The education center will allow Tamarack to hold programming without worrying about the weather.
WINDSOR, Mass. — Aimee Gelinas and Daniel Cohen have led hikes and other programming at Tamarack Hollow Nature and Cultural Center for more than a decade.
Now an upcoming educational center will create new opportunities to connect people with the natural world and the folklore traditions that honor it.
Last week, the nonprofit held a ceremonial groundbreaking for a 900-square-foot wooden structure with a full foundation and a composting toilet. The excavation process began this week, and completion is expected in 2026.
"This is such a big day for Dan and I," Gelinas said. "We have been working hard for this for 10 years."
For Cohen, it is "very gratifying."
"It's been kind of a dream, an idea of ours for a long time and to see it coming to fruition is really amazing," he said.
The organization received a $50,000 matching grant three years ago from the Massachusetts Cultural Council's Facilities Fund in partnership with MassDevelopment. Through donations, they were able to match it.
The center is estimated to cost around $200,000 and fundraising efforts continue.
Gelinas and Cohen hold guided hikes, snowshoeing, tracking, wild edibles, and plant and tree identification events throughout the year but are limited without a facility to hold indoor programming.
"The building will provide our organization with a much-needed indoor educational space so we can provide programs for schools, teacher training, youth centers, intergenerational programs, lectures, music classes, and more right here on site," Gelinas explained.
"Regardless of the weather."
The conservation and educational nonprofit's mission is to educate about the diverse natural and cultural world through programs for all ages that inspire stewardship of natural, and cultural resources.
With two full-time staff, it serves more than 5,000 people per year.
"We strive to inspire environmental and cultural awareness, appreciation, and stewardship by providing meaningful and engaging year-round educational opportunities for the public through diverse hands-on learning opportunities that connect people's culture and place," Gelinas explained.
"Our mission is to educate the public about the importance of stewarding our natural world, as well as folkloric traditions from world cultures that intrinsically connect music with the rhythms of the natural world. Through awareness and appreciation of the environment and diverse cultures, we can better understand each other and ourselves."
The nonprofit is also conserving 88 acres of rare boreal spruce fir and hardwood forest. The type of terrain, which includes the balsam fir and red spruce species, only grows in a small pocket of the state, with fields, watershed and a waterfall for future generations of fauna, flora, and people, she said.
They began their journey on the land in the early 2000s and in the last two years, have saved a 30-acre plot, a 26-acre plot, and the waterfall. The trail system is now about a two-mile loop.
Tamarack Hollow's land stretches along the northern border of Notchview, a property owned by the Trustees of Reservations. Julie Richburg, the Trustees' lead ecologist of inland natural resources, said they are amazing neighbors.
She commended Gelinas' work with youth and said the local wildlife thank them for preserving the land.
"This forest is really going to be impacted by climate change. It already is," she said.
"We're going to be able to have this land protected, cared for amazingly well, and using that foundation to teach generations, from drummers to kids to older people, people of all different knowledge levels."
State Rep. John Barrett III said the Legislature does something right when its funds something like Tamarack Hollow.
"I can say our money is well spent in the programs that are being developed here and other cultural organizations not just in the Berkshires but throughout Massachusetts," he added.
"You've done good."
Board members, family, and friends clapped and cheered the nonprofit's milestone.
"You guys were really the foundation, in your own way, of how we got here," Gelinas said.
She dedicated the evening, Aug. 21, to her beloved parents because of their unwavering support and belief in this project from the beginning. The next day would have been their 60th wedding anniversary.
Nephew and godson Matthew Gelinas was also commended for his work on the property as an intern for the last several years.
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Community Hero: Noelle Howland
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
Noelle Howland is committed to keeping alive the late Pittsfield ACO Eleanor Sonsini's mission of helping animals ... albeit farther north in North Adams.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — No Paws Left Behind Executive Director Noelle Howland has been selected as the November Community Hero of the Month.
The Community Hero of the Month series honors individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact in their community. The series sponsor, Haddad Auto, has extended this initiative for one more month.
Howland breathed new life into the mission of the former Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter, which closed in August 2023.
The shelter in Pittsfield operated under the mission established by Eleanor Sonsini, a local animal rights activist and longtime animal control officer in Pittsfield, to be a no-kill shelter committed to finding surrendered and abandoned pets new forever homes.
Howland's love for animals, dedication to their well-being, and expertise in animal behavior and training and shelter management brought this mission to new heights at No Paws Left Behind, a new shelter for dogs located at 69 Hodges Cross Road.
"I want people to understand that I know it's hard to surrender. So, my biggest thing is [making sure] people know that, of course, we're not judging you. We're here to help you," Howland said.
When Sonsini announced its closing, Howland, who was the shelter's manager, worked to save it, launching fundraising initiatives. However, the previous board decided to close the shelter down and agreed to let Howland open her own shelter using their mission.
Now dubbed the North Adams Recreation Center, the building attached to Brayton Elementary School has been scrubbed clean and opened last month for some activities.
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There are several events this weekend, including an immersive installation, live music, and book activities. See a list of upcoming bazaars, craft fairs and markets here.
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