Lee motel becomes Rodeway, joins franchise

By Bill SamplePrint Story | Email Story
Workers Corey McGrath of Cheshire, left and Mark Jones of Pittsfield were installing the new sign at the Rodeway Motel on Rt. 20 in Lee Wednesday morning
LEE — The Laurel Hill Motel on Route 20 has undergone renovations to the rooms, office, lobby and parking area over the past 18 months, and owner Mukesh “Mike” Desai, who bought the 3.5-acre property in March 2003, announced Tuesday that he has joined the Choice Hotels International franchise. His Laurel Hill Motel will change names to the Rodeway Inn starting this week. Choice Hotels International franchises include chains such as Quality Inn, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge and Clarion Inn, according to company spokesman Bill Duncan. It is the second largest lodging franchiser in the United States, with over 5,000 properties under its brand name and generates over $1 billion of room revenue per year, he said. “Mike has done a beautiful job on this property” said Duncan, operations manager for the transition, who was on site working with the computer systems on Monday morning. “We worked through a few minor physical changes to comply with standards. The most visible physical change will be the signs changing.” Duncan added that the new Roadway Inn will enable Desai and his wife, Shilpa, who will run the motel as a team, to become part of a nationwide central reservation system that makes it easy for customers to book rooms. The Rodeway franchise is supported by millions of spent annually on advertising and by listings on a comprehensive international Web site. Desai and his wife, daughters Zarna and Niral, and now teenage son, Pranav, moved here from Baroda, India, in 1995. A graduate of the University of Baroda, he worked as a marketing officer for the United India Insurance Co. before moving here “for the educational opportunities for my kids,” Desai said. The entire family became U.S. citizens in a ceremony in 2000. “That was a happy day for us,” Desai said. One of his daughters is married now and lives in New Jersey; the other is a student at the University of Massachusetts. Pranav lives and works at the motel with his parents and attends Lenox High School. Bringing a little bit of his country’s culture with him, Desai’s love of cricket blossomed into his organizing the Berkshire County Cricket Club, which attracts experienced players and newcomers to the game at West Memorial Park in Pittsfield on Sunday afternoons. Desai was a captain of his high school and college cricket teams, and as part of a Baroda team, he traveled extensively around the Far East in 1982. He is a past president of the Lions’ Club in his hometown of Baroda, which is in western India, near Bombay. The new Rodeway Inn will be an independent property, associated with the Rodeway franchise, and will be owned and operated by Mukesh and Shilpa Desai, under the name Pranav Inc., doing business as the Rodeway Inn. The refurbished motel features 23 rooms, some with Jacuzzis; rooms with single, double, queen and king-size beds, an outdoor swimming pool and 3.5 acres of landscaped grounds for guests to enjoy. It is close to Laurel Lake’s swimming and boating and is centrally located between Lee and Lenox, close to Tanglewood and other Berkshire attractions.
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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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