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Final Hoorah for Monument Mountain Class of 2009

By Jonathan DelSordoiBerkshires Intern
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Risk Taking, Getting Lost, and Diplomas


Photos by Jonathon DelSordo
Monument held its 2009 graduation ceremonies at Tanglewood.
LENOX, Mass. — While risk-taking may not be encouraged too much in high school, Monument Mountain Regional High School graduates were urged to take a chance.

"Risk taking, above all else, in many facets of life is the most influential learning process we can gain knowledge from the outside world," salutatorian Eleanor Randolf reminded her fellow graduates on Sunday. 

The sun was shining, and the students were lively during the 2009 commencement. With inflatable beach balls leisurely soaring over the maroon and white caps of the 138 graduates, words of encouragement and advice from fellow students and faculty echoed throughout The Shed at Tanglewood.

The green lawns surrounding Tanglewood's main stage were filled with younger siblings and cousins running about while parents, relatives and friends squeezed themselves into seats under the canopy. As the ceremony began, the Great Barrington school's band ushered the graduates to assigned seats where they patiently — and sometimes impatiently — awaited their diplomas.

Berkshire Hills Regional School District Superintendent Donna Moyer reminded the seniors that "marching and marches are a large part of graduation. As you march off the stage today, you will become part of the real world. As you march proudly into the future, we wish you godspeed and good luck."

The words from valedictorian Zane Martin were leaning, as he said, "away from stereotypical commencement speeches." While expressing his appreciation of the faculty and staff of Monument, and of his fellow students, Martin enlightened the crowd with his wisdom and moved them to laughter with his comical banter.

Ending with the cliche of "don't forget to wear sunscreen," he summed up the influential moments of his career at Monument, and ensured "a promising future to all that are focused and determined in the near future."

Assistant Principal Scott Annand stood looking over the vast crowd as it was time for the class of 2009 to gain the official designation of being a high school graduates. As names were announced one by one, Annand's voice was replied to with high volumes of cheering by the entire student body.

The boys were clad in maroon, the girls in white. Stunner shades, bare feet and personal touches to the graduation attire were as evident as ever. The joyous crowd seemed to heave as the diplomas were awarded, the inflatable shark and beach balls getting higher and higher with each continual strike over the graduates' heads.   

Some of the most profound words of the day came from Principal Maeve Hitzenbuhler. Her speech told the story of her travels to Kazakhstan and her underlying message of being lost.

"We will all be lost at some point," she said. "You all need to take time, listen carefully to others, and learn from these experiences what will help or hinder you success in the outside world."   

Concluding the commencement ceremony were the daughters of popular longtime teacher John H. Spencer Jr.

Kathy Erickson and Ann Miller issued their father an honorary diploma for all of his hard work and dedication over the past 40-plus years in teaching, most notably his time at Monument.

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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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