Winterfest 2005 Crowns New Chowder Champ

By Susan BushPrint Story | Email Story
New Chowder Champ - Mountain View Restaurant
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North Adams - A first-time chowder cook-off entry captured the Winterfest 2005 Best Chowder crown on Feb. 26, and Mountain View Restaurant owner Michael Milazzo said he couldn't be happier. See Photo Slide Show Here "We entered mainly to get the exposure," Milazzo said during an interview following the event. "This feels awesome. I always knew we had one of the best chefs in the area." Chef Randy Beaudoin seasoned and simmered the winning New England-style clam chowder. Restaurant manager Joe Williamson and self-described "super-waiter" William Pikula dished steaming cups to dozens of chowder aficionados. The event was held at the Holiday Inn on Main Street. Victory meant besting the past chowder champion Boston Sea Foods restaurant; no small feat, since that eatery claimed the chowder title during the 2003 and 2004 Winterfests, as well as during a 1998 event. This year's entry scored a thumbs-up from 11-year-old Kayla Brown-Wood of Clarksburg, who said that she'd never before tried chowder and then scooped a spoonful of the Boston Sea Foods offering into her mouth. "Hey, I like it!" she said. The win wasn't a sweep; every competitor found a following. "The North Adams Hospital outdid themselves," said Elizabeth Ralston of North Adams. Kimberly Shand of Williamstown faced a tasty toss-up: "I liked the Purple Pub chowder, but I thought that Gringo's was really good." First-time chowderfest visitors George and Shirley Mullen of North Adams found themselves involved in a friendly debate about which chowder was the best but added that they weren't ready to vote. "We haven't gotten all the way around the room yet," Shirley Mullen said. And Lauren Holmes, a North Adams seven-year-old who said she's attended several Winterfest cook-offs, believed all the chowders were winners. "It's all good," she said. All those who tasted the entries were welcome to cast a ballot for their favorite chowder. Winterfest's mid-morning kick-off placed ice sculptors on Main Street and energetic children at the Northern Berkshire Early Intervention and Toy Library headquarters at 25 Marshall St.. By 11 a.m., over 60 people had joined the merriment at the toy library, said Mary Thigpen, a client services supervisor for the intervention agency. "And not many have left," she said. "The families really enjoy this." Afternoon events included horse-and-wagon rides along Main Street and special movie showings for children at the Western Gateway Heritage Park Visitor's Center. An evening Mayor's Skating Party was scheduled at the Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial skating rink. Chainsaws and chisels wielded by amateur ice artisans chinked and clattered against ice blocks for several hours as frozen water took form. A woman who identified herself as Walking Catamount worked diligently from a wheelchair and coaxed a feline shape out of an icy brick. "I'm making a cougar," she said. "You can say it's a big kitty with attitude." Sheri Simon of North Adams said that she was carving a Snoopy into shape in support of the Mill City Productions acting group. The company is planning to stage the musical "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" this spring. Simon has participated in previous Winterfest ice-sculpting events, and said the weather this time around was "perfect." She recalled past rain-soaked efforts as well as Winterfests that occurred during 40-to-50-degree temperatures. "This year it's just great," she said as few snow flurries tumbled from the sky. "People stop and talk, and this is such a wonderful event." There's little opportunity to maintain ice carving skills, she noted. "I actually only do this once a year," Simon said. "With ice sculpting, you don't get much chance to practice." Gramercy Bistro owner Sandy Smith praised the event from his station at the cook-off. "People come out, they visit the shops, they try the food," he said. "It's great."
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Bicycle Film Festival Comes to The Berkshires

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) has traveled to London, Tokyo, and Melbourne – in total 100 cities around the globe. 
 
Now, for the first time, this acclaimed festival celebrating the bicycle in all its forms lands in the Berkshires at The Stationery Factory in Dalton on June 16. 
 
Experience a day-long festival featuring two curated screenings of short films accompanied by family-friendly rides and bicycle-related vendors. The festival is hosted by the Pittsfield Community Design Center and the Berkshire Chapter of New England Mountain Biking Association (NEMBA). 
 
The festival's inaugural sponsor is Housatonic Heritage with more to come.
 
According to a press release:
 
BFF: Berkshires is designed to appeal to cyclists of all ages and interests from mountain bikers to long-distance racers and everyone in between. BFF: Berkshires offers an international window into the passionate cycling movement by presenting films of a caliber that speak to film connoisseurs and avid cyclists alike. These films celebrate what makes bicycling special and showcase why bicycling is attracting a growing following worldwide, including in the Berkshires.
 
"I wanted to bring the excitement I experienced watching the virtual Bicycle Film Festival over the past few years in person to my community in Western Massachusetts," BFF: Berkshires' co-producer and Pittsfield Community Design Center organizer Nick Russo said. "This festival promises to kick off a true bike renaissance that builds on work being done countywide from the expansion of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail to encouraging more students to bike to school."
 
With an Adventure Shorts screening at 2 pm and Select Shorts at 6 pm featuring 16+ films in total, BFF: Berkshires will bring local audiences a full range of documentaries, narratives, and animations by award-winning directors and emerging talents – all sharing equal billing. 
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