Berkshire Museum will present â€œGalleries in Bloomâ€

08:55AM / Tuesday, April 29, 2008Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD – The Berkshire Museum in downtown Pittsfield will present “Galleries in Bloom,” a celebration of art and flowers, from May 9 to 12, 2008. Floral designers will create floral arrangements inspired by art, sculpture, and photographs from the Berkshire Museum’s permanent collection. In addition to 20 designers from the Berkshires, “Galleries in Bloom” will feature arrangements by 40 members of the Garden Club of America, which is having a judging workshop for its members at the Berkshire Museum that weekend.

The Garden Club of America has also issued a national call for floral photography to be displayed and judged during “Galleries in Bloom.” The arrangements will be presented throughout the Berkshire Museum’s galleries during the four-day fundraising event. Highlights throughout the weekend will be lectures, workshops, and floral presentations. Admission to “Galleries in Bloom” is $13 adults ($8 members), $9 children 3-17 ($5 members). Ticket prices vary for lectures, receptions, and other programs. All proceeds benefit year-round educational programs at the Berkshire Museum.

Galleries in Bloom is sponsored in part by Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club.

Following a Friday night gala preview, “Galleries in Bloom” will open to the public on Saturday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Highlights of the day include an inaugural lecture by Ron Morgan, celebrity floral designer, in the Berkshire Museum’s theater. A special package price of $125 per person includes unlimited admission to Galleries in Bloom throughout the weekend, lunch on Saturday, and admission to Ron Morgan’s lecture. Tickets to the lecture alone are $35 ($25 members).

Sunday, May 11, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., is “Kids in Bloom” day, featuring floral-themed family activities and a showing of the 1993 family film, The Secret Garden. Children and their parents will be able to take part in hands-on activities, including flower pressing.

“Galleries in Bloom” final day is Monday, May 12, when the Berkshire Museum will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Keynote speaker Renny Reynolds has been designing both events and floral arrangements since the 1970s, for names like Bill Blass, Yves St. Laurent, Diana Vreeland and Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, owners of famed discotheque Studio 54. He is the founder of RENNY: Design for Entertaining, and now divides his time between lecturing and garden design for private homes throughout America. Guests to Friday night’s preview gala will have to chance to hear Mr. Reynolds lecture, followed by a cocktail reception and live music.

Tickets to the Opening Celebration Party are $500 at the Benefactor level, $300 at the Supporter level, $125 for standard member tickets, and $150 for general public. Benefactor guests will enjoy the Reynolds lecture, dinner at private home with a special guest, the Ron Morgan lecture and unlimited admission to Galleries in Bloom. Guests at the Supporter level are also invited to attend the dinner party. Ron Morgan has been a name in floral design for over twenty years. He has designed windows for Harrod’s and David Jones. Morgan is currently a highly sought-after lecturer and designer, as well as the author of four books.

Centrally located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, the Berkshire Museum enriches, educates, and inspires through diverse collections of art, natural science, and history, as well as dynamic educational programs and special exhibitions. With particular strength in American art, highlights include paintings by Hudson River School artists Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church (currently on loan to the National Academy of Design in New York). Other artists represented range from John Singer Sargent, Ammi Phillips, and Gilbert Stuart to 20th- and 21st-century artists Norman Rockwell, John Marin, Alexander Calder, Nancy Graves, and Mark Milloff.

The aquarium features more than thirty tanks and terrariums housing both native and exotic fish, reptiles, and amphibians, ranging from frogs and turtle species that inhabit Berkshire ponds to 25 species of coral. Natural science collections include an interactive dinosaur dig, numerous examples of regional animals, an array of rocks and minerals, and “The World in Miniature”—a group of miniature dioramas from the Northern Tundra to the Amazon Jungle. The Berkshire Museum’s collections feature the history of the region and are also a “window on the world” to ancient Mesopotamia, China, Greece, and Rome. Artifacts from ancient Egypt include the mummy of Pahat, a priest from the Ptolemic period (332 - 30 B.C.E.).

The Berkshire Museum is located at 39 South Street on Route 7 in Downtown Pittsfield. The galleries are open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays noon to 5 p.m. For more information, contact the Berkshire Museum at (413) 443-7171, ext. 10, or visit www.berkshiremuseum.org

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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
04:21PM / Monday, June 08, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.

Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.

The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.

Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.

Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.

Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.

Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.

The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.

The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.

Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.

Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.

He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.

Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.

Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.

Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.

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