Moonlight race
POWNAL — Under the glow of July’s second full moon, the sixth annual “Moonlight in Vermont†road race will begin at midnight, Saturday, July 31.
Sponsored by the Batten Kill Valley Runners and the Pownal Valley Fire Department, the 4-mile event will start at the fire station at the top of the hill on Route 7 in Pownal Center. The course follows secondary paved and dirt roads through the hills of rural Pownal, with luminaria positioned at regular intervals to keep runners on track.
Awards are given to overall male and female winners, as well as the top three finishers in several age categories. In addition, a prize will be awarded to the runner judged “Bluest in the Moonlight.†Commemorative T-shirts will be given to the first 75 entrants, and refreshments will be available after the race. Check-in begins at 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
The race is held annually on the Saturday night in July that falls closest to the full moon, and when organizers realized that the calendar offered two options this year, they seized on the idea of running under the second, or “blue†moon.
“Every runner should be able to say that he ran once in a blue moon,†quipped Acting Race Director David Durfee.
In the past the race has attracted runners from as far away as New York City and Boston. The men’s course record of 22:27 was set in 2002 by Ian Kerr, while Suze West still holds the women’s record of 25:57 that she established during the inaugural Moonlight run in 1998.
The entry fee is $12 in advance and $14 on race night. BKVR members receive a $2 discount. Race applications are available online at www.bkvr.org. Information: moonlight@bkvr.org or 802-442-4414.
Watercolor show
BENNINGTON — The New England Watercolor Society will open its doors to the “Best Watermedia Artists in North America†on Saturday, July 31, at the Bennington Center for the Natural and Cultural Arts.
The show will include 81 watermedia paintings juried from over 650 entries by internationally known scholar, author and professor in art Nancy Mowll Mathews, who is also curator at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Mass. The show will run through Sept. 5.
The New England Watercolor Society currently has 250 signature members and began in 1885 as the Boston Watercolor Society with 27 charter members. Its prestigious membership included such well-known and respected artists as Charles Curtin Allen, Frank W. Benson, Maurice Prendergast and John Singer Sargent.
Related events open to the public during the Open Show will be a reception and awards ceremony on Aug. 15, from 2 to 4 p.m.; a watercolor painting demonstration by local award-winning artist and teacher Robert Oâ€Brien at 10 a.m., and Gallery Talk by Past Vice President of the Society Deborah Edmiston at 1 p.m. on Aug. 11. The talk will include juror’s criteria in selecting award-winning paintings, as well as a discussion of painting techniques used in paintings throughout the show.
Bennington Center for the National and Cultural Art is at 44 Gypsy Lane. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 to 5. Details and directions: www.bennintoncenterforthearts.org or www.artistcolony.com
Hildene events
MANCHESTER — U.S. Senator James Jeffords, D-Vt., will be in Manchester on Sunday, Aug. 1 to receive the inaugural Hildene Award.
The award, which will be given to Jeffords during a free public ceremony from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the historic home, is designed to honor a Vermonter for work in conservation, preservation and restoration. In keeping with Hildene's intent to recognize people whose efforts have largely gone unsung, the award will be presented to Jeffords for his years of quiet but successful work on the preservation of Civil War battlefields, according to a news release.
The public is encouraged to attend the ceremony in the Hildene Event Tent. The ceremony begins with a keynote address by Jim Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust. Lighthizer will discuss the current state of Civil War battlefield preservation, a public-policy topic that has captured national attention in recent years.
Jeffords will be escorted to the ceremony by an honor guard of Civil War re-enactment soldiers, and introduced by noted Civil War historian and author Howard Coffin. The afternoon will conclude with an iced-tea reception during which visitors are invited to meet the senator and speakers.
