Tom Bernard Appointed to Mass Cultural Council

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BOSTON — Mass Cultural Council announced the appointment of Thomas W. Bernard of North Adams as a member of the Agency's governing body.
 
Bernard was appointed to the Council by Governor Maura Healey on July 16, 2025. Bernard recently served as the President and CEO of Berkshire United Way. He also previously served two terms as Mayor of the City of North Adams and as Chair of the North Adams School Committee.
 
"I'm so excited to welcome Tom to the Council," said Marc Carroll, Mass Cultural Council Chair. "His experience working with Berkshire County decision-makers – as both a municipal elected official and a leader in philanthropy - will be invaluable to my colleagues and I on the Council as we continue to work to support creative communities in all corners of the Commonwealth."
 
As the Commonwealth's independent state arts agency, Mass Cultural Council is charged with bolstering the cultural sector.
 
As directed by state law, Council members are appointed by the Governor and have demonstrated scholarship or creativity in, or distinguished service to, the arts, humanities, interpretative sciences, or local arts.  Council members serve staggered, three-year terms and reside in every region of the Commonwealth. 
 
"Mass Cultural Council is gaining a true asset in Tom," said Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council. "As we continue to build cross-sector partnerships and advance municipal support and investment for the arts, Tom's leadership and guidance will be critical to expanding the creative sector not only in the Berkshires, but all across the state."
 
"Through my work in North Adams and throughout Berkshire County, I know firsthand how a commitment to arts and culture can be transformative for a community and a region," said Bernard. "I look forward to getting right to work with Chair Carroll, Michael, my Council colleagues and the staff team to further advance the sector and uplift the power of culture."

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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