Williamstown's Lickety Split Closes

By Phyllis McGuireSpecial to iBerkshires
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Residents craving ice cream were greeted with this sign in the window of Lickety Split since Nov. 1.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Rumors began flying this summer but now what the Williams College community and town folk dreaded has come. Lickety Split on Spring Street has closed.

The beloved ice cream shop closed its doors at the end of October but owner Robin Kanelos said she expects the restaurant to reopen in a new location. However, that location is still unknown after the Kanelos' lease expired.

Kanelos did not wish to expand further on the shop's closing but when contacted in September, she said she intended to return to Spring Street. She declined to reveal what steps, if any, she is taking in that direction nor would she say why she was not renewing her lease or if she had even been given an opportunity to do so. The building's owner, Mark Paresky, has not been available to comment.

Recently, Kanelos mentioned that Williams College is helping her find a space to reopen Lickety Space. The only available space on Spring Street as of this moment is 32 Spring St., which was occupied by McClelland's until 2009.  But rumor has it that something else may be opening up on the street.

Loyal patrons of  Lickety Split, the shop best known for its delicious ice cream, including the popular Purple Cow flavor, are more than disappointed that their supply has literally been cut off. One Williams student spoke of the closing of the shop as an "atrocity" and the wife of a faculty member has vowed not to patronize any other ice cream vendors on the street.


The Lickety Split location at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is still open.

In September, Kanelos made it clear that since she assumed ownership of the Williamstown Lickety Split eleven years ago, she has operated the business independently of Lickety Split at Mass MoCA.  

"My sister and her husband own the Lickety Split at Mass MoCA," she said.
 
Though mystery continues to shroud the fate of the cozy eatery that offered snacks, soups, sandwiches and salads as well as ice cream, iBerkshires will be sleuthing until it can report the opening of a re-incarnated Lickety Split.


*iBerkshires reporter Andy McKeever also contributed to this article.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Mount Greylock Schools Bracing for Another Big Health Insurance Hit

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Like municipal entities across the county, the Mount Greylock Regional School District is bracing for another year of steep increases in health insurance costs.
 
It is unknown just how steep, but Superintendent Joseph Bergeron tried to prepare the School Committee at its January meeting on Thursday.
 
"The rumors, just so you hear them from me … are not confirmed, but right now, the projections are we might be close to a 20 percent increase in what's proposed in order to have premiums cover cost," Bergeron said. 
 
"We're going to see where that goes. That's not at all confirmed. But, if true, a 20 percent increase, if that needs to go all to the appropriated budget, that by itself would be a 3.6 percent increase in our assessments."
 
Those are the assessments the district makes to member towns Lanesborough and Williamstown that voters each see in the form of, effectively, a bill that gets approved each spring at the annual town meeting.
 
For the current fiscal year, FY26, the district sent the towns assessments that were up from FY25 by 6.45 percent in Lanesborough and 7.59 percent in Williamstown.
 
Those hikes largely were driven by the 16 percent health insurance hike sought by the Berkshire Health Group to cover the cost of municipal employees covered by the joint purchase group.
 
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