The B Spring 2026

Picklemania!

COME FOR THE PICKLEBALL. STAY FOR EVERYTHING

Pickleball may be the fastest-growing sport in the country. At Bousquet Sport, it’s just the beginning.

With indoor and outdoor courts, year-round programs , and vibrant social energy, this has become the Berkshires’ premier des tination for fitness, wellness, and racquet sports for locals and visitor s alike.

And beyond the courts, a complete health and wellne ss experience awaits.

More than a place to play — a place to belong.

Where timeless play meets modern instruction and co mmunity. PERSONAL TRAINING // YOGA

JUNIORS // DEDICATED COURTS e fun at any level.

publisher note

PICKLEMANIA has entered the chat.

On our Spring cover, Keith and Lucy Goldberg of Richmond hit the court in full swing, sporting Keith’s pickleball shoe line, DAPS—proof that a homegrown business can move fast and look sharp doing it. Their spark sets the tone for this issue: stronger, more connected, happier. Game on.

Ready to map out your plans for the brighter months? Join us May 22 for The B’s Passport to Summer ’26, where local cultural directors offer sneak peeks at the performances and productions you won’t want to miss. (Ticket info below.)

And as seasons shift, so does The B. Instead of saying goodbye to founding Editor in Chief Amy Conway, we’ll say: look next door. She’s not far and promises to pop up in future issues. Come meet our new editors, Larry Carlat and Lauren Mechling, in person at Passport to Summer—and buckle up for what’s next.

MICHELLE THORPE PETRICCA Founder and Publisher

PASSPORT 2026

Grab your culture-craving friends and family for the season’s can’t-miss previews at The B’s Passport to Summer ’26. thebberkshires.com/passport

from the editor

HELLO FRIENDS. On this page, I usually focus on what’s coming up—both in the issue and around the Berkshires. Indeed, as winter (finally!) winds down, we’re all dreaming of warmer days ahead. But this time, I’d like to take a moment to look back.

The B launched in spring 2023. That first issue featured Jed Thompson and Nathan Hanford of Township Four—the exquisite floristry and home shop at The Red Lion Inn. They were the perfect premiere cover stars, setting the tone for what The B would become: an unabashed celebration of local talent. creativity, and community.

When you, our readers, tell us that we capture the spirit of this place, we’re both flattered and gratified—because that’s exactly what we set out to do. And others have noticed the Berkshires magic in our pages, too. Recently, The B was honored with ten awards from the New England Newspaper & Press Association, including the General Excellence, Best Niche Publication, and Overall Design and Presentation categories. My colleagues—Michelle Petricca, The B’s founder and publisher, and design director Julie Hammill—and I extend our

heartfelt thanks to the writers, photographers, and stylists whose work deserves this recognition.

The honors are wonderful—and bittersweet—as this is my last issue as editor in chief of The B.

I’m delighted to introduce Larry Carlat, who brings his own creative energy to the magazine, working alongside new executive editor Lauren Mechling. Turn to page 57 to learn more about Larry and just how happy he is to be here.

And as for me, I truly can’t wait to see what comes next.

AMY CONWAY Editor

contributors: The B’s Hivemind

MICHAEL BOLOGNINO (“The Big Clean Up”) is a “human” coach who helps people get unstuck, get clear, and take action towards making their ideal lives, careers, and relationships real. He’s also an active member of the Pacemakers Masters Swim Team. michaelbolognino.com

ROBIN CATALANO (“Picklemania!,” “So Spa, So Close”) is a travel journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, and more. She is a New England native and lives in the upper Hudson Valley.

MARISA COHEN (“Don’t Go Into the Basement”) is a magazine editor and writer who has covered everything from theater and cabaret to women’s health, fitness, and aging. She and her family split their time between New York City and the Berkshires, where she loves sitting on her porch with a good cup of coffee, a challenging crossword puzzle, and her snoozing dog.

NEHA DAS (“Open Up and Say ‘Aha’”) is a former pediatric dentist who, when health issues forced her to stop practicing, decided to put her philosophy degree to good use and pivoted to writing books. Her debut novel Burn the Sea will be published April 21, 2026, under the pen name Mona Tewari.

ABIGAIL FENTON (“Dope Ass Pickleball Shoes,” “Picklemania!”) is an international photographer rooted in the Berkshires. Specializing in lifestyle and wedding photography, she expertly captures the essence of human experience. In her personal work, Abigail primarily works with film photography. abigailfenton.com

JULIANE HIAM (“How Monument Mountain Gets Inside You”) is a writer and filmmaker living in the Berkshires. For the past 15 years, she has collaborated with her partner, artist Gregory Crewdson, contributing writing and creative support to his large-scale photographic productions.

ERIC KORENMAN (“The B’s List”) balances two professional lives in imaging. When not in front of a radiology workstation, Eric is a professional portrait photographer and has a studio in Pittsfield. korenman.com

BETSY KORONA (“The Big Clean Up”) is an Emmy-winning journalist and media executive with more than 20 years in network, cable, and streaming news. She recently traded Brooklyn for the Berkshires, where she now lives with her partner, his college-age kids, and their industrious chickens, discovering Western Massachusetts and chronicling the adventure.

ALEXANDRA MARVAR (“How to Bird if You’re Not a Birder”) is a freelance journalist whose longform features have appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, The Believer, WSJ Magazine, and elsewhere. Her favorite local bird sighting is the Cedar Waxwing.

LARA TUPPER (“Pump Up the Volumes,” “Finding My Flock”) is an author, teacher, and vocalist based in the Berkshires. A faculty member for 10 years at Kripalu Center, she now leads writing workshops via Swift Ink Stories and tends to nine incredible hens. laratupper.com

NEIL TURITZ (“Dope Ass Pickleball Shoes,” “The B’s List”) moved to the Berkshires from New York City, along with his wife. They have since welcomed a son. Turitz is a screenwriter, author, filmmaker, journalist, and creator of “6 Word Reviews.” @6wordreviews

ANN VOLKWEIN (“Lucca Zeray’s Industrial Revolution”) bestselling cookbook author and recipe developer based in Stockbridge. She is the author of the “Arthur Avenue Cookbook” and “Chinatown New York.” Her most recent collaborations include “Tasting History” with Max Miller and “My Mexican Mesa” with Jenny Martinez.

MICHELLE YOUNG (“Join the Club,” “Thrift Shift”) is an author and journalist in Mount Washington. Her latest book, “The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of World War II Resistance Hero Rose Valland,” was named a Best Book of 2025 by the New York Public Library, Library Journal, and Hyperallergic.

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN (“Thrift Shift,” “Lucca Zeray’s Industrial Revolution”) is an awardwinning photojournalist whose work has been featured around the world. Stephanie is a Boston University graduate and has been with The Berkshire Eagle since 2011.

THURSDAY–SUNDAY, APRIL 18–MAY 10

(Also open Monday, April 20)

Stockbridge MA | thetrustees.org/naumkeag

Spring 2026 | Issue 16

FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER

Michelle Thorpe Petricca mpetricca@berkshireeagle.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Lauren Mechling lmechling@berkshireeagle.com

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Julie Hammill julie@hammilldesign.com

COPY EDITOR

Amy Krzanik

PRESIDENT

Fredric D. Rutberg frutberg@berkshireeagle.com

PUBLISHER

Gary Lavariere glavariere@berkshireeagle.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Kevin Moran kmoran@berkshireeagle.com

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Friperie Great Barrington

Check out the latest in a bumper crop of vintage shopping spots. Read more on page 24.

The Local Life

The Best in the Berkshires

How to Bird if You’re Not a Birder

A burgeoning birdwatcher offers a crash course for the Berkshires’ bird-curious

Driving down Route 7 past the left turn to High Lawn Farm in the dead of winter, we came upon a peculiar sight: a dozen or so people, standing in a clump—a rainbow sea of puffer jackets—backs to the road, gazes locked on a distant point in a barren field. “Turn around, turn around!” I grabbed my husband’s arm urgently. But he was already pumping the breaks, looking for a safe place to pull the car over. We both knew what this was. Birders.

We shuffled silently up to the group. Perhaps some of them were “twitchers,” who will drop everything at the ping of a Rare Bird Alert and rush to spot an unusual species or add a “lifer”—a bird they’ve never seen before—to their “life list.” No one batted an eye at our arrival. There was something more interesting about 50 yards away: a shivering gaggle of 11 colorful ducks. I recognized them by their neon pink bills from a recent trip to New Orleans, where they should be this time of year: blackbellied whistling ducks.

This flock had flown well off course. But even on an average day, the Berkshires is home to species so alluring they could tempt a “normal” person to take up this healthy, accessible, and—be warned—addictive pastime. Right in the backyard are easyto-identify, brightly colored passerines like the cherry-red northern cardinal or the ultraviolet eastern bluebird.

Take it from me, it happens fast, going from someone who couldn’t give a flying duck about the avian world to someone who’s transfixed by even the nondescript LBJs (the sparrows and wrens—“little brown jobs”). One day, in 2020, I was downloading the Merlin app, Googling the difference between a crow and a raven. The next, I was considering Kearney, Nebraska, during sandhill crane migration season as a vacation destination, and getting arguments about whether the chirping and twittering in the background of the PGA Tournament broadcasts are realistic and accurate.

Once you embrace the spectacle of birds, you start to marvel at the strangeness. This spring, in the fields around Edith Wharton’s The Mount, the bobolinks will navigate by the stars, flying from as far away as the Uruguayan Pampas. At Canoe Meadows, the yellow warblers will build their beehive-like hanging nests one wisp of grass at a time. Near the Greylock Glen, the wood thrush will sing its eerie song, splitting its sound into two notes at once like a Mongolian throat-singer. When it happens to you—when you really start paying close attention to the trees, whether at Olivia’s Overlook or while unloading groceries in your driveway— congratulations. You’re birding. Not a “birder,” but want to give birding a whirl?

If you put out bird feeders, you’ll become instantly

“Once you embrace the spectacle of birds, you start to marvel at the strangeness.”

popular. But be sure they’re easy to run through the dishwasher to protect your clientele from bird flu. Download the Merlin app for identifying birds by sound, and Audubon or eBird for keeping a running list of every bird you see. Browse a field guide and start to get familiar. It’s easier to identify a bird if you’ve already narrowed down the options from the 10,000 or so species on Earth to the few dozen species that might be around in a particular geography at any given time. Binoculars first-timers: Spot the bird first, with your eyes and, without breaking your gaze, raise the eye cups to your sightline. At first, it feels impossible to even notice a gray speck darting between distant tree branches, much less to name it. Then, one day, everything changes. Suddenly, just looking out your window offers a chance to spot a lifer.

—Alexandra Marvar

Come Party in the Natural World

A solo walk in the woods can be invigorating, but rambling with a pack can provide an even greater rush

Enter any trailhead dotting the 800+ miles of trails that snake through the Berkshires, and you may notice some interesting things going on inside your body. With the chirp of a wren, your cortisol drops and with it stress and blood pressure. Your focus returns and your immune system is boosted with the scent of white pine. Spot a shock of trillium at your feet, or a porcupine climbing a tree, and you feel a kick of dopamine. Share your observation with a fellow hiker and a flow of contentment from oxytocin washes over. It’s as if your body is having a party in the natural world.

The boost to our physical and mental wellbeing might help explain why hiking is now the most popular outdoor sport in the U.S.,

according to the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA)’s 2025 Annual Report. Jeff Minkler, owner of Lenox outdoor gear mecca The Arcadian Shop, has noted the uptick. “All outdoor recreation has been growing across all age groups here, but hiking is the most popular,” he observes. “It started during the pandemic and hasn’t stopped.”

“Great friendships are produced just from going out on our hikes.”

Hiking can be communal in ways more rigorous sports can’t, and hiking clubs provide an easy entry to both connecting with others and great exercise. “Hiking is a social event,” notes Liz Massa, co-founder and president of the Western Mass Hilltown Hikers, a club that organizes hikes with a historical focus. “People want to talk to

each other. We tried to do a silent hike on the Solstice and it just didn’t work. Great friendships are produced just from going out on our hikes.”

Long before hiking became trendy, the Taconic Hiking Club was formed in 1932 by a dedicated group wanting to create and maintain a trail along the Taconic Crest. “Our dues are minimal, but we require registration and vetting for ability,” says the club’s VP, Karen Ross. “We want to make sure everyone is safe on the trail.” She explains that the THC, as well as

some of the more informal groups, tend to attract retirees since the hikes take place mid-week. “My husband is part of the Monday Mountain Boys, and I hike with The Berkshire Hikers and The Silver Scramblers; they all go out mid-week.”

Jeff Poushter, owner of Tie-Dyed Guide, recently started a local hiking club, leading folks of all ages, including kids and families, on a monthly hike. “A walk through the woods alone is something very special but doing it with friends or in a group can be even better, with higher energy, great conversation, and other folks there to help you out.”

The greatest increase in outdoor activity in the OIA report came from diverse communities, such as Black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ participants, the latter comprising 11.4% of outdoor participants. Bart Church is the executive director of Berkshire-based Q-MoB, which hosts two LGBTQ+ hiking events every month. “With the economy changing, people are shifting their recreation to outdoor events because they’re cheaper,” he says. “Our numbers keep growing and the diversity of our population is growing.”

The long legacy of hiking in the Berkshires means that new hikers of any level and interest can find a club to call their own. And, now more than ever, the human connection a group hike can provide is critical, especially for those who might feel isolated. “If we can get people off their screens and into a fun activity, outside with other people, their oxytocin levels go up and stay up for a long, sustained time,” explains Church. “It’s addictive—they’ll come back for more, and it can make a bigger difference in their physical and mental health than anything else they can do.”

With expert guides, low-to-no fees, minimal gear, numerous health benefits, and some of the most scenic vistas in the Northeast, it’s no wonder hiking clubs are booming. The Arcadian Shop’s Minkler sums it up nicely: “Just show up with water, a decent pair of shoes, and a good attitude.”

The rest comes naturally.

—Heather Keller

HIKING GAITERS REIMAGINED

Locally designed and sustainably crafted Hikas are lighting up the trails

The winter of 2026 may go down as one of the coldest in decades, but the frigid temperatures did not slow down Jody Canavan and Amy Maugeri, the motherdaughter duo behind Hikas. If anything, the cold has been a boon for their product.

