Berkshire Grown Elects New Officers and Board Members

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Berkshire Grown has announced its newly elected officers and board members following its Annual Board Meeting. 
 
The new officers for 2025 include Sarah Gardner as President, Peter Platt as Vice President, Kat Hand as Treasurer, Lee Venolia as Clerk, and Nick Martinelli and Dawn Masiero as Members-at-Large.
 
Joining the Board of Trustees this year are two Berkshire residents with extensive experience in food and farming.
 
Sharon Wyrrick of Williamstown previously operated Many Forks Farm, a vegetable CSA farm in Clarksburg, from 2011 to 2024. She transitioned the farm to a land trust to ensure its future sustainability. Wyrrick has been actively involved in agricultural and food system initiatives, including the Western Massachusetts Food Bank’s Target Hunger Project and Hoosac Harvest. She has also contributed to documentary filmmaking and organized food-related events such as the "Slow Food on Film Festival" and "Cultivating Heritage, A Symposium on Agricultural Biodiversity."
 
Kate Bailey, based in Hatfield and North Egremont, has worked extensively in agriculture and food access. After gaining farming experience in California, she returned to Massachusetts in 2014 and took on roles focused on food safety and accessibility, including serving as a Produce Safety Inspector with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Most recently, she managed the Berkshire Mobile Farmers Market, sourcing from local farms and overseeing market operations.
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Great Barrington Public Theater Appoints Artistic Director

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Great Barrington Public Theater announced that Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha will now join Jim Frangione at the helm as Artistic Director of Great Barrington Public Theater.
 
"We at Great Barrington Public Theater are thrilled that Judy Braha will assume the role of Artistic Director alongside myself. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to help advance the interests of the theater as we move into the next phase of growth as the region's premiere developmental theater," Founder & Artistic Director Jim Frangione said. "Judy brings a tremendous amount of experience and value to our company and has, in just a few short years, grown and greatly enhanced GB Public Theater's signature program, Berkshires Voices, where playwrights develop their work, leading to public readings and in some cases workshops and full productions. I look forward to working more closely with Judy to select the next generation of plays to be presented under the GB Public banner. It's a "Bear" of a job! But we feel great about the direction of our theater."
 
Judy Braha joined the GB Public artistic leadership team in 2023 as the Associate Artistic Director after 2 years directing for the company. She has since then been collaborating with Founder and Artistic Director Jim Frangione on the selection of new work for readings and full productions in the summer season. Her impressive portfolio of credits and accomplishments strengthened Great Barrington Public's creative programming and offered new perspectives to the body of works and events produced each year. 
 
Judy Braha has been a career director, actor, teacher and artist for social justice for over four decades with directorial credits in theaters and universities throughout New England. She led the M.F.A. Directing Program at Boston University's School of Theater, retiring in 2022 after 29 years of service at BU. 
 
"Judy has the strength of commitment, leadership and passion for theater and how it affects communities that fit hand-in-glove with our founding mission and core beliefs," Founder and Producing Director Deann Halper Simmons explains. "Her artistic integrity, sense of stage esthetic and ability to make important choices that craft life from the script continues to be a great asset to our company and growth."
 
"Judy's distinguished artistic voice has significantly contributed to the exceptional growth of GB Public in recent years," Managing Director Serena Johnson added. "We are truly excited to have her stepping into this leadership role in the 2026 season."
 
 
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