Letter: Support Lynette Bond for the Future of North Adams

Letter to the Editor06:00PM / Tuesday, October 26, 2021Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

I moved to North Adams in 2014. I fell in love with its community spirit, its welcoming attitude, and its impressive collection of cultural venues, from Mass MoCA to small local music shows. I have stayed for those reasons and many more — I owe a lot to North Adams and the Berkshires. I have a beautiful community of friends and colleagues here. My daughter, born in May, will get to grow up surrounded by and supported by that beautiful community. She'll go to North Adams schools, run around with her friends at North Adams summer camps, learn about art and science and history at North Adams and Berkshire cultural outposts.

In 2014, the city looked a little different — Colegrove's renovation was underway, the downtown was a little quieter. As a professional adult in my late 20s, I got to enjoy the opening of Bright Ideas, the Mohawk bar renovation, eating at new restaurants like Grazie and A-OK. In my early 30s, I had the opportunity to watch projects like Greylock Works and the UNO Center and the skate park develop, then fill with people excited to have new things to do and new community spaces to enjoy. What an exciting time for our community, no matter who we are or where we come from!

All this to say: I moved here knowing that North Adams was already a wonderful place — and that it had incredible potential, room to grow, and an awesome community ready to facilitate that growth. I didn't move here because it was an awesome place once, before I was born. The world is very different than it was back then — for better and for worse.

That's why I'm supporting Lynette Bond for mayor. North Adams deserves leadership that keeps looking forward. We need leaders dedicated to finding solutions, investments, and innovations that will endure for the decades ahead. I think Lynette embodies that spirit, and she has the experience with grants and city planning that will keep us moving ahead, ready to face the challenges and opportunities today, next year, and for years to come.

Francesca Olsen
North Adams, Mass.

Tags: city election, election 2021, letters to the editor,

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North Adams Restaurant to Closing in Two Weeks

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
02:18PM / Wednesday, November 04, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A downtown restaurant announced on Wednesday that it will be closing.

In a Facebook post, Door Prize stated its last day of service is Saturday, Nov. 14.

"We are not making this decision lightly and wish there was another way forward," read the post by owners Bryan "Swifty" Josephs and Jenny Klowden.

"We feel great pride for our successes and for a wonderful year of serving our community. Now on to the next adventure!"

They also thanked their staff and patrons who enjoyed their food

The restaurant opened over a year ago in Hotel Downstreet after Josephs and Klowden previously had a residence at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, where they sold some of their signature dishes, as well as working in area restaurants, bringing their food to farmers markets and operating a catering business.

The two named the restaurant after a John Prine song that they danced to at their wedding. Josephs described their fare as European comfort food, with one of their most popular dishes being pierogies.

They also successfully renovated the covered porch outside the restaurant for dining, raising $7,000 through a Kickstarter

While their post did not allude as to why they are closing, iBerkshires has reached out for more answers.

The 90-room hotel has reportedly been sold, with a closing expected by the end of the month. Owner Peregrine Group put the former Holiday Inn up for sale earlier this year after purchasing the property for $4.45 million in 2021. According to reports in The Berkshire Eagle, the cost of renovations to the 55-year-old property put a dent into revenues that limited the hotel's ability to cover obligations.

It's not clear if this has anything to do with the restaurant, which operates as a separate entity.

"We are not looking for a public discourse on our business model or the closure," the Door Prize post states, inviting patrons to personally contact the Josephs or Klowden rather than comment on the posting.

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