2010 Lee High School graduate, is among three Westfield State University players selected to the 2011 Mas-sachusetts State Collegiate Ath-letic Conference all-conference women’s volleyball team.

Warner is a sophomore outside hitter for the Owls.

Warner was a key contributor on the Westfield State team that claimed its third straight MAS-CAC crown and participated in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament. Warner ranked third in the conference in kills per game (2.39) and sixth in digs per game (3.19).

Warner was an All-Berkshire County selection in volleyball for four years in high school.

In her senior season, Warner was captain of the volleyball, bas-ketball and track teams, she was also named Berkshire County Fe-male Athlete of the Year her se-nior year.

Joining her from Westfield on the all-conference team were se-nior outside hitter Alex Shaw of East Falmouth and senior setter

Kerin DeGirolamo of North Attleboro.

Shaw earned all-conference first-team honors for the fourth consecutive season. She ranked second in the MASCAC in kills per game (2.82) and third in at-tack percentage (.333). Shaw completed her stellar collegiate career with a school record 1,161 kills.

DeGirolamo, a three-time first-team pick, ranked first in the conference in set assists (8.24 per game) and second in service aces (0.59 per game). She shattered the school record for career assists with 3,582.

Lee graduate winning awards

in college NORTH ADAMS - In the showdown to be the top Berk-shire County college basketball team Williams again claimed a dominate win.

Williams took control of the contest with a 10-0 run from 9:39 to 6:01 of the first half mak-ing an 18-13 game 28-13 in the Ephs’ favor in downing cross county foe MCLA 84-59.

With the win, the Ephs im-prove to 3-1 while the Trailblaz-ers fall to 1-4.

A three ball from first-year guard Dan Wohl from the right corner and Williams had its big-gest lead at of the half at 15, 28-13, with 6:01 left.

At 16:21, Nate Robertson and Hayden Rooke-Ley made their first appearances of the season for Williams.

Robertson hit his first shot of the year off a penetration by Wang, who pivoted and dished back to beyond the arc, for a Robertson three at 15:34 giving the Ephs an 11-4 lead.

Robertson’s hoop prompted MCLA coach Jamie Morrison to call a timeout.

MCLA made a run that was keyed by some long threes from Tyrell Mosely. Mosley’s second three of the half from the left cor-ner cut the Eph lead to 10, 28-18

and his third trey off the ensuing William miss at 4:21 made it a seven-point game with 4:18 left in the half.

Dan Wohl stemmed the MCLA run with a three from the left side at 3:46 making the score 31-21 Ephs.

When James Klemm hit a cut-ting Ed Flynn for a layup and Flynn converted the three-point play Williams owned a 36-23 lead.

Wohl buried this third three from the left corner at 1:57 off a pass out of the lane from Ed Fly-nn boosting the Ephs to a 39-23 lead.

Harris netted a three and then a jumper in the lane for MCLA to make the score 39-28 at the break.

Both teams collected 18 re-bounds in the first half with Mike Mayer leading Williams with four, while MCLA’s Tyriq Roch-ester topped everyone with six.

The Ephs hit a blistering 67 percent from the floor in the first half, including 6 of 9 from be-yond the arc. MCLA was held to just 27 percent from the floor.

The Ephs’ Dan Wohl and the Trailbalzers’ Tyrell Mosley tied for most points in the opening 20 minutes as they both drained three three-pointers.

MCLA opened the second half with two quick hoops, but the Ephs responded by fashioning an 8-point run to build the lead back to 15. James Klemm hit a three from the top of the key. Jordan Mickens made MCLA pay for a miss when he knocked down a three and then Mike Mayer dropped a pass down low to Tay-lor Epley for a layup making the score 47-32 Williams, Klemm had no points in the first half, but ended with 16.

On the night Williams hit on 71 percent of their field goals and 10 of 17 from three.

First year guard Daniel Wohl had a game-high 18 points, fol-lowed by Klemm’s 16 and Mike Mayer’s 12. Mayer led the Ephs on the glass with 8 and Mickens, Wang, Robertson and Mayer all had four assists.

MCLA was led in scoring by Tyriq Rochester who tallied 14 and Tyrell Mosley who ended with 11. Rochester also notched a game-high nine rebounds, while Mosley added five assists.

MCLA shot just 33 percent. “I think our defense is under-

rated,” said Eph head coach Mike Maker. “This is the second game in a row we’ve shot well over 60% and held our opponents in the low 30s.”

Williams claims Berkshire County showdown, 84-59

Julia Warner is a Lee High School graduate.

Andressa Fernandes - Framingham State UniversityAshley Nee - Framingham State UniversityAlex Shaw - Westfield State Kerin DeGirolamo - Westfield State Vicki O’Brien - Worcester StateBecky Lebel - Worcester StateKristen Robillard - Bridgewater State

Kayla Bromback - MCLAKelley Bryant - MCLAJulia Warner - Westfield State Joanne Grenier - Worcester StateAlyssa Jasper - Worcester StateMelanie Appleman - Bridgewater StateKayla Bertrand - Framingham State University

MSCAC Volleyball All Conference Teams


Editorial:

George C. Jordan III

George C. Jordan IIIEDITOR & PUBLISHER

Kameron Z. SpauldingEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Susan M. Wicker GuerreroCOPY EDITOR

Janel M. Harrison, Bera B. Dunau, CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Susan G. RobinsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Janel M. Harrison, Jacqueline Wendling, Catherine KrummeyADVERTISING SALES

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

THE GUIDING LIGHT OF THE BERKSHIRES

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

BEACON

General Inquiries:[email protected](413) 637-2250

Send Display Ads to:[email protected]

Send Calendar Listings to:[email protected]

Visit us Online:www.berkshirebeacon.com

Contact Us

News Item: The U.S. Senate re-cently designated Nov. 26 as Small Business Saturday. It took off when American Express (AmEx) got involved offering its cardholders a $25 credit for a purchase of $25 or more at a small business in 2010.

Some of the world's online pio-neers are uniting around a com-mon goal: driving more business to local, independent shops for Small Businesses.

It occurred this past Saturday. Facebook(R), Google, Twitter and other innovators joined with AmEx to offer a toolkit designed to help small business owners get their cash registers ringing this holiday season. This is also an oc-casion to recognize the impor-tance of small businesses and their vital contributions to the economy, job creation, and local communities.

The national initiative encour-ages consumers to shop at small businesses within Berkshire County during the holiday sea-son. All small businesses, not just those that use or accept American Express, are able to participate.

The Berkshire Beacon and its tourist publication, The Berk-shire Sonata, are leading the pack

for more integration between Main Street retailers and the public-at-large.

We are providing the medium for advertisers to promote their respective businesses and offer ei-ther their products or units for sale not necessarily at the lowest price, but at a competitive price that will ensure the Main Street market will continue and become a source of employment for the betterment of the community.

This day was the second anni-versary of Small Business Satur-day, a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neigh-borhoods around the country.

In response to small business owners' most pressing need: cre-ating more demand for their products and services, the 2011 shopping season has started with a bang over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with sales in-creasing over last year.

The future for print advertising is looking brighter as we enter the holiday season by the number of advertisement in area newspapers.

We at the Berkshire Beacon look forward to serving you and your business in 2012.

Support Small Business

On a beautiful fall morning in November, Tom Roche and I hiked up Kennedy (Mountain) Park from the Church on the Hill to the Lenox water tower, which is under construction to the site of the controversial Belvedere.

We picked our way on our walk, stopping at several intervals to admire the scenery and noted Belvoir Terrace’s land on both sides of the roadway ascending to the water tower where a crew was putting the finishing touches of cement on the 1.56 million gal-lon tank.

