Guest Column: A Thank You to Marcy's Searchers

Dear Berkshire Community, 

It's now been four weeks since we were made to realize the palpable community spirit very much thriving throughout our larger community.

A picture of the recovered Marcy from her lost-and-found posting on Facebook. 

In early December you might recall the powerful three-day snowstorm and below-freezing conditions that hit the region stronger than most in recent memory. As a lover of winter and snow that first morning I took pictures and sent them to family who I hoped would see some snow when they came for Christmas.

We happen to live only a few houses away from Bullard Woods so as with most days I planned to take my two dogs for a walk in the forest and Gould Meadows, but the beautiful, fresh snow lifted that to excitement. Marcy is 13 1/2 and Freddy is 12 1/2. We got them many years ago as adult rescues. They are the joy of my daily journey in nature.

For the past few years Marcy, especially, has lost weight regardless of what we feed her. So for the past few years I became that guy who shows up to the woods in cold weather with big dogs bundled up with a first layer
of reindeer sweaters (including antlers), a second layer of parkas, and their harnesses fitted snugly around both those layers. More poignant, this was to be one of Marcy's first walks back into the woods since her eye removal (due to a tumor) only three weeks prior.

Every day Marcy tells us when it's time to eat … not so much Freddy. When it's near 4:30 p.m. she begins hopping, pacing and whining. I was leaving at 4 p.m. for our walk. Therefore, that day my wife thought I should take a short walk not only because it was almost time for their dinner but she felt more conservative than usual about a shorter walk considering Marcy had only recently recovered from surgery. 

Given the snowy conditions I was alone that afternoon in the woods except for one person I saw later on. I let the dogs off leash to play in the snow and they loved it. They trotted around, sniffed, and had fun. It would be dark soon so we would be heading back shortly. Then it happened. Marcy, in a rare moment, started trotting away, tail up, happy, but toward home, a route she knows perfectly well. I called her, but could tell she was on a non-stop path home anticipating dinner.

To reach the road before her so she didn't get hit by a car in the storm, I quickly leashed old Freddy and began running up the direct path to the street making sure Freddy wasn't getting too exhausted. From our hurrying I was confident we would arrive at the street first. Phew; no cars were anywhere due to the storm. But no Marcy either. I jogged down the road calling. Nothing. I guessed she must have made it to the house somehow before we did so I ran to the door knowing she would be barking and waiting. Not there.

My heart was racing. She had vanished.

In short, Marcy was gone for three days in the freezing almost-blizzard. Our pets are family members. Not everyone feels that way about pets but for those who do it's easy to imagine our fears. To spare the horror I won't detail all that went through our minds. We were devastated.

Enter the community. By the first hour of missing her we contacted the Stockbridge Police who immediately contacted the animal control officer. Soon more groups were contacted. Our phones started blowing up, social media was reaching out to us and the volunteers came pouring in. We had various people in our house for three days and one stayed the night twice. Thermal drones were aloft, four-wheelers were canvassing the area, missing posters were made for us and countless community residents were contacting us and some joined the search.

We were overwhelmed by the support and incredible generosity of so many, yet, privately and honestly, we had lost hope. Within the first few minutes of our search my wife saw a bear exiting Bullard Woods so each day I searched for either patches of blood (although we realize black bears rarely attack dogs) or a frozen body covered in the new, deep snow. Our fragmented spirit only lasted out of dire need and was only fueled by the volunteers. Hundreds of local residents were contacting my wife on social media while I searched day and night in between hanging posters.

Finally on the morning of the third day the animal control officer and Stockbridge Police called me while I was searching the in the forest with an on-foot rescue team. It so happens that four local residents were walking their dogs in the morning snow and heard howling and crying beneath a shed. I was in disbelief it could be Marcy and told that to the officer on the phone. I just knew Marcy couldn't be alive and that it had to be someone else's dog. Nevertheless, I ran according to his directions.

There, down by the shore of the lake I saw the dog walkers, the police and the animal control officer. I immediately recognized that bark: Marcy was alive.

I won't describe the moment because I won't do justice to the relief and joy taking over my heart. (At that very moment my wife was on her way to Staples to print out more missing posters.) You can imagine my phone call
to my wife while I sat holding Marcy in my lap in the snow. We know how deliverance and jubilation feel.

As of this writing Marcy is doing great. So is Freddy. So are we. I had no idea about the spirit of the community and will never forget the exceptional care and support given to us all through those days and nights. The moment Marcy was found I got her home and within minutes the team in my house were already posting to social media and authorities that she was found.

