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Editorial Deadline:20th at noon

the month before publication.

Classified Deadline:Monday, February 22, 2010

Display Deadline:Monday, February 22, 2010

Guide to the Inside

Crossword .................Page 7

Horoscope ................Page 6

Business & Services ..2

Classifieds .................Page 2

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Auto .........................Page 13

Help Wanted ...........Page 15

We Don’t Sell Advertising… We Sell Results!

YankeeShopperwww.yankeeshopperonline.com

February 4, 2010

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2 Yankee Shopper February 4 , 2010

��888.633.0333

Fax 802.447.3270Classified 888.307.0839

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Renee Tassone, General ManagerLinda Devlin, Circulation Manager

Carrie Devlin, Advertising SalesSheryl Gibson, Advertising SalesSarah Masiero, Advertising Sales

Melissa Miller, Art DirectorMary A. Garcia, ArtistJen Hathaway, Artist

Chris Sobolowski, Artist

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Editorial Deadline*:20th of month prior

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*Deadlines will change due to Holidays. See special deadline notices

published before major holidays.

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Submission Guidelines: Those wishing to submit event listings or editorial content may email [email protected].

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Notice: The Yankee Shopper will not knowingly accept or publish advertising which is fraudulent or misleading in nature. The publisher reserves the sole right to edit, revise, or reject any and all advertising, with or without cause being assigned, which in the publisher’s judgement is contrary to the interests of this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessar-ily those of the publisher.

©2008, Hersam Acorn Newspapers. All contents of the Yankee Shopper are copyrighted, and any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Martin Hersam, Chief Operating OfficerThomas B. Nash, Publisher

Here we are already one full month into 2010, it is truly amazing how fast time flies. When my daughters were young, people would always tell me to enjoy them because they

grow up so fast, but when they are little time just seemed to stand still. Now, they are both in college and there are some days that I have a hard time remembering when they were babies. Of course my memory seems to be going as fast as my eyes and my hearing, just ask any of my coworkers. I hope things slow down a little and I hope that 2010 is a better year for everyone. Last year just seemed to be such a tough year on so many people, that most were glad to see the year come to an end. Things do seem to be pointing in the right direction, so let’s hope that it continues.

Thanks for picking up our paper and we hope you

enjoy it. If you visit any of the businesses that advertise with us please tell them you saw their ad in our paper. In this issue you will find a special Valentine’s Day and Health & Fitness section. We all know January is a popular month for resolutions and many people try to improve on their health for the new year, so we hope you find this section helpful. Honestly, I just can’t seem to find any extra time in the day to work out. I taught aerobics and personal trained for many years and would help people make fitness a priority in their lives and these days I can’t seem to get myself to do any kind of workout routine. Maybe 2010 is my year, maybe it will be the year that I will actually get some use out of my gym membership. If they served Miller Lite at the gym I would be more likely to go, maybe I will add that to their suggestion box.

The month of February is also Super Bowl time, I love to watch football. Super Bowl is almost like a holiday for me, of course that does go well with Miller Lite. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Super Bowl is always better when the Patriots are playing but they just didn’t have it this year. So now I am root-ing for the Colts. Actually I am just rooting for one of my many pools to hit. Wish me luck! I wish all of you good luck this year, I hope it is a healthy, prosperous 2010 for each and every one of you.

Manager’s Memo

Renee Tassone, General Manager

February 4, 2010 Yankee Shopper 3

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LENOX - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum is pleased to announce a one-month extension of “Something Old, Something New: 200 years of Berkshire Brides.” The exhibit presents an incomparable collection of rare-ly-viewed wedding gowns and related accessories on loan from the Berkshire Historical Society, plus a few treasures belonging to Ventfort Hall.

“The exhibit has proven to be very popular,” said Jeffrey Folmer, Ventfort Hall’s Executive Director, adding, “We are lucky to have the opportunity, and thought it fit-ting, to carry the romance forward to Valentine’s Day.” “Something Old, Something New: 200 years of Berkshire Brides” is displayed on the newly-restored second floor of the Gilded Age mansion. These rooms opened to the pub-lic for the first time in decades with the opening of this exhibit in

May, 2009. The exhibit showcases more than two dozen wedding gowns –the old-est from 1815—along with shoes, veils,

gloves, invitations and photographs.One prominent family whose gowns are

on display is that of Zenas Crane, founder of Crane & Company. They developed financial bond paper for the U.S. Mint and have pro-duced all of the paper used for U.S. currency since 1879. The Crane family gowns and acces-sories span the years from 1850 to 1906.