We passed by houses owned by Dennis and Kathy Welch and Marvin Lender on Aspinwall Road before coming to the tower.

Then, we proceeded up the hill and over to the West side of the mountain where the famous and controversial Belvedere is located.

The peaceful retreat opens to the west and southern views down the valley to Monument Mountain and beyond.

It is a peaceful retreat.The dictionary said Belvedere

is a summerhouse or open-sided gallery, usually at rooftop level, commanding a fine view; and/or a building, or architectural fea-ture of a building, designed and situated to look out upon a pleas-ing scene.

Its Origin & History-Belve-dere-”raised turret atop a house,” 1590s, from It. belvedere, lit. “a fair sight,” from bel, bello “beau-tiful” + vedere “a view, sight” (seevista). Pronunciation perhaps influenced by the French form of the word. So called because it was used for viewing the grounds.

I found the tablet on which the inscription is laid to be for a tall person, not one of average size. If it were my call, I would have the tablet turned around and faced to the south so that the person read-ing it might feel the serenity of the Park and Belvedere.

Again, given the area, I would have perhaps created a design with the tablet at the far end fac-

ing the a series of platform which would allow the visitor to view the mountain tops while listening to nature’s calls and perhaps in a moment the thoughts of the Fieldman family for their son, Dr. Jordan Fieldman, who died from cancer.

To complete our tour, we cir-cled around the old-now forgot-ten Aspinwall Inn that was built in 1902 by General Thomas H. Hubbard, which burned to the ground in 1931. Left today are only pipes, pits for drainage and waste, and stonewalls lay claim to a once opulent time in Lenox his-tory when the rich visited the area. A plumber’s heater is be-lieved to have started the fire that destroyed the Inn.

Perhaps the controversy over the past six months has brought people into the park. It appears that under the threat of litigation, the select board and the Kennedy Park Committee committed some procedural and process is-sues in their attempt to not only appease Michael Fieldman, the father in his loss, but disregarded both the state’s Open Meeting law and the Scenic Mountain Act. Both boards condone the fact that one of the committee members, Rob Akroyd, partici-pated in the design and imple-mentation of the Belvedere at a reported $5,000.

Some members of the commu-nity think the issue was over-

blown, others questioned why this particular person was hon-ored on public property; still oth-ers think that the boards were not diligent in the process and proce-dures that have come to light.

Yes, there is blame not only on the two boards, but perhaps a missed interpretation by the building inspector-no permit and by town counsel who failed to ad-vise on the Scenic Mountain Act and failed to question the lack of public awareness either by public legal notice and/or by certified mail or both on the proposal.

The list of infidelities- a breach of trust or a disloyal act; trans-gression- goes on. Yet, my cause was always about the procedure and the process. Now that I have been to the site, looked around, marveled at the natural beauty to be hold.

I wonder why the Kennedy Committee and the Select Board can’t have a come to Jesus gather-ing and admit that mistakes were made and apologize for their own improprieties and that of the col-lective boards and seek to mini-mize the volley of fire by commit-ting themselves to the restoration of Kennedy Park.

Today, as a community, let’s pay homage to the work of Jor-dan Fieldman by trying to heal a community split by deep opin-ions and seek ways of making this Belvedere a scenic beauty for one and all to share.

View From the Tower

West front and flower garden, Hotel Aspinwall, Lenox, MA; from a 1912 postcard printed by the Detroit Publishing.



Despite Rep. Neal being placed in the same district, Andrea Nu-ciforo is staying in the race.

Mr. Nuciforo says that he is running for Congress in the new-ly redrawn Massachusetts 1st Congressional District to cham-pion the interests of middle and working class people.

“Unemployment is over 9%, has been for over two years. Over the last ten years, middle class and working class wages have been going down, not up; so while people at the tippity top of the income scale get a greater per-centage of total income earned in this country, people in the mid-dle class are struggling,” said Mr. Nuciforo in comments to The Beacon. “I’m running to stick up for the people who are affected by these trends and hopefully I’m going to go to Washington to re-verse them.”

Mr. Nuciforo is no stranger to public service. He served as a state senator representing Berk-shire, Hampshire and Franklin counties in the senate for ten years from 1997-2007.

While in office, Mr. Nuciforo focused on economic develop-ment and investing in public schools, pointing to the renova-tions in a number of public schools in his Senate district and the stabilization of Berkshire County’s employer base as some notable efforts that he helped to support while in the Senate.

During his tenure, Mr. Nuci-foro served as the Chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services as well as the Joint Com-mittee on Banks and Banking.

When asked why he chose to not run for re-election to his State Senate Seat in 2006, opting instead to run for the Berkshire Middle District Register of Deeds, a position he won and still holds, Mr. Nuciforo said he never believed that public office should be forever and that he had accomplished the goals he set out for himself when he first ran for Senate.

Furthermore Mr. Nuciforo pointed out that the Berkshire Middle District Register of

Deeds, while a less high profile position, provides essential ser-vices to the people of Pittsfield and its environs.

“For most people living here, the registry of deeds is the place that holds the most important documents to them,” said Mr. Nuciforo. “The deed to their house, their mortgage, their sec-ond mortgage if they have a home equity loan, a death certifi-cate, the key documents in a per-sons financial life.

Mr. Nuciforo also described how being Middle District Regis-ter of Deeds has helped give him a window into what is happening in the typical Massachusetts household and that, just as he did when he was in the State Senate, Mr. Nuciforo considers himself an access point for people seeking assistance.

Mr. Nuciforo’s primary moti-vation for choosing to run for congress is to advocate for middle and working class people, whom he feels have been shortchanged by many government policies.

“You’ve seen on trade, on tax, on labor issues, on health care, there have been votes that have been taken that have really erod-ed the standing of middle class and working class people in this country,” said Mr. Nuciforo.

“I hope that when I get down there I am recognized as an advo-cate for the kinds of people I live with and work with every day here in Pittsfield.”

When Mr. Nuciforo first an-nounced his candidacy, there was a possibility that he would be running in the Democratic Pri-mary against 1st District Con-gressman and long time progres-

sive champion John Olver (D Amherst), who announced his re-tirement last month.

Mr. Nuciforo, however, who praised John Olver’s service in congress as “Extraordinary”, did not believe that such a race would take place.

“I never anticipated that race occurring,” said Mr. Nuciforo, saying that he and his campaign had made an educated guess that they would not be drawn into the same district as John Olver’s hometown of Amherst. This proved to be the case, although Olver’s retirement rendered the issue moot.

“We are data driven,” said Mr. Nuciforo, when describing his campaign, and that description seems to perfectly sums up his approach to winning the newly re-drawn, 727,000 person 1st Congressional District.

The New 1st Congressional District is a merger of part of Olver’s old 1st Congressional District and part of Congressman Richard Neal’s (D Springfield) old Springfield based 2nd Con-gressional District.

Congressman Neal is running for re-election in this district, which contains both Springfield and all of Berkshire County.

Mr. Nuciforo is careful to make clear that he is running for the 1st Congressional District, and not against any candidate. Never-theless, he does not seem to be intimidated by the prospect of running against a sitting incum-bent, asserting that the new 1st District is made up of 60% of Olver’s old district and 40% of Neal’s old district.

Furthermore, Mr. Nuciforo points out that the entirety of his old Senate District is located within the 1st Congressional District. Mr Nuciforo also be-lieves that Berkshire County’s re-cord of having high voter turn-outs for Democratic primaries, where the contest between him-self and Congressman Neal will ultimately be decided, will also assist him in his effort to win election to congress.

