Letter: Eleanor Sonsini Shelter Left Out

To the Editor:

So I see the story about the ground breaking for a new building for the [Berkshire] Humane Society and I can't help but wonder, 'Why are funds and news articles always going to/about the Humane Society?'

Why isn't the Sonsini Shelter given the same funds and publicity? Am I missing something? Sonsini needs a new facility, Sonsini needs funds!

Sally LeBarnes
Hinsdale, Mass. 

North Street Restaurant Serving Authentic Afro-Caribbean Cuisine

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:41AM / Friday, February 13, 2026

Andre Lynch has transformed the former Lulu's on North Street into a bright and sunny space to serve his Caribbean cuisine.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dre's Global Kitchen is bringing the flavors of the Caribbean to North Street starting this weekend.

 

The new restaurant at 137 North St. is holding its grand opening on Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. 

 

Owner and chef André Lynch said the cuisine is straight from his mom's cooking.

 

Deborah Burchell, a well-known chef and instructor in New York, grew up in Trinidad and learned to cook when she was little. Lynch has taken her recipes and also made his own modifications to her cookbook.

 

"Thirteen of us grew up in a household eating home-cooked Trinidadian meals every single day in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, mostly, which is a very thick West Indian or Caribbean community," he said.

 

Once he left New York, he realized not many other places share the influence of his mom's cooking.

 

"Leaving New York, Brooklyn, really opened our eyes to how much Caribbean influence was not in other places."