Science and Art Program during April School Break

04:07PM / Friday, April 05, 2024Print Story | Email Story

SOUTH ERGEMONT, Mass. — Flying Cloud Institute and Greenagers will hold a science and art exploration program during the April school break.

The program is geared for children aged 7 to 13 years and runs April 15-18, 2024, from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm (with early drop-off at 8:30 am), at the April Hill Education and Conservation Center in South Egremont.

Participants will engage in science investigations, art projects, engineering challenges and nature explorations. During February Break, students explored material science by making phosphorescent (glow-in-the-dark) polymers and learned about sound by making oscilloscopes. Students also took part in an engineering challenge by using sticks, marshmallows and straws to design structures, and were introduced to TinkerCad design software and 3D printers. They learned about sheep, observed wool and other fur samples under the microscope, and created felted wool projects. The program concluded with an outdoor walk, scavenger hunt, and showcase of creations.

The April vacation week program will once again be located at April Hill Education and Conservation Center, which serves as the headquarters for Greenagers, as well as a resource for community gatherings and education. The nearly 100-acre property has nature trails, vegetable gardens, orchards, pastures and hayfields, and abuts the Appalachian Trail.

"Flying Cloud Institute is pleased to partner with Greenagers on another exciting adventure! We look forward to engaging young scientists, artists, explorers and engineers with experiences that ignite their creativity," said Maria Rundle, Executive Director.

The cost is $220 for the four-day program and financial aid is available. To register, visit flyingcloudinstitute.org or call (413) 645-3058 with questions.

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South County Celebrates 250th Anniversary of the Knox Trail

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
06:18PM / Sunday, January 11, 2026

State Sen. Paul Mark carries the ceremonial linstock, a device used to light artillery. With him are New York state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and state Sen. Nick Collins of Suffolk County.

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. —The 250th celebration of American independence began in the tiny town of Alford on Saturday morning.

Later that afternoon, a small contingent of re-enactors, community members and officials marched from the Great Barrington Historical Society to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center to recognize the Berkshire towns that were part of that significant event in the nation's history.

State Sen. Paul Mark, as the highest ranking Massachusetts governmental official at the Alford crossing, was presented a ceremonial linstock flying the ribbons representing every New York State county that Henry Knox and his team passed through on their 300-mile journey from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in the winter of 1775-76.

"The New York contingent came to the border. We had a speaking program, and they officially handed over the linstock, transferring control of the train to Massachusetts," said Mark, co-chair of Massachusetts' special commission for the semiquincentennial. "It was a great melding of both states, a kind of coming together."

State Rep. Leigh Davis called Knox "an unlikely hero, he was someone that rose up to the occasion. ... this is really honoring someone that stepped into a role because he was called to serve, and that is something that resonates."

Gen. George Washington charged 25-year-old bookseller Knox with bringing artillery from the recently captured fort on Lake Champlain to the beleaugured and occupied by Boston. It took 80 teams of horses and oxen to carry the nearly 60 tons of cannon through snow and over mountains.

Knox wrote to Washington that "the difficulties were inconceivable yet surmountable" and left the fort in December. He crossed the Hudson River in early January near Albany, crossing into Massachusetts on what is now Route 71 on Jan. 10, 1776. By late January, he was in Framingham and in the weeks to follow the artillery was positioned on Dorchester Heights.

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