Hikas, which fall somewhere between a legwarmer and a scrunchy sock, are made of recycled fabric and an animal-free filling made of oyster shells mixed with recycled water bottles. Water-resistant, quick-drying, and weighing just 2.5 ounces per pair, the ankle accessories regulate body temperature without trapping excessive heat, explains Maugeri, the company’s creative director, who has a background in sustainable fashion.

Hikas do the job of a traditional gaiter, protecting hikers from potential outdoor dangers ranging from debris to brambles to ticks. “I hiked through a Massachusetts summer and a New York summer, and I could not get a tick to bite me,” says Maugeri, CEO of Hikas. Unlike traditional gaiters, which tend to look utilitarian to the point of drab, Hikas come in 20 poppy colors, from “safety orange” to “blue spruce” and a pattern inspired by the Berkshire birch trees.

A lifelong hiker and outdoors enthusiast who’s lived in North Egremont for the past five years, Canavan had the vision for Hikas some 15 years ago. “I’m a rock magnet,” she says. “I’m always pulling pebbles and dirt and whatever out of my boots or shoes.” She played around with doodles and hand-sewn iterations until COVID struck and she found the trails more packed than ever. One day she remarked to her daughter that she wished she’d done something with her long-simmering idea. “Amy looked at me and said, ‘What if we just went for it?’” her mother recalls.

The pair developed 75 prototypes and tested them rigorously. “Most memorably, I wore one Hika to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back to the top for science,” says Maugeri. These days, her gaiters have been serving a far more pleasurable purpose. —Jen Doll

Join the Club

Blame it on the A-list appeal or a genuine desire for unlimited Finnish sauna sessions, members-only programs are taking off in these parts

On a recent day trip to a local resort, I enjoyed a sauna session followed by a cold plunge, then dropped by a fitness class that was heavy on the tapping and humming. Driving back home, I found myself trying to justify adding to my household’s already unwieldy list of memberships and subscriptions. If you’ve sensed that clubhouses and members-only offerings seem to be taking the Berkshires by storm lately, you’re not wrong. The newest offerings pair unique amenities with community fostering, filling a niche for locals and repeat visitors alike. Here are five to discover:

1

Prospect Berkshires, Egremont: At this eco-style, nature-immersive resort, guests and members sip tea and linger on stylish striped futons inside a Scandinavian-inspired, wood-paneled pool house between dips in the heated saltwater pool, cold plunges, and Finnish saunas. The Founder’s Circle membership offers unlimited access to the amenities at Prospect, which also include tennis, pickleball, paddleboarding, kayaking,

bicycling, and hiking trails in the warmer months. Members get a monthly $150 credit to The Cliff House restaurant, discounts on experiences and overnight stays in the Nature Cabins, and four guest passes a year. A futuristic text concierge takes your food orders, lakeside sauna reservations, and special requests.Price: $4,900/ year for 2 adults, $250 extra per child. Seasonal memberships will be available. prospectberkshires.com

2

The Rain or Shine Club, The Mount, Lenox: The Mount offers a season pass to its popular Summer Author Series, which brings award-winning biographers and memoirists to the former home of author Edith Wharton. Perks include admission to all eight talks, a dedicated entrance and check-in at events, a direct ticket concierge service, a weekly members’ newsletter, and a club membership card. The 2026 lineup includes talks on recent books about James Baldwin, Dolly Parton, Jessica Mitford, Bruce Lee, Samuel Alito, and more. And, true to its name, membership means guaranteed seating even if the talks move indoors. Price: $250, available starting in April. edithwharton.org

3

Kripalu, Lenox: The Lenox-based yoga and mindfulness destination has a multi-tiered membership to “keep your practice alive and your spirit connected.” The Neighbors membership ($149/month, $1,490/year) allows locals to integrate well-being into their everyday lives, with access to the 100-acre property, drop-in yoga classes, discounts at the shop, full access to the online studio, members-only gatherings, and day passes. The Friends membership ($129/ month, $1,290/year) provides discounts on stays and the ability to bring a friend for free. Get unlimited access to live classes and on-demand sessions with the virtual subscription ($39/month, $299/ year). kripalu.org

Membership at Prospect Berkshires includes access to an exquisite pair of saunas.

4

Creative Legion, Hudson, NY: Billed on its website as a “home for Hudson Valley’s Creative Community,” the membership at Creative Legion offers both co-working and a host of creative events for its members. The lightfilled, clubhouse-like space is design-forward and activated by artist talks, film screenings, performances, and gatherings. A café, art gallery, and podcast studio round out the amenities. According to Melissa Hougland, partner and COO, the membership “is designed to help people get out of their homes, meet others, and reconnect to the creative energy that comes from being in the room together.” Price: $2,400 for individuals, team memberships start at $3,600, and day passes for $40. creativelegion.com

5

Troutbeck, Amenia, NY: The membership at Troutbeck, a 250acre estate hotel, is inspired by a real-life, 19th-century private club that met on the grounds starting in 1848. The Young Gentlemen of Leedsville Society was founded for the “improvement of literature and forensic discussion,” and its core values around curiosity and connection continue to guide the modern-day stewardship of the property. Members get access to the hotel facilities, including the solar-heated pool, tennis courts, wellness facility and classes, dining room and bar run by executive chef Vinny Gilberti, the Pool Grill, and the walled garden and grounds, as well as dining credits, guests passes, and discounts on rooms, programs, and services. According to founder Anthony Champalimaud, the membership brings “together a diverse community drawn to arts, nature, wellness, culinary excellence, and thoughtful hospitality.” Price: $4,500/year with a $150 application fee. troutbeck.com —Michelle Young

PUMP UP THE VOLUMES

Come browse with us on a marathon book crawl across the Berkshires

I’m thrilled to report that bookstores are alive and well in Western Massachusetts and its surroundings. My bout of people-watching on a recent bookstore crawl (better than a bar crawl) revealed that readers are hungry for the analog pleasure of pages in hand.

Whether seeking current releases or backlist titles, quiet reading nooks or chatty booksellers, there’s something for all book lovers—and even book agnostics—in the region. “We’re lucky to have so many,” says Julie Sternberg, co-owner of the newly opened Books & Cake in Hillsdale, New York. The number of book joints springing up in the area is so great that Rye Howard, co-owner of The Bear & Bee Bookshop in North Adams, Massachusetts, plans to make a Berkshire Bookstore Map.

In the meantime, here’s a map of my favorites, in no particular order. (Bonus points for the two stores that carry my books—you know who you are.)

What’s not to love about Books & Cake?

Opened in October, the Hillsdale newcomer specializes in my two favorite things. On a recent visit, I sat at a small table and tried the lemon cake (made by Karen Gregory of Grandma’s Hands Bakery) while The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” played overhead. Equally enticing are the book selections, and their organization. Julie Sternberg and Eve Yohalem, authors and co-owners, shelve books by how readers may want to feel: Hopeful, Scared, To Remember That Feeling of Falling in Love. Bliss! booksandcake.com

Books & Cake, a bastion of good taste

In business since 1991, Yellow House Books in Great Barrington is a well-organized maze of used and rare titles. Readers can find “books they’ve been hunting for or books they never knew existed,” says Ray Garnett, who co-owns the store with Bonnie Benson. It’s a cozy place, with mellow jazz playing and creaky floors that hint at the building’s 19th-century foundations. @YellowHouseBooks

The Bookstore in Lenox has been a Berkshires institution for 40 years, thanks to charismatic Matt Tannenbaum at the helm. (Matt stars in the award-winning documentary “Hello, Bookstore.”) Catch

him in the window seat and chat him up—he’s always up for impassioned literary discussions. Or tuck into the Get Lit Wine Bar, nestled in the poetry section, for a spell of private reading. bookstoreinlenox.com

Indie Readery & Records in Pittsfield opened in October “to fill a void,” say proprietors Emma and Laurie Lenski. They’re proud to feature banned books and provide a queer-friendly, progressive community space that supports social justice and sustainability. The store is hip but welcoming, colorful and fun, with whimsical gifts, a vinyl section, a kids’ corner, and a Refillery (courtesy of The Plant Connector in North Adams), where folks can shop sustainably. Indie accepts selected used books and records for store credit. indiereadery.com

The Bear & Bee Bookshop in North Adams, a three-minute walk from MASS MoCA, contains an eclectic mix of new and used titles. There is a large activism section, as well as a beguiling “Tiny Museum of items we’ve found in donated books.” Co-owner Rye Howard is a knowledgeable, friendly guide, and corner chairs provide reading space near a giant tree sculpture. The store also prints charming books of local interest with titles on Hawthorne, Thoreau, and more. bear-n-bee.com

Lakeville Books & Stationery, with locations in Great Barrington and Lakeville, Connecticut, features fabulous cards, stickers, pens, and fancy notebooks. Husband and wife owner/managers Daryl and Anne Lyndon Peck, who work alongside their daughter, Alice, are especially fond of illustrated books on cooking and interiors (which might explain the shops’ bright, airy spaces). lakevillebooks.com

Shaker Mill Books in West Stockbridge includes more than 30,000 books housed in two buildings and overseen by Eric Wilska, a bookseller of 53 years. The two-floor bookstore is open year round and contains a labyrinthian trove of used and rare titles in excellent condition. Fun facts pepper the walls, such as “There are more books written about bees than any other creature besides humans.” The staff knows their stuff and there’s no rush at the Mill. I lingered and left with old treasures that were new to me. shakermillbooks.com

The historic Shaker Mill Barn, in the former grist mill next door to Shaker Mill Books, is open in the summer and contains three floors of oversized stock, quirky book-related art (including a dog house that Eric made from books), and photography exhibits. I peered in the window to see a chalkboard sign: “Great books in no particular order in a great old building.” I’ll certainly be back in June. shakermillbooks.com/the-barn

Honorable mention:

The Library at Scout House in Great Barrington, where multi-hyphenate Bobby Houston (bibliophile, author, Oscar-winning film director, and seasoned designer/ home renovator) has read every book on display. This classy front room of his Scout House store (which offers stylish furniture and decor in several rooms beyond) has bookshelves drolly labelled “Cool Old Ladies,” “Old White Men,” and “Funky Stuff.” Bobby is quick to make recommendations. His knowledge is vast and his enthusiasm is contagious. scout-house.com

—Lara Tupper

Movers and Shakers

A Pittsfield mother-daughter duo stirs up motion and self-confidence

Shirley and Akilah Edgerton don’t just believe in youth power—they generate it.

Youth Alive, a community-based arts program Akilah and her friend Erika Young conceived when they were teens, just celebrated its 30th anniversary. The spinoff organization, R.O.P.E. (Rites Of Passage and Empowerment program), aimed at mentoring and confidence-building for young people of color who identify as female or nonbinary, is 15 years strong.

“Growing up, I was mentored by the women in my church, along with teachers and coaches,” explains Shirley, who, along with her husband, Bishop Jerome Edgerton, and Lydia Randolph, a family friend, helped the girls launch the program. Shirley has served as director for the last three decades.

“Akilah was involved with the arts from a young age,” Shirley says, “performing with a teen dance team when she was five.” Akilah was 13 when she started Youth Alive Step, Dance, and Drumline. “We performed at colleges, for Governor Duval Patrick’s inauguration, and even auditioned at the Apollo,” recalls Akilah. “Over time, Y.A.

brought in educational speakers to address issues the kids were facing and help them tap into skills and develop self-worth.”

Recognizing that girls did not understand their full value, Shirley told her friends: “We need to support our young ladies.” She partnered with the Women of Color Giving Circle and Pittsfield Schools in 2010 to launch R.O.P.E., a mentoring program connecting adolescent girls with professional women of color. “When the girls asked for year-round support, we established monthly meetings focused on self-esteem, interests and skills, resilience and cultural competence, women’s history and the arts,” she says. In the late ’90s, they introduced and prepared the girls to apply to college and offered social, emotional, and financial support to ensure they graduated.

Akilah enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University and studied in Ghana during her junior year. “I gained a new appreciation for my ancestors and rich African history through identity mapping, cultural immersion, and sitting at the feet of elders,” she says. Building on the ties she

“We tell our young women ‘Believe in yourself.’ And then we give them the tools to do it.”

formed as an undergraduate, as well as Shirley’s relationship with an orphanage in South Africa, the pair added a service learning component to their programs in 2014, bringing girls to South Africa and Ghana on a biannual basis.

They are now helping young women secure internships and employment after college. The proof is in the pipeline: Both the executive director of Berkshire County Head Start and the assistant manager of the Pittsfield Airport participated in Y.A./R.O.P.E. programs. “We’re in awe when we see the impact our organizations have today, in the community and beyond,” says Akilah.

Shirley adds: “We tell our young women, ‘Believe in yourself.’ And then we give them the tools to do it.” —Robbi Hartt

Visit ropeberkshires.org to learn how you can support their work.

Thrift Shift

A fashionable francophile’s new spot is the latest in a boom of elevated vintage offerings

“I try to curate collections that are rooted in really fine constructions and materials.”