Whether or not Mr. Nuciforo’s estimations are correct, we can certainly expect a lively election next year in The Berkshires.

Andrea Nuciforo is still ready to challenge for the congres-sional seat.

Beacon Exclusive Interview:

Nuciforo stays strong in race for Berkshires congressional district

November 24, 2011 The Berkshire Beacon 5

College Sports Report

WILLIAMSTOWN - How the mighty can fall. Number 3 in the nation Williams dropped a tough early season game to Salem State 83-69 in the final game of the Williams Invitational.

Williams fell to 1-1 on the sea-son, while Salem State improved its record to 3-0.

The loss came after Williams won the first game of the tourna-ment 87-58 over Southern Vermont.

Williams played its second consecutive game without in-jured guards Nate Robertson and Hayden Rooke-Ley.

Point guard Justin Nieves led the way for the Vikings, pouring in 29 points on 10-17 shooting, including seven threes.

Nieves also pulled down six re-bounds and had three assists. Bri-an Clark added 20 points and six rebounds for Salem State, and Nate Simpson had 11 points and nine rebounds.

James Wang led the Ephs with 11 points and eight rebounds, but the pre-season All-American went only 3-12 from the field.

Wang is still coming back from off-season surgery.

Michael Mayer and Taylor Ep-ley added 10 points apiece for the Ephs.

"Give a lot of credit to Salem State - They played awfully well," Williams Head Coach Mike Maker said. "We lost to a good basketball team today. I think once we understand our identity as a team, we're going to be good. And until then we're going to have nights like the one we had today. I have a lot of confidence in our players and in our pro-gram. Right now we're just going through some growing pains."

The game was a battle in the first half. The Vikings started the game on a 17-7 run; John Wein-heimer managed to stem the tide for the Ephs, however, scoring five straight points to make the score 17-12, first with a bank-

shot, then an and-one driving la-yup on the left side with 13:23 to play in the half.

The Ephs slowly closed the Vi-kings' lead from there, and took a 29-28 lead with 5:36 remaining on a hook shot from Mayer.

Williams slowly extended the margin from there, taking its big-gest lead for the game with 3:21 to play on a three from James Kl-emm that made the score 37-32.

After buckets from Nieves and Tavone Wynder, a jumper from the left corner from Matt Mc-Creary in the left corner at the buzzer gave Williams a 39-36 lead headed into the half.

Both teams were solid offen-sively in the first half, with Wil-liams shooting 53 percent from the field and Salem shooting 51 percent.

The second half was a different story. Salem State came out of the gate hard, retaking the lead less than two minutes into the half 43-41 on a jumper from Daniel Clark.

The Ephs drew even twice in the next five minutes, but after a Jordan Mickens lay-up made the

score 52-52 with 14:34 to play, the Vikings went on an 8-0 run capped by a Daniel Clark lay-up with 13:41 to go.

They did not look back, shut-ting the down the Ephs offense almost completely the rest of the way, as Williams scored only 17 points for the remainder of the game on 3-20 shooting from the field. Salem State continued put-ting the ball in the hoop, and Williams could not stem the tide; the Vikings walked away with the 83-69 victory.

Williams shot only 23.5 per-cent from the field in the half, while Salem shot 50 percent. Williams notably went 2-14 from three in the second 20 minutes, while Salem went 6-9.

"I am proud of our team and how we competed," Maker said. "We weren't as patient as I would like, and we missed a lot of chip-pies around the basket. Obvious-ly from three I think we're a bet-ter team than we showed today."

Williams will next face Wesley-an at home on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Salem will face Gordon Col-lege on Tuesday at home at 7 p.m.

MCLA's Tyriq Rochester tal-lied a team high 22 points, but MCLA fell to tournament host Endicott College 77-75 in the championship game of the North Shore Collegiate Tip-Off Classic.

The Trailblazers are now 1-2 on the season, while Endicott moves to 2-1.

Endicott's Lance Greene con-verted a layup with two seconds left to give the Gulls the win. Endicott led 41-34 at the half and extended to the largest lead of 51-40 following an Andre Makris layup. Greene was also named the tournament's most outstanding player.

MCLA would begin to claw their way back into the game, trimming the deficit to just five points at 55-50 after a Richard Johnson dunk. The Gulls an-swered with a Makris triple, but then the Trailblazers kept chip-ping away.

They finally pulled even at 73 apiece after a Rochester layup. After trading scores, the latter of which was a Chris Harris drive to

the basket, the host Gulls set up a play and Greene converted with just two seconds remaining.

Harris was the only other Trail-blazer in double figures, finishing with 11 points. For Endicott, five players scored in double fig-ures, led by Makris with 15. John Henault scored 15 off the bench, while Tyler Burkhart added 12. Greene finished with 11 and Lachlan McGee added 10.

MCLA's Rochester and Chris Harris were named to the All Tournament Team.

Tyriq Rochester made the All Tournament Team

MCLA splits tournament games

No. 3 Williams gets shocked at home, 83-69

Preseason All-American James Wang struggled to get his shot to fall against Salem State. It was the first non-NESCAC loss for Williams in 3 years.

window fashions

WE MEASURE ANDINSTALL AT NO CHARGE!

Call or stop and ask Colleen about Energy Efficient Choices!

224 Housatonic St., Lenox, MA413-637-0488

1541320-01d

For information aboutadvertising in

The Berkshire BeaconCall 413-637-2250

Tom Stierwww.tomstier.com

The town of Lenox, Massachu-setts’ has launched a new website, discoverlenox.com.

According to a recent Berkshire Eagle article the site is part of a $56,000 contract with Bodden Hamilton Partners in New York City.

Upon looking at the code for this site, one sees the following:

<html><head><title>Discover Lenox </title></head><frameset rows=”100%,*”

border=”0″><frame src=”http://windowsn-

web.com/wordpressdev/” framebor-der=”0″ />

<frame src=”../EXPO PLUS/UntitledFrame-4″ framebor-der=”0″ noresize />

< / f rame s e t><no f rame s></noframes>

<!– pageok –><!– 07 –><!– –></html>

Yes, that’s right. It is a frameset, a rather old-fashioned method of constructing websites, with an in-stance of the free WordPress soft-ware displayed in one of the frames.

Search engines don’t deal with frames well. According to Media College, an educational website on web media, “Some search en-gines can’t follow framed pages at all, but even the best search en-gines will have problems. More importantly, many search engines choose not to index frames be-cause they are so problematic.”

According to the Berkshire Ea-gle article, members of the town committee overseeing the project were concerned with the slogan

“Lenoxology” and the delay in the “Launch.” How quaint.

These folks seem to have a mentality that has frozen their concept of the web back to 1998, coincidentally when framesets were at the height of their popularity!

This site, and I suspect, the process behind it, is completely wrong-headed.

If they had asked me, I would have suggested building on a home grown, grass roots effort to discover and nurture existing lo-cal bloggers, such as Seth Rogov-oy’s excellent “BerkshireDaily”, local developers and regional por-tals, such as the fantastic Berk-shires Live that are already organ-ically promoting the area.

It seems to me that this com-mittee had no interest in what was already interesting to Google about their town.

The site does look ‘nice’, how-ever that is something that will al-ways be determined by the be-holder, and the device they are using to view the site.

And that has always been and will continue to be something that is difficult to nail down in the ever changing world of hand-held devices.

If you were looking for a place to stay or eat in Lenox what would you do?

Would you go to discoverlenox.com and click on “Smell?”

