Housatonic shindig nets funds, awareness

By Bill SamplePrint Story | Email Story
A heron wades in the Housatonic Sunday. (Photo By Bill Sample)
LEE — Several hundred environmental activists, families, exhibitors and others interested in cleaning up the Housatonic River gathered at the Lee soccer fields Sunday afternoon to cheer what has been accomplished already and to promote continuing cleanup efforts of Berkshire County’s largest river. Hosted by the Housatonic River Initiative and aided by other environmental advocacy groups, the event filled the air with music, discussion and educational displays under warm and sunny mid-summer weather. Over on the sidelines, John Nalepa of Dalton was flipping veggie burgers and hamburgers on a grill at the refreshment stand he had set up. “We’re raising money for the river,” he said with a smile. “We covered the cost of all the supplies and have raised a couple hundred dollars so far.” The proceeds will go directly to the Housatonic River Initiative’s efforts to revitalize the waterway. Nalepa has long been an advocate of the PCB cleanup along the river and was the initiator of a petition signed by 800 residents of Pittsfield requesting that the Allendale School grounds be tested for PCB contamination. “That was years ago,” he said. “The city stalled us on that for quite awhile because no one thought that Allendale School could possibly have been contaminated. Then when we submitted the petition, they did the testing and found PCB contamination in the schoolyard — in some areas down to 30 feet below the ground.” He added, “Grassroots efforts such as that empower people, and eventually we will clean up this beautiful river.” Music for the event was provided by Terri a la Berry and Friends, along with The Housatonic Philharmonic playing traditional old time instruments and David Grover and the Big Bear Band. Demonstrations were provided by Wind over Wings, a Connecticut based bird of prey rehab center — which pleased the crowd with a live falcon and several owls — and by several other environmentally-friendly organizations. Also present were the Center for Ecological Technology, Trout Unlimited, the Lee Land Trust, the Housatonic Environmental Action League of Connecticut, Berkshire Grown, Greenerwatts New England and the Union of Concerned Scientists, along with several other groups and environmental organizations. Children joined in the fun with sack races, tye dying, face painting, dancing and sing-alongs with the bands. The electrical needs for the entire event were powered by solar energy, provided by Sun Weaver of Northwood, N.H. A Sun Weaver technician drove down to operate one of the company’s solar-panel-equipped trailers that had been dropped off earlier in the day by Taylor Mauck, company president. Mauck had hauled it in from New York State, where it had recently been employed to provide power to the Falcon Ridge Music Festival. The trailer, one of three in Sun Weaver’s fleet, converts DC current gathered from the large solar panels on top to AC current by passing it through electrical inverters mounted on the chassis. Excess electricity is stored in a bank of 6-volt batteries mounted on the trailer bed. The electricity is then passed through a control panel and out standard electical outlets to power whatever needs the juice, in this case, the public address system and musical equipment for the three bands. Other examples of the potential future of alternative energy use in this country were evident in the form of two bio-diesel equipped Mercedes automobiles retrofitted by their owners to run on vegetable oil. “I actually get my fuel free from where I work,” said Fred Kass of South Hadley, owner of a Mercedes sedan that runs on used fryolater oil that he collects from the dining halls at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. “We call it the Greaser” chimed in Kass’s girl friend, Jen Zatzkin, who came along for the ride and “to show support for the river cleanup.” “Sometimes it smells a little like French fries when you’re going down the road, but it definitely smells better than diesel exhaust, and I have saved a bunch of money on fuel,” Kass said. “The cost of the conversion kit has payed for itself many times over.”
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WMMGA to Host Gardening Half Day in Lenox

LENOX, Mass. — The WMMGA will host a gardening half day on April 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.

The event will feature eight workshops covering the following topics:

  • Ticks
  • Hydrangeas
  • Summer bulbs
  • Pollinator gardens
  • Good garden tools
  • Plant propagation
  • Heirloom tomatoes
  • Container gardening

The event will also include vendors, free refreshments, a sale table with puzzles, houseplants, and gently used garden books, and a garden-themed raffle.

Registration can be completed at wmmga.org. Class size is limited.

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