Beth Conkey, owner of the new thrift store Friperie in Great Barrington, takes the term “retail therapy” to a whole new level. She’s a nurse, a job she says can be “depleting emotional and physically” particularly when working in the emergency room, but her favorite way to relax is to wander the aisles of a thrift store—something she’s done since childhood. Last year, Conkey began posting her finds on Instagram and “it just spiraled from there,” she says. “I started buying things that clearly weren’t for me, but I knew they needed to be with someone.” And that’s what makes Friperie, the French word for “thrift store,” unique: Conkey is collecting with a particular mantra in mind. “I try to channel when I lived in France,” she says. “French women seem to curate these effortlessly chic wardrobes and they don’t have a ton of clothes in their closet...I try to curate collections that are rooted in really fine constructions and materials.” After pop up locations in Lee and in Great Barrington, Friperie opened its first permanent location on Bridge Street in Great Barrington in mid-February. The store launched with an après ski capsule. Très apropos. —Michelle Young friperieberkshires.com

Four other vintage closets worth raiding:

1

Catwalk Boutique

325 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington and 51 Church Street, Lenox

This woman’s resale store, located in both Great Barrington and Lenox, benefits the Berkshire Humane Society and every purchase helps the care and rehoming of homeless pets. A wide range of brands can be found, from Talbots and Ann Taylor to Vince and Valentino. catwalkboutique.org

2

Stella Rose

255 New Milford Turnpike (Rt. 202) New Preston, CT

“Spare the landfills, spoil your closet,” is ecofriendly Stella Rose’s tagline. Under Theresa Mieczkowski’s stewardship, leftover clothing is upcycled into fabric gifts or donated to charities. “The old stuff is the good stuff,” declares Mieczkowski, who calculates the amount of water and carbon footprint reduced each year through the shop’s sales. stellarosect.com

3 Savvy Hive

53 Main Street, North Adams

More than a thrift store, North Adams shop Savvy Hive redistributes free clothing to those in need, hires locally, serves as a platform for local designers, hosts events, and keeps 90% of their earnings in the local economy. Clothing is organized by style, rather than gender, and alteration and repair services are available onsite. savvyhive.co

4 Nina Z

344 Warren Street, Hudson, NY

Swedish native and Fashion Institute of Technology graduate Nina Ziefert uses her industry know-how to buy for her shop, which carries clogs from her eponymous line and vintage clothes she hand picks on her travels. You can find designer labels like Alaia, Versace, and Kenzo, as well as items from Sweden and Botswana, where Ziefert’s husband grew up. ninaznyc.com

Springing Forward

Jacob’s Pillow gets the show started early this year

When Jacob’s Pillow set about rebuilding the Doris Duke Theatre, which was destroyed by a fire in 2020, the storied dance center opted to go tech-forward, building a snazzy (and fireresistant) 20,000-square-foot structure equipped for dance performances that take place beneath astrological simulations or with “responsive digital sculptures” that get in on the boogieing. The newly reopened theater will be a hotbed of activity during the dance destination’s first ever official Spring season. For two weekends, The Duke will host performances by a pair of visiting artists. First up, from April 24-26, is the world premiere of Havana-born Irene Rodríguez company’s dramatic “Flamenco Soul.” The following weekend will see eight male dancers perform Hari Krishnan’s “Rowdies in Love,” a queer contemporary and Indian classical mash-up that was developed in part during a 2024 Pillow Lab residency.

Jacob’s Pillow is also launching a pair of online courses this spring: Dance History 101 and a course in interpreting dance as an audience member. While you’re at your computer, we highly recommend you check out the center’s online archive, which has a sensational library of dance performances at the compound dating back to the 1930s. —Lauren Mechling

A smattering of (mostly) local goodies fit for the season at hand

1: Kinrove Fine Fragrance Marton & Davis, Chatham, $187, martonanddavis.com 2: Kule Short PJ Set Kule, $248, kule.com 3: Galtech 9' Umbrella in Buttercup Barrington Outfitters, Great Barrington, $655, barringtonoutfitters.net 4: Hummingbird Napkins Set of Four Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge, $30, berkshirebotanical.org 5: Blabla Happy Go Lucky Doll Fluff, Great Barrington, $44, fluffalpaca.com 6: Samla Kids Blue Windbreaker Clove & Creek, Hudson, $80, cloveandcreek.com 7: Summerhill & Bishop Passiflora Linen Tablecloth Honeychurch, Lenox, $395, honeychurchhome.com 8: Pansies by Brenna Estrada Township Four Floristry & Home, Stockbridge, $30, townshipfour.com 9: Will This Make You Happy by Tanya Bush, Kinderhook Books, Kinderhook, $29.95, kinderhookbooks.com 10: Burgon & Ball Traditional Wooden Trug Honeychurch, Lenox, $79, honeychurchhome.com 11: Nuit Earrings Nikki Chasin, Hudson, $115, nikkichasin.com 12: Addison Ross Tortoiseshell Backgammon Set Marton & Davis, $325, martonanddavis.com 13: Felco Pruners Ward’s Nursery & Garden Center, Great Barrington, $119, wardsnursery.com 14: On Cloudrock Men’s Mid Waterproof Hiking Boot $240, on.com 15: Siegfried’s Pride Cheese High Lawn Farm, Lee, $16, highlawnfarm.com —Market Editor: Eryl Murphy

SPRING FLINGS

Sweet little lambs and Dolly Parton made this year’s list

“Technologies of Relation”

MASS MoCA, North Adams

Ongoing

The group show focusing on rapidly advancing tech will be joined by an exhibition by Michael E. Smith opening May 2 and “Homecoming,” an immersive environmental art project by Amanda Lovelee opening June 13. massmoca.org

The Bulb Show

Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge

Through March 20

Enjoy a fragrant respite from winter’s chill with a stroll among hundreds of colorful bulbs inside the Fitzpatrick Greenhouse. berkshirebotanical.org

ThunderFest

Adams Visitor Center, Adams

March 21 (rain date: March 22)

Shake off the winter blues at this outdoor festival featuring live music, food trucks, local artisan vendors, and community fun for kids and adults. exploreadams.com

Book-to-Film Club

Crandell Theatre, Chatham, NY

March 22

The Crandell, in partnership with the Chatham Bookstore and the Chatham Public Library, launches its newest series with a screening of the film “Midwinter Break,” followed by a discussion of the book and movie led by FilmColumbia Director Calliope Nicholas. crandelltheatre.org

“Out of My Comfort Zone”

Screening

Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield

March 26

Berkshire Theatre Group presents a free screening of the awardwinning rock musical film, followed by a conversation with the filmmakers, Ivy Vale and Rick Reil. berkshiretheatregroup.org

Pittsfield CityJazz Festival

Downtown Pittsfield

April 17-26

The 20th festival kicks off with a Jazz Crawl through the Cultural District and includes a concert with Veronica Swift and Grace Kelly, the music of Billie Holiday, and more. berkshiresjazz.org

Baby Animals Festival

Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield

April 18-May 10

Meet the Village’s newest residents— newborn lambs, calves, piglets, chicks, and kids (goats, that is)— while enjoying fun farm activities. hancockshakervillage.org

Daffodil & Tulip Festival

Naumkeag, Stockbridge April 18-May 10

Stroll through the gardens of this Gilded Age estate to enjoy 130,000 springtime blooms during this beloved annual festival. thetrustees.org/naumkeag

Author Talks & In Conversation Series

The Mount, Lenox On Sale May 5

The site’s two sell-out summer series kick off with journalist Julia Ioffe on July 6-7 and include Martha Ackmann on Dolly Parton, Jeff Chang on Bruce Lee, Carla Kaplan on Jessica Mitford, and more. André Bernard’s In Conversation series welcomes Jodi Kantor, Max Boot, Kiran Desai, and Lawrence Wright. See website for full lineup. edithwharton.org

SpringFest & Plant Sale

Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge | May 8-10

The three-day-long Plants and Answers Sale overlaps with Saturday’s SpringFest—featuring pony rides, a maypole, and more—this Mother’s Day weekend. berkshirebotanical.org

Community Day

Ventfort Hall, Lenox | May 9

Enjoy free admission to the mansion and grounds of this Gilded Age estate and learn how you can be part of its legacy. gildedage.org

CATA Gala & Performances

Shakespeare & Company, Lenox

May 9-10

Community Access to the Arts showcases its performing artists with disabilities in a joyous night of drama, dance, comedy, and more, plus a matinee on Sunday. cataarts.org

Mother’s Day Tea

Ventfort Hall, Lenox | May 10

Treat mom or that special woman in your life to a sumptuous Victorian tea in a beautiful Gilded Age mansion. gildedage.org

ArtWeek Berkshires

May 15-25

Explore the rich artistic talent of the region through a week of hands-on and behind-thescenes events. berkshires.org/ artweek-berkshires

Sculpture at The Mount

The Mount, Lenox Opens May 24

The annual exhibition of contemporary sculpture extends across 50 acres of forest, gardens, and meadows at Edith Wharton’s former estate. edithwharton.org

Berkshire International Film Festival

Great Barrington | May 28-31

Enjoy a weekend of captivating film, thought-provoking live discussions, and parties! biffma.org

“Happy End”

Hudson Hall, Hudson, NY May 29

The Glimmerglass Festival and Opera Saratoga team up to bring Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht‘s sharp, jazz-infused satirical opera to the Hudson. hudsonhall.org

BerkChique

Ventfort Hall, Lenox | May 29-31

Explore a treasure trove of curated fashions and unique finds at this pop-up boutique supporting local nonprofits. berkchique.org

“American Stories: From Revolution to Rockwell”

Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge | Opens June 6

In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, the museum debuts a major exhibition featuring nearly 100 powerful works. nrm.org

Berkshire Yoga Festival

Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, Hancock | June 11-14

Now in its third year, this fest will reconnect you with yourself and nature through yoga, meditation, and outdoor wellness events. berkshireyogafestival.com

“An Exquisite Eye”

The Clark, Williamstown Opens June 13

The museum celebrates its transformative gift from the late Aso O. Tavitian with an introductory look at the most significant private collection of European art assembled in North America in the 21st century. clarkart.edu

—Amy Krzanik

March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month

BFAIR has partnered with Greylock Federal Credit Union, and the Brain Injury Association of MA, to educate and create awareness about brain health and safety.

Visit our website and social media for great resources.

Voices of the Berkshires

Our Friends and Neighbors Have Something to Tell You

Monumental Changes

Writer Juliane Hiam reflects on her lifelong relationship with Monument Mountain on page 42.

Finding My Flock

In the Berkshires, keeping chickens is practically a rite of passage. I never thought I’d join in—or have these hens matter so much to me.

Written and photographed by Lara Tupper

Everything in our yard wants to eat the chickens: bears, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, weasels, owls, and hawks. As a devoted parent of hens, I now stand guard whenever they leave their pen. I didn’t know I’d feel so protective of my flock.

In 2020, my husband, Bobby, like many Berkshire-ites, planted a pandemic garden and said, “Let’s get chickens!” He built a fortress-like coop, complete

with buried fencing to discourage predators. I called it the Chicken Palace and thought of it as my future writing shed.

“Chickens will be your thing,” I told him. As a kid, I’d been a sitter for the neighbor’s hens, who scattered and shrieked each time I was near. My collie “helped” by catching one in his mouth. I had no faith in my ability to raise my own.

But when our first eight birds arrived, gifted from a friend’s flock, I fell in love. They were three weeks old, toddlers instead of newborns. I tracked their growth in a Proustian doc titled “Chicken Diaries,” now over 100,000 words. I read every book with “pullet” (young hen) in the subtitle. I acquired chickenthemed t-shirts (Love Your Flock, Chicken Whisperer), socks, slippers,

“When our first eight birds arrived, gifted from a friend’s flock, I fell in love.”

mugs, and mousepads. I was determined to be good at this.

My devotion wasn’t reciprocal, which made me feel like a failure of a chicken sitter all over again. My hens resisted when I tried to pick them up and fled from my high (hawk-like?) voice. Bobby remained the primary caregiver as I continued to

assemble chicken calendars for all—and perfect the art of the omelet.

The fresh eggs were divine, more flavorful than store-bought, with rich yellow yolks. We often gathered half a dozen a day, and gifted them to friends.

The lifespan of a backyard chicken is only five to seven years; four remain from our first flock of eight. It was devastating to lose them (by coyote, fox, and old age), like losing any pet. Of the four, just two are still laying. “Time for more chicks,” said Bobby in early spring of last year. But when we stopped at Tractor Supply, they were sold out. (2025 brought another wave of interest in backyard flocks as avian flu outbreaks led to exorbitant egg prices.) By late May, chicks were back in stock.

“You can’t just pick the underdogs,” said Bobby, who knew this was my tendency. (I gave extra treats to Meema, our old hen at the bottom of the pecking order.) I studied the fluffballs, separated in bins by breed and whether or not they were “sexed” (identified as soon-to-be roosters or hens), all oblivious to their fates.

I chose hens, two of each breed: Sapphire Sky (gray feathers, greenish eggs), Amberlink (yellow feathers, brown eggs) and ISA Brown (reddishbrown feathers, *

The joke at the end of “Annie Hall” says it best: We all need the eggs.

4

brown eggs), all apparently “good-natured” and hearty in cold weather. An employee placed them in a box for me, as though we were at Dunkin’ Donuts.

In the car, I held the cheeping box in my lap and panicked. I’d read that youngsters can sometimes relegate the elders to the bottom of the pecking order. Would our veteran hens suffer? I hated to think so. We’d house them all together in about seven weeks.

“They’re like us, or we’re like them: curious, easily bored, competitive, but trying, now and then, to see eye to eye.”

We set up the chicks’ cardboard pen in the corner of Bobby’s woodshop. At first, they huddled under the heat lamp and did little but eat, drink, and sleep. (The lamp must be kept at 95 degrees during the first week, then reduced by five degrees each week.) I picked them up gently and spoke in quiet tones. I visited throughout the day. I wanted to connect, though I couldn’t help but document:

Week one: They fall asleep while drinking, so we put marbles in the trough to catch their little heads.

Week three: The pitch of their “peeps” is lower. Their combs are coming in, like bits of orange Play-Doh.

Week six: Another trip outside. We let the older hens out to explore. No ruckus, just curiosity, like regulars eying newbies in the coffeeshop. The elders stay close, as though they know they’re one flock now.

Was I projecting? Was I finally part of the flock? I read that hens can recognize up to 100 human faces and recall positive or negative experiences associated with them. (Which explains the chicken cacophony as a kid.) Chickens dream and have language.

(See Melissa Caughey’s “How to Speak Chicken.”) In other words, they’re like us, or we’re like them: curious, easily bored, competitive, but trying, now and then, to see eye to eye.

In the Berkshires, I often meet chicken devotees. (I’ve counted 10 flocks within three miles of our house.) When we meet, we’re like sports fans trading stats. We speak chicken.

At my desk the other day, as I worried about the daily news, Bobby came in from the coop to cheer me up, clutching Rusty (now a full-grown hen), who blinked at me like a mini dinosaur and pecked at my ring. I forgot about the news. She sought me out, held eye contact. One living thing connecting to another. B

7 Tips for Raising Chickens

1

Spring and early summer are the best times to get chicks in our climate. Consider which breeds will be ideal for your yard and household, based on temperament and egg production.

2

Be prepared to keep chicks indoors, under a heat lamp, for their first seven to eight weeks If you handle them (gently and kindly) as chicks, you’ll be more likely to pick them up later.

3

Make sure your coop is sturdy and secure. Bury fencing underground to stop animals from digging inside.

4

Avoid cross-contamination: Have a dedicated pair of chicken shoes. Crocs or rubber boots will do. If visiting other flocks or farms, wash your shoes and hands thoroughly before returning to your own birds.