Unfortunately, Mr. Google, the most frequent visitor to this site, will not be impressed by or care what the slogan or launch date is.

It will have some problems ‘reading’ the frameset.

Editors Note: Tom Stier is a web developer in Alford, he has a blog at www.tomstier.com/blog. The Beacon “Googled” Discover Lenox, and the page could not be found.

Guest Commentary:Lenoxology website is old fashioned and might be a

very poor use of over $50,000


The Lenox Conservation Com-mission is charged, under Lenox’s Scenic Mountain Act, with deter-mining whether or not a pro-posed project is in compliance with the act. What Attorney Meltzer contends, however, is that in both Lenox’s Scenic Mountain Act, and the state stat-ute that it was adopted under, there is no basis for the commis-sion to approve or reject projects after they have been constructed.

This argument was a key part of a letter sent to Lenox Town Counsel Frederica McCarthy. The letter, which has been pro-vided to The Beacon by Attorney Meltzer, details his arguments that the construction of the Bel-vedere was a violation of the Sce-nic Mountain Act, that the Con-servation Commission has no authority to retroactively approve the project, as the Town is asking it to do, and that there are draco-nian penalties in the Scenic Mountain Act for those who vio-late it.

The letter states that his clients are asking for the removal of The Belvedere to remedy the situa-tion, and are prepared to take the matter to court if the town does not agree to enter into a consent decree to have the structure re-moved by May 1, 2012.

“It’s a lawyer to lawyer letter that discussed our position on the law and where we were going on this,” said Attorney Meltzer, say-ing that it wasn’t meant to be a threat against the selectmen or the town.

This was not how the Lenox Board of Selectmen saw it, how-ever, and they blasted the letter for threatening to take the dis-pute into the legal realm at their November 17 meeting.

The Selectmen also read por-tions of the letter at this meeting, and asserted that it was threaten-ing to throw them all in jail.

These accusations infuriated Attorney Meltzer, who contends that the board deliberately dis-torted the information contained in the letter, information that was not intended for public consumption.

In particular, Attorney Meltzer took issue with how the letter was characterized by Chairman Mc-Ninch, who said that it threat-ened to sue the town and throw the committee in jail for gross negligence unless the Belvedere was removed by May 1st, 2012.

“That is a blatant misrepresen-tation of a letter in a public meet-ing,” said Attorney Meltzer

“From a chairman who doesn’t want to talk about the shortcom-ings of the board in causing this problem in the first place.”

Attorney Meltzer pointed out that nowhere in the letter did it threaten to imprison the select-men for gross negligence. He also said that references in the letter to fines and imprisonment under the Scenic Mountain Act were merely referencing the statute it-self, and that his clients were not interested in sending anybody to jail.

“We suggested (that) the reme-dy is removal. We never suggested that anybody should go to jail or

be fined,” said Attorney Meltzer, who contends that the only rem-edies under the Scenic Mountain Act for violations are the restora-tion of the site and the removal of the violation and/or fining or im-prisoning the violators.

In the same meeting that the selectmen expressed outrage about Attorney Meltzer’s letter, they also proposed that the mat-ter of the Belvedere be settled in a special town meeting, where the fate of the Belvedere would be de-cided once and for all by an up or down vote by Lenox’s citizens.

Attorney Meltzer contends, however, that such a vote wouldn’t satisfy the core issue at the heart of his clients complaint.

“The Scenic Mountain Act has been violated. The sole remaining question is a remedy. If someone robs a bank, the town does not address the robbery by having town meetings (to) repeal the crime,” said Attorney Meltzer.

For Attorney Meltzer and his clients, a town meeting to decide the fate of the Belvedere would be pointless, as it would not address what they believe was a violation of the Scenic Mountain Act: The Belvedere’s construction. Fur-thermore, Attorney Meltzer be-lieves that the Select Board’s de-nunciation of his letter to Town Counsel at their meeting, as well as what he asserts has been dis-torting coverage of the event by the press has poisoned public opinion

“My sense is that if it ends up in court…it’s because the board of selectmen would rather litigate rather than try to resolve this,”

said Attorney Meltzer.The resolution that Attorney

Meltzer proposed in his letter, a resolution that he says is still on the table, would be for the Town to enter into a consent decree to remove the Kennedy Park Belve-dere by May 1 2012, and agree to undertake no further violations of the Scenic Mountain Act. Under such a deal, the town would also be asked to cover Citizens Advo-cacy for All’s legal fees.

Attorney Meltzer was preparing to file papers in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston on be-half of 10 members of Citizens Advocacy for All. In his letter to Town Counsel, Attorney Meltzer said that his clients will be look-ing for an injunction from the court to halt attempts from the town to retroactively permit the Belvedere, with the end goal of having the Belvedere taken down.

“Our lawsuit would be an in-junction that would require the town to remove the offending monument,” said Attorney Melt-

zer, who reiterated that they were not seeking to see anyone impris-oned or fined under the punitive provisions of the Scenic Moun-tain act.

As for what removal means, At-torney Meltzer believes that is subject to negotiation.

“There are some parts that are nonnegotiable but I think there are some parts that might be,” said Attorney Meltzer.

In his letter to Town Counsel, Attorney Meltzer states that while the Belvedere’s granite pavers, granite and concrete standing structure, fence and nonnative plants should be removed; his cli-ents have no problem with keep-ing the memorial plaque.

He also says that they have lo-cated a new home for the structure.

With the talk of a special town meeting on hold and the lawsuit not yet filled the long fought over Belvedere may be placed on the towns back burner until after the holiday season.


Selectman Ken Fowler and Linda Messana during the special meeting held to discuss a pos-sible town meeting.

Photo Credit / Bera dunau

The back side of the Kennedy Park Belvedere. This photo-graph better shows the fences and shrubs that the Citizens group would also like removed. Their attorney Robert Melt-zer has decided not to file their suit for now.

Read Attorney Meltzer’s Letter

Visit our website to read the letter sent to the Selectmen warning of a possible lawsuit.

www.berkshirebeacon.com



BEACON

MELTZER from page 1


Imagine a gigantic cactopus (part cactus and part octopus) named Pat that yearns for nothing simpler than friendship. Pat lives in a potted pet store, where year in, year out, the smaller, cuter plantimals are whisked away to attractive suburban homes. But no one wants Pat.

Read this story out loud, or have it read aloud to your child on your iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Android Device, Google TV or online at www.MeeGenius.com. Download the MeeGenius reader app for free!

Written by Amy Shaw & Illustrated by Berkshire Artist Susan G. Robinson.

Who Wants to be Friends with a Cactopus?

Talking Picture Book App Now Available from

MeeGenius Logo Identity (RGB) © 2010

#ED1E79

#0071BC

#29ABE2

#EFD40C

Who Wants to be Friends

with a

actopusc ?

Written by amy shaw l Illustrated by susan G. RobinsonOnly $2.99

Who Wants to be Friends with a

robinsonillustration.com • www.susanrobinsonart.com

BEDDING &FURNITURE

OUTLET390 Merrill Road

Pittsfi eld, MA 01201413-445-4001

solomonsfurnitureoutlet.comSerta Upholstery Sectional

“Merrimac Toast”

$89999

Fast PICKSTo advertise your special product of the week, call 413-637-2250

So do all of us at The Berkshire Beacon.

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

We want you to be able to clip articles to send to friends and family members, especially if they are about your kids.

Please help us keep publishing.

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

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

check out these top shopping picks of the week

The Grilling Collection

Gift Giving is Easy with Omaha Steaks!

