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The Rural We: Gina Hyams

Gina Hyams moved to the Berkshires from the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Dave, and their then 10-year-old daughter, Annalena, in June of 2005, to to live closer to Dave’s elderly parents, who were in Norfolk, Connecticut. They’d rented sight unseen what turned out

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The Rural We: Carole Osterink

Carole Osterink's relationship with the city of Hudson is truly a love story. Inspired by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the The Gossips of Rivertown blogger came to Hudson Valley to escape city life and hunker down with her writing. However, things changed when she visited Hudson and immediately become

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Community

Taking the Muzzle Off: WAM Theatre Invites Change Makers

By Nichole Dupont No matter where we are in the world, the rapid-fire barrage of social media and hard news headlines finds us: Child marriage in Jordan, school girls kidnapped in Nigeria, U.S. women among nation’s poorest, no public laughter in Turkey. The stories range from horrifying

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Historic House Tour Offers Glimpse Of Hillsdale's Past

By Amy Krzanik Interior design tomes are one way of getting a feel for how other people decorate their spaces. And history books offer a glimpse into the past, but sometimes photographs can be sparse. But to be invited into someone's historic home to look around at all

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Community

The Rural We: Bella Erder

Bella Erder, and her husband, Mark, were living and working in Hong Kong in 1997 when they bought a vacation home in Norfolk, CT, where they would spend summers and Christmas vacations. Seven years later, they decided that they wanted their sons, Luke and Jake, to be educated in the

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Like a Rock: Robert Burke Warren at the Hudson Opera House

By Nichole Dupont He calls himself "Uncle Rock," but musician-songwriter-teacher Robert Burke Warren is soundly rooted in the role of father. This occupation, according to the Georgia native, has brought him full circle from his first band with then front-man RuPaul to penning ballads for

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W. Cornwall's Covered Bridge Parties With A Paint-In

By Kimberly Jordan Allen Some people know it as the Kissing Bridge. Others recognize it from its cameo in the opening scene of the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls. And for some Connecticut residents, it’s just the way they get to work each day. “Our family has been

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The Rural We: Justin Ball

Justin Ball may have stumbled upon our region, but it's no accident he ended up staying here permanently. After a decade of working in NYC as a director, producer and arts educator, he was instantly charmed by the rural lifestyle of Litchfield County and soon found that our

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The Rural We: Shawn Fischer

Shawn and Kurt Fischer in the Spiegeltent. Shawn Fischer is a teacher, director and actress who had a career in theater, dance, sketch comedy and improv in NYC for 25 years before moving to Tivoli full time in 2009. She now teaches theater at Woodbourne Correctional Facility through the non-

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Pittsfield's Free Shakespeare In The Park Is To Be

By Lisa Green Ask Enrico Spada [right] why he wanted to start a free Shakespeare in the Park venture — in Pittsfield — and he’ll give you a couple of reasons: I saw it being done successfully in other cities. I wanted the opportunity to work on a play with local

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The Clark Art Institute Gala: A Truly Grand Re-Opening

Lisa Green reports from Williamstown. On Saturday, June 28, the gala to celebrate the opening of the expanded Clark Art Institute was commensurate with the endeavor and investment that went into the creation of the magnificent new campus. More than 700 guests (and, it seemed, an almost equal number of

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Community

The Rural We: Maurice "Pops" Peterson

Photo by Edward Acker Co-owner and business manager of Seven Salon/Spa —in addition to being a supporter of numerous local charities — Maurice “Pops" Petersen is a well-known face in the community. But slightly less known is what a truly remarkable nine lives he has lived. He

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