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The Rural We: Oskar Hallig

Oskar Hallig [left] and his husband, Michael Zippel [right], are the creative team behind Only In My Dreams Events. Hallig, a Mount Washington, Mass. native met the German Zippel while working in Berlin and the two moved to the Berkshires in 2001 to run The Hilltop House Bed & Breakfast.

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Community

The Rural We: Val Shaff

Germantown, New York resident Val Shaff calls herself the “quintessential valley girl” — the Hudson Valley, that is. She grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson and went to Bard College before moving to New York City to start her career. Shaff specializes in photographing animals, capturing the “soul to soul” contact with every

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Community

The Rural We: Tambra Dillon

On New Year's Day, Tambra Dillon takes the helm as Hudson Hall’s new executive director, having served as co-director for the past four years. Replacing the retiring Gary Schiro, who’s been leading the historic opera house’s revitalization for more than 20 years, is no small

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The Rural We: Jeni Wrightson

Jeni Wrightson is the new owner of Nourish Juice Bar in Red Hook, New York (formerly Get Juiced). Through her practice, Glorious Morning Wellness, she’s also a certified holistic health coach, specializing in confidence and self-love, which she says has a lot to do with food. But Wrightson is

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Community

Going Home For the Holidays: House Tours in Hudson and Kent

Holiday house tours in Hudson, NY and Kent, CT offer peeks inside festive historical buildings.

By Lisa Green

Community

The Rural We: Barbara Zanetti

As executive director of the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce, Barbara Zanetti is responsible for organizing many events, but Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas, where Main Street is magically transformed as Norman Rockwell's famous painting of the same name, may be the most popular. A Great Barrington native and

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Community

The Rural We: Lincoln Mayorga

Diners at the Blue Plate Restaurant in Chatham, New York may have seen and heard pianist Lincoln Mayorga perform there with bassist Otto Gardner on certain Wednesdays of the month. But they may not have realized that Mayorga is a world-renowned arranger, recording artist, producer, composer, and documentary filmmaker.  One

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Community

The Rural We: Ellen Lynch

After working as a graphic artist in New York City, Ellen Lynch made a 180-degree turn and moved to Southeast Idaho to establish a cattle ranch in the Grand Teton Mountains. Since 2011, Lynch has lived in the Hudson Valley, eventually settling in Stuyvesant and opening a pop-up gallery of

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Community

The Rural We: Nancy Opgaard

Nancy Opgaard may not be the only yoga teacher in the northwest corner of Connecticut, but according to one of her students in Cornwall who contacted us, she is the beloved instructor in their town. Along with teaching yoga, Opgaard is a massage therapist and offers meditation classes. It wasn’

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Community

'Il Villaggio Di Millbrook' Explores The Town's Italian Heritage

By Lisa Green There’s often something charming and a little quirky about apocryphal stories that makes us want to believe them. The village of Millbrook, New York has such a story. It’s said that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, someone from Millbrook went to “the

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Community

The Rural We: Sally Van Doren

Photo by Nancy Crampton Sally Van Doren is an award-winning poet who lives part-time in Cornwall, Conn. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said her third collection of poetry, published this year, “features smart poems that bring a cheeky edge to the theme of domestic bliss.” Just last month two of her

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Community

The Rural We: Francesco Mastalia

Italian-born photographer Francesco Mastalia has lived on the East Coast since the age of 2, first in New Jersey, and for the last 10 years in the Hudson Valley. His first book, a photo documentary on the history of dreadlocks that includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker,

By Editor