5

Save your egg cartons; chickens begin laying eggs at 18 weeks. (A hen’s “earlobe” color will sometimes indicate the color of her eggs.) Decoy eggs in their nesting boxes will encourage hens to lay. Certain breeds will stop laying during the coldest months in the Berkshires.

6

Once chickens start laying eggs, they love dried mealworms (available at farm stores) and will enjoy some of your kitchen scraps. Avoid giving your chickens potatoes, avocados, citrus or any processed foods, which can be toxic to their delicate digestive systems. Don’t feed them onions or garlic, as you’ll taste these flavors in their eggs. (Unless you want to skip an omelet step.)

7

Chickens, like people, need to be occupied. They’ll be less likely to pick on each other if they have activities. Hang a cabbage from a rope for chicken “tether ball.” (Hours of fun.) I’ve seen some hens enjoy the shiny sides of CDs. The best entertainment is free ranging, when possible.

Recommended reading

“How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say” by Melissa Caughey

“Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them” by Tove Danovich

“What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird” by Sy Montgomery

“Brood: A Novel” by Jackie Polzin

Don’t Go Into the Basement

You never know what memories— disguised as junk—will make you shriek in horror

Written and photographed by Marisa Cohen

When my husband and I bought our dream house in the charming Berkshires town of Richmond a few years back, one of the first things we did was place an ancient, haunted relic (an old sign advertising tobacco) on a shelf in the basement.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Picture the movie screen going fuzzy as we rewind this tale to a time right before the pandemic…

As I walked down the linoleumtiled stairs into my parents’ suburban basement in 2019, the ghosts of my 1970s childhood rushed up to greet me. There was the toga party my best friend Jenny and I threw in that basement in 6th grade, inspired by “Animal House” (no, our junior high shindig didn’t include alcohol or even boys, just a bunch of tween girls wearing bed sheets and listening to Andy Gibb). There was the ping-pong table that was less “Marty Supreme” and more “surface on which to store boxes of crap.” There was the plaidcovered day bed that was torturously uncomfortable, but where my brother and I each had to sleep the night before our bar and bat mitzvahs, to make room for the visiting grandparents.

But the biggest jump-scare came when I creaked open a door hidden in a corner of the basement. You know that closet— every house has one. It reeks of mothballs, and every square inch is stuffed with board games that are missing pieces, albums filled with photos of distant relatives no one can identify, and random boxes of toys, clothes, and magazines. It’s the closet

where stuff vanishes into a void for 20, 30, 40 years, then leaps out at you as if transported in a time machine.

Some of the stuff in there made me smile, like a photo of my newlywed parents circa 1962 or 63, sitting on the lawn of Tanglewood wearing matching Beethoven sweatshirts. But then I tugged at a pile of faded cloth in the corner, and as the dust dispersed and the mysterious shroud unfurled, I let out a shriek.

There, in my hands, were the Snoopy bedsheets I had last slept on around the Bicentennial. Why, I asked, had my parents kept these worthless old sheets for almost half a century?

And then I realized, my parents hadn’t kept them because they were worried that someday my English degree would leave me homeless on the streets with only twin-size Snoopy sheets to keep me warm. They kept them because they thought they might become valuable.

I am not kidding. Before the days when you could find any pop-culture relic your heart desires with one click on eBay, my parents would travel up to Maine, through the Berkshires, and down to Pennsylvania Dutch country, poking through every garage sale, antique

“It’s the closet where stuff vanishes into a void for 20, 30, 40 years, then leaps out at you as if transported in a time machine.”

shop, and flea market for collectibles. Their main passion was antique tobacco tins and advertising signs, but they also picked up Beatles memorabilia, Amish samplers and quilts, old ventriloquism dolls, Brooklyn Dodgers baseball cards, and Archie comics.

Many of their finds were spot-on—there were some tobacco tins they bought for a dollar or two, and in a real “Antiques Roadshow” turn of events, later auctioned off for more than $1,000. But there were plenty of duds. Those memorial U.S. State quarters my dad carefully collected into a map-shaped holder turned out to be worth…25 cents each. And the Snoopy bedsheets? Come on, even the most ardent Peanuts fan is probably not going to want to buy 50-year-old linens that I can’t guarantee my cat didn’t pee on at some point.

In the end, there were so many accumulated memories stored in every corner of the house that I had to hire a professional to sort through it all, set aside what was worth selling, what was worth donating, and what was destined for the town dump. Even if I wanted to keep some of the stuff, it was logistically impossible, because at the time, I was living by the city-dweller’s code: You can’t be sentimental in a two-bedroom apartment.

My husband and I had made a decision to raise our daughters in Manhattan, with limitless love, but limited storage space. There was no room to keep every art project from preschool and every camp T-shirt, and any time they got a new game or toy, we would give away an old one to make room. There was certainly no room for decades of memories.

So, we kept one of the old tobacco signs (for our non-smoking house) and a few comic books and photos, sold the house, and used my share of that money to buy the place in the Berkshires we had been dreaming about for decades. One thing my husband and I never expected to have in our adult lives was…a basement. And now we have one, complete with a closet in the corner.

All of a sudden, we have a place to keep the jigsaw puzzles we started collecting during the pandemic—more than 50 boxes and counting. My younger daughter can build elaborate Lego models and not immediately dismantle them and put them back in the box. My older daughter uses the basement to store shelves of hardcover books that she prefers to the digital versions.

Still, we’re trying to keep the collections in the basement under control. Because when my daughters get frightened to the core in the Berkshires, I want it to be about really scary things, like Hilltop Orchards being sold out of apple cider donuts, or a wickedly long line for brunch at Haven, or (cue the scary John Williams score) the Boston Pops getting rained out at Tanglewood. I want the basement to be a place where the only scary thing is the occasional mouse. Boo! B

How Monument Mountain Gets Inside You

Turning a favorite hike into a daily routine, our writer discovers how repetition sharpens attention and deepens connection with nature—and herself

Written and photographed by Juliane Hiam

I’ve hiked Monument Mountain for as long as I can remember, but I became intensely preoccupied with it some years ago while researching and writing a play about Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s friendship. They met on the storied mountain, two of several notable literary figures who famously hiked it in August 1850. So I might have had more interest than the average person in placing my footprints on the mountain where the American Gothic writers first conversed, ducked under a boulder in the rain, and drank champagne from a silver mug.

Literary legacy aside, Monument Mountain was always one among a rolodex of favorite occasional hikes I did in the Berkshires—that is, until about a year and a half ago. That’s when I became an MM regular, and started hiking it nearly every day.

Monument Mountain is described by many in the Berkshires as “the perfect hike.” If you don’t dawdle, in just under an hour, you’ll get some cardio, a bit of scrambling, an 800-foot or so altitude gain, 10,000 steps, and a nearly-360-degree view at the top. My route: I always go to the right off the parking lot on Route 7—Hickey Trail to Peeskawso Peak Trail to Mohican Monument Trail—counter-clockwise to the summit and back. (For the uninitiated, that’s the steeper way up.)

Doing the hike every day may seem excessive or even indulgent but, in the beginning, my intention wasn’t so different from someone going to a gym or taking a run: I wanted some exercise and to clear my head. It quickly evolved into something deeper,

and more meaningful. It became a psychic reset, a way to stir ideas, and open my mind to complexity, like a “philosopher’s walk” in the spirit of Aristotle, albeit much less lofty.

At some point, I started noticing familiar faces and became aware there were other people for whom Monument Mountain was a daily practice. Dr. Joseph Cooney (of Berkshire Center for Whole Health in Stockbridge) happened to be an acquaintance, and I had been smiling and waving at him whenever we passed each

other on the mountain until I decided one day to ask him why he does the hike every day. He put it this way: “The whole identity of the hike—you need to see it every day for a year, to see it through the seasons and all the variations of it. And then, once you know it throughout all those possible variations, you become the thing that is observable. You get a deeper reflection in yourself.”

Initially, I was mostly consumed with the physical ordeal of plodding up the steep grade, my heavy breathing and the

occasional waves of nausea clouding my head. Between the parking lot and the top of the mountain, I experienced a sort of tunnel vision that consisted of an amorphous blur of leaves, dirt, and rocks, while only thinking about achieving my goal—the summit.

Over time, though, I felt my senses waking up. After a bit, I realized I was no longer gasping for air on the way up, and the exercise element of the hike receded. The mountain started to come into focus. I became aware of subtle things, the way the light fell on the texture of bark and the plentiful quartzite. I noticed those little orange salamanders known as red efts, and peregrine falcons, fungi, mosses, and fiddleheads. Day after day, the mountain was becoming part of my visual lexicon, something as familiar as any other place I inhabit in my daily life.

tree, one of two “mother trees” that he believes are the eldest on the mountain (the other is a white pine).

He pulled a tape measure out of his pack, and asked me to help him measure the circumference and calculate the DBH (diameter at breast height) because he hadn’t visited this hemlock in about five years. (The DBH turned out to be 39 and a half inches. That translates to perhaps 200-400+ years old.) Standing beside it, all my accumulated hours on the mountain seemed insignificant. Mother Nature has always been good at putting us in our place.

“I take pleasure in just how frequently I find my thoughts drifting away from that civilized reality to the crest of Monument Mountain.”

After a while, the hike itself was second nature. I was taking the exact same steps and reaching for the same rocks, tree trunks, and branches as I scrambled upward, like a dance routine I’d done a thousand times before. Jonathan Suters, another fellow hiker (and a musician and educator,) told me he has spent so much time on the mountain throughout his life that he sometimes dreams about it. I can relate to this; I dream about it, too.

At some point during my daily hikes, someone recommended a book, “Faded Tracks on Monument Mountain,” written almost 20 years ago by local historian Bernard Drew. I checked out a copy at my local library and thoroughly enjoyed it. Drew climbed the mountain nearly every day back then and chronicled each hike, charting his courses and historical findings. He took a different tack than me and surveyed nearly the whole mountain, rather than doing the same trail over and over. I reached out to him and introduced myself and he agreed to do a hike with me. We went out on one of the coldest days of the year, trudged through snow both on and off the trail to a hemlock

Our daily lives are full of straight lines and smoothed corners, paved walkways and screens. I take pleasure in just how frequently I find my thoughts drifting away from that civilized reality to the crest of Monument Mountain, a place where one can feel something more sacred amidst the pitch pine, where one’s gaze can easily go all the way to Mount Greylock in Williamstown.

Doing the hike is a constant pull, but part of its allure also has to do with the slight feeling of unease that keeps you alert and on guard. It is, in fact, dangerous up there on the cliffs, and there is all manner of wildlife that sometimes you can sense watching you from afar. I always like getting back to my car at the end. But, for certain, the mountain gets inside you and, day after day—as you journey up and back, either clockwise or counterclockwise—you’ll also journey inward, and be delivered right back where you started, already looking forward to starting again tomorrow. B

Open Up and Say “Aha”

Illness closed one practice and opened another. Once a pediatric dentist, the author now makes her debut as a novelist.

By Neha Das • Photograph by Stephanie Zollshan

When I moved to the Berkshires in 2016, I had everything figured out. I’d graduated from dental school, specialized in pediatric dentistry, and finished a master’s degree in craniofacial development (yes, I really like school). My husband, daughter, and I had moved across the country to settle down in the Berkshires, where I’d found the perfect place to begin my career.

Fast forward a few years: I was still convinced I had everything figured out. My husband and I now had two kids and a dog, and we’d found a home we loved. I was the co-owner at Berkshire Pediatric Dentistry and was working with an amazing group of people who loved providing care for our patients just as much as I did. Everything was going great…and surely the weird, itchy rashes that were popping up randomly would just go away.

They didn’t.

In fact, they got worse. Much worse. And then my hands swelled and I started having random dizzy spells. I spoke to my doctor, who sent me to specialists. We were trying to figure out what was going on, but I refused to let it get in the way of my day to day. I told myself it was manageable, that I was resilient. There was no need to kick up a fuss about nonsense that would surely be sorted out soon.

Unfortunately, my condition continued to decline. I started to have major allergic reactions that caused my throat to close, again, seemingly at random, and I needed to use EpiPens at an alarming rate. Finally, my doctors began to understand what was going on. I was diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), an immune disorder in which the cells that

cause allergic reactions are unusually active. Typically, these cells have specific triggers, but in MCAS, they’re pumped up and ready to go at the drop of a hat. In essence, I was having near-constant allergic reactions, some more severe than others, and one of my major triggers was artificial fragrances (like perfume, cologne, Axe body spray, etc.).

Now that I had an answer, I was convinced all would soon be well. My co-workers rallied around me, going above and beyond to try to keep me safe, but I continued to have reactions at

work. Finally, after one too many trips to the Emergency Room, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to continue working safely. What began as a six-week leave of absence turned into an indefinite hiatus that continues to this day.

The transition wasn’t easy. At first, I focused on trying to get better. Slowly, I began to get my energy back and could reclaim time with my family, which felt so good. At the same time, the void left by my former career kept feeling bigger and bigger. For so much of my life, I’d either been studying or practicing *

BUILD THE RALLY

pediatric dentistry. It had become a huge part of how I defined myself, and now it was gone. I really struggled at first, but thankfully my family—especially my husband—and dear friend Pam helped me remember that there were ways to keep going, even if life was different than before.

The nature of my health concerns meant it was almost impossible to go out with others without risking an allergic reaction, so I tried to find more to do at home. I gardened, read voraciously, and began to go on more walks and hikes, but a

Eventually, I turned to writing. A couple of years before, during the COVID-19 lockdown, I’d written a fantasy novel to feel like I was doing something for me when the world turned upside down. Now, I found myself in a similar position: I was stuck in my house and in need of a project, so I decided to write another book.

This time, though, I wrote it with the intention of getting it traditionally published. At the time, I knew very little about the publishing world, but I was determined, so I turned to my greatest strength: studying (like I said, I really like school). I bought several books about the craft of writing novels, joined an online instruction program called the Novelry, and began work on my new book—a historical fantasy about an Indian queen named Abbakka Chowta who ruled in the 1500s and fought against Portuguese colonizers.

“I reclaimed my understanding of myself and no longer viewed my life through the lens of my career.”