The exhibit also features a rare wedding gown by famed designer, Charles Frederick Worth, a name still famil-iar to many today. Born in London, Worth moved to Paris, where his prized gowns sold for $10,000 each in the Gilded Age. Ventfort Hall, one of the first Berkshire “cottages” (built in 1893 by the sister of J.P. Morgan) is also home to a separate, but related exhibit, Les Petites Dames de Mode (The

Something Old, Something New

Wedding Gown photo by Kevin Sprague continued on page 7

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Radar Race on Otis Reservoir

The Brett Robert Peck Scholarship Fund will be holding a Radar Race on Otis Reservoir at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 20. Following the races there will be a night of fun at The Locker Room Sports Pub at 232 Main Street in Lee. Beginning at 4 p.m. there will be great food, live music and raffles. There is a $10 donation for the evening.

33rd Annual Raymond ‘Skip’ Whalen Echo Lake Ice Fishing Derby

The 33rd Annual Raymond “Skip” Whalen Echo Lake Ice Fishing Derby will be held on Sunday, February 7, 2010. Alternate dates are February 14 and February 21. Registration begins at 7 a.m., and stops at 1:30 p.m. at which time there will be an awards ceremony at the Stockbridge Sportsmen’s Club. Tickets may be purchased at Wheeler & Taylor and Minkler’s Insurance, both located on Main Street in Stockbridge, or at the cook shack on derby day. Cost is $4 for members, $8 for non-members under the age of 15, $10 for non-members age 15 and up. There is a $2 late sign-up fee when registering on derby day.

e-mail your community news and events to: [email protected]

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Valentine’s Day at Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum will be a family affair on Sunday, February 14, with a variety of activities and events offered throughout the day.

The family fun begins at noon, with a roaring bonfire on the hill behind the man-sion with free hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows. Bring your sleds for sledding on the Great Lawn hill. The bonfire is courtesy of the US Green Building Council, and this free portion of the day runs from noon to 3pm.

Then at 3pm, enjoy indoor family entertainment with “The Nutshell Playhouse Fest” featuring an hour-long perfor-mance of Nutshell Playhouse’s best-loved songs and charac-ters. With clowns, puppets,

mime, and dance, this festival of song is designed for ages 3 to 9 but appropriate for chil-dren of all ages. A Victorian Tea will follow the program.

The group of performers,

headed by Don Jordan and including Alexia Trainor, Wendy Walraven and Matt Coviello, will appear in cos-tume as the clowns Shmurple, Mambo, Bowtie and Fumble,

singing such songs as “If I Were a Clown,” “I’m Three Year Old,” “The Big Dark Scary Cave,” “The Breakfast Song,” “The Captain Fangle Song” and “Dance with a Clown.” Jordan has per-formed throughout Europe and the US, on Broadway with Mummenschanz, and as Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Picke Family cir-cus. He has taught at Juilliard School of Music, Instituto De Teatro in Barcelona, Teatro Studio in Rome, Ohio University, Shakespeare and Company, and Smith College.

Guided tours of the man-sion will also be offered, as they are year-round, every hour on the hour from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, with the last

Valentine’s Day at Ventfort Hall - A Family Celebration!

Valentine’s Day, February 14: A Nutshell Playhouse Review continued on page 9

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Little Ladies of Fashion). This exhibit complements nicely “Something Old, Something New: 200 years of Berkshire Brides” and features 61 exqui-site 29-inch tall costumed Victorian Ladies. The cre-ation of John R. Burbidge, retired senior designer of 40 years at the prestigious bridal gown firm Priscilla of Boston, it includes eight petite wed-ding gowns among the 61 dresses.

Also on display is Mr. Burbidge’s personal memo-rabilia related to his design-ing wedding gowns for both Presidents Johnson’s and Nixon’s daughters, plus anoth-er Burbidge ‘Little Lady’ – a replica of the wedding dress worn by Fergie, Duchess of York. And last but certain-ly not least, John’s wife Mrs.

Cile Bellefleur-Burbidge is a world-renowned wedding cake designer. She has cre-ated, expressly for this exhibit, a new 3’-high wedding cake that is a work of art. Her cakes sell for up to $20,000 and this is the latest addition to her works created for heads of state, multi-million dol-lar weddings, and exhibits at The Smithsonian Institution, Tiffany’s, the Peabody and Essex Museum, and others.

Ventfort Hall is open daily, year-round and “Something Old, Something New: 200 years of Berkshire Brides” will be on display until February 14th (Valentine’s Day). For admission prices, hours of operation or more informa-tion, contact Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206 or www.GildedAge.org.

