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Tanglewood almost made the cut last week, except for our fear of pending rains that detoured us to another destination to the north. Every season Tanglewood looms as an important event I don’t want to miss, but when I examine the calendar, the window seems to shrink and shrink. But […]

Two local retail businesses have closed down in South Deerfield.  Sadly, it was a chef-owned bistro, a small celebration sort of restaurant, which could not keep going. The staff was notified by a text, then the next day, they were closed and gone. When MRKT first opened, it took me […]

I have been reading about Chris and Dre Rawlings’ purchase of the venerable Ashfield Lake House on Facebook for a few months. I’ve followed Dre’s reports of the sad state of the kitchen floorboards, and read many comments from people who have been coming in and raving about the place. […]

“Luna Gale” is the best play I’ve seen New Century Theatre perform in the five years I’ve been enjoying their annual summer slate of shows at Smith College’s Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts. From start to finish, we were transfixed by the fast-paced dialogue, spot-on characters, and the impressive […]

One thing I wrestle with all the time is the loneliness of working at home. Sure, I have total freedom, and yes, it’s great not having a boss, but after a few years I have missed the camaraderie of my fellow workers, the end of the day banter, and all […]

We took a tour of the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown with the lovely Rebecca Bartlett, sales director for Scout hotels who manage this and eight other waterfront hotels, and she showed us the penthouse.  She explained that this 1880s era hotel was once owned by a local man named […]

For most of my life, I’ve strolled down North and South Water Streets in Edgartown, Mass with the confidence and pride that comes with being a landowner.  Our family house once stood on Cummings Way, just off North Water.  My grandmother Essie bought the house just after the war, and […]

It’s July again in the Valley and the best punctuation mark in this glorious vacation month is the annual Green River Festival at GCC.  The weather yesterday was perfect–not too hot, but still worth bringing an umbrella to sit under, and the legions of old friends and acquaintances who I […]

What can you tell me about your business in two minutes? That was the challenge tonight when Valley Venture Mentors met for the first time in Franklin County, bringing 10 entrepreneurs nursing their own small businesses and hoping for attention and funding to the John Olver Transit Center for some […]

Every two years Wilco gathers the faithful at a fantastic venue for a festival…instead of a mountain slope ski area or a farmer’s alfalfa fields, they choose the run-down small city of North Adams where the biggest museum in the US is improbably located.  Then they turn this former factory […]

I know a lot of the people in the Valley who are eagerly waiting for a chance to again relax on the green lawns at GCC for the Green River Festival.  And some of the more than 9000 fans who are coming will inevitably end up doing some shopping too. […]