Give The Gift That Will Thrill Everyone!

4 (5 oz.) Top Sirloins4 (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops2 (4 1/2 oz.) Stuffed Sole with Scallops & Crabmeat8 (3 oz.) Gourmet Franks4 (4 oz. approx.) Boneless Chicken Breasts4 Stuffed Baked PotatoesReg. $158.00,

Now Only ........$4999

This holiday season give a gift that brings everyone together... send them world-famous Omaha Steaks.®

Aged to perfection, flash-frozen at the peak of flavor and delivered to their door, Omaha Steaks are a gift

both family and friends can enjoy together.

Save $10801

Plus 2 FREE Gifts with purchase

© 2011 OCG | OmahaSteaks.com, Inc. 13878

6-Piece Cutlery Set & FREE Cutting Board

to every shipping addressLimit of 2 Packages and 1 Cutlery Set & Cutting Board per address. Standard shipping & handling will be applied per address. Offer expires 12/31/11.

Call1-866-982-4307 and ask for 45102SMDwww.OmahaSteaks.com/holiday40


A final confrontation on the Kennedy Park Belvedere issue has been delayed, at least for now.

The Lenox Board of Selectmen has decided to not go forward with plans to hold a special town meeting to decide the fate of the Kennedy Park Belvedere.

This idea was put forward by Selectman Dave Roche at the Board’s November 17 meeting in response to a letter from Attorney Robert Meltzer to Lenox Town Counsel Frederica McCarthy.

The Letter from Attorney Meltzer, who represents the anti Kennedy Park Belvedere group Citizens Advocacy for All, in-formed Town Counsel of the groups intentions, and threat-ened legal action in Suffolk County Superior Court in Bos-ton to get the Belvedere removed if the town didn’t agree to enter into a consent agreement to re-move it by May 1, 2012.

In order to avoid having the town spend tax payers’ money on a legal battle, as well as to perma-nently settle the issue, Selectman Roche proposed that the Select Board call a binding town meet-ing, where the fate of the Belve-dere would be decided once and for all by an up or down vote.

Attorney Meltzer, in comments to The Beacon, however, rejected this idea, asserting that the con-struction of the Belvedere had vi-olated the Lenox Scenic Moun-tain Act, and that the Town could not address such a violation by le-galizing it in a special town meeting.

The Lenox Board of Selectmen held a special meeting of the Se-lect Board on November 28 to discuss the possibility of holding a special town meeting.

At the meeting, action from the Select Board was swift.

“Apparently the olive branch has not been received as we had hoped, where we could get the townsfolk together and decide on this,” said Selectmen Roche, who said that, since the Select Board hadn’t gotten a reply back from Citizens Advocacy for All on the issue, he would advocate forgoing calling a special town meeting, despite getting a number of com-

ments from the public in favor of such a course of action.

Selectmen Roche also expressed a desire to know the identities of the ten people who were prepar-ing to sue the Town to remove The Belvedere, and lamented that money might be spent on a lawsuit rather than on essential town services.

Selectmen Roche’s proposal was well received by the rest of the Selectmen.

Chairman John McNinch pointed out that the Conserva-tion Commission was scheduled to hold a hearing on The Belve-dere on January 5, and favored waiting to hear back from them before taking further action.

“I think that we should allow Con Com to make their decision on it….in the mean time, every-body cools off,” said Selectman Ken Fowler.

The Select Board unanimously voted to not hold the town meeting.

The Select Board also agreed not to discuss the issue any fur-ther until the Conservation Com-mission made its ruling.

“I think today was a step in the right direction,” said Attorney Meltzer when contacted by The Beacon about his thoughts on the proceedings.

Attorney Meltzer and his cli-ents, as a result of the meeting, chose not to file in court on the 28th, as they had previously indi-cated they were preparing to do.

Instead, Attorney Meltzer said that he took the Town’s decision as a sign of good faith that they would be willing to sit down and negotiate.

These sentiments were reiterat-ed by Attorney Meltzer in a state-ment released to The Beacon on November 29.

“We have agreed to sit with the board and to try to find a resolu-tion to this dispute, with the ex-pectation that the board has now foregone it’s practice of bluster, false indignation and attempts to conceal the facts of this case.”

“We look forward to meeting with the board in good faith to resolve this issue within the next two weeks or so and we expect that the board will reciprocate in turn with good faith and a spirit of conciliation.”

No special meetingLenox selectmen look for mediation


Community Calendar

If you have an event you would like listed in our

calendar please email us at

[email protected]!


The holidays are here again and it is time to get serious about gift giving (and gift receiving). I’m a beer geek and chances are that if you are reading this, you are a beer geek, too, so let’s get down to brass tacks.

The question we are all asking right now is how do I ask for beer as a gift and how should I give beer as a gift?

Beer of the month clubs always come up in discussions this time of year for good reason and here is my take…

PROS:* Beer of the month clubs make

a better “gift” than beer off of the shelf.

Ever got a strange look when you asked for cash as a gift? Peo-ple don’t like to give cash. The perception is that cash takes little thought and appears to be a last-minute idea. This is why people give cash in the form of gift cards. They’ll even get those AmEx gift cards. Yup, they’ll pay a few bucks to a large corporation just to buy you something that works exactly like cash other than cash.

It is the same thing with beer off of the shelf. You buy someone a six-pack. Have you ever pre-sented beer as a gift after pulling it out of the fridge? Have you ever gifted beer without wrap-ping it? (Maybe you just kept it in the brown bag it came in, fold-ed the top down, and slapped a bow on it? Or didn’t even bother with the bow?) Did you just get it at the corner store on Christmas Eve?

Talk about showing little thought.

A Beer of the Month Club, on the other hand, shows that you put some thought into the gift and that you did some research.

* Literally, it is the gift that keeps giving

Your gift recipient will be re-minded how much of a badass gift-giver you are each time that they get beer delivered to their doorstep.

* Variety in clubs you can

chooseGot a beer connoisseur in your

life looking for exclusive beers? Go with the Rare Beer Club.

Got someone that you would like to convert into a full-fledged craft beer drinker? Start them off with the Domestic or Interna-tional Beer Clubs.

CONS:* A 12-month gift can get up

there in priceWhich is why you can buy a

Beer of the Month Club in a smaller “denomination.” If you don’t have the cash to pony up for a full-year, you can just start with a 2-month gift.

* Less than 1,000 beers from which to choose

The truth is that most people that will qualify for this gift won’t care what beer they get as long as it is unique and something they haven’t had before. With a beer of the month club, you’re always go-ing to get beer from a craft brewery.

And, in my opinion, not know-ing what beer will come up each month is part of the element of surprise that makes a beer-of-the-month club particularly attrac-tive as a gift. Month to month, the styles are usually switched up so that the recipient has an op-portunity to try different flavor profiles.

If you (or your gift recipient) do like to know what beer is com-ing in advance and you’re inter-ested in beers that are more on the rare side, you can always opt for the Rare Beer Club.

Beer of the month clubs come in boxes like above.

The gift that keeps on

giving, beerTHurSDAy,

DeCeMBer 1ST

GREEN & HEALTHY EXPO FUNDRAISERGreat Barrington, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.Our BerkshireGreen Magazine, Your Healthy and Green Re-source, will present its annual Nonprofit Fundraiser and Green & Healthy Expo on Thursday, The event will be held at Crissey Farm's Berkshire Banquet House, 426 Stockbridge Road, and is co-sponsored by Crissey Farm, Berk-shire Co-op Market, Greylock Physical Therapy, Hartsville De-sign Woodworking, Concerned Singles, and Bruce Mandel-Per-forming Songwriter.