Jeffords' involvement in Civil War battlefield preservation underscores Hildene's new exhibit, "Vermont and the North Shire in the Civil War: The Common Experience of Uncommon Valor." The exhibit, which opened in June, tells the story of the Equinox Guards, a volunteer regiment that marched from southern Vermont to join with the Union side in 1861. Many of the Equinox Guards met a tragic fate in June 1862 during the bloody Battle of Savage Station, and the exhibit includes a tattered regiment flag rescued from that battlefield by Manchester soldier Isaac Burton.
Hildene’s curator Brian Knight will give a talk about the exhibit and “The Rest of the Story†at 4 pm on Saturday, July 31, in the Visitor Center Pavilion. That event is also free and open to the public. After the talk, at 6, Knight will conduct a cemetery walk at the Dellwood Cemetery. Wagon rides to the cemetery will be provided.
On July 31 and Aug. 1, Hildene will host a gathering of Civil War re-enactors from the Living History Association. Visitors are welcome to tour the encampment on the Hildene grounds, talk to the citizen "soldiers" and learn about history from those who are dedicated to accurately recreating it. Check-in is at the Visitor Center, and admission to the camp is included with a $5 grounds pass.
Admission to the main house, which includes a tour of the home and access to the three-room Civil War exhibit, is $10 for adults, $4 for children 6 to 14 and free for kids under 6 and members. Hildene is open daily in summer and fall from 9:30 to 4; the last tour starts at 3. Information about the events and Hildene: 802-362-1788, www.hildene.org or e-mail info@hildene.org.
Orvis workshop
MANCHESTER — The free Orvis Saturday Seminar Series will welcome Tom Stearns of High Mowing Seeds Saturday, July 31, at 11 a.m. at the Orvis Flagship store on historic Route 7A.
Stearns will discuss and demonstrate methods of saving and storing your own vegetable, flower and herb seeds. He began High Mowing Seeds in 1995 and has gone on to become one of the foremost authorities on seed saving. Questions: Denise, 802-362-3750.
Community picnic
BENNINGTON — Local nonprofits and community groups are being sought to sponsor children’s activities or games for the Bennington Battle Day Community Picnic.
Sponsored by Adelphia & Cat Country Radio in conjunction with the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce and the Living History Association, the picnic will be held Monday, Aug. 16, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Willow Park (it was formerly held at the Bennington Battle Monument).
Booth space is free. Groups may charge a fee for games up to 50 cents – prizes are available through a number of sources at a low cost (www.shermanspecialty.com). Information: the Chamber, 802-447-3311.
Aids benefits
READSBORO — Over 1,000 people are expected to travel to Readsboro this summer to see the garden at North Hill, the home of Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd.
North Hill will be open on Saturday, July 31, and Tuesday, Aug. 31, to benefit the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont.
Eck and Winterrowd, nationally recognized garden designers and horticulturists, started the garden at North Hill in 1977. It now comprises about 7 acres under intense cultivation, surrounded by a larger tract of mature hardwoods of beech and maple. Although it has evolved in size and dimension throughout its life, most parts have now reached a youthful maturity.
The mission of the garden has become to grow as many species as might be hardy in a climate that experiences winter lows of minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Significant individual collections within the garden include plantings of heathers and dwarf conifers, antique and species roses, bamboos, unusual perennials and annuals, an extensive rock and bog garden, a large collection of hybrid deciduous magnolias and many tender conservatory plants used as components of the garden in summer.
Eck and Winterrowd are the authors of “Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and Table at North Hill,†“A Year at North Hill,†“Elements of Garden Design†and “Annuals for the Connoisseur.†The garden at North Hill has been featured in Horticulture, in The New York Times, in The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, in Rosemary Verey's The American Man's Garden, in Penelope Hobhouse's Flower Garden, in Ann Lovejoy's The American Mixed Border and in Christopher Lloyd's Other People's Gardens. An excerpt from “The Year at North Hill†appeared in House Beautiful.
