Toasting and Tasting Fundraiser

03:03PM / Thursday, October 17, 2024Print Story | Email Story

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Berkshire South Community Center's beer, wine, and spirit tasting event raises funds for the Center's operations.

On Saturday Oct. 19, a Specialty Pairing event begins at 4pm and features fine wines and spirits paired with bites prepared by chef Kevin Kelly of After Hours Catering and presented by sommelier Dan Thomas of the Egremont Spirit Shoppe.

A second event begins at 6pm at which ticket buyers will sip a selection of local libations including beer from Progression Brewing Company, cocktails from Higher Bar, spirits from Cooper's Daughter, and a variety of wines from Dare Bottleshop & Provisions and Domaney's Liquors & Fine Wines, to name a few.

There will be a mocktail station featuring seasonal spirit-free beverages and a special wine-infused sorbet for dessert from SoCo Creamery in Great Barrington. Drinks will be served alongside hors d'oeuvres by Jae's. The evening's entertainment will be provided by The Michael Junkins Group and there will be a robust silent auction filled with gift certificates, home goods, and services from your favorite Berkshire businesses.

"Funds raised at this year's event will directly support initiatives such as the Center's aquatics programs for all ages and abilities, our free teen wellness programming, free Community Suppers, early childhood and after-school care and our financial aid program, which creates greater access to our services," said Executive Director Jenise Lucey. "Our goal is to raise $200,000 in support of these essential services that are the lifeblood of our community center, touching the lives of thousands each year."

Tickets for the Specialty Pairing portion of the evening are $250. Main event tickets purchased in advance are $50, or $60 at the door. Mocktail tickets cost $35. Tickets are for sale online at berkshiresouth.org/toasting-and-tasting. Call for more info: 413.528.2810.

Sponsors of Toasting & Tasting include Jane Iredale and Bob Montgomery, Buzz and Robin McGraw, Fairview Hospital, Susan and Hank Ferlauto, Barbara and Roger Manring, Ethel Patterson and Michael Bandzierz, Robert Yaffe, Adams Community Bank, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Mark and Hannah Gross, Jae's, Erica Jaffe, Suzanne and David Klausmeyer, NBT Bank, Acrisure, Allegrone Companies, Autobahn Service, Maggie Buchwald, Carlson Heating & Air Conditioning, Carlson Propane, Brian Cruey and Matt King, Dare Bottleshop & Provisions, Margaret Deutsch, Bobbie Hallig, Mary and Charles Hamilton, Jill and Robert Jaffe, Lance Vermeulen Real Estate, Estelle Miller, Mirabito, Molari, Jane Miller Shea and Terry Shea, Jerry and John Soechting, Theory Wellness, and Malvina Wasserman.

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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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