PITTSFIELD PREVEN-TION PARTNERSHIP COMMUNITY MEETINGPittsfield, 7 p.m.Current Youth Substance Use and How Parents Can Influence the Trends, Herberg Middle School Cafeteria, 501 Pomeroy Ave. Come learn what parents can do to support their teen’s healthy choices.

FrIDAy, DeCeMBer 2nD

HOLIDAY MARKET-PLACE EARLY BUYING AND COCKTAIL PARTYStockbridge, 5 - 8 p.m.Early buying and cocktail party for the Legendary Gallery of Wreaths, boxwood kits, swags, flowering bulbs, gifts for garden-ers and garden enthusiasts pre-sented by 20 local and regional artisans. $75 benefits the Gar-den's education programs and events.

JOIN THE CLARK FOR AN EVENING OF HOLI-DAY FUN

Williamstown, 8 p.m.Proven crowd pleasers the Barra MacNeils kick off the annual Williamstown Holiday Walk Weekend with a concert at the Clark, 225 South Street.

PITTSFIELD'S CHRIST-MAS TREE LIGHTING CEREMONYPittsfield, 6 p.m.The Department of Community Development Parks and Recre-ation Program has announced that the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held at Park Square on Friday, The Taconic High School Chorus will perform a variety of carols, and Santa Claus will arrive following the tree lighting.

MASON LIBRARY BOOK SALEGreat BarringtonThe Friends of Great Barrington Libraries will hold its Annual Book Sale, at the Mason Library on Main St., Several thousand books in good condition will be priced from fifty cents to $2.

FIRST FRIDAY GALLERY WALK NIGHTLee, 6 - 8 p.mGood Purpose Gallery, 40 Main Street, Join us for 'First Friday Gallery Walk Night', View Re-flections on Color/Color upon Reflection. Meet and Greet Paint-er, Terry Wise and Glass Sculp-tor's Nathan Hoogs and Eliza-beth Crawford.

SATurDAy, DeCeMBer 3rD

DEWEY MEMORIAL HALL FOLK CONCERTSheffieldDewey Memorial Hall Folk Con-cert: Saturday, Kip Beacco and his band The Lucky Five, will perform “heavy-duty, old-school, hard-swingin' jazz.

CUT GLASS ORNAMENTSPittsfield, 10:30 - 1:30Learn how to cut flat glass and ar-range the pieces to make a beauti-ful functional ornament. No pri-or experience is required. Call Great Gifts and More at 146 North St. Pittsfield to sign up for class with Brittany Gabel of 413 Glass Works.

HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE TO OPEN HOLIDAY POP-UP SHOPPittsfield, noon to 7 p.m.Hancock Shaker Village will pres-ent its first ever holiday pop-up shop in downtown Pittsfield in the private dining room at Spice Dragon (297 North Street) on Saturday, and Sunday.

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SERVICE OF LESSONS AND CAROLSWilliamstown, 4 p.m.The annual Christmas Service of Lessons and Carols at Williams College, Saturday, and Sunday, in Thompson Memorial Chapel. Parking is available in the lot be-hind Thompson Memorial Cha-pel, on Hopkins Hall Drive.

21ST ANNUAL STOCK-BRIDGE MAIN STREET AT CHRISTMASStockbridgeSponsored by the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce, the holi-day celebration offers a full range of activities, with highlights in-cluding holiday house tours, car-oling, and a holiday concert.

"FAMILY FIRST SATUR-DAY AT THE SPECTRUM"Lee, 11 a.m.Cameron Collins plays acoustic Americana music as part of the "Family First Saturday at the Spectrum" series.


LOCKER ROOM SPORTS PUB

Locker Room Pizza~ Any Day, Any Time ~

Kitchen Open 10am - 10pm

232 Main Street, Lee243-2662Family

FriendlyTake-OutAvailable

KENO • 12 TVs • MLB Baseball Package

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

67 Church Street • Lenox, MA 01240Contact: Jeff Lynch, Esq.4130637-1300 • Email: [email protected]

FRANK A. CONSOLATIJEFFREY J. CONSOLATI

(413) 243-0105/0109Fax (413) 243-4672

Frank Consolati Insurance Agency, Inc.GENERAL INSURANCE

71 MAIN STREETLEE, MA 01239

Advertise Your Business Herefor Only $25 a Week!

Need Work?

O’Laughlin’s Pub342 Merrill Road, Pittsfi eld

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

Specializing inDriveway Repair

Murray’s Landscaping & Excavation

House Site Work • Lot Clearing • Septic System • Perc Tests Lawn Mowing • Stone • Driving Mix • Topsoil & Mulch

John E. Murray, Sr. 413-822-0787 or 413-623-8820 • 54 Main St. • Becket, MA

20 Linden StreetPittsfield, MA

(413) 499-0055

310 State StreetNorth Adams, MA(413) 663-2009

automarketdeals.com

Richie Quintero 413.329.7408350 Merrill Rd. Pittsfield, MA

70 Euclid Ave.Pittsfield, MA 01201

413-447-8375 ask for Brian

W e n d l i n gPlumbing & Heating


LENOX - The Board of Selectmen has agreed to continue moving forward with an ambitious solar power venture, while taking the land at Post Farm off the table.

The goal of the project is to be able to generate enough energy from solar power to be able to provide all of Lenox’s munici-pal electric needs.

Lenox Town Manager Gregory Feder-spiel made a presentation to the Lenox Board of Selectmen at their November 17 meeting detailing the options that the town was considering pursuing.

Town Manager Federspiel laid out pro-posals to install solar panels at Post Farm, at the Lenox wastewater treatment plant and at the landfill. Town Manager Feder-spiel showed slides of aerial photographs of the site, with solar panels superimposed on

them, to give the committee an idea of what the sites might look like when com-pleted. He also discussed how such a proj-ect might be constructed and funded and fielded questions from the selectmen on these topics.

Town Manager Federspiel said that the Town required approximately three Mega-watts of electricity to power its municipal functions. It is estimated that this would cut the price of the town’s municipal ener-gy bill by about 50%, saving the town around $200,000 a year.

If Post Farm was developed, however, approximately five megawatts of power would be generated, more than enough to provide the town’s municipal energy needs. The extra power generated from Post Farm could also potentially allow the town to give checks back to homeowners, although such an arrangement would be unprece-dented in the state of Massachusetts.

The chief method the town is looking into for developing the sites would involve entering into a Purchasing Power Agree-ment, (PPA) with a developer. Under a PPA, the developer would agree to build and maintain the solar power facilities, in exchange for being able to sell the electric-ity generated by the facilities to the town at an established rate.

The Select Board was supportive of the efforts being made on the solar power proj-ect. However, there was signifigant con-cern raised at the prospect of developing Post Farm.

“I don’t think we should touch Post Farm,” said Selectwoman Linda Messana.

Selectmen Dave Roche echoed Linda Messana’s call, and pointed out that since there was no clear system in place for giv-ing the savings back to the community that would be generated by the extra power from the site, it would be best to leave it

alone. “If we can do the three megawatts and

not touch Post Farm that would be the most advantageous way to do it,” said Se-lectwoman Messana.

Selectwoman Dia Trancynger then made a motion taking post farm off the table for solar power development, which was sec-onded by Selectwoman Messana.

“Why take anything off the table at this point?” said Selectman Ken Fowler, prefer-ring that the resolution instead say that the town would pursue the wastewater treat-ment areas as plan A.

Nevertheless, the resolution passed the Select Board, with no nay votes.

