The Rural We

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The Rural We: John Davidson

Photo: Lisa Vollmer Photography Many Rural Intelligence readers are familiar with John Davidson, the singer, actor and television host, but now they can meet him and take a front seat at his performances. As a new resident of Lenox, Mass., he takes center stage at The Gateways Inn lounge in

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The Rural We: Kira Wizner

Kira Wizner, a part-time resident of the Hudson Valley, became the new owner of Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook, New York last November. When she and her family, who live in NYC, were looking for a weekend place, the requirement was that it be “quiet and lovely," and they found

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The Rural We: Karen T. Hunt

Architect Karen T. Hunt, comes from a family of multigenerational Pittsfield-based builders, but she hewed her own path studying architectural history and design at Notre Dame. After years living in cities across country with her own family, the Berkshire County native returned home, where her specialty made her the perfect

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The Rural We: Murray Hochman

Photo © Cheryl Koralik Murray Hochman is an artist who lives in Tyringham, Mass. Now in his early 80s, he has painted every day for the last 50 years. His body of work is immense and impressive, and his work has been shown in numerous exhibitions in New York and elsewhere

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The Rural We: Carrie Haddad

Photo: Linden Scheff On Saturday, May 28, the Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, NY is celebrating its quarter century in business with a 25th anniversary exhibition opening and artists’ reception. Although the gallery owner had originally planned to be a famous dancer (she won a scholarship with Alvin Ailey), studied

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The Rural We: Lisa Dolan

Book Festival co-directors Lisa Dolan and the "amazing" Jennifer Clark. The founder of the Hudson Reads mentoring project and co-founder of the Hudson Children’s Book Festival may be retiring from the city’s school district in June, but she will leave a lasting impression on the city

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The Rural We: Lynn Gelormino

Lynn Gelormino has been the executive director of The Warner Theatre in Torrington for the past three years. But before that, she was a longtime volunteer involved with nearly every aspect of production, as well as front and back of the house. But her connection to the theater goes back

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The Rural We: Erica Freudenberger

Erica Freudenberger, a Hudson Valley resident since 2001 and the director of the Red Hook Public Library since 2010, was recently named a Library Journal “Mover and Shaker." She was selected because of her commitment to the profession, her excellent leadership, and her ability to build community through collaboration

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The Rural We: Rich Volo AKA Trixie Starr

Photo by Chad Weckler. Rich Volo is Hudson, New York’s renaissance man and its resident drag queen, Trixie Starr. Volo juggles an exhaustive list of jobs, gigs and responsibility throughout the city. When it was announced recently that his former organization, The Hudson Pride Foundation, wasn’t going to

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The Rural We: Nick Martinelli

Nick Martinelli's career transition from lawyer in Boston to running a Berkshire-based food hub isn't as an unlikely story as is seems. His fondness with the region began as a student at Williams College and he's had a life-long interest in agriculture. He soon

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The Rural We: Vlada Rousseff

Vlada Rousseff, the woman behind the name and cartoon face of Vlada Boutique in Stockbridge, Mass., has owned the women’s clothing and accessories shop that bears her name for more than 45 years. An artistic career that began with sewing bags for the shop has grown into a love

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The Rural We: Lavender Suarez

Lavender Suarez is a sound and energy healing practitioner and educator in Hillsdale, New York. Through performing and exploring music she began to experience the healing properties inherent in sound and vibrations. Now she shares that with others through classic and emerging sound healing techniques. Lavender further went on to

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