Meanwhile, I had decided to stop pretending my MCAS would magically go away. I began to open up to my friends, who were incredibly supportive. For so long, I’d thought that making accommodations to keep me safe would be a burden, but they’ve never made me feel that way. Even the shop owners in downtown Lenox and Stockbridge have been so wonderful—often signaling to me through the windows if there’s someone wearing fragrances inside and I shouldn’t come in.

Bit by bit, I reclaimed my understanding of myself and no longer viewed my life through the lens of my career. Instead, I put more value into the life I lived outside of it. Yes, I am stuck at home a lot. But

I’ve pursued my hobbies, spent more time with friends and family, went on road trips, and relished the safe spaces I’ve found. Now, almost three and a half years after I stopped working as a dentist, I have a literary agent who successfully sold my book, and my debut novel, “Burn the Sea,” will be published April 21 under the pen name Mona Tewari.

I am beyond grateful for this moment. While I certainly wouldn’t have chosen my life to go the way it has, I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I’ve redefined what it means to be resilient. For me, resilience is finding a way forward, even if it means heading toward an unexpected destination.

After all, winding paths still go somewhere, and it’s up to us to enjoy the view along the way. B

FROM DESIGN TO FINISH

Big Blooms: Catherine, 2024

Paul Lange Chatham, NY

Photograph available in 30" x 31", 36" x 37", and 44" x 45" print sizes paullange.com @paul.lange

Spring

It’s time to come out of hibernation, trudge through the mud, and prepare for...

BIG CLEAN UP THE

From decluttering to getting fit to pursuing happiness, here are seven ways to organize your life and experience a true spring awakening

#1

Shed Some Stuff

By Betsy Korona

Moving from New York City to the Berkshires with my fiancé and his kids required dealing with decades of family keepsakes in order to make physical—and emotional—space for our blended life. It started out as a daunting task and then, to my surprise, quickly turned into a countywide adventure: driving scenic roads, meeting small business owners, earning a little extra cash, to say nothing of creating new family memories in the process. So, for the spring cleaners—longtime residents, weekenders and newbies alike—here are a few ideas to help you get rid of your stuff!

Kid Stuff Parting with baby stuff is the definition of sweet sorrow. I get it, the tiny bumble bee costume is impossibly adorable, but when struggling to let go, imagine the joy it will bring to the next family. Kidding Around in Pittsfield and Berkshire Baby in Great Barrington will take consignments of gently used children’s items from clothes to select furniture and toys. At Kidding Around, book an appointment for your first visit and get tips for future consigning. After that, drop off any time. Maternity clothes are also welcome. Berkshire Baby’s guidelines are posted on their website. For both, ensure items are clean, tear-free, and in working condition.

@kiddingaroundconsignment berkshirebaby.square.site

Book Stuff There are books you keep forever and there are others you read and love (or don’t) and pass along. Your local library is an obvious option, but call first. Different libraries have different capacities and needs. The Lenox Library accepted our kids’ books—some for circulation, others for summer reading program prizes or the free books shelf for readers to take home. In other words, everybody wins. Libraries also offer so much more than books. Pittsfield’s and Dalton’s “Libraries of Things” loan out items ranging from portable solar panels and AV equipment to Wi-Fi hotspots and board games. Dalton Library director Janet Forest says “the best thing you can do to minimize waste is educate yourself on all that your library has to check out.” Interested in donating non-book items? Tom Jorgenson at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield suggests contacting the Reference Desk. If it’s in good condition, “the possibilities for Library of Things items are endless!”

Pet Stuff Cotton, our energetic and friendly hamster, passed away 15 years ago. We only recently discovered her cleaned cage, food dish, water bottle sipper, and a bag of fresh bedding. Berkshire Humane Society welcomed them gladly. Check out their Wish List page of needed supplies at berkshirehumane.org or give them a call, as needs change depending on the critters in residence.

Sharp Stuff Some items in our cleaning spree didn’t need rehoming—just a refresh. For gardening, Carr Hardware in Pittsfield sharpened our old loppers, shears, and machete back to life. Great Barrington native Brandon Taylor brings his popular Brooklyn-based Knife Bus back to GB six to eight times a year for same-day sharpening of knives, scissors, and tools. Mike Morton of E & M Knife Sharpening will resurrect your knives, scissors, and other shop tools at his Pittsfield-based workshop year round. Secure lockers allow for easy drop off and pickup. Mike notes, “A big part of my mission is showing that ‘repair and reuse’ can still be convenient and accessible in modern life.” And blade sharpening is just one of the fix-it services offered for free at the biannual Repair Café in Williamstown, organized by Rural Lands and South Williamstown Community Association. Volunteer “fixers” repair everything from wooden furniture to bikes to costume jewelry. The next RCafe is April 11. carrhardware.com • @emknifesharpening southwilliamstown.org • @greenpointknives

Music Stuff Retro tech, particularly vintage record stores, is having a moment, which means great options for rehoming your old-school vinyl, CD, and cassette collections. Seven Arts in Stockbridge, Rob’s Records in Great Barrington, Belltower Records in North Adams, and Berkshire Cat Records in Dalton will take a look at what you have and make a fair offer. If your collection’s big enough, they’ll even make a house call. It’s best to call or email for an appointment. And for music heads inclined to hold on to their dusty vinyl, Seven Arts offers record cleaning and warp repair services.

7artsmusic.com • robsrecordstore.com belltowerrex.com • berkshirecatrecords.com

Facebook Marketplace Stuff

I was sure local antique stores would jump at a few of our vintage furniture pieces. The reality? Polite rejections from Hudson to Great Barrington. By all means, try the antiques route—I met some incredible experts and learned a lot. Just know

these curators of history have specific inventory needs, and your beloved credenza might not be what they’re looking for. Enter Facebook Marketplace. After a seven-year hiatus from FB, I logged on and learned how to list. Suffice it to say, the virtual bazaar is thriving in the Berkshires. We rehomed furniture, made some cash, and, best of all, met genuinely kind neighbors. Special thanks to people like Randye who made this newcomer feel welcome.

One final note about your stuff…

Be realistic. Good condition means good condition. Librarian Tom Jorgenson politely reminds, “If you would not use the item in its current state, the library cannot use it either.” Admit when an item has lived a full life—or many full lives—and isn’t in any shape to pass along. For sentimental favorites, try taking a picture of it, with it, or in it. When possible, clean out your stuff with a friend or loved one and make a new memory in the process. A snapshot of our 22-year-old having one last light saber battle with her bestie in the attic, and the mental image of her 20-yearold brother reading me his favorite “Elephant & Piggie” book a final time are memories I’ll treasure forever. The Berkshires has an entire ecosystem around reuse, repair, and recirculation. Letting go, it turns out, isn’t an ending— it’s a beginning.

#2 Move Smart

By Evelyn Battaglia

Time to come out of hibernation and toss out those fitness habits that were wonderful—in theory. Complicated routines are great and all, but only if you stick to them.

Why not try a fitness tune-up that isn’t about doing more so much as doing more that moves you? “Think of fitness and exercise as a lifestyle, not an intervention,” suggests Amanda Bayliss, a Williamstown-based integrative fitness coach. It’s a small reframe in the grand scheme of things, but it “gives you a lot of wiggle room because it’s something that can last forever,” she says. Just as Bayliss tells her clients to disentangle their thoughts about exercise from concerns about their weight, she urges them to see movement as a way of honoring the body and paying closer attention to all the miraculous things it can do. “Motion is lotion,” as the saying goes. Keep moving the body, and watch it find new ways to repay the favor.

Devoting yourself to exercising doesn’t have to mean a life spent loading up on chalky creatine powders and HIIT classes led by Navy SEAL-like drillmasters. Like Ashthanga yoga? Walking the Rail Trail to celebrity-gossip podcasts? Grand! “All movement and all exercise is good exercise,” Bayliss says. There is no “best” fitness plan, except for the one that you actually enjoy. “Once it’s a habit,” she says, “the sky is the limit.”

Start small. Try stretching for five minutes in the morning. Heck, feel free to devote a whole workout to a luxurious bout of stretching. Research shows that more isn’t always better—overworking can lead to exhaustion, inflammation, and stalled results. Likewise, sometimes sleeping an extra hour is more salubrious than dragging yourself out of bed for a 5 a.m. indoor cycling session. “Can you find other ways of getting the exercise in?” asks Bayliss. For instance, “You can get the same result by doing your workout at the end of the day, plus you’d get more sleep and feel better.”

The weather is your friend. Swap coffee talks with coffee walks, take your yoga practice outside, and hit the trails instead of the treadmill, suggests Bayliss. Invite a friend to try a new class or run club. “Having a commitment— and a companion—adds accountability, connection, and fun,” she says. Don’t get bogged down in one routine—and not only in order to avoid monotony. Our bodies adapt quickly, especially as we age, so taking on new challenges is key. If you’re a runner, add strength training. If you’re devoted to yoga, try a quick jog. Even minor upgrades—adding in sprints, heavier weights— can make a familiar routine feel fresh.

There is no “best” fitness plan, except for the one that you actually enjoy. Once it’s a habit, the sky is the limit.

Amanda Bayliss

Think of this refresh as an opportunity to spend more time with people you like. An invitation to move in ways that feel yummy. An excuse to buy yourself a present or two. Retire those sad sneakers, gift yourself a new audiobook, invest in one of those chic Owala water bottles. Whatever it takes! Sometimes joy is the best motivator.

Refresh the Fridge

By Evelyn Battaglia

March in the Berkshires is about transition, not transformation. The ground begins to soften, boots start to get muddy, and nature quietly beckons us back outdoors. Our eating habits tend to follow suit. As the days grow longer and the produce on offer becomes more tempting to contemplate, we naturally start losing interest in the heavy sauces and rich comfort foods that carried us through winter.

Carrie Taylor, a registered dietitian at Big Y in Springfield, likes to prepare for the coming seasonal bounty with a thorough kitchen reset. “First, literally spring-clean your cupboards, shelves, and refrigerator,” she advises. “Cull items you’re no longer using or that are out of date.”

Simply carving out space, she notes, can lower the barrier to trying something new.

When it comes to menu planning, Taylor encourages people to trust their instincts. Pay attention to what makes you feel lighter and more energized—and what leaves you feeling sluggish. “Instead of prescribing a shopping list, I prefer to invite people to add new foods to their basket,” she says. “That’s often more effective than criticizing foods they might not be ready to give up.”

With that in mind, Taylor offers a few guiding principles for a gentle spring reboot.

Instead of prescribing a shopping list, I prefer to invite people to add new foods to their basket. Carrie Taylor

Follow This Formula Aim to include fruits or vegetables, a nutritious protein, and whole grains at every meal. Cycle through those components consistently and your diet will naturally tilt toward lighter, less processed foods.

Prioritize Produce… Every plate—whether breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a snack—should feature color. The familiar advice to “eat the rainbow” still applies, as does leaning into local produce once it reappears in earnest.

…and Protein! Look to plant-based staples like tempeh or chickpeas, alongside lean animal options such as fish, eggs, and chicken. When cooking meat, it doesn’t need to dominate the dish—beans and legumes can stretch protein while adding texture and fiber.

Snip, Sprinkle, Splash Think of beans, tofu, and vegetables as blank canvases for herbs, spices, and aromatics like garlic, ginger, and turmeric. A squeeze of lemon goes a long way, and fresh herbs are your friends. Try lemongrass in broths, lemon verbena in marinades, or purple basil tossed into salads.

Stop and Swap Opt for brown rice, farro, or quinoa instead of refined grains. Use stock or light coconut milk in place of cream. Even starchy squashes or root vegetables can stand in for grains, adding substance without heaviness.

Mix and Mingle Commit to trying one unfamiliar ingredient each week. Experiment with broth-based soups instead of creamy ones; quick sautés rather than long-simmered stews; sheet-pan dinners over layered casseroles. Less

#4

“TClean House

By Lauren Mechling

here is no more fruitful source of a family’s discontent than a housewife’s badly cooked dinners and untidy ways,” Isabella Beeton harrumphed in the opening of her landmark 1861 book “Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management.”

I don’t know about you, but it’s my husband who does the bulk of the housekeeping. Victorian-era sexism aside, though, Mrs. Beeton was on to something. A clean and orderly home is something of a non-negotiable. Home is where the heart is, after all. Ideally, it’s also somewhere you want to spend time.

A mega spring clean doesn’t have to amount to the longest and most back-breaking chore of your life. Think of it as a chance to clear the area and set a harmonious stage for the long-awaited season. Give yourself a week so you can attack the project in stages, advises Vini Onorato, owner of Berkshire Cleaning Services in Lee. His mother, also a professional cleaner, taught him the value of big-picture strategy. “We recommend breaking spring cleaning down into a few steps spread out over a handful of days so you don’t get overwhelmed,” he says.

Start by decluttering. Set up a bag for a local organization that accepts donations and fill it with all the flotsam and jetsam that’s floating around your home but no longer serves a purpose. “If you have to stop and organize your stuff while you are cleaning, it will take you three times as long,” notes Onorato.

Once the entire space feels a little lighter (never hurts to open the windows), move on to a deep scrub of your most trafficked areas. This typically means tackling the kitchen, entryway, and bathrooms. Many experts suggest working from the top of a room down: dust window sills and high surfaces, make beds, and finish with a vigorous floor wash. Bedrooms, living rooms, and lounge areas come next, followed by the dark corners and ominous closets you’ve been avoiding. Recruit someone who doesn’t have a fear of heights to ascend a ladder to tackle air vents and light fixtures.

“For cleaning the windows, vinegar and water is amazing,” says Mandy Lasher, a Chatham-based cleaner. She uses dedicated window-washing rags, which she cleans by soaking in boiling water, and swears by Sprayway cleaner for baseboards and “corners and cobwebs.” Other staples in her arsenal include Murphy Oil Soap for wood floors and Bar Keepers Friend for glass walls and stainless steel. And don’t get her started on her love for Shark vacuum cleaners.

Honestly, though, the most important ingredients aren’t anything you can buy. Your time and attention will take you shockingly far. “This client used to ask: ‘How do you get my house this shiny?’” Lasher recalls. “The answer was always the same: just hot water.”

#5 Crunch the Numbers

By Sarah Rutledge

“Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” The quote was popularized by Mark Twain, who spent much of his life less than 100 miles away in Hartford, Connecticut. As you prepare for this annual inevitability, take a little extra time to examine your finances. Just as we might investigate what’s hanging in the back of the closet or unearth the contents of a seldom-opened drawer, it’s important to extend spring cleaning to your money matters.

