St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
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Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
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By Sharon Mack iBerkshires Columnist 01:28PM / Sunday, May 24, 2009
PITTSFIELD, Mass.
It's been a long time since I've been to Pontoosuc Lake to spend an afternoon. Back in the day, I often picnicked there with my boys. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgs on the Hibachi, ate homemade potato salad or mac and tuna salad, chips and all kinds of carried-in goodies, along with Cokes, lemonade and iced tea.
I then watched them run around and play on their full bellies until the traditional hour was up and they could take a dip. I threw down a blanket close to the water with towels, water toys, and my own very special toys — a pen and pad of paper (no laptop back then!).
My how things have changed.
My friend Debbie and I took Oprah up on her "unthinkKFC" offer and e-mailed for free coupons. Of course, when we went to use them KFC was giving away rainchecks. That was OK. I had other coupons, and for $8.99 we were able to get two meals with two pieces of crispy fried chicken, two sides, and a soda to share.
The warm weather had gotten us to thinking and talking about the lakes in Pittsfield, and we picked Pontoosuc since neither of us had been there in quite some time
After picking up my dog, a small Maltese with a big name — Camelot Love Me Tender (but his friends call him Cammie) — with food in hand we headed to Hancock Road and Pontoosuc Lake for our makeshift picnic. I wanted to check it out after all these years and see if anything had changed, and if it had, what. I was thinking of it as a possible summer place to people-watch. With the lake, the trees and the hills that surround it and all that beauty, I felt I could really get creative and write.
It was a beautiful warm spring day and the shade of the pines set a perfect temperature. We found a picnic table we liked, put Cammie on his lead chain to sniff the area, and then set out our food. Cool breezes drifted through the pines. The sailboats were already out around the bend of the lake; the motor boats revved up at the dock then headed out, as a kayak floated along the edge avoiding the strong wake.
There were other folks out walking with their dogs. A man and his black Lab pup, a couple and their beagle mix. The dogs barked at each other. Was it a greeting or a warning? I choose to think greeting; it was too nice for a warning. Nothing to warn about in my book.
Photos courtesy Henry Dondi
Top, picturesque pines line the banks of Pontoosuc. Right, Saddleback Mountain as viewed from the picnic area.
A lady and her kids sat in their parked car munching away and watching the boats on the lake. They found Cammie quite charming and giggled as he marched along, his ponytail like tail waving in the breeze. They never got out of the car, though they were friendly. Cammie wouldn't have minded. He likes a good petting. There were even lovers stretched out on their stomachs on a blanket under a huge dark pine tree.
After we finished and had fed some leaner bits of chicken to Cammie, we cleaned up our table and walked along the edge of the lake. There were condos across the lake that I don't remember. Debbie, who was born and raised in Pittsfield, described the bathhouse and swimming docks that had originally been there when she was a young girl prior to "two and a half." When funding for lifeguards stopped, the swimming area was closed and no longer available. The boathouse and docks are now gone, torn down long ago.
I was surprised to see the bit of shore that had once been there was gone as well, and a "no swimming" sign posted. I wondered if that was for the whole lake or just for that area. Debbie didn't know. There was only one grill amongst the trees next to a picnic table, and sadly, it had been knocked on its side. Will they put out more for the summer?
I have decided that since I no longer have young children, the lake is a perfect place for me to go and spend an afternoon or an evening when twilight is descending. The grounds seem well kept and, of course, the scenery is awe inspiring with the hills as a backdrop. This time I will be taking my mini HP, and not pen and paper, and I will sit at a table and not on a blanket.
Yes, there's been lots of changes, but that's OK. There is still much to enjoy at this beautiful spot in the Berkshires!
Note: Lanesborough and the city of Pittsfield share Pontoosuc Lake, one of the largest lakes in Berkshire County and a popular recreation area.
Sharon Mack is a member of the Berkshires Writers Room and is working on a mystery novel. This Part 6 of a six-part series about her favorite writing spots.
I've received quite a few e-mails asking me if I'm the "Debbie" in the article. You've brought back a lot of memories for people. One of my childhood friends wrote to remind me how much time the neighborhood kids spent at the lake. We'd spend all day sunning and funning. The lifeguards kept things safe for everyone and mostly everyone behaved because surely there would be someone there who knew your parents! If you wanted to swim out to the floating dock, you had to prove to the lifeguards that you could swim. You did this by swimming between the stationary docks from lifeguard to lifeguard. Only then could you swim out to the floating docks. We'd eat at the snack-bar and when we were ready to leave, change in the bath house. And on the walk home, we'd stop at A & W for a root beer float! My Aunt & Uncle from Boston came up every summer....Unc would bring us to the lake in the early evening as he like to sit under the pines and read the paper. Those were the days.
Thanks for the memories.....
from: Deborah
on: 05-29-2009
You entertain me so well...and so I thank you
Dinah
from:
on: 05-26-2009
This sounds like a great place! Next time we're up there I want to see it. Your writing already takes me there. Love it! What's next?
from: Liz Pajak
on: 05-26-2009
My memory of Pontoosuc Lake comes from a different perspective....that of a teenager. Those pines were wonderful for escaping the watchful eyes of adults. The lake provided us girls with the perfect reason to wear our bikinis, smeared with coconut oil and "work on our tans" which was quite the challenge in the Berkshires. Of course, the boys were drawn to the lake for the kayaking and fishing, certainly not for ogling, catcalling and dunking us giggling girls any chance they got- which is inevitably what happened. Those days were short-lived and sweet!
from: Jen
on: 05-26-2009
Perhaps I go back a bit further in time when the Canoe Club was a mainstay in conjunction with the Pittsfield "Y" and fishing up from the dam was "damn good" on Pontoosuc. My mother and I were grateful for the lakes bounty of perch and bluegills as it provided many a blessed satisfying meal when meals were hard to come by in the 40's. Obie Joyful had his shack up from the Canoe Club in the woods and there was a softball diamond there as well that was also a major play in those years. I am writing a book about growing up in Pittsfield and I do enjoy reading your prose.
from: Jack Green
on: 05-25-2009
Sounds dreamy much like Ludington,Michigan and the State Park there. One drifts along with each wave and one can see forever, I think of it as Gods grace oceans of love. His creation is relaxing and I am glad you Sharon can experience it with your talent which is writing. As a reader we enjoy it too. keep up the good work your cuz.
from: zoe signeski
on: 05-25-2009
You see the lake as part of a past . How nice
from: Lynda
on: 05-24-2009
Its kind of funny how people are attracted to a large body of still water. What is it that attracts us? The calm, reflecting surface of the water, the atmosphere of solitude or some distant longing from deep within the human soul that calls us to a long gone era when such beauty along with our own quiet spirit existed in our own back yard? If the latter is true than any writing you do at Pontoosuc Lake is in some way a voice from the past rather than just a musing on the here and now.
Begin to write and take us there...
from: Jeff Atherholt
on: 05-24-2009
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