After the meeting, Mr. Federspiel said he believed that he would be able to get the three Megawatts of Power the town needed from the landfill and wastewater treatment sites but that, without using any of Post Farm, it would be difficult.

Lenox takes Post Farm off its list of possible solar sites


For information about advertising in The Berkshire Beacon Call 413-637-2250



BEACON

Having her cake and eating it too

A light and tasty holiday drink

Anna W. ShippeeBeacon Contributor

It’s theweek after Thanksgiving and the holiday season has offi-cially started. Now when it comes to food I love seasonal stuff.

I have found though for Thanksgiving and Christmas a lot of the adult beverages are very heavy and if you have more than one you are headed for a bellyache.

So the other day I found egg-nog flavored club soda and I had a stroke of genius!

Here is my Light Eggnog Fizz:

- 1 1/2 oz. whipped cream fla-vored vodka

- A generous splash of Light Eggnog (I love light eggnog....

regular is too heavy and I suggest Stewart’s Eggnog)

- 4oz. eggnog seltzer- A dash of nutmegStir together and serve in a

tumbler and to really set the mood I serve mine with snow-flake shaped ice cubes. This drink is light, festive, and tasty-plus you can drink them all night!


NORTH ADAMS - Do you have that wonderful space that you know could just be beautiful if you used it right? MCLA is hoping they can help give you a direction this winter.

MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center is hosting a sem-inar series that will focus on the reuse of spaces for creative pur-poses in the Tricks of the Trade workshops.

Participants will discover op-portunities and ideas to utilize ex-isting spaces creatively by turning them into arts venues, galleries, studios or arts organizations.

The Tricks of the Trade work-shops are free and open to the public but registration is required.

In North Adams on Dec. 6 at MCLA Gallery 51, participants will learn a variety of ways that private spaces – such as city halls, public walkways, hospitals and empty storefronts – may be uti-lized. Many of these spaces have the potential to be turned into a

creative business, art studio, art gallery or performance venue.

Panelists include the curators of two of North Adams' private spaces for public art: Diane Sulli-van, who curates ART @CITY HALL, and Sharon Carson, who curates the public art program at North Adams Regional Hospital. Also on hand will be representa-tives from Art about Town and DownStreet Art.

On Dec. 7, at Ferrin Gallery in Pittsfield, the series will highlight opportunities to be found by re-using sacred space, such as vacat-ed churches or synagogues.

For this session panelists will include private and non-profit organizations that have trans-formed former sanctuaries into new developments.

They include David Carver from Scarafoni Associates, Hezzie Johanson from the Contempo-rary Artist Center in Troy, N.Y., representatives from Minerva Arts Center, and Jessica Conzo from Alchemy Initiative in Pittsfield.

Conzo and the other co-found-ers of Alchemy Initiative re-pur-

posed an empty church and cre-ated a location for sustainable artist studios, urban gardening, events and art and crafts work-shops. The result was a place where community members can collaborate and engage with each other.

On Dec. 8, at IS 183 in Stock-bridge, the series will focus on an artist lecture and discussion with Michael Oatman, a visual artist who specializes in extensive col-lage and installation art of a sci-entific precision and genre. His work is on exhibit at Massachu-setts Museum of Contemporary Art.

Oatman will speak about his repurposed air-stream trailer in-stallation "All Utopias Fell," a fic-tional take of a solar-obsessed sci-entist who crash-lands back to earth.

Bringing their own experiences and knowledge, these selected panelists will talk about their cre-ative organizations and businesses and the process of reusing spaces for the arts and what worked and what didn't to help others formu-late their own ideas.

Have a great space to renovate, let MCLA help

career. Gerard E. Miller, former fire

lieutenant and fire inspector, said “Mario was a quality person all the way” and he never had a bad word to say about anybody.

“Mario made my cabinets in my house. I left on my honey-moon and threw the house keys to him and told him to handle it. When we returned from our hon-eymoon the cabinets were in and it was a superb job.

“He was a generous and a kind man who loved life,” Miller said.

A skier he enjoyed skiing both at the Swiss and Italian Alps and won a bronze medal as a downhill skier in the junior World Olympics.

Also, he was an avid bowler achieving numerous awards in-cluding a state title.

Mr. Capitanio was a member of the Italian American Club, East-side Men’s Club and the Ameri-can Legion Post No. 155. He was a communicant of the former All Soul’s Chapel, in Lakewood.

Born in Pittsfield, June 20, 1927, he was son of the late Um-berto and Emilia Capitanio. They returned to Gambellara, Province of Vicenza, Italy where he was ed-ucated. At age 19 he returned to Pittsfield and later joined the U.S. Marines Corps serving during the Korean Conflict as a military po-lice officer and was later appoint-ed honor guard for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Besides his wife, he leaves two sons, Paul, Pittsfield City council-or, and his wife, Beth, Thomas of Konstanz, Germany; and three daughters, Ann, and her compan-ion, Tom Bruno, Lori Allessio and her husband, Marc, and Gina Salzarulo and her husband James, all of Pittsfield; 10 grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Calling hours will be at St. Mark’s Church Friday from 4-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Paul J Capitanio, Jr. Scholarship Fund or to charities of St. Mark’s Parish. The Flynn & Dagnoli-Bencivenga funeral Home is in charge.

MARIO from page 1 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.


Girl-2-GirlHolidayMagic

Janel HarrisonBeacon Staff Writer

It’s never too soon for our fam-ily to think about Christmas and you would know that when the “Elf ” soundtrack starts playing just before Thanksgiving!

My hubby walked in just two weeks ago to find the movie on. You know it seems the whole spirit of Elf is part of our home earlier each year.

Everyone loves Buddy right? “Buddy The elf, what’s your fa-vorite color?” He is the essence of Christmas, his whimsical spirit, and sense of fun!

I started to ponder back on many a Christmases gone by.

Remember the magic of Christ-mas when we were kids? There was that subtle feeling in the air of a dreamy night and day to come.

Noses pressed on a cold win-dow peering out on a sparkling diamond landscape, cuddled in jammies waiting for Santa, and staying up late spying for Ru-dolf ’s nose.

For me there was a lit up church, and the beautiful man-ger lying empty until Christmas Eve when one walks in to find the baby Jesus now lying there next to Mary and Joseph and everyone stares in awe because the miracle has happened again.

The Lord has come! What special days... and now I have only to relive it again and again each year with my girls who are just as enchanting and full of imagination as I am.

Chanukah will be here soon too! We have special friends who celebrate Chanukah and have had the wonderful privilege to participate with them also.

It signifies freedom of spirit and purity. And as each of the eight candles is lit the courageous story of the Jewish people reso-nates in our minds and hearts.

As single women we wait for that special card to come in the mail or gift to wow us to our core! Who’s thinking Diamond or some form of bling? As married women we give all we have to our

family to make these days memo-rable for years to follow.

So let’s now get real. There’s a lot of stress that comes with the holidays especially for us gals.

We all want everything to be perfect, to think of everyone who has touched our lives or the lives of our families, all the hustle and bustle, crazy full schedules, and I hear people say “I can’t wait until it’s all over.”

I remember shopping with my Mom one year and there was this parrot in the pet store, squawking at everyone and letting people know who’s boss. You go bird!

Well my Mom strolled right up to the thing and said in parrot voice, “Christmas sucks”, We laughed, and you know as we walked out we could have sworn we heard that darn bird say it, and we both covered our mouths…well that’s not good.

It’s true though, sometimes we forget what the true meaning of the holidays are all about. As it is said in one of my absolute favor-ites, I always cry, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “We miss the whole point.”

