Thank You

First, I’d like to thank everyone who voted, who put up a sign (either one!), who sent letters… It’s great to see such an increase in engagement with the issues around how we govern our town. I also want to say thank you to Roxanne. She ran a good campaign and kudos for running. We need folks to run for office, and she has served and continues to serve the town with distinction.

Monday, May 29 @ Noon: Memorial Day Parade

The Memorial Day parade in Stockbridge will take place at noon on Monday. And a shout-out to my colleague Jamie Minacci who is reading a poem on the Town Green in front of Old Town Hall at the conclusion!.

Housing Production Plan

One of the issues we are addressing this summer is the challenge surrounding housing. Affordable housing typically refers to subsidized housing; we will be addressing affordability issues well beyond what qualifies as affordable. These are complex, nuanced challenges, which we are tackling through a process known as a Housing Production Plan.

We’ve hired a great consultant, Karen Sunnarborg, who is creating a needs assessment, and will facilitate both a community outreach session and a survey, both of which will occur this summer. Understand that we’ve scheduled these discussions specifically during the summer to try to engage as many members of our community as possible. Your ideas, your voice, your concerns matter. Please engage as much as you are able.

The May 25, 2023 Select Board Meeting

Chairman Chuck

Last Thursday, we had a great start to the current term. I had the honor of nominating Chuck Cardillo to replace me as Chair of the Select Board. Chuck is entering his ninth year, he’s been Chair before, and I look forward to continuing to work with him as a member of the Board.

Part-Time Resident Outreach

We also discussed community outreach to seasonal/part-time residents, with a plan to conduct a meeting over the summer, possibly moving it back to a Saturday rather than as part of a standard Thursday night agenda. We also discussed making ourselves available to associations and neighborhood groups as they meet over the summer. All of us are committed to fostering communication and engagement with the greater community. Stay tuned!

Letter of Support for Berkshire Theater Group

BTG is planning a major renovation to the Playhouse on East Main St., including much-needed repairs, renovating for year-round productions, and the addition of a museum to showcase their memorabilia from a century of theater. So many giants performed or directed there, often early in their careers. Folks like Katherine Hepburn! Can’t wait, and we provided them with a strong endorsement of their efforts to preserve and reimagine the building that was once the “casino.” You know, this building was moved from over by the Mission House on Main Street to its current location around a hundred years ago!

Tanglewood

The Board of Selectmen issued a special permit to Tanglewood to add alcohol service to a bar within the shed, for events on June 22 and June 23. It will be interesting to see how this works out, and I support efforts by the BSO to generate much-needed revenue to close their operating loss. I also believe we should encourage on-premises purchase of alcohol, especially at popular artists events, rather than BYOB where consumption may be higher. Hopefully, this experiment aligns with all of these goals.

Of Interest... Perhaps!

60 New Trees as Gould Meadows

Thanks to Jess Toro and the Gould volunteers for planting 60 new trees towards the northern end of Gould Meadows. Jess asked me to gently encourage you: please do not touch the cones!

Speaking of Gould Meadows, I met a man named Omri Astel from Tel Aviv by chance there on Thursday. He is an avid practitioner of Yoga and was staying at Kripalu. He marveled at our local trails, and I suggested he also visit Ice Glen. On Friday, I walked Ice Glen with him. He was awestruck. "It looks like a movie set. It's the most beautiful place I have ever seen," he commented. I like to remind myself of how lucky I am to live in such a place as Stockbridge.

Tracking Stockbridge

Sally Underwood-Miller hosted a tracking event for the Great Barrington Kennel Club at her Stockbridge property today. I met a bunch of folks there with small dogs, and some very big ones (like this woman from Syracuse). Great job and a fun event!

The World's Most Beautiful Parking Lot

I was walking with my dog Sadie yesterday and passed the Lion's Gate Parking Lot at Tanglewood, where a flock of geese were enjoying their grassy snacks. I think we have the most beautiful parking lot in the world! That's the Nathaniel Hawthorne cottage in the background on the left.

Dad's Apple Trees

My Mom and Dad planted these apple trees in the backyard in the 1960s. A few years ago, there weren't doing so well and Mark Faber and his son came and trimmed them, radically! So many blooms this year! Thanks, Mark!

Last Thoughts

The trail cam photo above captures a possum eating ticks off a deer. Possums have voracious appetites and can eat up to 2,000 ticks a day. Deer are known to harbor many ticks, so much so that fawns have been known to die when infected with ticks in large numbers.

In this photo, the mighty deer bows to the possum, and the possum climbs up a rock to meet the deer. The possum gently removes the ticks it finds on the deer. Now possum and deer couldn’t be more different, and indeed their needs here, while different, are very much aligned. It takes a great deal of trust for the possum and the deer to work symbiotically to meet each other’s needs.

There’s perhaps a lesson here for us all.

Patrick White

PS: Thanks, Johanna Lenski for finding this great photo

Just so it's said...

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