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Community

The Rural We: Natalie Buck

Aussie Natalie Buck is a five-time Australian Ice Dance Champion who moved to the U.S. to train with Russian coaches in Connecticut. After she retired from her skating career, she stayed in Litchfield County and now has a thriving photography business in Bridgewater, Conn. Although her camera focuses

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Community

Ellsworth Kelly's Legacy Of Giving

Kelly, Bill Thompson and Marie Claude Giroux. By Jamie Larson As an artist, Ellsworth Kelly, who passed away on December 27 at the age of 92, left a mark on the world —a gift of great size, color and beauty. Greater still is the mark he has left here in

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Community

The Rural We: Sarah Kilborne

Photo by Jane O'Connor. Sarah S. Kilborne is an author, performer and activist residing in Germantown, N.Y. She has written fiction and non-fiction for both children and adults. Her most recent book, American Phoenix, is the biography of industrialist William Skinner, her great-great grandfather. She

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Community

10 Things To Love About Monterey

By Rachel Louchen For some residents, the selling point of Monterey is proximity to Great Barrington and other Berkshire towns. To visitors less familiar, Monterey is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it village with a big forest to hike. But it is so much more. There are active

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Community

A Rockin' Party Ushers In Greylock WORKS And 2016

This is not the year to settle for a quiet New Year’s Eve. Not when the organizers of the first-and-only Greylock WORKS New Year’s Eve event are engaging all resources to create a “choreographed intermingling of energies." The party, which they’re calling UNLOCK, opens

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Community

The Rural We: Barbara Zheutlin

Barbara Zheutlin, director of Berkshire Grown, which supports and promotes local agriculture, has had almost too many careers to name. Here are few: work in Hollywood as an author and documentary film producer, with Salvadoran refugees and involvement in global nuclear disarmament causes, all in Los Angeles, where she’s

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Community

The Rural We: Danielle Steinmann

If you live in the Berkshires, you know Danielle Steinmann. The curly-haired, smartly dressed smiling face at so many local events is the Director of Visitor Interpretation at The Trustees of Reservations, as well as the president of the Berkshire Art Association, and an IS183 gala volunteer. Originally from

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Community

Happy News For The New Year At The Bargain Barn

By Lisa Green You can practically feel the sighs of relief — and the air of jubilation — whirling around the filled-to-the-rafters Bargain Barn Thrift Shop, and not just because it’s Christmas shopping time. No, it’s because the Sharon, Conn. thrift shop — a community center, everyone insists

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Community

Your Own Holiday Bubble — Made Of Glass, Made By You

By Lauren Curran You must believe us when we say our intention is to cover every nook and cranny of the Rural Intelligence region. But, okay, there still might be some pockets of wonderfulness here or there in that wide swath we haven’t explored as much as we should.

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Community

The Rural We: Amanda Judge

Ghent resident Amanda Judge is a brilliant example of a young, socially-minded entrepreneur. She is the creator and owner of Faire Collection, an accessories company that supplies fair trade jewelry, scarves and other fashion goods to thousands of boutique around the world. Since 2008,  Judge has set up 10

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Community

Treat Yourself To A Champagne Evening At The Vanderbilts

If you’re the National Park Service observing an important anniversary, it’s all well and good to spruce up some trails and a nature center for the hikers that come along. But when your “property" includes a Vanderbilt mansion, the celebration needs to be a bit more glamorous,

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Community

A New Beginning For The Ancram Opera House

By Jamie Larson It’s been said that art grows like a weed. No matter where it’s sprung, once rooted and flowered it remains forever. The humble Ancram Opera House (in Ancram, New York) is one such enduring place. Repurchased recently by theater professionals Paul Ricciardi and Jeff Mousseau,

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