PITTSFIELD – Hikers and bushwhackers will have a chance to win prizes for walking in the woods this summer under a special “geocaching†event organized by the Berkshire Natural Resources Council.
“We’ve hidden 10 caches on our properties around the Berkshires,†said BNRC President Tad Ames. “It’s a Berkshire treasure hunt. Find all 10 caches, and you’ll win a collection of prizes, and you’ll have a chance in the grand prize drawing for a kayak.â€
Geocaching is a growing adventure sport for Global Positioning System (GPS) users, Ames said. GPS units – small, self-contained satellite receivers – have become a common accessory for outdoors people and land managers. The GPS user downloads geographic coordinates from satellites, allowing for relatively easy navigation to sometimes obscure locations.
“We use GPS all the time in our work, and we thought the geocaching event would be a fun way for recreational users to get out and explore our land,†Ames said.
BNRC owns 53 properties totaling approximately 6,400 acres, Ames said. The caches are scattered around the county.
“Most of them should be fairly easy to get to,†he said, “but we’ve mixed in a couple of sadistic sites too. Anyone who wants that kayak is really going to have to hunt. It’s going to take a good combination of heart, brains and muscle to find all 10 caches.â€
The contest is being held in conjunction with the Housatonic River Summer 2004, a series of arts and environmental events celebrating the Housatonic River and its watershed.
Grand prize drawing for a Perception kayak will be held at the Housatonic River Arts Festival on Aug. 14 at the Norman Rockwell Museum.
Ames said cache hunters will document their finds by punching cards at the various caches. Everyone who finds a cache will receive a free membership in BNRC, including a complete set of the organization’s “Green Series†maps. Those who find more caches will receive additional prizes, including maple syrup and gift certificates for the Arcadian Shop in Lenox.
The event is being underwritten by the Arcadian Shop and the Holiday Farm in Dalton. Holiday Farm was preserved in the 1970s by the Crane family, which donated a perpetual conservation restriction to BNRC covering approximately 1,400 acres.
Maple syrup produced at Holiday Farm and the BNRC’s Fletcher Farm in Lanesboro will be given away as prizes for more successful cache hunters.
Full details on contest prizes and rules, including the latitude and longitude of the cache locations, are available at www.bnrc.net, or by calling the council 499-0596.
The council is a private, charitable land conservation organization founded in 1967. Working throughout Berkshire County, the council provides information and assistance to families seeking to conserve their lands. In addition to the lands it owns outright, BNRC holds conservation restrictions on approximately 7,200 acres.
The Council has also facilitated in the conservation of over 15,000 acres preserved through the efforts of state agencies and recently secured Great Barrington’s Sunways Farm as a new home for Project Native.
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Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for 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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