Country Fair and Crafts Festival at Hancock Shaker Village

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Pittsfield - Hancock Shaker Village's Country Fair and Crafts Festival featuring the New England Heritage Breeds Conservancy exhibition and sale of livestock is scheduled for Saturday, September 27 and Sunday, September 28, from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. Wagon rides, craft sales and demonstrations, a quilt show, a parade of animals, and hands-on farm activities combine to make this a great weekend for the entire family. Children under 18 years of age are admitted free. Crafts and Trades Market In addition to the many traditional crafts demonstrated daily at the Village, some thirty-five of the region's top crafts producers sell their wares and demonstrate traditional craft techniques. Shaker and Shaker inspired craft artisans include: Jim Bennet with Shaker furniture, Beale and Gibbs making Shaker poplarware, oval box maker David Coleman, artist Sister Karlyn Cauley who creates Shaker-inspired watercolors, oval box maker Steve Grasselli, Bob Casey making Shaker clocks and boxes, basket maker Gerrie Kennedy, Stephen and Cheryl Barlow making Shaker style furnishings, Bob Raymaakers of Shaker Valley Woodworkers, and Pam Agostino making Shaker and Nantucket baskets. A broad array of textile arts from spinning and weaving to quilting and embroidery are represented by Elaine O'Donal, Mostrom and Chase Handweavers, Embroidery Guild of America - Berkshire Chapter, Tom and Josie Speckert, Berkshire Weavers Guild, Karen Moytka, Amy Lund, and the Berkshire Hills and Dales Spinning Guild. Wood working from sign making to wooden ware to furniture and chairs is demonstrated by: Roy Gibson and Patti Exster, Trent Link, Jim Hartlage, John Witherbee, Maria Holt, James Stewart, Bob Tobin, and Robin Booth. Other craft artisans are: potter Peter Neff, Tin smiths Walter Fleming and John Santo, noted stone carver Karin Sprague, broom maker J.P. Welch, Frank Disbrow making quill pens, soap making with North American Naturals, Deb Pierce creating scratch carved (sgraffito) eggs, Sue and Noel Strobino with salt and stone pottery. A farmers market offering a variety of general farm produce, fruits, vegetables, maple syrup, dried flowers, herbs, and more features West Branch Flower Farm of Washington, Massachusetts, The Berry Patch at Stonewall Hill Farm in Stephentown, New York, Ioka Valley Farm from Hancock Massachusetts, Berkshire Harvest, of Lanesboro Massachusetts, Clove Hill Farm of Richmond, Massachusetts, and Hands to Work Farm of New Lebanon, New York. Exhibition of Historic Livestock The weekend is an opportunity to see historic breeds of farm animals, presented by upwards of 60 exhibitors from throughout the Northeast in the New England Heritage Breeds Conservancy livestock exhibition and sale. The breeds shown at the event represent a broad spectrum of rare livestock including: Poitou and American Mammoth Jackstock Asses; Dutch Belted, Highland, and Randall Lineback Cattle; San Clemente Goats; American Cream, Cleveland Bay and Exmoor Horses; Gloucestershire Old Spot, Large Black, and Tamworth Pigs; and Cotswold, Karakul and Tunis Sheep. Poultry breeds expected to be shown include: Dominique and Jersey Giant Chickens; Cayuga and Indian Runner Ducks; Pilgrim and Sebastopol Geese; Narragansett, and Bourbon Red Turkeys. The owners of these rare animals are eager to share their knowledge of and love for their breeds with many allowing for close contact with the animals. Each day at 3:00 pm is a Parade of Animals during which the animals wend their way around the 1826 Round Stone Barn and farm yard. Fruits of Our Hands - Quilt Show Visitors view a variety of vintage and contemporary quilts in Fruits of Our Hands, a show featuring the extraordinary work of local and regional quilters. Connie Logan of Great Barrington has taken the "Baltimore Album" quilt type to a new level by producing it in redwork. "Shaker Meeting House" is a 14" x 24" hanging designed and made by Mary L. Rentz showcasing a classic Shaker building within a border of traditional "wild geese" and star patterns. "Community quilts," often made by church and other groups to be raffled, bring the quilting bee tradition into modern times. Representing this category is "Autumn Leaves," a queen-sized quilt made by the Ladies' Benevolent society of South Congregational Church in Pittsfield. Annika Findlay of Great Barrington has given a contemporary feel to a classic log cabin variation in her dramatic red, white and blue "Hexagon." Other activities happening throughout the weekend highlight historic farming and traditional crafts. Hands-on harvest activities such as cider making and grain thrashing as well as working livestock demonstrations give visitors a feeling of what farm life was like in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Jack Sobon and Dave Carlon conclude their 5-day timber frame construction workshop on Sunday. Hancock Shaker Village is a 200-year-old, restored Shaker site. Its twenty historic buildings house the premier collection of Shaker artifacts. Daily talks, demonstrations, and first person programs bring 200 years of Shaker history to life. Currently on exhibition is American Radiance: Fraktur from the Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum in which over 40 important examples of Pennsylvania-German fraktur and painted furniture are shown. Hancock Shaker Village is located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on Route 20, just west of the junction of Routes 20 & 41. For information on the Village and its programs call (800)817-1137 or visit www.hancockshakervillage.org.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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