The Berkshire Edge On-Air - Wednesday July 22, 2020

The Berkshire Edge LLC is a locally owned, regional publication. Our goal is to provide – regularly and in depth – content that truly reflects the life, interests and aspirations of this unusually rich and vibrant community.

Guided by respected journalistic standards, the principle of fairness, the quest for truth, a commitment to social, economic and environmental justice, and an abiding admiration for the independent spirit of the Berkshires, The Berkshire Edge offers in-depth local news reports and features, perspectives on the arts, wide-ranging commentary, and a comprehensive calendar of events – all written, illustrated, and, in some cases performed, with wit, intelligence, insight and humor.

1.  What would a weekly report on Berkshires news be without the announcement of a new pot shop. This one is in Egremont, the town just to the west of Great Barrington (which as everyone knows, is the pot capital of Berkshire County):

2. Our most popular story of the week so far is Terry Cowgill’s report of the crowds swimming at Bash Bish Falls, despite the risks posed by the COVID19 pandemic:

https://theberkshireedge.com/hordes-of-people-breaking-every-single-rule-pack-bash-bish-falls/

3.  We have a very interesting column by Carole Owens on the history of pandemics in the Berkshires and the development of vaccines. She cites the development of the smallpox vaccine (but she doesn’t happen to mention how blankets infected with smallpox were used by the first settlers in New England to kill the native American population — one of the first instances of biological warfare.) This tactic was the brainchild of Lord Jeffrey Amherst.
https://theberkshireedge.com/connections-97/

4.  To survive this COVID19 pandemic, Berkshire restaurateurs have had to get creative. We take a look at a few of their strategies:

https://theberkshireedge.com/south-county-restaurants-get-creative-to-survive-during-covid-19-pandemic/

5.  And associated with the above story is a companion piece, from the Edge magazine, also online, about where to find local farms and locally grown food:

https://theberkshireedge.com/berkshire-grown-where-to-find-local-food-and-farms/

6.  Are you missing spending an evening at the cinema? Our columnist Rochelle O’Gorman has an alternative: Drive-in movies. She does a tour of the local drive-in movie sites, some of them improvised by performing arts venues, such as the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington where they’re showing drive-in films at Simon’s Rock:
https://theberkshireedge.com/amplifications-changing-times-mean-more-movie-times/

7. Finally, if you’re lamenting the loss of Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts on the lawn or in the shed at Tanglewood, there’s an online substitute… the online Tanglewood Festival:
https://theberkshireedge.com/the-tanglewood-2020-online-festival-schedule-in-a-nutshell/