Those interested in taking the tours of North Hill may make reservations online and get an e-mail confirmation of the desired date and time. Go to: www.AIDSProjectSouthernVermont.org. Those without access to the Internet may request up to four tickets for the desired date and time by mail. Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope and mail the request to North Hill/APSV, PO Box 1486, Brattleboro, VT 05302.
Donations for the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont will be requested at the garden. Make checks payable to the AIDS Project. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. The mission of the AIDS Project is to provide services to people affected by HIV and AIDS and to prevent the transmission of HIV. Services are free to all those whose lives are affected by HIV/AIDS.
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Lanesborough Officials Take Road District Dissolution Off Warrant
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board has removed a town meeting warrant article regarding the dissolution of the Baker Hill Road District.
JMJ Holdings development consultant Tim Grogan spoke in public comment saying the Berkshire Mall owner is currently has purchase-and-sale agreement for the mall.
Back in February, the Select Board settled a tax dispute with JMJ Holdings by agreeing to move forward in dissolving the district if the company paid $1.1 million to the town. JMJ Holdings had to provide a signed development-and-purchase agreement 30 days before the town meeting.
JMJ holdings did not submit a payment to be made by May 9. Because of that, the Select Board voted to take the article of the warrant to be voted at the annual town meeting.
Meanwhile, the Baker Hill Road District presented a slideshow defending the district and explaining what it does.
The district currently provides a non-resident-funded revenue stream of around $500,000 per year. These funds help pay for police cars and officer salaries, dump trucks, fire trucks, and more for the town.
"Dissolution would mean the district's three commercial property owners would no longer have to pay for upkeep of the Route Seven/Eight connector road. As a result, the BHRD annual contribution of more than $500,000 to Lanesborough would disappear permanently, since the services and maintenance costs associated with the Route Seven and Eight connector road would still remain," said Tom Caraccioli, PR consultant with AH&M Inc. "Lanesborough would have to absorb these costs and continue to provide emergency services to the mall and Target. The financial burden for these remaining expenses would then fall on Lanesborough taxpayers through higher taxes or the reduction of other important town services."
The proposal with JMJ would affect the town in a negative way Caraccioli claimed.
"JMJ is proposing a one-time payment of $1.1 million to Lanesborough in exchange, JMJ would never pay BHRD taxes again. The decision to dissolve the BHRD by accepting this proposed $1.1 million would be a permanent choice that would have irreversible consequences," he said. "There will be no official system in place to cover recurring costs once the money from this single payment is spent. Therefore, the proposed one-time payment is not a long-term solution for the town of Lanesborough."
JMJ's dispute was that the Berkshire Mall no longer exists as a functioning entity and it should not be on the hook for protection and maintenance that had been based on the mall's operation in its heyday. The company is seeking to redevelop the site as senior housing and town officials were asking the state to take over the Connector Road.
District officials said it's not guaranteed that the state would take over the road linking Routes 7 and 8, built to service the mall back in the '80s, and that the state Department of Transportation had historically discouraged the town from asking. Even if it happened, it could take three to five years, during which no BHRD funds would be collected if the district is dissolved. The state would not replace the revenue they support, and they argued the state is facing its own budget issues making it unlikely they would want to take over.
The road district was created by an act of the Legislature and would require another act to dissolve it. The town meeting article asked for voter support for a home-rule petition to start that process.
After the presentation, it was asked what the current financial status of the BHRD, given that JMJ hasn’t paid in a long time and if the district actually has the money or if it is dependent on the mall sale.
Mark Siegars, attorney for BHRD, reminded the room that the mall is under a purchase and sale agreement and if the sale closes, the district expects to receive more than a million dollars because of the lawsuit and lien, but does not have that cash yet. If the sale does not go through, BHRD will take the mall and sell it. The district still gets payments from Target, which is separate from the mall.
There were also some questions on the district's history, with Select Board member Jason Breault asking if the mall did not have a high tax rate from the district, would it still be solvent. The exchange became heated between Siegars and BHRD Chair Bill Prendergast.
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