Farm vegetable manager Kate Carney with her husband and daughter, Isla, with the smaller 'sign' to replace the one made of nearly 20 bales of hay that burned.
DALTON, Mass. — A local man has been arrested in relation to a fire set on Friday night that destroyed a Biden/Harris sign made of nearly 20 bales of hay.
Lonnie Durfee, 49, was charged with burning personal property and is set to be arraigned on Tuesday in Central Berkshire District Court in Pittsfield.
The large sign comprised of about 20 bales of hay was put up at Holiday Farm on Thursday, according to Facebook posts by farm owner Dicken Crane. The installation had the last names of Democratic presidential ticket of Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris written on the white plastic bale coverings along with "USA," "vote" and American flags.
The fire was reported about 6:42 p.m. with firefighters and police responding to the scene. Video from Facebook shows a roiling inferno and black smoke rising from the blaze.
Crane said on Facebook that he created the sign because the Trump banners were getting under his skin. A number of peoples posted picture of the completed sign or stopped to have their pictures taken with it.
"[It] didn't take long .... It's actually hard to believe anyone who says they love this country would do this," Crane posted on Friday night with an image of burning hay bale.
Dalton Police say this is an ongoing investigation with the state fire marshal. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department at 413-684-0300.
"I feel like it's a bigger conversation than I you and I can even have, it's more than just my conversation it's everybody's. We won't be silenced, don't be sorry, just vote," said the farm's vegetable manager, Kate Carney, on Saturday.
Carney spoke on behalf of the farm when she said the message sent by burning the sign was louder than the sign itself and that the response from the community has been nothing but supportive.
She was hired about six years ago to amp up the vegetable production, which has since expanded each year. Though she is not a relative of the Cranes who own Holiday Brook Farm, she says they all feel like one big farm family.
Carney said she felt like the sign had been an expression of support for a lot of area people who "needed a voice."
"The sign was loud, the the sign was big, and the amount of support and attention that it has received since is just bigger than the sign its self," she said. "I'm proud of it and I'm so much more proud of what has come since the last 12 hours."
Nearly 20 bales weighing in at 1,000 pounds each were used to construct it. Each bail is worth about $65 a piece but are scarce during the current drought, meaning that because of this loss, the farm will have to outsource more hay to feed its animals.
"There's a lot of ways to look at how much it's valued at," Carney said. "They're worth $65 each but also we're making hay in a season during a drought where we already have to buy hay to feed the herd anyway, so now we have to source hay from somewhere else again."
She explained that the community has come forward to help the farm replace the hay. People were outraged over the act that was both a destruction of property and a destruction of food that fed many animals, she said.
"The outpouring of help for us to replace the hay is amazing," she said. "But as far as we're all concerned, the amount of hay lost is worth every blade of grass for the message that was put out there and for how the community has come together. Both sides, all sides."
"At the end of the day it's not always going to be an election season and we all still need to live together as one community and support each other through our differences," Carney added.
Holiday Brook Farm is a four-generation farm of the Crane family. Ruth and Dicken Crane own the farm currently with the help of their son, Adam. They supply surrounding areas with pork, beef, lamb, maple syrup, vegetables, and compost supply. They also grow hay for their grass-fed cows, which makes for a healthier meat.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have received a great amount of business from people sourcing local food and starting their own gardens. The Biden/Harris sign also brought a lot of interest to their property.
"I noticed a lot of cars stop to take pictures, I got messages from people," Carney said. "We also got a lot of attention when we were painting them, good and bad."
The farm has constructed a smaller four-bale sign that reads "B/H Vote." Carney says she wants to rebuild the entire thing, and that she has received offers from people willing to camp out around the rebuilt sign to protect it.
Write-thru and upate at 9 p.m.
I didn’t take long .... It’s actually hard to believe anyone who says they love this country would do this
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Berkshire Force 12U Tops Greylock Thunder in Dalton CRA Tourney
By Leland BarnesiBerkshires.com Sports
DALTON, Mass. — The Berkshire Force 12U travel softball team ended the day with a 15-5 win over the Greylock Thunder, going 2-0-1 on the day in the CRA Softball Tournament on Saturday.
It was a busy day Saturday for the Force with games against the Greylock Thunder Black, the Purple the ACS Swat. Berkshire came away with the top seed in the four-team field heading into Sunday's semi-finals.
The Berkshire Force will play the Greylock Black again at 8 a.m. The Thunder Purple and ACS Swat will hook up at 9:45 with the winners advancing to the 1:15 tournament final.
On Saturday, Cassidy Flynn started in the circle for the Berkshire Force, she pitched three innings while recording four strikeouts, two on called third strikes.
The weather gave both teams a lot of fatigue on top of their constant playing after each game. Prior to the Force and Thunder meeting, the Greylock Thunder Purple defeated ACS SWAT, 10-2.
The Force will have to get used to even hotter temperatures in the days ahead. This weekend's local tournament is a tune-up for its trip to Alabama for the Babe Ruth 12-and-under World Series.
Berkshire had command most of the game on Saturday. Due to the time constraints made by the tournament, the game only made it through four innings.
The game-winning rally started when Pittsfield junior Jack Abel led off by crushing a 1-1 pitch to left-center and racing all the way to third base, sliding in just ahead of the tag to give the Generals a sterling scoring opportunity. click for more
The Pittsfield baseball team Saturday rallied for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to break a 5-5 tie and went on to a 12-5 win over Clinton in the quarter-finals of the Division 4 State Tournament. click for more
Amanda Pou was named the most valuable player of the regional final after striking out four and walking none in a complete-game effort in the circle. She also ripped a two-run double in Pittsfield’s four-run fourth-inning rally to break open a scoreless game. click for more