Red Sox Pitcher Bill Monbouquette Joins Baseball Celebration at Norman

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STOCKBRIDGE - Bill Monbouquette, former pitching ace for the Boston Red Sox, has been added to the line-up of an all-star baseball celebration to be held at Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, July 5, from 1 to 4 p.m. Mr. Monbouquette is a 20-game winner and multi-year All Star who played for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the San Francisco Giants. He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000, and will share stories from his baseball career, which included a no-hitter and spanned from 1958 to 1968.

At 1 p.m. meet Master of Ceremonies Carl Beane, the Voice of Fenway Park and the 2008 World Championship Boston Red Sox, who will share stories about the Red Sox past and present. Try a World Series ring on for size, and snap a picture to capture the moment. At 2 p.m., meet award-winning illustrator Graig Kreindler, whose paintings depict watershed moments in baseball history. A print signing will follow the artist's illustrated talk. At 3 p.m., hear about life in the Major Leagues from former Red Sox pitcher Bill Monbouquette, or design your own baseball card in an art class for all ages. Finally, see what baseball looked like in 1886, with a visit from the Pittsfield Elms Vintage Baseball Club at 3:30 p.m. The Elms will toss the ball and discuss the evolution of the game. Other highlights include a reading of "Casey at the Bat," and appearances throughout the day from representatives of the North Adams Steeple Cats and Pittsfield Dukes baseball teams. PJ Moynihan, director and producer of "Eye on the Dream," will also be on hand to screen his documentary celebrating the game of baseball in its purest form. The afternoon is free with regular Museum admission.

Norman Rockwell Museum is open daily. General public admission is $15 for adults, $13.50 for seniors, $10 for students, and free for visitors 18 and under (five per adult). Kids Free Every Day is a gift to families from Country Curtains and the Red Lion Inn. The Museum is open daily, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May through October; from November through April, weekday hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekend/holiday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gallery tours are available daily, beginning on the hour. Antenna Audio Tour of select paintings from the Museum's permanent Norman Rockwell collection is available. Rockwell's studio, located on the Museum grounds, is open May through October. The Museum¹s Terrace Café is open May through October, serving an à la carte lunch menu seven days a week.

For more information, the public is invited to call 413.298.4100, ext. 220. Visit the Museum's Web site at http://www.nrm.org.
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Pittsfield ConCom OKs Stairs at Pontoosuc Lake

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Shoreline access stairs are coming to the south side of Pontoosuc Lake. 

Last week, the Conservation Commission approved an amendment to the Order of Conditions for work at Pontoosuc Lake Park.  There will be two stair sets on the south shoreline, and additional bank stabilization. 

In 2025, the park's south side saw new stairs from the parking lot, a boardwalk, and other improvements.  Later phases of the project will enhance the north side of the park for swimming, and remedy a concrete barrier wall that is partially underwater. 

"Generally, what we're looking to do at Pontoosuc Lake Park is install some stair sets in two locations to help folks access from up above the bank, over the bank, and into the water," Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained during the July 23 meeting. 

"We're sensitive to some of the issues that are currently existing on the bank, and we're also sensitive to some of the needs for lake recreation out there."

Stairs for water access will be placed on the shoreline at the beginning of the boardwalk, where it is highly eroded, and the second staircase will be at the extreme western end of the project area, which has around 100 feet of highly eroded bank. 

Additional brush layering will also stabilize the bank. 

An area near the boat ramp where live stakes were vandalized will see them replanted after the ConCom found some of the bank erosion was worse than believed on a site visit last year. 

The city originally proposed not replanting the area where live stakes were removed. 

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