Berkshire Veterans Photo Project Features Local Vets

10:42AM / Tuesday, March 09, 2010Print Story | Email Story

Photo by Bill Wright

World War II veteran Margaret Haggerty

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts is about to open an exhibition of the Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, which features more than two dozen Berkshire County residents who have served in the military.

The photos were taken by professional commercial and portrait photographer Bill Wright, himself a military veteran of the Gulf War. Wright's subjects range from a 22-year-old who has already served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, to a 99-year-old woman who served in World War II. Other subjects include local writer Kevin O’Hara, who served in the Vietnam War, and retired Judge Rudolph Sacco, a World War II veteran.

On Friday, March 12, from 5 to 7 p.m., the center, located at 28 Renne Ave., will host a free opening reception for the show. The show will run through April 10.

The Berkshire Veterans Photography Project is part of the upcoming Big Read community book project, the third to be held in Pittsfield in recent years. This year’s Big Read focuses on the Vietnam War novel "The Things They Carried," by Tim O’Brien, and spans the month of April 2010, the 35th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.

For more information on participating in The Big Read: "The Things They Carried," contact Ryan Weightman at the Office of Cultural Development, at rweightman@pittsfieldch.com or 413-499-9348. Free readers guides to "The Things They Carried" are available at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, the Berkshire Athenaeum, and Chapters Bookstore.

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Crane Drops Challenge to Dalton Land Sale

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:43AM / Thursday, January 22, 2026

DALTON, Mass. — The sale of the land known as the Bardin property is no longer being challenged.

Dicken Crane of Holiday Farm, the highest bidder on the property, withdrew his lawsuit and a citizen petition requesting the board award him the sale, recognizing that a reversal was unlikely after the deed had already been signed.

The Select Board's decision in December to sell the last 9.15 acres of land to Thomas and Esther Balardini, the third highest bidder, sparked outrage from several residents resulting in a heated meeting to sign the quitclaim deed. Crane was the highest bidder by $20,000.

The board swiftly had the deed signed on Dec. 22, following its initial vote on Nov. 10 to award the parcel to the Balardinis, despite citizen outcry against the decision during a meeting on Nov. 23.

Crane claimed he wrote a letter to the board of his intention to appeal its decision. However, once the deed was signed a month later, it was too late for him to do anything.

"My question is, why were they in such a hurry to push this through, even though there were many people asking, 'explain to us why this is in the best interest in the town,' when they really had no explanation," Crane said on Wednesday.

Litigation is expensive and the likelihood of success to get it changed once the deed was signed is minimal, he said.

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