Scrutinize your subscriptions. Are you watching all those channels, or did your Disney viewer go off to college? You may have a fitness program or two languishing on your phone while you’re hiking and playing pickleball. If looking through your credit card statements feels tiresome, there are apps that can track your unused subscriptions and cancel those you no longer use.

Entertain the idea of ETFs. Allen Harris, CEO and chief investment officer at Berkshire Money Management, suggests switching from mutual funds to exchange-traded funds, which have much lower fees. “It’s the closest thing to a free lunch,” he says.

Look at your life insurance policy. “People closer to retirement are often overinsured,” Harris says. “Later in life, when you have fewer family payment obligations with the kids out of the house, you don’t necessarily need to carry the same insurance you did when you had a newborn and were thinking about worst-case scenarios.”

Behold your beneficiaries. Make sure your estate planning is up to date, particularly in light of any recent births, marriages, or divorces. Marianne Fresia, financial advisor at October Mountain Financial Advisors, says, “Look at who you’ve named in the documents to succeed yourself. Is that person still appropriate? Check in to be sure that they still want to serve in that role.”

#6

Take Inventory of Yourself

By Michael Bolognino

Spring cleaning doesn’t just apply to our homes and closets. As the ice melts and the buds begin to push through bare branches, it can also be a natural moment to take stock of what’s emerging in our lives, and what may be ready to go. Across cultures and centuries, spring cleaning has marked a ritual of renewal rather than simply tidying up. In ancient Persia, families practiced khāne-takānī, or “shaking the house,” ahead of Nowruz, the spring New Year, to clear out the past and invite fresh energy and prosperity. In Jewish tradition, the deep cleaning before Passover involves removing every bit of leaven, symbolizing purification and liberation in preparation for freedom. And in colder climates, including right here in the Berkshires, the tradition emerged from practical necessity: homes filled with soot and dust over long winters could finally be aired out once warmer weather arrived.

What strikes me about these traditions is that none are about setting goals or demanding change. Instead, they’re about taking

inventory: noticing what has accumulated, what’s no longer useful, and what needs space in order to break through.

That mindset became the inspiration for a different kind of annual reset in my own life—one that I now use with clients as a way to clarify what they actually want so they’re able to take small, immediate steps toward making it real. I call it Learn. Earn. Burn.

Learn is about what you want to explore, experiment with, or approach differently. It’s the first green tulip tips breaking through thawed ground. This might look like learning a new skill, visiting a new place (or finally taking that dream vacation), making a connection with a mentor or someone who inspires you, or trying out a new exercise routine or creative practice.

Earn asks you to look at how you make money—not just how much, but how it feels to go about it. Think of this as the fertilizer that sustains the rest of the year. Start with the question: What do I want to change about how I work? This might include adjusting how you show up with your colleagues, reclaiming boundaries, or exploring a promotion or a new role. Then consider: What might I want to do differently around earning itself? That could mean a side project or new income stream, better understanding or tracking your finances, and adding to a savings account or investing.

Burn is about what needs to go in order to make room for everything else. It’s the clearing out—the decluttering—that makes renewal possible. Ask yourself: What do you want to let go of that’s been sticking around too long? What story have you been telling yourself that you know isn’t true? Who takes your energy without giving any back, and where (if at all) do they belong in your life?

The following exercise is intentionally simple. It takes about 30 minutes and all

This is the real work of spring cleaning: learning what wants to grow, earning what sustains it, and burning what no longer belongs.

Michael Bolognino

you need is a pen and paper. Down the left side of the page, write three headings: Learn. Earn. Burn. For each category, ask yourself: What are 3-5 things I want to explore, shift, or pay attention to this year? Write what’s real—not what sounds impressive or responsible. Once you’ve listed your items in each column, ask one final, important question: What is one small action I can take—right now—in each category to get things moving? Not the perfect action. Not the full plan. Just the first, simple step.

And that’s it! For me this season, my Learn is setting my sights on the team record in the 100 Butterfly at an upcoming swim meet—and the first small step is simply registering for the race. On the Earn side, it means finally giving some real attention to a book project that’s been stuck in my head, beginning by blocking out a dedicated half-day work session. And on the Burn front, it’s about reducing my screen time, especially at night, with one clear commitment: leaving my phone to charge in the kitchen instead of by my bed.

This is the real work of spring cleaning: learning what wants to grow, earning what sustains it, and burning what no longer belongs.

#7 Choose Happiness

By Larry Carlat

Happiness is a choice. Believe me, I learned this in the hardest way possible. Seven years ago, I joined the world’s worst club when my older son, Robbie, killed himself. He was 28. Although his death was a shock, it wasn’t a surprise. I had been waiting for the inevitable phone call for what felt like most of his life.

A few years after Rob died, I became a grief group leader and coach in Los Angeles. That was never on my Bingo card, but helping bereaved parents heal turned out to be the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.

Finding purpose is different for everyone. We all have to do our own soul searching and it took me a while to figure out mine. I felt the whole “tick-tock, life is short” thing and didn’t want to waste whatever time I had left on inconsequential nonsense…with the exceptions of playing Wordle and Connections every morning and listening to any number of sports and pop culture podcasts.

I thought about what Rob would want me to do and came up with a short list that he’d approve of:

1. Find happiness.

2. Enjoy the rest of your life.

I’ve accomplished number one and I’m still working on number two.

One of the things about grief that nobody ever tells you is that at some point in the emotional journey, you have to make a choice about how you want to move forward and integrate it into your life. And it’s the same deal with happiness. You need to seek it out.

Finding happiness became the easiest choice in the world when I met my wife, Janie, six years ago. Just writing those words makes me smile and sends a delightful shiver down my spine. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love her because there’s no one like her. She fills the space in my heart every single day.

We got married in March (my younger son, Zach, got married a week later!) and we’ve been living inside a love, peace, and happiness bubble ever since.

We moved from Venice Beach to the woods in Spencertown at the end of the summer (Janie wanted to be closer to nature and didn’t think the Pacific Ocean really counted), and despite this winter’s snow apocalypse and waking up to minus degrees in the morning, we couldn’t be happier.

Or so I thought. A few weeks ago, happiness found me, through a confluence of events, when I became the new editor-in-chief of The B. Sometimes you choose happiness and other times happiness chooses you.

So, with the best time to be in the Berkshires on the horizon, my message to you is simply this: Choose to be happy, whatever it takes.

Sometimes you choose happiness and other times happiness chooses you. Larry Carlat

DAPS is Not an Acronym for...

Dope Ass Pickleball Shoes

But it could be. Thanks to a laser focus on performance and classic design, home-grown DAPS is well on its way to becoming the lifestyle shoe for the pickleball crowd.

By Neil Turitz • Photographs by Abigail Fenton

Keith Goldberg never set out to make shoes. The Miami native was a filmmaker and had found some success as a documentarian. His 2010 film “Boys of Summer,” about Curaçao’s Little League program, aired on ESPN (and can now be seen on Pluto TV), and he worked regularly in the travel and event space. Someone would hire him and, at a moment’s notice, he might have to fly halfway around the world for two months to film something. But after he and his wife, Lucy, moved from New York City to Montreal for her career in 2017, work dried up for him. He loved living in Montreal, but wasn’t working, and the couple realized they needed to be closer to New York. After first looking for a place in the Hudson Valley, they ventured east to the Berkshires, where they fell in love with a house in Richmond

and bought it two days before the world shut down in March of 2020.

“Four months later,” Goldberg recalls, “our realtor asked if we’d sell it and make a 30% profit on it.”

They decided to stay, and with COVID keeping people at home, Goldberg’s work prospects remained dismal. He had suffered from depression in the past, and found himself descending into a new funk, when he and Lucy took a trip to Los Angeles. Though he didn’t know it at the time, it was a trip that would change his life.“We were in Venice,” Goldberg recalls, “and I saw a friend who looked great. I asked him, ‘Dude, are you hitting the gym all the time?’ He said no, ‘All I do is play pickleball.’ I started playing a little bit, too, and that’s when the light bulb went off.”

Goldberg had been talking to his *

best friend, Rich Goldstein, and Rich’s older brother, Dave, about working together. The Goldsteins were fourth generation shoe guys who specialized in private labels for department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy’s. “In their career, they manufactured millions of pairs of shoes,” Goldberg says. “Not performance shoes, but they had the chops, and it was in their blood. So while I was in Venice, I texted the guys and said, ‘Dude. Pickleball! Let’s do a pickleball shoe.”

The Goldsteins were initially reluctant, as it was out of their comfort zone, but then they read the tea leaves and that tipped it for them.

“Everybody was doing the same thing,” Goldberg says. “They were just making tennis shoes and rebranding them as pickleball shoes. We read about all these injuries, so we talked to tons of players and podiatrists, and it felt like a lot of these injuries were due to fatigue, or jumping in full bore without doing the prep work, which also leads to missteps.”

The trick was to create a shoe that would maximize energy return, offering a sort of trampoline effect, to minimize the chance of injury. There was also the design.

“We wanted to eventually become the lifestyle shoe for the pickleball crowd,” Goldberg says, “but lifestyle that performs, so the design had to be important. We wanted to pay tribute to some of the classic shoe designs, like Air Jordans and Stan Smiths—evergreen shoes that looked just as good with jeans as on the court.”

While the Goldsteins live in their native South Florida, Goldberg has planted roots in the Berkshires. He loves the region’s natural beauty and, as a Florida native, “I never had seasons growing up, and I love having them now. Our first fall here really did it for me.”

So when it came to testing the shoe, Goldberg stayed local, turning to Tyler Besse, the racquet sports and simulator manager at Bousquet Sport in Pittsfield. Goldberg walked into the club, introduced himself, and asked if Besse was game to try out the new shoe.

“I loved the shoes instantly,” Besse recalls. “I got compliments from people right away asking, ‘What are those shoes you have on?’”

Besse made some recommendations, like the addition of a small rubber strip on the

“We wanted to pay tribute to some of the classic shoe designs, like Air Jordans and Stan Smiths—evergreen shoes that looked just as good with jeans as on the court.”

Keith Goldberg

outer instep to prevent the shoe’s leather from ripping but, more than anything, he was impressed. “The biggest thing to me is the way the shoe grips your foot,” he notes. “If I put on another shoe, I can feel my toe actually going forward and hitting the front. I wore the same Adidas shoes for five years, and I didn’t notice that that was a thing that happened until I put them back on after wearing these for such a long time. So now, even with the other sports I play, I wear DAPS for all of them.”

That grip on the wearer’s foot is the shoe’s secret weapon. You’re actually slipping around inside of most shoes. Goldberg and the Goldsteins knew what would set their shoe apart would be that it wouldn’t allow that slippage to happen.

“They say this is a game of inches,” Goldberg explains. “So every time you take a step and you’re moving, your foot’s moving a millimeter. That means you’re stopping a millimeter slower. Those millimeters add up. After 26 steps, that’s an inch, so that’s where you get your inches back.”

The shoe’s price is on the high side, starting at $150 (for comparison, Asics has a pickleball shoe for $85, and K-Swiss’ shoe goes for $115), but that’s because DAPS has a $60 insole, sharper treads, and a performance-based rubber sole that’s softer than the standard tennis shoe. Goldberg likes to compare DAPS to a sports car. “You’re not putting all-weather tires on a Porsche, you’re putting performance tires on a Porsche,” he explains. “They don’t last nearly as long, so certain types of players might burn through our shoes a little bit quicker, but what they’re going to gain in performance is just remarkable.”

Lucy Goldberg, who works for the Bloomberg Network, is not part of the DAPS team, but does provide her husband “emotional support.” She was also willing

to take on the role of sole breadwinner for the family as Goldberg and the Goldsteins developed the shoe.

After two years of development, DAPS launched in June of 2025, and with its exponential growth, her faith has been well founded. The DAPS team is taking meetings with potential investors who want to help grow the brand, while strategizing internally about the most organic ways to get there. Goldberg won’t talk on the record about what DAPS stands for, but he will acknowledge with

a laugh that Rich Goldstein said on a Los Angeles radio show that it’s an acronym for “dope ass pickleball shoes.”

“I was like, dude, we want to maintain an air of mystery behind the name!” he says jokingly, but the mystique is far less important than how people are responding to the shoe. Testing against established brands like K-Swiss and Asics at the renowned Heeluxe footwear lab in California, DAPS won every single dynamic performance metric. Pros have begun wearing them and are winning tournaments with DAPS on their feet, and Goldberg has even been recognized at airports in his DAPS gear.

“There’s a lot of people in these parts who still think of me as a filmmaker,” he says. “Now, if I met you at an airport, I’d probably tell you, ‘Yeah, I’m a shoemaker,’ and I feel pretty good about that.” B

PICKLE

Pickleball gets under your skin in the best possible way. Inside the Berkshires’ fastestgrowing, good-for-you obsession.

BY ROBIN CATALANO

Iswallowed my giddiness and arranged my face into what I hoped was an easy, sportsmanlike expression. “Good game,” I said, as we tapped paddles with our opponents across the pickleball net. Once the other team was out of earshot, I turned to my doubles partner, Ty, and said, “I’m going to snack on that victory all day. Yum!”

“All day?” he shot back. “Try all week.”

We had just vanquished a troublesome opponent—a player several rungs up the skill ladder, who also happened to be my husband. I’d introduced him to the sport a year and a

half prior, and he had, thanks to practice and a seemingly bottomless bag of tennis tricks, quickly outpaced me. It’s a common story in pickleball circles in the Berkshires, where the sport’s boom echoes national trends.

According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball has been America’s fastest-growing sport for four years and counting. Pockets of paddle slingers have existed in our region for at least a decade. They began coalescing into organized groups in 2018, when Mike Gilardi founded Berkshire Mountain Pickleball (BMP) to promote the

MANIA!

sport’s growth and development. Three years later, Bousquet Sport in Pittsfield added its first indoor courts.

BMP started off with 10 members. Today, it counts 400. At Bousquet Sport, the membership count is just under 1,400 with approximately 40% of those members spending their time on the pickleball courts.

Tyler Besse, Bousquet racket sport manager, says the momentum isn’t slowing, primarily because of the sport’s quicker learning curve. “In the first five, 10 minutes, you can get the ball over the net, hit the ball around. You’re laughing, having a great time,” he tells me, with the enthusiasm of a person who plays at the 4.5+ level—near-professional— according to the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) system.

