Community Contra Dance

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NORTH ADAMS — On Saturday, July 13 there will be a community contra dance.
 
North Berkshire Community Dance will hold its monthly contra dance with calling by Fern Bradley, and live music provided by local musicians.
 
All are welcome. New dancers and families with children are encouraged to arrive by 7:30 for instruction in the basics.
 
Fern Bradley will call all dances, starting the evening with easy dances friendly to newcomers and families with children. The caller teaches new moves and skills as needed, so that beginners can dance with everyone right from the start.  Music will be live, by local musicians in varied small ensembles, organized by Eric Buddington. 
 
The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the All Saints Episcopal Church, 59 Summer St., North Adams.  Use the door closest to the post office.  Admission is pay-as-you-can:  $5 - $15, or barter equivalent, suggested. 
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Freight Yard Pub Serving the Community for Decades

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

One of the eatery's menu mainstays is the popular French onion soup. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Freight Yard Pub has been serving the community for decades with a welcoming atmosphere and homemade food.
 
Siblings Sean and Colleen Taylor are the owners Freight Yard Pub. They took it over with their brother Kevin and Colleen's first husband in 1992. The two came from Connecticut and Boston to establish a restaurant and said they immediately felt welcomed in their new home.
 
"The reception that the community gave us in the beginning was so warm and so welcoming that we knew we found home," Colleen Taylors said. "We've made this area our homes since then, as a matter of fact, all of our friends and relationships came out of Freight Yard Pub."
 
The pub is located in Western Gateway Heritage State Park, and its decor is appropriately train-themed, as the building it's in used to be part of the freight yard, but it also has an Irish pub feel. It is the only original tenant still operating in the largely vacant park. The Taylors purchased the business after it had several years of instability and closures; they have run it successfully for more than three decades.
 
Colleen and Sean have been working together since they were teenagers. They have operated a few restaurants, including the former Taylor's on Holden Street, and currently operate takeout restaurant Craft Food Barn, Trail House Kitchen & Bar and Berkshire Catering Co., operating as Bay State Hospitality Group. Over the weekend, it was announced they would take over management of the historic Store at Five Corners in Williamstown.
 
"Sean and I've been working together. Gosh, I think since we were 16, and we have a wonderful business relationship, where I know what I cover, he knows what he covers," she said. "We chat every single day, literally every day we have a morning phone call to say, OK, checking in."
 
The two enjoy being a part of the community and making sure to lend a hand to those who made them feel so welcome in the first place.
 
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