Something Old, Something Newcontinued from page 4

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From my Corner— by Susan J. Coons

...when I grow up...

The last thing I wanted to hear when I was a kid was my mother calling me to come in for supper or to go to bed. I never wanted to stop playing when I was having a wonderfully marvelous time with my friends. I remember thinking, so many, many times, that when I grow up I won’t go to bed at 8; I’ll drink as much Cool-Aid as I want; I’ll come home from school when I feel like it, or maybe not go

to school at all; I won’t practice the piano and I won’t dust the furniture.

I longed for adulthood. I think most kids see things that way. But you and I know that life isn’t any different as an adult. In fact, we become less free.

How many times have we said some-thing like, “Oh, I wish I was as carefree as I was when I was a kid!” That seeming lack of freedom as a child sort of slides into adult life without any fanfare. Before we know it, we’re caught up in paying bills, watching wars, trudging off to work (unless you like what you do), washing the laundry, dusting furniture, cleaning floors, telling the kids to come in for sup-per and again to go to bed at 8, making sure they practice the piano, and don’t let them drink too much Cool-Aid.

I was thinking about this last week, when I was facing the chore of taping plastic to a few of my drafty windows. I kept putting it off, when suddenly it dawned on me that, gee whiz! I’m an adult and in charge of this house! I can do what I want to do! This was a marvelous realization!

I can do what has to be done in due time, (and now it’s past due time for that chore). I can take the time to paint Christmas ornaments when I feel like it! I don’t have to trudge through the day going from chore to chore. I can look at what has to be done as something I can do because I want to do it. It’s good to have something to do, to be responsible for. I’m and adult and can enjoy myself.

I don’t have to go to bed at 8 but I like to go to bed early and snuggle under the covers on a cold winter night. I’m re-learning the piano, but still not too good at disciplining myself to practice. Cool Aid has been replaced by rusty nails and Sam Adams beer.

I still love to play and never like to leave a party early. My family, friends, pets and good health are more important than anything in the world to me.

I want to keep looking at every new day as an opportunity to see the world as a wonder and enjoy every moment as if seeing it for the first time through the eyes of a 12-year-old instead of someone too fast approaching 70.

Read the Yankee Shopper online atwww.yankeeshopperonline.com

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tour scheduled for 2:00 pm. Tour guides will be on hand to relay the story of the original owners, George Hale Morgan, born on Valentine’s Day 1840, and his wife Sarah Morgan, sister of JP Morgan, who built Ventfort Hall in 1893. The romantic couple also married on Valentine’s Day!

Included with tours is the popular exhibit of “Les Petites Dames de Mode” (“The Little Ladies of Fashion”), sixty fabu-lous 29-inch mannequins fit-

ted with exquisitely detailed Gilded Age costumes repre-senting fashion from 1855 to 1914. And Valentine’s Day will also be the last day to view Something Old, Something New - 200 Years of Berkshire Brides, a romantic exhibit of wedding gowns and accou-trements on loan from the Berkshire Historical Society. The exhibit closes on February 14th.

Admission for the perfor-mance and Victorian Tea is

$12 for members, $15 for adult non-members, $7 for children, and free for children 3 and under. Guided tours of the mansion for both floors with exhibits are $20 per person, $11 for children ages 5 to 17 and free for children 4 and under. For further information and reservations call Ventfort Hall at (413) 637-3206 or email [email protected]. The his-toric mansion is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox.

Valentine’s Day at Ventfort Hall - A Family Celebration!

continued from page 6

Take Your 15 Minutes

of FameDoes your organization or

non-profit have an upcom-ing event that you would like to promote? Send us picture and your story and we’ll publish it in the paper! Send to Yankee Shopper, Attn: Calendar Events, 109 South Street, Bennington, Vermont 05201, or email yankee@hers amacornma.com.

CLASSIFIED HOTLINE

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With the spring season finally upon us, the annual rite of pas-sage that is spring cleaning has arrived as well. For homeowners that means it’s time to stop resting on their laurels and start cleaning house.

But cleaning house doesn’t only involve throwing away a season’s worth of magazines and donating clothing that no longer fits. Spring cleaning also involves improving a home’s overall environment. That’s especially true for the health- and environmentally-conscious homeowner.

One way to clean a home while making it healthier and ben-efitting the environment is to rid the home of chemical contam-

inants that can be harmful to both your personal health and the air you’re breathing. Many of these contaminants are not associated with tra-ditional spring cleaning but can have as big an impact as anything you do around the house this season.

