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Hudson Goes Giddy for the Holidays

Hudson, although far from being merely on the upswing, is still a study of contrasts. You can see this veering from the town’s more down- and- out  areas to the retailers on Warren Street. These are not your everyday vendors; they are all so talented at window display that

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Community

Christmas (Etc.) In Connecticut

This time of year, you can’t throw a snowball (if there was any of the white stuff to throw) without hitting a holiday bazaar. But Litchfield county’s well-crafted festive collaborations — their winter strolls and lighting ceremonies — will shine especially bright this month. Sorry Fox News, but none are

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Food

One Smart Cookie: Lisa Newmann's Snack Revolution

Photo by Ginny Hussey In September, food entrepreneur Lisa Newmann of Housatonic was called upon to give a speech in Palm Springs, California. The topic, while not addressing global climate change or the gritty situation in Gaza, was an important one, one that has quickly become Newmann's life

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Food

Getting Comfy in PUBLIC

Squirreled away doing back-office work for the North Adams restaurant Taylor’s for nearly two years, Jared Decoteau (left) harbored ideas about the changes he’d make to the place if given a chance. First and foremost, there were the eleven tap lines to the bar, tragically underutilized, he felt,

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Community

Community: 20 Questions for Laurie Norton Moffat

Photo: Sue Geller Laurie Norton Moffatt, champion of the artwork and legacy of Norman Rockwell, spearheaded the transition of the Norman Rockwell Museum from a local house museum to an internationally recognized cultural institution dedicated not only to the work of the iconic American illustrator but also to a scholarly

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Food

Prairie Whale, A New Hangout in Great Barrington

Lots of restaurants in the RI region profess to be farm-to-table.  And like so many of their well-intentioned customers, they keep the faith whenever they can, which is to say, when it isn’t too ruinously inconvenient, expensive, or arduous. Now Prairie Whale (formerly called Bell & Anchor, the name

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Food

Bravo for Brava: Delicious Late Night Tapas in Lenox

Is it really 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night in downtown Lenox and we are sipping a craft beer and a crisp Cava, staring at a menu of delicious things that we can actually order at this time of night? Bruschetta with jamón and white anchovies? (Yes, please!) A

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Food

A PYO Plethora of Macs and Jacks

Fall is teaming with brilliant golds, reds, and oranges this year. And I'm not just talking about the foliage. The beautiful bounty of the season is busting at the seams of the Rural Intelligence region. Apples and pumpkins, the sentinels of autumn, are ripe and ready for the

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Community

Made in the Berkshires Unites Artists of All Stripes

Barbara Sims and Hilary Somers Deely Two years ago, Stockbridge actress Hilary Somers Deely received a fateful phone call. Kate Maguire, the CEO and artistic director of the Berkshire Theater Group, wanted Deely to pioneer a new kind of arts festival—one that would pool the Berkshires’ wealth of visual

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Food

Food: Chili Cook-off Brings Secrets and Charity

Photo by James Czar Good chili is easy to make - some ground chuck, maybe pork, a can of beans, an Ancho chile or two – but it takes a special magic to make a transcendent chili. That perfect blend of heartiness and heat, two qualities cherished by “chili tribes” the

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Community

Olanafest 2012: Eat for Art's Sake

“Edible art” is a term that’s bandied about quite a lot these days. Few, however, come as close to the concept as the trustees of Olana, the sprawling, architecturally beguiling estate that Hudson River School painter  Frederick Church built for himself in 1870, set majestically on a sylvan hilltop

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Food

Let Them Eat Crepes: Starving Artist Café Feeds the Masses

Emmy Davis, part owner and crepe-maker extraordinaire When she was a teenager, Emmy Davis, a Lee native, went to Paris with her father. She loved the city, loved the cafés, but wasn't altogether sold on one of the country's staples: crepes. The 33-year-old mother of two

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