Community

Community

Solid Sound Festival: A Wilco Lovefest at MASS MoCA

Cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein reports from North Adams: Even before the Solid Sound Festival began, love was in the air, as the local music media gathered for a press conference on the afternoon of Friday, August 13. Reporters peppered MASS MoCA’s Joe Thompson and Wilco band members Jeff Tweedy,

By Editor

Community

Pittsfield's Word X Word Festival: Not for Hipsters Only

Jim Benson, the owner of Mission Bar + Tapas and Pittsfield's leading hipsterpreneur, wants to make it clear that the second annual Word X Word festival—a celebration of the performed word that is written, spoken or sung—is not as avant garde as its marketing suggests. "There&

By Editor

Community

Festival Frenzy: A Weekend of Music & Happenings

No matter where you go this weekend—from Wassaic to North Adams, from Norfolk to Annandale-on-Hudson—you will find a one-of-a-kind festival. If it sounds too good to be true, it is because there is no way to take advantage of everything that is going on in our neck of

By Editor

Community

Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick of Stockbridge are Rural Royalty

They are the real lions of Stockbridge who now purr more than roar. Still, Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick (left) remain the undsiputed king and queen of the Berkshires, and Saturday, August 7, has been declared Fitzpatrick Day by the Selectemen of Stockbridge: The town will dedicate the green space in

By Editor

Community

Rhinebeck Survives Its 15 Minutes of Fame

By Carrie Tuhy You have to love a town that chases after an unemployed secretary of state to get her autograph.  On the afternoon of the Wedding of the Century,  Madeline Albright and Democratic Party bigwig Terry McAuliffe had lunch at Gigi's and the throngs descended on them

By Editor

Community

Walk on Over: The 2nd Annual Hillsdale Historic House Tour

If, like us, you could do with a little less driving in your life, you'll be happy to know that the second annual Hillsdale Historic House Tour is a pedestrian-friendly event: All of the buildings are on  a 1/4 mile stretch of Cold Water Street, which has

By Editor

Community

Fitch's Corner Horse Trials: Over the Top & Down to Earth

Millbrook is a breed apart, a town that revolves around the equestrian life.  And the Fitch's Corner Horse Trials is a picture perfect reflection of the community—J. Crew crossed with Ralph Lauren. Hosts Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckels open up their farm to hundreds of horses and

By Editor

Community

We ♥ Rhinebeck: A Guide for Chelsea Clinton's Wedding Guests

Who knows whether most of the guests invited to Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky's riverfront wedding in Rhinebeck on July 31 will arrive by helicopters, private Amtrak cars or limousines and head home right after the party. But for those who plan to make a whole weeekend of

By Editor

Community

The Millbrook Mystique: Inside Fitch's Corner Horse Trials

Horse shows are a wonderful combination of sport and style, and nowhere are the equestrians more style-conscious than clubby Millbrook, which every year encourages outsiders to attend—for free!— the Fitch's Corner Hunter Trials Weekend on July 24 & 25. If you admire beautiful, well-groomed, well-trained horses, there

By Editor

Community

Listen Locally! The Community Radio Renaissance

Call it the new Golden Age of Radio. The people have spoken, and they want to hear themselves and their neighbors instead of overpaid pontificators or market-researched playlists. In the Rural Intelligence region, there are three young not-for-profit community radio stations that provide an eclectic mix of homegrown news, talk

By Editor

Community

Passages: Horse Heaven, Escaping the Plate

Elizabeth Hess, the author of "Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would be Human" lives in Spencertown, NY.  She writes here about Equine Advocates, an animal rescue facility in Chatham, NY that is welcoming visitors this Sunday, July 11, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Last week, the

By Editor

Community

The Long Road Home: Septuagenarians Celebrate their Union

A few people wore buttons that read, "I Do Support Marriage Equality."  But even for them, this wedding celebration (the legal proceedings took place some months ago in the enlightened state of Iowa) was a purely sentimental occasion.  An old friend, Dr. Norman Posner (wearing a green shirt

By Editor