image description — The baby animals at Hancock Shaker Village have become a traditional harbinger of spring in the Bekrshires.

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Baby Animals Festival Back at Hancock Shaker Village

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:48PM / Friday, April 11, 2025Print Story | Email Story

The village has a bevy of lambs, kids, piglets, chicks and calves with more expected.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The baby animals are back at Hancock Shaker Village for the 23rd year.

"We welcome all the new baby animals: lambs, kids, piglets, calves, chicks. We welcome them into the farm family," said Director and CEO, Carrie Holland during a sneak preview this week.

The baby animals festival runs April 12 through May 4, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"This year we have a beautiful mix of animals, the calves are gorgeous, so I think people will really enjoy visiting them," Holland said. "Our livestock manager Olive, has also been getting deep into the science and she's really excited with some of the breed mix she's been able to achieve with the piglets and so she's very excited about that."

The mission of Hancock Shaker Village is to preserve the history of the Shakers and to educate the public about them, and the baby animals are a big contributor to that.

"Baby animals is an excellent way to help us talk about the Shakers and their farming and agricultural history," said Holland. "It's a big part of how they sustained this village and they were a closed community, they were self-sustaining and farming was a major way that they were able to do that from like a nourishment — providing food for the community ...

"Who doesn’t love baby animals? It attracts a wonderful crowd some people who are familiar with Shakers and some people who aren't so when they are coming through the doors maybe they just want to see a lamb but it gives us the opportunity to share more."

The village has welcomed lambs, kids, piglets, chicks, and calves, with a few more expected.

"It's such a fun time and it's just a way to welcome back the spring and the warm weather," Holland said. "It's lovely and heartwarming and like I said, you can't not smile when you walk into the barn and just hear all the baby animals, see them, smell them, it's truly a joyful time."

The village will also showcase eight exhibits throughout the year.

"A few will start to open during Baby Animals. So there's a photography exhibit that folks will be able to see day one, and we also have some pop-up experiences throughout the festival," Holland said.

During the summer, the village will be breaking ground on the renovation project for its visitor center. The project will open up the first floor and utilize the second floor that has been empty for years.

"We will finish the second floor, which is very exciting because we need more space," Holland said. "New galleries that we'll be able to put our objects in, so some of that is like improving the environmentals and the temperature controls and the spaces so we can better protect all the objects and display them."

The project will introduce permanent exhibit galleries, climate-controlled collection storage, open storage for some of the premiere objects in the collection, a library, new lobby, and multi-purpose spaces.

You can visit the Baby Animals Festival beginning Saturday, April 12, through Sunday, May 4, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can purchase tickets online or at the village.

Tags: Hancock Shaker Village,

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Pittsfield Council Approves Rename of DEI Office

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:17AM / Friday, October 16, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After hours of testimony across multiple meetings, the City Council has approved a renaming of the DEI office.

Mayor Peter Marchetti's request to rename the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion the "Office of Equity, Access and Opportunity" was approved on Tuesday.

This also merges the Human Rights Commission and Affirmative Action Committee into an "Equity, Access and Opportunity Commission."

"Everything that I've done so far for being mayor, what it comes back to is, ‘Well, if you can solve poverty, you can solve all the rest of the problems.' Well, here's our opportunity to begin that process," Marchetti said.

"I'm really now regretting not asking the former city solicitors to get the job done, because I don't know that we'd be even having this conversation if this ordinance was put forward two years ago."

The meeting adjourned just before 10 p.m., when councilors would have needed to take a vote to extend it for an hour, a limit that was put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Basic facts about the Office of Equity, Access and Opportunity:

Upon adoption of the article, the chief diversity officer became the chief equity officer, and the budget and personnel of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion were assigned and transferred to the Office of Equity, Access and Opportunity.
The Office of Equity, Access and Opportunity will develop and implement policies, programs, and initiatives related to equity, access and opportunity.
The chief equity officer will:
- Outline equity and engagement objectives for the next year, opine and provide input on city ordinances, rules, and policies upon the request of the mayor, city council, or department head.
- Be responsible for posting information regarding equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination laws.
- Act as a liaison with employment sources and organizations serving protected groups.
- Share resources, reporting, and best practices with the Pittsfield Public Schools.
The chief equity officer will annually file a written progress report with the commission, mayor, and the City Council, indicating the progress toward achieving equity and engagement objectives.
Discrimination complaints can be filed with the chief equity officer or the director of human resources; the chief equity officer or mayor's designee will investigate the allegation.
This also established the "Equity, Access and Opportunity Commission."
One training per year is mandatory for all city employees.

The Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee supported the changes in August; in September, Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham delayed the vote with a charter objection, wanting more data and proof of impact.

The rename passed on Tuesday with Ward 7 Councilor Katherine Moody, Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren, Ward 3 Councilor Matthew Wrinn, and Cunningham in opposition. Fourteen community members took the open microphone stand to speak in support of DEI.

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