Ghost Tours Return at Ventfort Hall Sept. 3

LENOX, Mass. — Join Ventfort Hall as Robert Oakes, author of Ghosts of the Berkshires, returns in September and throughout the fall to lead guests through the rooms and halls of the estate sharing tales of its hauntings.

Stand in the places where the encounters occurred, listen to the first-hand accounts of those who experienced them, and maybe even experience something unusual yourself. This is not an active investigation.

Oakes is an author, teacher, storyteller, and singer/songwriter originally from northern New Jersey and currently residing in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. Since 2010 Robert has led the ghost tours at Edith Wharton's The Mount in Lenox, MA, and has represented the museum and its ghosts on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, Jeff Belanger’s New England Legends series on PBS, and The Apple Seed show on BYUradio.

In 2020, Robert's debut book, Ghosts of the Berkshires, was published by Arcadia Publishing.

The tours will take place on Sept. 3 and 25 at 7:30 pm, Oct. 9 and 30 at 7 pm and at 11 p.m. Oct. 28. Admission is $27 and the minimum age to attend is age 12.

Reservations are required. To purchase tickets please call us at 413-637-3206. 

Please note that all tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Payment is required to make a reservation for an event. Masks are required.

Dalton Fire District Community Meeting Works to Find Solutions Various Problems

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
12:40PM / Monday, June 03, 2024

Dalton Fire Chief Christian Tobin established the monthly meetings for input on how to address the department's challenges and to foster collaboration with other town entities. 

DALTON, Mass. — The Fire District held its first community meeting on Thursday, starting the process in navigating the next steps in addressing problems the district is facing. 

 

The district's new Fire Chief Christian Tobin, established the monthly meeting to get different perspectives from residents to develop solutions to the town's problems and work together to solve them. 

 

During the meeting each attendee introduced themselves, providing background on their expertise. 

 

The nine residents had diverse backgrounds and expertise in finance, environmental, traffic and fire safety, local government, and more. 

 

Attendees included Finance Committee and Traffic Commissioner William Drosehn, Finance Committee clerk Karen Schmidt, Green Committee member Todd Logan, Prudential Committee member Daniel Filiault, former Select Board member William "Bill" Chabot, Water Commissioner Camillus Cachat, Assistant Fire Chief Chris Cachat, retired fire chief Rich Kardasen, and Dalton Democratic Committee Chair Michele Marantz. 

 

Tobin also mentioned that he had received more comments from other residents who could not attend on Thursday but expressed an interest in attending future meetings. 

 

During the meeting, attendees touched on problems the district is facing, including funding, building improvements to make the firehouse Americans with Disabilities Act accessible, building reorganization to optimize space utilization, and making the most of and expanding on tax dollars and emergency medical services fees.