Arlo Guthrie’s "Alice’s Restaurant" is as much a part of our local history as the Red Lion Inn or the Hudson River School. The fact that Arlo and many of his expansive brood still live in the Berkshires — and the Guthrie Center at the Old Trinity Church is still offering the free weekly community lunches and its Troubadour Series — keeps the Guthrie name near and dear. We caught up with the busy singer/activist recently, who shared his hopes for the Old Trinity Church’s mission. My great hope is that it will continue to inspire other people to do something similar in their own home towns. My old friend Pete Seeger once told me that it would be easy for a government (any government) or a large corporation to stop any big organized group to push for change. But, it’s almost impossible to stop millions of regular people doing something where they live. Our mission is not to ‘grow’ the church like some multinational company, but to inspire others to provide their own version of whatever seems like a good idea — and do it where you are.