* Don’t allow smoking indoors. Nearly everyone knows of the potentially harmful physical side effects

of smoking cigarettes. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including several dozen that are known carcin-ogens, including formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and arsenic, among others. While it’s ideal to avoid smoking entirely, a good place to start is to stop allowing both guests of the home and residents to smoke indoors. This will also make a home more enjoyable for those who don’t smoke, as they likely have an aversion to the smell of cigarettes and will welcome that smell’s banishment to the home’s exterior.

* Stop burning candles inside the home. While aromatic candles have grown in popularity thanks in large part to the benefits they provide to a home’s ambience, it’s also important to remember the harmful byproducts of combustion. Those include carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, soot, and VOCs (vol-atile organic compounds), which can be toxic. So the next time you consider the aesthetic appeal of a candle, don’t forget its potential to release harmful emissions every time you light it up.

* Pay closer attention to what you’re doing in the home. Oftentimes, our homes are our havens. What we do in our homes is certainly our business, but it can also be problematic. Something as innocent as wearing slippers or going shoeless when taking out the trash can track dust and other contami-nants into a home. When attempting to clear a home of poten-

tially harmful chemical contaminants, some-thing as simple as what’s on your feet can have a meaningful impact.

* Avoid overdoing it with household sup-plies. While buying in bulk can help save money, it can also be harmful depending on what you’re buying. For instance, storing excess paint, solvents and other hazardous chemicals can lead to harmful emissions if not sealed properly or if they leak. To avoid such risks, simply purchase what you need when you need it and avoid storing too many chemical products in the home, be it inside or in the garage.

* Open the windows when cleaning. There likely is not a single person who enjoys the smell of household cleaning products. However, many people often forget to open the windows or turn fans on when using chemically-based household cleaners. While these products no doubt do a fantastic job cleaning a home, they might also be emitting harmful toxins into the air. If you must use chemically-based cleaners, open the windows and use fans when cleaning to avoid that familiar odor from overtaking the home and potentially emitting harmful chemicals into the air.

Simple Means to Making a Home Healthier

While candles might add some aes-thetic appeal to a home’s interior, combustion also produces several potentially harmful side effects.

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Monday

• 9:30 a.m. - Caregiver support group, for those who provide care to a loved one, sponsored by the Lee Regional Visiting Nurse Association, Inc. Phone: 413-243-1212 Lee Regional VNA Offices, 32 Park Street, Lee.

• 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Knitting/Crochet North Adams Public Library, 74 Church St., North Adams. For information phone 413-662-3133 or visit www.naplibrary.com.

Tuesday

• 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. - Blood Pressure Clinic: Blood pressure and health counseling sponsored by the Lee Regional Visiting Nurse Association, Inc. and

the Becket Board of Health, at the Becket Town Hall. Information: 413-243-1212

• 9:30 a.m. - Toddler Time. For one to two-and-a-half years. North Adams Public Library, 74 Church St., North Adams. For informa-tion phone 413-662-3133 or visit www.naplibrary.com.

Wednesday

• 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. - Blood pressure and health counseling sponsored by the Lee Regional Visiting Nurse Association, Inc. and the Lee Board of Health. Phone: 413-243-1212. Lee Regional VNA offices, 32 Park Street, Lee.

• 10 a.m. - Preschool Story Time. North Adams Public Library, 74 Church St., North Adams. For informa-tion phone 413-662-3133 or

visit www.naplibrary.com.• 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. -

Blood Pressure Clinic: Blood pressure and health coun-seling sponsored by the Lee Regional Visiting Nurse Association, Inc. and the Chester Board of Health, at the Chester Town Hall, Chester, MA. Information: 413-243-1212

• 6:30 p.m. - Bingo - Non-Smoking - Refreshments Available - Progressive Jackpots. Info: 413-443-7135 - ITAM Lodge #564, 22 Waubeek Road, Pittsfield.

Friday

• 4:30 p.m. - Bingo - with food, Speedball, Horserace and Bingo Nut 2 Tickets. Weekly progressive game prize of $1,199, plus weekly door prize. St. Mary’s

School, 115 Orchard St., Lee.• 6:30 p.m. – Bingo

every Friday. Doors open at 4:30, games begin at 6:30. St. Mary’s School, 115 Orchard Street, Lee. 413-243-1079.

• 6:30 p.m. – Bingo every Friday. Doors open at 4:30. Elks Lodge #487 in North Adams, Ma, 413-664-9039

• WEEKLY CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS •

Share Your EventDo you have a weekly

event you would like to publicize here? Send it to us! Please include the day, time, location and contact information for your event. Send to Yankee Shopper, Attn: Calendar Events, 109 South Street, Bennington, Vermont 05201, or email [email protected].

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