For me the saddest day of the year is the day after Christmas. What about you?

So ask yourself today do you still feel that magic?

And if by chance it has gone just a little with the cynicism of today, experiences, and well just plain growing up, then think back and remember... try to bring it back; after all it’s so true that there is a little child in each one of us, and what better a time of year to let her shine through!

- Ciao Bella

Bera Dunau Beacon Staff Writer

Hugo is one of the most beauti-ful and magical films I have ever seen.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, whose credits include Taxi Driv-er, Raging Bull, The Departed and Shutter Island, Hugo has the dis-tinction of being the legendary director’s first family film, as well as one of his finest.

Apparently, Scorsese was prompted to undertake the proj-ect by his young daughter, who asked him to make a movie that she could see. Having now seen the finished product, I can only imagine that Mr. Scorsese’s daughter must be thrilled at what she helped bring about.

Hugo begins with its main character, Hugo Cabret, played by Asa Butterfield, living in a Paris Train station in the 1920’s. An orphaned young boy, Hugo spends his days winding the sta-tion’s clocks, a job taught to him by his uncle after his father’s death.

So long as Hugo keeps winding the clocks, people will assume that his uncle, who has disap-peared, is still doing his job, and Hugo will be able to continue to live in secret in the train station’s walls.

Hugo survives by stealing food from the station’s vendors while avoiding the attention of the Sta-tion Inspector, played by Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat fame. He also collects parts for an old au-tomaton, a sort of large wind up doll, that he and his father were repairing before his father died in a fire.

Hugo believes that the Autom-aton, which was designed to write out a message, will have one for him from his father when he makes it function again.

In order to get these parts, Hugo steals from toyshop owner Papa Georges, played by Ben Kingsley. Papa Georges catches him in the act, however, and con-fiscates Hugo’s notebook, which contains Hugo’s father’s plans for repairing the automaton, after being visibly shaken by its contents.

Desperate to get his notebook back, Hugo enlists the aid of Papa Georges’ goddaughter Isa-belle, played by Kick-Ass’s Chloe Moretz, and they embark on an

adventure that will change their lives forever.

There is hardly anything about Hugo that isn’t perfect. For one, the acting in this film is tremendous.

From the leads to the most in-cidental side characters, every ac-tor involved in this movie is at the top of their game, and it shows.

The setting is another stronger element. Scorsese makes Paris in the 1920’s into a visceral feast, with brilliant cinematography, vi-brant crowd shots and pitch per-fect music, while nevertheless keeping the focus squarely on the characters.

Then there is the story itself, which is brilliantly scripted and artfully paced. Few narratives un-fold as naturally and effectively as Hugo’s. The film is awash with a sense of wonder and maintains a palpable dramatic tension throughout.

Another charm of this film is how fully it manages to humanize every one of its characters. From Hugo, to Papa Georges, to the Station Inspector, to a glowering Bookstore owner, played by glow-ering hall of famer Christopher Lee, Scorsese refuses to abandon his players to caricature, and makes sure to show each as a real and complex person.

Much of Hugo is a dedicated love letter to the pioneering first films of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Hugo con-tains footage from and recre-ations of a number of these movies.

Rather than making Hugo

seem pretentious or self impor-tant, however, these elements serve to add yet another layer of magic and wonder to the film.

Hugo is based off the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Bri-an Selznick. I can’t speak to how faithfully it adheres to its plot, having never read it, but I will say that watching Hugo is the closest thing I’ve come to in a movie to feeling like I am engrossed in a good book and the pacing and in-timacy of this film are strikingly similar to that of a novel that one has become lost in the pages of.

On that same note, one should do all one can to see this movie in 3D. Regular readers of this col-umn will know that I am a skep-tic of 3D techonology, and I gen-erally believe that it is unnecessary.

Hugo, however, is a big excep-tion to this rule, and demon-strates how 3D can be used to create truly powerful art.

Scorsese uses the 3D in Hugo to pull the you into the story, and make you feel as if you are stand-ing in the middle of the awe in-spiring world in which it is set.

The 3D also sets up a number of highly effective scenes, both dramatic and comedic, and is in-credibly successful in this effort

Regardless of your taste in movies, I would strongly recom-mend that you see Hugo.

Hugo is a near perfect example of movie craftsmanship, with a beautiful and powerful story that will captivate you regardless of your age. You should take the op-portunity to see it in theatres while you still have the chance.

Hugo shines wonderfully

Hugo is the latest film from Martin Scorsese



LENOX - The Mount, Edith Wharton’s 1902 estate and gar-dens in Lenox, Massachusetts, has recently received two major grants to assist in the necessary structural renovations to the exte-rior of the property’s historic Sta-ble and to finish renovations to the property’s Gatehouse roof.

The Massachusetts Culture Council has awarded $137,000 to The Mount which is in addi-tion to another award of $100,000 from a Boston-based foundation.

The monies will go towards re-placing and fully restoring the roofs, cupolas, and chimneys of the Stable, The Mount's primary visitor orientation center and cul-tural programming space, and the Gatehouse, currently the year-round administrative offices.

“We are thankful to the MCC and our other funder for this op-portunity. The restoration of the Stable and the Gatehouse contin-ues to move The Mount closer to our objective.” Susan Wissler, Ex-ecutive Director of The Mount said last week. “Our current vi-sion is to position The Mount as a year-round cultural destination

inspired by the passion and achievements of Wharton. We accomplished one part of this vi-sion this summer through our di-verse programming and partner-ships with other local cultural organizations.

Stabilizing and reversing the deterioration on the Stable is the next step, allowing us to host more events in the shoulder sea-sons and increasing our program-ming potential.”

Ultimately, a fully restored and adaptively renovated stable will provide upgraded administrative offices, expanded programming and visitor service capabilities, and significant new revenue gen-erating opportunities, either as additional retail or food service space, or some combination.

According to Wissler, “Once the offices are moved to the sec-ond floor of the Stable, it’s my dream to convert the Gatehouse into housing for resident writers and other artists participating in The Mount’s enhanced programs and workshops.”

Restoration of the Stable and Gatehouse exteriors and roofs was initially started in 2006 with a grant from HUD but put on hold. Although work is now in progress, additional funds were

necessary to complete the project by the target date of June 2012.The architectural plans for this phase of the restoration have been completed by the firm Solomon, Bauer and Giambastiani of Wa-tertown, MA.

Work completed to date on the Stable includes installing struc-tural members and sistering exist-ing framing, rebuilding the chim-ney, repairing, and painting the three cupolas, and replacing the flat membrane roofing section. Restoration to the Gatehouse roof was completed this past summer.

The outstanding components of the restoration to the Stable consists of removing and replac-ing the decayed roof flashings and shingles; repairing the damaged sub-deck; installing new flash-ings, a breather layer, and an ice and water shield at all valleys and drip edges; installing new high-grade fire retardant cedar shin-gles; repairing, patching, and painting all trim details; prep-ping, repairing, and painting the multiple cornices and dormers;

Also the money will provide for the instituting of handicap acces-sibility upgrades (parking, acces-sible path and ramps, and up-graded seating.

Mount receives over $200,000 in grants


The Mount has received two grants that total $237,000 to remodel and improve the grounds.

We want to help you

make money!

Call 413-637-2250 for rates and information

“Advertising is totally

unnecessary. Unless you hope to make money.”

—Jef I. Richards (US advertising professor)

@berkshirebeacon

Follow us on Twitter

Dec. 1st Berkshire Beacon

Documents

Transcript of Dec. 1st Berkshire Beacon