“A big reason it feels addicting

is that you can see yourself getting better, and it’s not super frustrating starting off,” Besse says.

That part, at least, is true. Joe Riello of Pittsfield stumbled across pickleball in 2018 in Naples, Florida, the world’s current pickleball capital. He learned to play with BMP, and got his first true taste of the competitive rush in Naples, where the courts are separated by level.

“I played on all of them, for hours. That’s where I fell in love with the style of play at the 4.0 level,” Riello shares of the classic “soft game,” which favors accuracy of placement over smacking the yippee-ki-yay out of the ball. (The latter is common among intermediate players not so affectionately dubbed “bangers.”)

Riello practices daily, and spends an estimated $2,000 per year playing at local clubs. Since attaining his coveted 4.0 DUPR rating, he began imparting his

knowledge to the few, the overly proud, and the brave enough to take an errant ball in the face—aka, intermediate and advanced-intermediate players like me, who typically stall out around 3.5.

“There’s a self-satisfaction when I see improvement in a player I’ve been working with,” Riello says. “I can’t put a price on that. It’s thrilling.”

Williamstown-based Ossie Scipio, a natural athlete and an avid basketball player, became a paddle junkie about 18 months ago, after spying Riello practicing at Berkshire Community College’s Paterson Field House. It was love at first dink. Pickleball is now Scipio’s sole sport. A busy work and family schedule mean Scipio can hit the court only three days a week. He jokes that his “best friend” is the garage wall, where he has taped lines to simulate net height. Vigilant practice, and the electrifying feeling *

“A BIG REASON IT FEELS ADDICTING IS THAT YOU CAN SEE YOURSELF GETTING BETTER, AND IT’S NOT SUPER FRUSTRATING STARTING OFF.”

Tyler Besse, Bousquet Racket Sport Manager

of tournament play, have rocketed him up the local circuit like a champagne cork at a divorce party.

More than anyone I’ve played with, Scipio has the glorious, goldfish-like ability to forget a backhand drive that fizzles into the net or a lob that overshoots the baseline. “It’s a mental sport, and I realized that the more you get in your head, it’ll mess you up for the following shot,” he explains. “So I realized, ‘Deep breath. Relax. Reset,’ and you’re good.”

I’ve yet to truly absorb that advice, even though it’s been dispensed numerous times, including by Kelly Maginnis, an instructor and BMP steering committee member. A lifelong multisport athlete, Maginnis made her foray into pickleball four years ago, under Gilardi’s tutelage.

The real appeal of pickleball, according to Maginnis, is that you can have a ripping adventure at any skill stage. “You can go and have drinks between points and play with your friends and have a great time,” she says.

“Or you can up the ante and play more competitively. There are so many different levels you can take it to.”

Maginnis alternates between tournament and league play, plus practices, social games, and lessons on her home court, which she built in her Pittsfield backyard. Last year, word of mouth about her vast well of pickle patience exploded, and by September, Maginnis was teaching 15 lessons per week. “I took two weeks off at the end of the summer because I wasn’t even having a summer,” she recalls. “I love pickleball, but my kid came home from college and I felt like I didn’t even have a day off.”

Kanokwan De Sanctis, who lives in Canaan, New York, was introduced to pickleball by a friend of her husband. After a few months of just-for-fun ball thwacking, she confronted the sobering realization most players encounter early in their dinking-and-driving journey: “If I’m not getting better, no one wants to play with me. I had to level up,” she recalls. De Sanctis, who plays three to four

times a week and has limited her sporting expenses to a few hundred dollars, is now part of the legion of advancedintermediate players, albeit one with a wicked underspin punch.

She is gratified by the mastery of new shots. But because De Sanctis is a more highly evolved life form than I, whether she wins or loses is immaterial.

“I started to have friends, good friends, when I played pickleball. These are not my husband’s friends or family or colleagues,” De Sanctis says of the sport that broke her out of the isolation of the home office. “I love playing with everyone. It’s relaxing, and when I’m stressed it helps me a lot. It’s kind of my therapy.”

Whether or not you’re vying to become the next dink master or kitchen queen, pickleball “gives everyone the opportunity to feel like they’re part of something,” Scipio says.

He offers a final piece of advice: “But you have to stay for one more game.” B

THE B’s LIST

On Living Well

Take a breath, cool down, and join us for a roundtable with local health professionals discussing everything from “well-briety” to “bathhouse deserts”

By Neil Turitz

Photographs by Eric Korenman

There’s something in the air. You don’t have to be training for a half marathon or familiar with the raw milk and beef tallow content flooding TikTok to feel it. Step outside, breathe in, and look around you. There’s a reason so many health nuts and healers gravitate to the Berkshires, which has been a wellness retreat long before anybody uttered those two words.

For our annual Health and Wellness issue, The B gathered a group of local experts on the subject. Each has their own unique perspective—focusing on physical, psychological, and spiritual wellness—and together, they have decades of experience. Lucky for us, they also have a keen willingness to talk about it.

Why do you think so many wellnessminded folks gravitate to the area?

Andy Huh: Without sounding like a treehugger, the abundance of farm fresh food, clean air, mountains, lakes, forestry, ponds, and wildlife here—it just recharges you.

Ryoko Kudo: Nature and culture without the hustle and bustle of big cities.

Sandrine Harris: I lived in big cities for many years, and chose the Berkshires as a place to build meaning in my life in a slower and more intentional way.

Lindsey Jackson: We’re so close to Boston, Albany, and NYC that it’s accessible to get to the city without feeling isolated, while reaping the health and wellness benefits of rest, relaxation, and a slower-paced life the Berkshires offers.

Jake McNeice: We experience all four seasons here, and each one encourages people to get outside and stay active. Whether it’s hiking and biking in the summer, enjoying the foliage in the fall, skiing and winter sports, or just being outdoors in the spring. The natural beauty of the Berkshires creates a slower pace of life that makes people more intentional about their health and daily routines.

What’s lacking in terms of resources? Or maybe a better way to put it is, what do locals need that they aren’t getting?

Mark Gerow: If I had a practical wish list, I would say more bike trails, recreational spaces, pools, and more diversity in food options. When will we get a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods?

“The natural beauty of the Berkshires creates a slower pace of life that makes people more intentional about their health and daily routines.”

Jake McNeice

Huh: There’s a gap I call “bathhouse deserts” in markets like the Berkshires. A good, affordable sauna and cold plunge isn’t a luxury—in my opinion, it’s a basic routine we should all have access to.

Kudo: Educational programs for wellness practitioners. We had to develop our own teacher training program in 2020 and have since certified all of our instructors.

Ryoko Kudo Co-owner, The Pilates Space thepilatesspacegb.com

Erin Casperson Director, Kripalu School of Ayurveda kripalu.org

Jake McNeice Head of Strength and Conditioning Rip City Academy ripcityma.com

Erin Casperson: We’re experiencing a real shortage of medical providers. Even finding a primary care physician can be challenging, with wait times often stretching 6 to 12 months.

Jessica Grant: More options for “wellbriety” including sober-positive spaces for gathering and connecting.

McNeice: Accessible, structured fitness and performance resources, especially for youth and everyday adults who want guidance, but may not know where to start.

With that in mind, what are you hearing from your clients from a trend perspective?

Kathy Abeyatunge: Many people say they want to find peace, clarity, and purpose, but the trend I notice is a gentle shift from the concept of becoming the healer, the teacher, to the genuine wish of serving.

Casperson: Much of my community is navigating the menopausal transition, so conversations are filled with weighted

vests, protein, magnesium, HRT, sleep apps, and reducing sugar, caffeine, and alcohol. Beyond that demographic, what I hear most is a longing for community.

McNeice: Confusion created by social media. There’s an overwhelming amount of clickbait fitness content telling people that one specific exercise will build bigger arms, burn fat instantly, or make them a better athlete. I’m also seeing a growing demand for “sports-specific” training, especially from younger athletes and their parents. In reality, effective strength and conditioning looks very similar across most sports.

Gerow: People seem very ready to learn more about breathwork and how it influences physiology, mood, energy, brain chemistry, and even consciousness.

Grant: HRT and bioidentical hormonal therapies for women, red light therapy, psychedelic assisted therapy, neuro acupuncture, peptides, and somatic therapies are all prominent topics.

What are some new things you’re excited to try out?

Jackson: I really want to try craniosacral therapy. That’s on my list, and I don’t know much about it.

Harris: I’m interested in trying float therapy. The experience of being held effortlessly by mineralized water. I’m curious about how meditative it may feel.

Abeyatunge: Silence. In silence, we restore our ability to pay attention and each moment is enough.

Casperson: Right now, I’m obsessed with skincare. I’m very invested and consuming all the information I can while trying to find affordable, closer-to-natural products. If I could tell my past self anything, it would be: do more to protect your skin.

Kudo: Aerial yoga, float therapy, facial acupuncture. And we are excited to offer paddle board Pilates this summer.

Huh: I’m not really excited about any new trends. What I am excited about is returning to basics. Just sweat. The ancients figured this out a long time ago. We don’t need to reinvent it.

Kathy Abeyatunge Won Buddhism Lay Minister, Won Dharma Center wondharmacenter.org

Lindsey Jackson Acupuncturist/Owner, The Jade Center thejadecenter.com

Mark Gerow Spiritual Coach and Breathwork Guide, Miraval Resort and Spa miravalresorts.com

What’s in your personal wellness bag?

Jackson: I always have my Owala water bottle, and a GOpure pod that I leave in there so I can filter my water on the go. One clinical/healthcare type book and one fun book at all times. Three lip balms, a pack of acupuncture needles, a moxa stick, Calm app for when I need background noise, and my fleece neck warmer that stays with me from fall to spring.

Harris: I keep things simple: a notebook for spontaneous reflections and ideas, a water bottle for hydration, and lip balm and eye drops.

Gerow: This may sound unusual, but I carry a tool called an Analemma wand. It’s a quartz crystal device filled with “mother water,” designed to help restructure tap water into a more coherent state that may be more easily absorbed by the body.

Grant: A Jason protein bar, many aromas, rose hydrosol face mist, essential oils, and a violet signature oil I make that reminds me of spring. A paper calendar, Mala beads from India that help me to ground. Organic lip balms from REIMI Botanicals.

Kudo: There’s nothing better than lying on a reformer. The springs bring space and life back to our bodies and it’s a practice we crave. Wellness comes from choosing how we show up and finding joy in each day.

Abeyatunge: A calm mind, a compassionate heart, a glass of water, and a good pair of sneakers.

Last question: What are the worst and most ridiculous health trends you’ve seen or just something that’s currently making you crazy?

Casperson: Some trends feel like they create more anxiety than wellness. Constant biohacking, extreme restriction, or tracking every metric of the body can disconnect people from their own intuition. Health isn’t meant to be another full-time job.

Huh: I’m skeptical of anything driven by a super-influencer making bold, unsubstantiated claims: “This one supplement changes everything” or “Take X to live Y years longer.” Also, no one wants to see a daily post of you cold plunging.

“Some trends feel like they create more anxiety than wellness. Health isn’t meant to be another full-time job.”

Erin Casperson

Abeyatunge: Trends are the result of collective minds moving in the same direction. The trends themselves are not ridiculous, but we need to be careful not to follow them without inquiring into their nature and discovering their true source.

Grant: TikTok Medicine and InstaGurus are saturating the terrain of wellness. There have been many incidents of harm, especially within the trauma arena, and a rising concern involving ChatGPT-related psychosis. Extreme supplementation is also a big issue.

Harris: What remains an ongoing concern for me, and can directly cause harm, is the extracted and sometimes highly inaccurate “Instatherapy” bitesized posts on social media. Importantly, there isn’t context, education or support for the person consuming this content.

Jackson: I think overall the wellness influencers on social media make me a little crazy, because it makes people feel like they’re “supposed” to do or have these things in order to be living a healthy and “optimal” life. There’s so much co-opting of healthcare in piecemeal form with no context and we eat it up.

Gerow: I do wish more people recognized that there are a lot of fads and “snake oil” products in the wellness world, probably including my water wand. B

LUCCA ZERAY’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

This local designer is dreaming up snazzy alternatives to the mass-produced fast furniture that you always end up regretting

Furniture designer Lucca Zeray is in his sawdust-strewn studio at Pittsfield’s Wyandotte Woolen Mills, tracing the seams of his well-worn sweatshirt to illustrate the point that he is in the middle of making. The young creative has built a reputation in the design world for his relatively affordable and undeniably elegant flat-pack shelves, but his billable goods are just a part of a larger philosophy.

Zeray has a whirring mind and a habit of speaking rapidly and eloquently, especially when he’s contextualizing his practice within the larger scheme of things. Right now he’s in the middle of connecting the decline of American manufacturing since the Reagan era to socioeconomic unfairness and the diminishing quality of basic goods. “I beat the crap out of this, and it’s lasted, even though I’ve worn it for 50 hours a week for two years straight,” he says of his favorite green hoodie. In Lucca land, a sweatshirt is about so much more than a sweatshirt.

His company, Lucca House, is no less open to unorthodox associations. The purist, flat-pack furniture draws more inspiration from sources like reggae and punk music collectives than any of the buzzwords that design darlings so commonly rattle off.

Zeray’s populist stance isn’t a pose. He recently released the 1:1 scale drawings for his popular 5/4/3/2 foot grid shelves, which could be yours for the mere cost of printing and shipping. The opposite of gatekeeping from the top, his approach is a DIY antidote to fast furniture’s cheap race to the bottom.

Scaling from 1 to 7 feet, Lucca House shelves are made from Quebec-sourced, pre-finished plywood that is wineand even coffee-stain resistant. Pieces come in a variety of colors and ship from the Pittsfield studio. They’re far easier to assemble than your average IKEA haul; all it takes to fit Zeray’s perfectly calibrated pieces together is a firm shove. *

BY ANN VOLKWEIN PHOTOGRAPH BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Zeray grew up in Brooklyn and attended SUNY Purchase, where he studied furniture design and graduated in 2014. While an undergrad, Zeray encountered furniture artists such as Beth Ireland, Michael Puryear, and Isabelle Moore, thanks to the university’s visiting artist residency programs. “I was able to have bench space next to some of the most prolific studio furniture people—not designers,” he stresses. “That’s the difference, [my studio neighbors] were much more craftintensive.”

