Berkshire Living is Finalist for 6 National Awards

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Living is a finalist for six awards from the National City and Regional Magazine Awards (NCRMA), including repeat awards for General Excellence, Community Service, and General Criticism. The magazine also is being honored for its recent redesign, and once again, its two sister magazines, BBQ: Berkshire Business Quarterly and Berkshire Living Home+Garden, are finalists in the Best Ancillary publication category.

The independently owned Berkshire Living is one of only nine magazines in the nation to win six or more nominations, the others all being big-city magazines including Los Angeles, Texas Monthly, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati and 5280 (Denver).

Berkshire Living, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, has been nominated for General Excellence in four out of the past five years. Its affiliate publications, BBQ and Home+Garden, are both receiving their second nominations this year.

As he has in the past four out of five years, editor-in-chief and cultural critic Seth Rogovoy once again faces off against writers from Los Angeles and Texas Monthly magazine for the General Criticism award, for his column, "The Beat Goes On." This year’s submissions included columns about Roy Orbison, Warren Zevon, and "The Philly Sound."

The magazine’s "Rest of the Story" program, free public forums that take place at the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington, has been nominated for Community Service in all four years of its existence.

Of the 74 magazines in the CRMA, 38 publications received nominations, and 22 of these received multiple nominations.

Magazine professionals from around the country chose 142 finalists representing 38 publications in the 25-year-old National City and Regional Magazine Association’s awards competition. Magazines of varying circulations competed in 29 categories, including editorial, design, online and ancillary publications. Judges named five finalists in most categories and will choose one ultimate winner in each. The awards for work completed in 2009 will be announced at the CRMA 34th Annual Conference, to take place from June 5 to 7 at the Westin in Providence, R.I.

More than 75 judges representing publications such as Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The American Prospect, Body+Soul, Sports Illustrated, Good Housekeeping, Glamour, Taste of Home, Men’s Journal, Budget Travel, The New York Times, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit,  ESPN The Magazine, The Washington Post, Outdoor Life, Men’s Journal, USA Weekend, Fitness and journalism professors from the Missouri School of Journalism selected the finalists.
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Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for Restaurant

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Construction is underway to transform the former Harry's Supermarket into a restaurant

Late last month, the Conservation Commission greenlit some tree pruning on the property. New windows and a new door can be seen in the front of the building. 

"It's a substantial renovation that's currently underway here," Brent White of White Engineering said, speaking on behalf of the applicant and owner, Huajie Zhu. 

A fire gutted the longtime Wahconah Street supermarket in 2023, and the following year, Zhu purchased the property for $460,000 two years ago to build a restaurant with hibachi in the existing footprint of the more than 100-year-old building. 

White explained that the project has been ongoing for over a year, and the Community Development Board granted the property a waiver to reduce the minimum required number of parking spaces so that additional spaces aren't needed.  

He noted that, looking at the site plan, there is very little room to do so. A mirror will be installed near the sharp turn on Bel Air Avenue to alleviate traffic concerns. 

Pruning will be done on trees in the southeast corner of the existing paved parking lot, as a number of branches are hanging over. The new owners also intend to patch, sealcoat, and re-stripe the parking lot. 

A fire tore through the building less than an hour after the supermarket closed for the day three years ago. An automatic sprinkler system is required for the new use. 

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