Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox, has teamed with radio-show travel expert Stephanie Abrams to extend the season for visitors and residents of Berkshire County.
The Stephanie Abrams Travel Expo at Tanglewood will take place Sept. 14 and 15 from 10 to 4, rain or shine, in the Hawthorne Tent and is free to the public, including free parking at the main gate.
Tanglewood is two hours drive from Boston and 2 1/2 hours from New York City.
The two-day consumer travel show, to which travel professionals and group planners have been invited, will feature a variety of domestic and global tour operators, destinations, hotels, resorts and cruise lines invited by Abrams to present their offerings for travelers, with Tanglewood providing the backdrop. Prizes will be will be awarded, including a choice of stays at Loews Hotels’ Universal Orlando Resorts Portofino Bay and Hard Rock Hotel Royal Pacific Resort, Skyroll Luggage, a one-year membership in Air Ambulance Card and other travel prizes.
In addition, free musical performances will take place on Saturday. Performers include the concert pianist Ana Maria Trenchi De Bottazzi and award-winning students from the Germaine Pinault School of Music in Manhasset, N.Y.
Kim Noltemy, director of sales and marketing for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, said, "Tanglewood is one of the great summer vacation destinations. We thought it would be wonderful to have a travel expo on site after the season concludes so we can get both travel planners and consumers thinking about their plans for next summer. In many cases, travelers who come to the Berkshires in the fall have not attended concerts at Tanglewood during the summer.
"The travel expo is a good way to have them experience the beauty of Tanglewood and give them the vacation planning information they need. Also, it is an opportunity to collaborate with our colleagues in the Berkshires and promote the destination."
When asked about the collaboration, Noltemy said Abrams "is a travel industry leader and a huge advocate of the Berkshires. With her love and knowledge of the area and her national radio and television presence, she is the perfect person to create a successful event."
In planning for the event, Abrams said, "I've invited suppliers in the travel industry in keeping with my mission of introducing travelers to destinations, hotels, resorts, cruise lines that I believe deliver the quality of experience that is inspiring, uplifting, enhancing and enriching and from which travelers return home knowing they are somehow better people than when they left home. The exhibitors at the Stephanie Abrams Travel Expo fit that mold."
Exhibitors include Canard Cruise Line, Norwegian Coastal Voyage, Avalon Waterways, Globus Family of Brands, Dooley Vacations of Ireland, Homeric Tours, Central Holidays, Saxony Germany Tourism, North of Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Berkshire Visitors Bureau, Cranwell Resort, Eastover Resrot, Jiminy Peak, Crowne Plaza of Pittsfield, Red Lion Inn and Porches. As part of the exhibit festivities, "Traveling Feet," a nationally syndicated radio show on which Abrams appears weekly as its travel expert, will broadcast live from the Hawthorne Tent.
Abrams, rated one of the 100 most powerful women in travel by Travel Agent Magazine, hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, "Travel with Stephanie Abrams," is heard weekly on the Business Talk Radio Network on Sundays and hosts the monthly television travel special "JetSet411." Abrams’ award-winning Web site, www.sabrams.com, provides travel information, travel tips and details on the expo at Tanglewood.
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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