At Eastover Resort, it’s still all in the family

By Kate AbbottPrint Story | Email Story
Ticki Winsor. (Photo By Kate Abbott)
LENOX — Robert and Susan McNinch have sold their shares in Eastover Resort after more than 40 years of running it. But the resort’s Berkshire Cottage and 20 buildings, 600 acres, 17 bison and one cannon will not change, Ticki Winsor, Susan McNinch’s sister, said in an interview last week. Winsor cemented a lifelong attachment to Eastover by buying it outright on March 25, with help from her daughters, Betsy Kelly of Lenox and Susie Sudnikovich of Mendham, N.J. George and Ruth Bisacca founded the resort 57 years ago. They handed it on to their daughters, McNinch and Winsor, when they retired, Winsor said. The McNinches stepped back from the active running of the resort the resort four years ago, and Winsor and Kelly have run it between them since. “Because I’ve lived here all my life, it’s not just my job — it is my life, Winsor said. “I think my daughter feels the same. The staff and the guests are part of my family.” The McNinches will remain in town, but they will not be involved at all in running the resort, she said. “After nearly 45 years of hard work, they wanted to retire. It’s well deserved,” she said. “But once you’re a part of Eastover, you’re always a part of it. They’re already missed by the guests and staff.” Susan McNinch and Winsor have worked at Eastover since they were teenagers, and Robert McNinch began working there in the summers in 1959 and 1960, Winsor said. He met his wife there and came to work at the resort full-time with her in 1965. Winsor said there were no job descriptions at Eastover back then: They all did whatever needed doing. Bob McNinch waited tables and worked with the maintenance crew before he became general manager. Susan McNinch worked in the dining room and the store before taking over the resort’s accounting. Eastover opened Memorial Day 1947 as a resort for single people. On a full “singles weekend,” it can accommodate 350 guests, Winsor said. The McNinches were not the first guests to pair up at Eastover. As guests met and married, the resort began hosting couples and families. And children of people who met at Eastover came back as singles and met others. “We take pride in the many families who have come back with their children and grandchildren,” Winsor said. “Next weekend, there’s a couple getting married here who met here as children.” Eastover no longer reenacts Civil War battles on the lawn, but the guests and the staff still keep busy, she said. Besides volleyball, swimming, archery, dances, horseback riding, cross country skiing and basketball, the resort hosts special events throughout the year. “The fun of it is all the different things we do. It’s a recreational resort — informal,” Winsor said. “We host singles, couples and families at different times. We have corporate retreats and specialty weekends like the Berkshire Rally, Girls’ Weekend and Alcoholics Anonymous Sober Weekend.” The resort hosts picnics, “Murder Mystery” dinners and local events, too, as well as safari rides through the bison’s’ pasture. Bisacca bought four bison for the resort 36 years ago, when the government auctioned them from herds on wildlife reserves. The herd has grown to 17, and Winsor expects to see four more calves in the next two months. She said she sees promise for Eastover’s future. “I’m really excited about our future and very excited to carry on. I don’t separate my work from my private life; I can’t imagine not having it.”
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Pittsfield Sees Similar Water/Sewer Rate Hike in FY27

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The mayor's office has proposed a 7 percent water rate increase and a 6.40 percent sewer rate increase for fiscal year 2027. 

Budget season has begun, and on Tuesday, the City Council will see proposed water and sewer rates.  This would increase scheduled accounts by about $6.50 per month, and metered accounts would rise by about $4.30 per month. 

They are based on a 5.10 percent Consumer Price Index Factor. 

"The rate changes proposed support the budget for the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds and fund increases in salaries and expenses for Utilities system operations, debt service for capital projects, and the build-up of Retained Earnings," Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities wrote in a communication. 

Under these rates, the average household would pay about $370 per year for one toilet and about $461 for its sewer, totaling around $831. Additional toilets would cost about $416 per year, and metered water would be $2.67 per 100 cubic feet for water and $5.48 per 100 cubic feet for sewer, totaling $8.15 per 100 cubic feet. 

Swimming pool charges would increase from $100 annually to $120. 

The FY26 increases were almost the same: a 7 percent water rate increase and a 6 percent sewer rate increase. 

A couple of years ago, Mayor Peter Marchetti proposed a formula-based approach for water/sewer rates that aims to fairly adjust rates yearly using the Consumer Price Index Factor (CPIF) and the Operational Stability Factor (OSF).

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