State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli speaks with students at DuBois Middle School. The legislator has also served as a selectman, county commissioner and planning board member.
LENOX, Mass. — State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli will not run for re-election this fall.
The dean of the Berkshire delegation has served in office for 22 years representing the citizens of Central and South Berkshire County.
Pignatelli made his announcement on Tuesday, saying it came with mixed emotions.
"Driven by a deep desire to make our community better and fueled by the support and love of family,friends, constituents, and 'Team Smitty' through the years, I wake up every day ready to serve our commonwealth and that will not cease," he wrote via email. "There is always more to do but, I feel it's time for a new generation of leadership to, hopefully, make the people of the 3rd Berkshire District their priority as your new state representative."
The Lenox Democrat said he was making the announcement on what would have been his father's 100th birthday to give potential candidates "plenty of opportunity" to consider running.
"I've long said that serving is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm not going anywhere. I promise you that I'll be running through the tape at the end of my term in January 2025," he wrote.
Pignatelli first represented the 4th Berkshire District when he was elected in 2002 and then the 3rd Berkshire after redistricting a few years ago. It now consists of Alford, Becket, Dalton, Egremont, Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Marlborough, Otis, Richmond, Sandisfield, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Tyringham, Washington, and West Stockbridge, all in the county of Berkshire.
He is currently vice chair of the House and Joint Committees on Rules and a member of the joint committees on education, financial services and tourism, arts and cultural development.
He listed what he believed were the highlights of his career:
Voting to make Massachusetts the 1st state to have "Health Care for All";
With the eyes of the world upon us, making my inaugural speech in support of same-sex marriage, once again a first in the nation;
Protecting women's health care;
Being on the team that created the cultural facilities fund, the only one in nation to invest billions of dollars in the Massachusetts cultural economy;
Championing and funding youth development and non-profits;
Bringing much-needed funds home to Berkshire county to ensure our infrastructure, housing, jobs, and economy will thrive into the future for generations to come;
Investing in new creative partnerships that benefit the Berkshires and the whole state.
Pignatelli spent four years as a county commissioner and was serving his 11th year as a Lenox selectman when he was elected to the House. Before he joined the Select Board, he served five years on the Planning Board and 10 years volunteering on various appointed boards. He's also served on a number of nonprofit boards. He has said public service was the best job he ever had.
He's been recognized by a numerous groups and organizations for his efforts including the Brien Center's Community Service Award, UNICO and as the Robert "Bees" Prendergast's Irish Person of the Year
The representative said he and his siblings had their greatest mentors for service in their parents. John Pignatelli was a World War II veteran who came home to start an electrical business that is still in the family. He was the town of Lenox's longest serving selectman at 32 years and was a county commissioner for 20, as well as being involved in numerous civic organizations. Mary Jane Pignatelli was a teacher for nearly 40 years in the Lenox schools.
"Serving in elected office has been extremely fulfilling but I've learned that serving your community outside of elected office can be just as rewarding," said Pignatelli. "Making this decision has not been an easy one because I still love my job and have been inspired every day to help others. ...
"Public service should not be self-service — to me, it's service to others. I've been fortunate to have a front row seat to groundbreaking 'firsts' and taking votes that changed history."
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The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.
Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director.
Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.
The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.
"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.
Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.
"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."
One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.
Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.
"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.
They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.
"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.
The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.
Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.
"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said.
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