The original concept for his furniture line took root as Zeray’s senior project, which gestured at Enzo Mari, the post-war anti-fascist Italian designer who released a set of furniture designs that anyone could make for themselves out of materials from their local hardware store and pre-cut timber. After graduation, Zeray landed in Brooklyn, and made a living working for furniture designers like Vonnegut/Kraft and Stillmade while taking on set and production design jobs.

When his partner, Miranda Hughes, got a job at Blue Q, a novelty manufacturer in Pittsfield, they made the move north. They had a new apartment to furnish. “My mom was like, ‘Hey, what about all of your crap from your senior

Lucca House designs are remarkably flexible in both size and shape. They’re solutions for real problems.

project? Go pull it out of the basement.’”

It was around then that Zeray came to grips with the fact that his heart was not in commercial set design. ““I did a big boomerang,” he recalls. “After you do three hair-loss commercials in a row, you kind of lose your sanity.”

So Zeray did as many Gen-Zers with creative chops looking to make a pivot had before him. He made a few pieces and posted them on Instagram. When the shelves got a little traction, he made a few more, and created a website. “I knew something was happening when I got a few orders from people I didn’t know,” Lucca says.

Lucca House designs are remarkably flexible in both size and shape. They’re solutions for real problems, influenced by a designer who grew up in a small apartment where every square inch had to be accounted for. How well or badly a living space is organized, he realized, can have a direct effect on a person’s general wellbeing—which is Zeray’s primary focus. “But I’m not a social worker. I’m not an architect. I can’t build housing. I like making shapes and cutting wood. I’m going to stay in my lane as much as I can,” he says. He’s also focused on maintaining

a sustainable and equitable business. “I want to make sure that those of us who work here can buy everything we sell,” he explains. “The design world loves to just throw expensive materials on very basic forms. And I’m like, screw that. Let’s just figure out how to solve the problem quickly.”

And he has. The banding, trimming, and tolerance-testing of his pieces requires hands-on work, but the massive machine that looms in the corner is a three axis CNC mill that he estimates dates back to the turn of the millennium and, like his hoodie, does the job well. “I program the files, I hit go, and walk away and do other things,” is how he sums up the process. He purchased his mill for $8,000—one-tenth of market value—from an elevator company outside of Boston. “It allows me as one schmuck in a warehouse to compete with large brands,” Zeray says.

After four years living in Pittsfield, Zeray and Hughes recently moved to Cummington. Still, Zeray will give you a “stump speech” for his imaginary run for Pittsfield mayor. His platform includes measures to support local gathering places and require the filling of the city’s empty storefronts. “One of the biggest pros of the Berkshires is one of the biggest cons,” he says. “There’s just not that many people. And so, the people that have light in their eyes clump together very quickly.” He yearns for more makers and creators to come and join him and foment another industrial revolution in western Massachusetts—or simply grab a bite at Wander.

“This was one of the largest wool

EASY LIVING

manufacturers in the country,” he says, gesturing out the window at the Wyandotte building, which is adjacent to his workplace and whose floors sit empty. “I’m just amazed at the amount of infrastructure there is here, and the lack of utilization.”

The bicycles and motorcycles lodged in corners of the studio give clues to Zeray’s off-duty life in the Berkshires. There’s even a canoe kicking around somewhere, he says. “It’s important to take your pleasure seriously, which is an Eames thing,” he notes. “You gotta take play seriously.” B

luccahouse.com

Field Guide

A Real Reset

At The Ranch Hudson Valley, rigorous hikes, plant-forward meals, and otherworldly service add up to something more powerful than pampering

By Amy Conway

“Isn’t that the place where they give you six almonds to eat after you hike for hours?” asked my daughter when I told her I was going to The Ranch Hudson Valley. Yes and no. The original location—The Ranch Malibu, on the rugged California coast—famously offered that snack (though it now offers more substantial, nutrientdense nibbles), and became known as a white-glove fitness boot camp where the days are disciplined, with strenuous hikes powered by modest portions of plantforward food. Along with daily massages and a focus on nature and connection, the immersive program leaves guests— or Ranchers, as they are called—feeling renewed and reset.

The Ranch Hudson Valley, the second location, opened in 2024 on 200 forested acres in Sloatsburg. The centerpiece is a grand stone mansion that J.P. Morgan built

in 1904 as a gift for his daughter when she married the great-grandson of founding father Alexander Hamilton. Celebrated designer Steven Gambrel oversaw the interior design, room after room of quiet luxury and high-ceilinged comfort.

The Ranch Hudson Valley has the same ethos as the original: We would “work hard and rejuvenate harder” one of the staffers said when we gathered in the mansion’s living room for our welcome. Several of my fellow Ranchers had been to both Malibu and Hudson Valley before. (The Ranch inspires dedication.) Though the programs are very similar, they all thought that Hudson Valley has the more laid back vibe. The stays are shorter, too—rather than the six-day minimum out west, the New York location just asks for three or four days (though you can certainly combine two sessions for a week-long retreat).

Whether or not more relaxed is what you’re looking for, The Ranch Hudson Valley has a distinct advantage for us Berkshirites: It’s a two-hour drive from Great Barrington.

During my stay, there were 20 Ranchers, mostly women ranging from their late twenties to early sixties. Unplugging is encouraged, but phones aren’t taken away; there are no TVs or alcohol on the property; and I was way under my normal caffeine consumption, with coffee only available at breakfast.

Days are structured and have a communal feel: Ranchers eat all of the (delicious) meals at a single long table, and go on multi-hour hikes together. If you’re not the small-talk type, don’t be put off. At The Ranch, people seem to understand when you’d rather spend time with your own thoughts rather than chat. And my trip reminded me of hiking’s power to invite easy, authentic conversation. I found myself opening up and connecting with near-strangers, and we learned about others’ relationships, work adventures, and health struggles. The Ranch attracts those who have a keen interest in taking care of themselves, so wellness is a common thread and topic of conversation (and now I want to try NAD+, a buzzy injection that fans say increases energy and promotes longevity).

Afternoons found people in the sauna or in the main room, curled up on comfy sofas by the fire reading, napping, or journaling. More than one person in my group was doing needlepoint (now I want to learn that, too). It’s also the time for the daily massages, as well as sessions of yoga, breathwork, sound baths, and contrast therapy (hot and cold

plunging). There’s a tightly curated menu of other treatments you can book for an additional fee.

Nature, spa treatments, good-for-you food, luxurious accommodations, like-minded people…sounds divine, right? It is—but there are other elements that infuse the experience and set The Ranch further apart. The magic is in the service, the details, the blissful simplicity of the program.

The staffers, referred to as Guides, are warm and welcoming; you get to know them during your stay. They awaken everyone at 6 a.m. by sounding Tibetan chimes outside bedroom doors, gently summoning Ranchers to the morning stretch and breakfast (savory grits with spinach and roasted tomato, for example). Afterwards, Guides will tape achy knees and tend to blisters before hikes, which they lead. Upon return, they are more than happy to help draw a lavender-and-mint foot bath (on this hiking-intensive retreat, feet are important). Your laundry is whisked away every morning and returned a few hours later, folded just so. Water bottles are always filled, thick bathrobes are warmed while you get a massage.

Not having to weigh options and make decisions might be the greatest luxury on offer at The Ranch. When a chef is choosing your meals and a team of magic elves is setting up your daily schedule, you have the mental space to rest, reflect, and connect—whether with yourself or others. Back home, I’ve been waking earlier to stretch, and doing my best to slow down and approach my days with more intention. Sometimes that works better than others, but I’ll take progress, if not perfection. B

theranchlife.com

So Spa, So Close Wellness escapes in the Berkshires’ backyard

By Robin Catalano

Health-conscious visitors have flocked to the Berkshires for its fresh air, mountain views, and tranquil lakes for centuries. The region was barely a blip on the modern wellness map until the late 1980s, when giants like Kripalu, Canyon Ranch, and Cranwell (now Miraval) opened their doors. The wellness scene has continued to flourish, with luxury juggernauts and pop-up retreats vying for health-minded travelers. Thanks to the profusion, locals don’t have to go far for a top-rate wellness getaway. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite properties within driving distance.

THE ICON

Mohonk Mountain House

New Paltz, NY | mohonk.com

Mohonk House, located in a grand Victorian castle, has four wellness weekends on its 2026 calendar, with an emphasis on nature immersion and spa treatments.

But just about any time of year, you can make a wellness retreat of your stay at the Hudson Valley icon. Start off with yoga class, then go forest bathing or hike one of 85 trails through the Shawangunks. There’s also boating, kayaking, and golf—or take a ramble through 40,000 tulips and other flowers in the property’s Victorian gardens. As day wanes, head to the newly updated spa for a dip in either of the two pools or one of their new “sensory sanctuary” treatments, whose menu includes hydrating scalp massages and CBD-oil assisted foot and leg circulation sessions. We’ll be signing up for “Drenched in Petals and Pine,” a lovely sounding facial and hand-treatment, complete with dry brushing and massage.

In the evening, enjoy farm-to-table meals, take a leisurely soak in the heated outdoor mineral pool, and drift off to sleep in a lake- or mountain-view suite.

Omega

Rhinebeck, NY | eomega.org

Omega has a longstanding commitment to conservation and sustainability, which is obvious when strolling its 250 acres of gardens and green spaces. Although the nonprofit is only open from May 22 to October 25, it packs an educational wallop for sparking creativity, exploring spirituality, and cultivating well-being. Instructors have included Brian Weiss, Elizabeth Gilbert, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Laura Lynne Jackson. Workshops and retreats range from reconnecting with our inner calling to sketching, journaling, healing breathwork, and meditation. Among the 300 programs slated for 2026 are the martial-arts themed Way of the Sword, Aging Backwards for All Ages (promoting physical health through a proprietary fitness program), and Open Your World with Poetry (exploring the craft and language of the art form with Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama). Omega’s all-inclusive rates include a modest room or cabin; three farm-to-table meals per day; daily classes; access to the on-site library, gardens, and nature trail; and activities such as pickleball, tennis, basketball, and kayaking.

LODGE LUXE

Troutbeck

Amenia, NY | troutbeck.com

Shrouded within 250 acres of lush forest, Troutbeck is just five miles from Wassaic station, which services New York City

via the Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line. Built in the 1700s, the property has served as a private estate, country inn, and tavern for artists, activists, naturalists, and politicians, including Teddy Roosevelt.

The current manor house was constructed in 1919 and extensively renovated in 2017. At the Wellness Barns, built in 2021, indulge in treatments like massages and facials featuring products from cult English brand Wildsmith. Or book sessions in acupuncture, infrared sauna, kinesoma (creative movement), forest bathing, sound healing, or astrology. Beyond the spa, you can hike, play tennis, and go river rafting.

Chef Vincent Gilberti’s menus highlight local products like winter chicory, black trumpet mushrooms, and Hudson Valley duck breast.

THE EDGY GETAWAY

Pocketbook Hudson Hudson, NY | pocketbookhudson.com

Self-billed on its website as a “place to be,” this newcomer is an ambitious and art-filled 70,000-square-foot hotel in a historic 1885 textile factory. Ether, the hotel’s club space, reimagines a historic boiler room into a place for deep listening and next-level fitness sessions. Guests can join movement classes, sound baths, and sonic awareness workshops. The Spa and Baths, opening this spring, will provide restorative treatments for face and body, inspired by global bathing traditions from Japanese Sento to Islamic hammam and Roman thermae.

THE FANCY PANTS

Belden House & Mews Litchfield, CT | beldenhouse.com

This chic 31-room boutique hotel is set on a three-acre swath of land in tony Litchfield center. The property is spread over an 1888 mansion and its 1959 modernist addition, plus the historic brick Litchfield Firehouse. Rooms start at 400 square feet, with the three-bedroom Penthouse topping out at 2,100 square feet of cozy nooks, Frette-dressed beds, and views of the Litchfield Hills.

The new spa, Belden Bathhouse, is a design-forward oasis of glossy tiles in a palette of forest greens and warm woods. The menu is stacked with traditional body work and creative skin care treatments that incorporate Wildsmith products. The house facial has breathwork and craniosacral holds; a body treatment for expecting mothers is called “New Life.” The spa also boasts a steam room, sauna, cold plunge, and soaking tub.

THE RUGGED REFUGE

Hinata Retreat

Charlemont | hinataretreat.com

The secluded and adults-only Hinata Retreat is the ultimate getaway. Burn some energy with off-site activities like mountain biking, ziplining, and white-water rafting. If you’re feeling less adventurous, meander around the retreat’s 750 acres.

Hinata, which means “facing the sun” in Japanese, has 30 private cabins, all of which have floor-to-ceiling windows on their eastern side. Their moody, minimalist designs include a kitchenette, sitting area with fireplace, and soaking tub. On the private deck, savor a nightcap by the fire pit, or relax in the hot tub. Don’t skip the cocktails, both boozy and no-ABV, at Hinata’s new restaurant and lounge, The Perch. Drinks benefit from the zing of freshly squeezed juices, spices, and unexpected add-ons. Restaurateur Howard Wein’s spot is so good, you’ll probably want to plan your activities around your digestive activities. Bonus: Breakfast is delivered straight to your cabin door in the morning. B

Enjoy transformativ e wellbeing in your own back yard.

Exclusiv e ov ernigh t and day packages for Ber kshire residen ts.

There’s Something Fishy Going on Here

We recently stumbled upon this picture (which looks like it could be an outtake from “Stand By Me”) in the Berkshire Eagle archives. The file name is “Mystery Photo,” and all we know is that it was taken at Pontoosuc Lake in Pittsfield by Bill Tague, a well-known photographer for the paper, and ran in April of 1958. What we want to know is—who are these guys? Were they in some type of local fish gang and is the tough-looking kid in the sailor cap their fearless leader? And why is no one smiling except for the kid in the back row whose face we can barely see? There’s definitely something fishy going on here and we need to get to the bottom of it. Which is, hopefully, where you come in. If you know any of these fisherboys, please hit us up at: theb@berkshireeagle.com. We need a happy ending to this big fish story.

BEFORE

E v er y de t ail r eimag ine d the dif f er ence is in the de sig n, ele v at e d b y cr af t sma nship and vision.

AF TER

DE SIG N TH E A R T OF