Red Sox Pitcher Bill Monbouquette Joins Baseball Celebration at Norman

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STOCKBRIDGE - Bill Monbouquette, former pitching ace for the Boston Red Sox, has been added to the line-up of an all-star baseball celebration to be held at Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, July 5, from 1 to 4 p.m. Mr. Monbouquette is a 20-game winner and multi-year All Star who played for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the San Francisco Giants. He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000, and will share stories from his baseball career, which included a no-hitter and spanned from 1958 to 1968.

At 1 p.m. meet Master of Ceremonies Carl Beane, the Voice of Fenway Park and the 2008 World Championship Boston Red Sox, who will share stories about the Red Sox past and present. Try a World Series ring on for size, and snap a picture to capture the moment. At 2 p.m., meet award-winning illustrator Graig Kreindler, whose paintings depict watershed moments in baseball history. A print signing will follow the artist's illustrated talk. At 3 p.m., hear about life in the Major Leagues from former Red Sox pitcher Bill Monbouquette, or design your own baseball card in an art class for all ages. Finally, see what baseball looked like in 1886, with a visit from the Pittsfield Elms Vintage Baseball Club at 3:30 p.m. The Elms will toss the ball and discuss the evolution of the game. Other highlights include a reading of "Casey at the Bat," and appearances throughout the day from representatives of the North Adams Steeple Cats and Pittsfield Dukes baseball teams. PJ Moynihan, director and producer of "Eye on the Dream," will also be on hand to screen his documentary celebrating the game of baseball in its purest form. The afternoon is free with regular Museum admission.

Norman Rockwell Museum is open daily. General public admission is $15 for adults, $13.50 for seniors, $10 for students, and free for visitors 18 and under (five per adult). Kids Free Every Day is a gift to families from Country Curtains and the Red Lion Inn. The Museum is open daily, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May through October; from November through April, weekday hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekend/holiday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gallery tours are available daily, beginning on the hour. Antenna Audio Tour of select paintings from the Museum's permanent Norman Rockwell collection is available. Rockwell's studio, located on the Museum grounds, is open May through October. The Museum¹s Terrace Café is open May through October, serving an à la carte lunch menu seven days a week.

For more information, the public is invited to call 413.298.4100, ext. 220. Visit the Museum's Web site at http://www.nrm.org.
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Pittsfield Council Says 'Yes' to Soccer at Crane Park

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

The pitch will have the logos of the city and the US. and Massachusetts soccer associations. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is gladly accepting a "mini-pitch" from the U.S. Soccer Foundation to bring games back to Crane Park. 

Fueling excitement around the World Cup, U.S. Soccer has been working with the Massachusetts Youth Soccer League to make these facilities available to 20 communities — one of which will be at the park at the intersection of Benedict Road and Springside Avenue. 

The City Council accepted the gift on Tuesday during its regular meeting. 

A mini pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates. It has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together; installed on the existing inline hockey court. 

Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham said he has gone door to door speaking with nearby residents, and they are "really excited" about the upgrade. He also sees it as a great addition. 

"They say that nobody really uses the court a ton now, and they are excited to see kids back on there playing," he said. 

Decades ago, the Crane Park facility was a wading pool. It closed in 1980, and before the turn of the century, it was filled in and marked for hockey. 

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained that the wooden border around the rink is showing its age, has been vandalized and tagged, and the facility is seeing a "real decline" in use. 

"This would seem to be an appropriate spot for us to remove the board system that's in place and install the mini pitch system through this grant," he said. 

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