Rural Intelligence
Arts

Chris Innvar: Barrington Stage's Go-To Guy

Starring in The Crucible through October 24 It's hard to recall that not-so-long-ago Barrington Stage Company was the underdog theater company of the Berkshires. Before moving to its own home in Pittsfield in 2006, it mounted plays and musicals  in the cinder-block-walled auditorium
By Editor
Community

Gay & Arty: LGBTQ Exhibitions in Hudson & Pittsfield

The Hudson renaissance has always had a gay subtext with so many of the antique dealers, shopkeepers and home restorers being gay.  But it wasn't until this spring when the drag queen/event planner Trixie Starr organized (in just two months!) the first Hudson Pride Parade  that the
By Editor
Community

Hark! The Medieval Faire Returns to Ventfort Hall

Chivalry is back in the Berkshires this weekend as Ventfort Hall, the Jacobean-revival mansion that houses The Museum of the Gilded Age once again provides a semi-persuasive setting for its crowd-pleasing Medieval Faire.   Last year a mix of locals and tourists drawn to the region specifically for
By Editor
Parties

Berkshire Taconic Foundation's Good Neighbor Policy

The Rural Intelligence regions abounds with generous, community-minded souls, and hundreds packed the tent in front of Hammertown Barn in Pine Plains on Saturday, October 2, for the 5th annual silent auction to benefit the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation's Neighbor-to-Neighbor program, which provides cash assistance
By Editor
Parties

Historic Hudson Celebrates at the Tin Ballroom

Vince Mulford's antiques showroom offered a hushed, candlelit prelude for guests at Historic Hudson's lively Post-House-Tour cocktail reception on Saturday, October 2, as they made their way to a staircase in back leading to the magical "Tin Ballroom."   (RI's advice:
By Editor
Style

Book News: "The Private Gardens of Connecticut"

Gardens go dormant as the cold weather settles in, but gardeners never do. "Now is the time I start thinking about what I am going to plant next year," says author Jane Garmey, whose just-published collaboration with photographer John M. Hall, Private Gardens of Connecticut (Monacelli Press;
By Editor
Food

Get Lit at The Lenox Bookstore

You expect an independent bookstore owner to have an independent spirit, and Matthew Tannenbaum is definitely sui generis. For the past 34 years, he has sold new (and some used) books his way at The Bookstore in Lenox (whose slogan is "Serving the Community Since Last Tuesday.") "
By Editor
Style

Historic Hudson House Tour: At Home with History

Six intriguing Hudson houses, once derelict now brought back to vibrant life, promise to make for a fascinating tour this Saturday to benefit Historic Hudson, an advocacy group devoted to preserving the cultural and architectural heritage of the city. Each of the properties, which are all within walking distance of
By Editor
Community

Berkshire Botanical Garden's 76th Annual Harvest Festival

The Berkshire Botanical Garden is going back to its roots. "The Harvest Festival is our biggest and most popular event of the year, and with all the music, hay rides, food and crafts people often forget that they are at a botanical garden," says Molly Boxer, who has
By Editor
Food

Baked Peaches or Pears with Ginger Snaps and Chocolate

Local peaches and pears are in. Eat them out of hand until you can’t stand it. Today I stuffed them with ginger cookies, almonds and chocolate. They barely made it to the fridge, but they’re good warm or cold.—Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way, Discover and
By Editor
Arts

William Kennedy to Read at Bard

Monday, October 4 @ 6:30 p.m. “What James Joyce did for Dublin and Saul Bellow did for Chicago, William Kennedy has done for Albany, New York,” wrote critic James Atlas in Vogue. Kennedy is the author of eight novels, including Legs and Ironweed, which won the Pulitzer Prize and
By Editor
Parties

A Hudson Opera House Lovefest Among the Ravishing Ruins

The 17th Annual Gala to support the Hudson Opera House was held on Saturday, September 25 at the Cannonball Factory in Hudson, which proved to be a great place to have a party.  Nearly two hundred guests mingled outdoors for cocktails in a space that had once had a roof,
By Editor

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