In the greatest appreciation, Marcy's family.

Submitted by Brad Fitzgerald of Stockbridge, Mass. Below is a list of community members, organizations and rescuers the Fitzgerald family wishes to thank:

Alex (Alexandra) found Marcy
Phyllis, found Marcy and met animal control officer
Paul, found Marcy 
Yvonne, found Marcy
Matt Hayden, thermal drone, tireless searcher
John and Heather Drake: John is the animal control officer for Stockbridge and Heather made flyers for Marcy. For the past 20 years John and Heather have also run the Iris Pet Food Pantry which delivers dog and cat food in Great Barrington, Lee, and most of Southern Berkshire County
Mitzie Smalley
Missing Dogs Massachusetts, FaceBook
Rialene Hughes
Assisting with Missing Dogs Massachusetts
Officer Pettibone and Sgt. Nichols of the Stockbridge Police
Nick Fredsall, Stockbridge Drone Solutions
Berkshire Brothers Build
Ryan Harrison
Alfonso Champion
Zach Yarter
Joe Corcoran, searcher and NextDoor
Jennifer, friend of Marcy
Joseph McCullough
App:  NextDoor
Countless invested, caring, and volunteers in the community

Sheffield Craftsman Offering Workshops on Windsor Chairs

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
10:30AM / Sunday, March 29, 2026

Andrew Jack uses hand tools in his wood working shop. 

SHEFFIELD, Mass. — A new workshop is bringing woodworking classes and handmade items.

Andrew Jack specializes in Windsor chairs and has been making them for almost 20 years.

He recently opened a workshop at 292 South Main St. as a space for people to see his work and learn how to do it.

"This is sort of the next, or latest iteration of a business that I've kind of been limping along for a little while," he said. "I make Windsor chairs from scratch, and this is an effort to have a little bit more of a public-facing space, where people can see the chairs, talk about options, talking about commissions.

"I also am using it as a space to teach workshops, which for the last 10 years or so I've been trying to do out of my own personal workshop at home."

Jack graduated in 2008 from State University of New York at Purchase, and later met woodworker Curtis Buchanan, who inspired him.

"Right after I finished there, I was feeling a little lost. I wasn't sure how to make the next steps and afford a workspace. And the machine tooling that I was used to using in school." he said, "Right after I graduated, I crossed paths with a guy named Curtis Buchanan, and he was demonstrating making really refined Windsor chairs with not much more than some some flea market tools, and I saw that as a great, low overhead way to keep working with wood."

Jack moved into his workshop last month with help from his wife. He is renting the space from the owners of Magic Flute, who he says have been wonderful to work with.

"My wife actually noticed the 'for rent' sign out by the road, and she made the initial call to just see if we get some more information," he said. "It wasn't on my radar, because it felt like kind of a big leap, and sometimes that's how it's been in my life, where I just need other people to believe in me more than I do to, you know, really pull the trigger."

Jack does commissions and while most of his work is Windsor chairs, he also builds desks and tables, and does spoon carving. 

Windsor chairs are different because of the way their backs are attached into the seat instead of being a continuous leg and back frame.

"A lot of the designs that I make are on the traditional side, but I do some contemporary stuff as well. And so usually the legs are turned on a lathe and they have sort of a fancy baluster look to them, or they could be much more simple," he said. "But the solid seat that separates the undercarriage from the backrest and the arms and stuff is sort of one of the defining characteristics of a Windsor."

He hopes to help people learn the craft and says it's rewarding to see the finished product. In the future, he also hopes to host other instructors and add more designs for the workshop.

"The prime impact for the workshops is to give close instruction to people that are interested in working wood with hand tools or developing a new skill. Or seeing what's possible with proper guidance," Jack said. "Chairs are often considered some of the more difficult or complex woodworking endeavors, and maybe less so Windsor chairs, but there is a lot that goes into them, and being able to kind of demystify that, or guide people through the process is quite rewarding."

People can sign up for classes on his website; some classes are over a couple and others a couple of weekends.

"I offer a three-day class for, a much, much more simple, like perch, kind of stool, where most of the parts are kind of pre-made, and students can focus on the joinery that goes into it and the carving of the seat, again, all with hand tools. And then students will leave with their own chair," he said.

"The longer classes run similarly, although there's quite a bit more labor that goes into those. So I provide all the turned parts, legs and stretchers and posts and things, but students will do all the joinery and all the seat carving the assembly. And they'll split and shave and shape their own spindles, and any of the bent parts that go into the chair."

His gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m to 2 p.m., and Monday and Tuesday by appointment.