Lee native writes mystery game

By Kate AbbottPrint Story | Email Story
LEE — Every year Lee hosts a murder investigation. This year’s murder was committed during the Civil War. Local historian Paul Monachina has written the 2003 Murder Mystery Game around which the Lee Lodging Association will base their annual autumn mystery weekend. Guests at Lee’s inns and bed and breakfasts will have the chance to solve the “Housatonic House Mystery” on the first two weekends in November, according to Barbara Mahoney, owner of the Parsonage B&B. Monachina has created eight characters or roles in his plot. Guests will gather in groups of eight — people at different inns may play together — and become Civil War residents of Lee for the weekend, as they unravel the mystery. “My sister Janis gave me the idea,” Monachina said. “It’s taken a long time to work out. I made it as historically correct as possible. I did research in Lee, Lenox and Pittsfield.” Monachina has set the story in buildings that have stood since the Civil War, such as the Morgan House, then called the Porter House, where the players will gather for dinner. The corpse is due to appear at the Housatonic House, a real inn that once stood on the site of Memorial Hall, he said. In the 1850s, the three-story inn stood beside the Congregational church, facing the park. The Housatonic House burned down in 1867 during a snowstorm that left drifts so high the fire department had to shovel their way to the hotel. The Greenock Hotel on Franklin Street burned soon afterward. “Imagine how the town would have changed if those hotels were still here,” Monachina said. Monachina’s story also mentions other places that date back to 1850, including Williams College and the Springfield Armory and the Lee marble quarry, which was doing a booming trade then and providing marble for monuments across the nation. “There was a Little Italy down by the quarry, where the Italian immigrants lived. They came to work the stone. It was a hard job, and very dangerous,” Monachina said. The game works much like Host-a-Murder™, he explained. Guests receive their characters beforehand and are encouraged to show up in appropriate dress. They assemble to discover the murderer of Mae B. Schewil, a promiscuous actress whose husband has gone off to war. Each guest receives information about themselves that they try to conceal, and information about other guests that they scramble to reveal. Two of the characters live in Lee and one in Otis, and all have Berkshire connections, Monachina said. They have specific occupations, such as Sarah Chasm, reporter for the “Valley Gleaner,” and they all have humorous names. Warren Pease, named for Pease Drug Store — now McClelland’s — and Constable I. C. Nutting, chief of the Lee police force for 20 years, both have historic Lee last names. Nutting is in charge of the investigation, he said. “It’s such a small town, everyone knew everyone then. Everyone had to come into town by a certain way, either by train or by stage,” he said. Monachina‘s family has done a dry run to test it, and has endorsed it. Monachina said they all enjoyed it, and his mother carried off the part of Ruth Less, abolitionist and campaigner for women’s rights, particularly brilliantly. “Everyone thought they were the murderer,” he said. Janis Monachina, who is also the owner of Crabtree Cottage Bed and Breakfast, has already booked a party of six for the first weekend. This year, Crabtree Cottage, the Applegate Inn, Appleton House B&B, Ashley Inn, Baird House, the John Bottomley House, Devonfield, the Federal House Inn, Historic Merrell Inn, the Jonathan Foote 1778 House and The Parsonage On The Green, all in Lee, and Conroy’s B&B in Stockbridge will join in the game. The Lee Lodging Association has hidden specific clues in all the inns, and any guest who finds one may enter the drawing for a free pass to next year’s mystery. The association will also offer a low price for local residents, with a coupon from the Berkshire Visitors Bureau. Guests must make their reservations by Oct. 24. Information: www.leelodgingassociation.org ; 243-4364.
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Friends of Great Barrington Libraries Holiday Book Sale

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Friends of Great Barrington Libraries invite the community to shop their annual Holiday Good-as-New Book Sale, happening now through the end of the year at the Mason Library, 231 Main Street. 
 
With hundreds of curated gently used books to choose from—fiction, nonfiction, children's favorites, gift-quality selections, cookbooks, and more—it's the perfect local stop for holiday gifting.
 
This year's sale is an addition to the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Stroll on this Saturday, Dec. 13, 3–8 PM. Visitors can swing by the Mason Library for early parking, browse the sale until 3:00 PM, then meet Pete the Cat on the front lawn before heading downtown for the Stroll's shopping, music, and festive eats.
 
Can't make the Holiday Stroll? The book sale is open during regular Mason Library hours throughout December.
 
Proceeds support free library programming and events for all ages.
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