1Berkshire Adds Senior Marketing Specialist

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Elizabeth Nelson has joined 1Berkshires as the senior marketing specialist.

Nelson is working hand-in-hand with Lindsey Schmid, vice president of Tourism and Marketing for 1Berkshire, to continue to market the Berkshires as a great place to live, work and play. She will also work with the team on marketing the Berkshire Flyer and focus on a revamp of the website.

"We are thrilled to bring Elizabeth on board and add a new position to the marketing team," Schmid said. "We look forward to utilizing her considerable skills in marketing, as well as her expertise and connections with the creative economy to help promote the Berkshires - both regionally and nationally."

Nelson previously served as the marketing communications manager at Berkshire Humane Society, where she helmed the marketing strategy, redesigning the Humane Tales newsletter and helping to open a second Catwalk Boutique (the shelter's successful upscale resale shop) in Lenox. Before moving to the Berkshires, she worked for the national labor union Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, where she helped launch SDC Journal, a quarterly magazine celebrating the crafts of stage direction and choreography. She served as SDC Journal's inaugural Art Director for eight years.

Nelson is a playwright and multidisciplinary artist. Recently, her plays "Colors Inside the Body" (which she developed as a member of Berkshire Voices) and "The Golden Hour" received readings in New York City and Denver, respectively, and her 10-minute play "Fugue" has been produced worldwide. She is an outdoor enthusiast and animal welfare advocate, and lives in Pittsfield with her husband, three cats and a Puggle named Harper Lee.

New Camp Is Safe Place for Children Suffering Loss to Addiction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
06:26AM / Saturday, December 27, 2025

Last year's Happy Campers courtesy of Max Tabakin.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A new camp is offering a safe place for children who have lost a parent or guardian to addiction. 

 

Director Gayle Saks founded the nonprofit "Camp Happy Place" last year. The first camp was held in June with 14 children.

 

Saks is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor who works at the Brien Center. One of her final projects when studying was how to involve youth, and a camp came to mind. Camp had been her "happy place" growing up, and it became her dream to open her own.

 

"I keep a bucket list in my wallet, and it's right on here on this list, and I cross off things that I've accomplished," she said. "But it is the one thing on here that I knew I had to do."

 

The overnight co-ed camp is held at a summer camp in Winsted, Conn., where Saks spent her summers as a child. It is four nights and five days and completely free. Transportation is included as are many of the items needed for camping. The camp takes up to 30 children.

 

"I really don't think there's any place that exists specifically for this population. I think it's important to know, we've said this, but that it is not a therapeutic camp," Saks said.

 

She said the focus is on fun for the children, though they are able to talk to any of the volunteer and trained staff. The staff all have experience in social work, addiction and counseling, and working with children.