New Fall Foliage Leaf Hunt Clues for 2024

Print Story | Email Story
Editor's note: there are three leaves remaining in Adams, and two leaves each in North Adams and Williamstown. You have until Friday, Oct. 11, to find them. Look for the second set of clues below. 
 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The annual Fall Foliage Leaf Hunt, a traditional and popular feature that kicks off Fall Foliage
Festival Week, starts today, Saturday, Sept 28.  
 
This year the committee has revealed that there will be 11 colorful leaves hidden in Adams, Cheshire, North Adams, and Williamstown. 
 
When a leaf is found, it should be brought to the Office of Tourism at North Adams City Hall during normal business hours to claim a prize. One prize per household please. Prizes are generously donated by area businesses including Bailey's Bakery, Berkshire Emporium, Big Y, Bounti-Fare Restaurant, Daily Grind, The Flower Gallery, Mount Williams Greenhouse, Oriental Buffet, Stop & Shop, Tractor Supply, Trail House Kitchen & Bar, and Walmart.  
 
Upon finding a hidden leaf, the top plastic bag with the yellow or orange leaf should be removed and brought in, and the second bag with the green leaf should be left at the site. This way, subsequent hunters will know they correctly solved the clue but someone already claimed the prize-winning leaf.  
 
A second set of clues will be announced in the event of unclaimed leaves. A complete list of winners, locations, and sponsors will be released in late October. All leaves should be returned by Oct. 11 to receive a prize. 
 
As always, the leaf committee has included an invisible leaf hunt for homebound residents.
 
Participants in the invisible hunt are asked to mail a postcard (or card in an envelope) with the number of the clue and the answer/s with their name, address, and phone number or email address, to the Office of Tourism, City Hall, 10 Main St., North Adams, MA 01247.
 
Only mailed entries will be accepted. In the event of a tie, the earliest postmark will determine the winner. Please submit answers to be received by Oct. 11.
 
This year's Fall Foliage Festival theme is "Berk du Soleil" and the first set of clues are:               
 
1. Billsville location for three — or any number of — rings; 2nd clue: One-stop jewelry, banking, and massage in Williamstown
 
2. Come for the history of acrobatics, stay for the present-day bowling, brain teasers and buddies; 2nd clue: A German words for gymnastics, on a street that shares its name
 
3. Find these half-brother twins a little closer to the ground than usual; 2nd clue: Unlike the name suggests, this isn't just for gymnasts born between May 21-June 20
 
4. First syllable of the creators of Mill Town Circus plus the second word of an education center for jesters; 2nd: clue: The oldest building on the Williams College campus
 
5. Formerly creating textiles, now creating limber bodies and sated appetites
 
6. Industrial home of many arts, including a focused summer study of puppetry
 
7. Pastries from the Greatest Showman's partner
 
8. Stop here to fully acquire the kind of Acrobat that might excite indoor kids more; 2nd clue: Full-service computer sales and repairs in the Mother Town
 
9. Where Erin Morgenstern or Kristi Charish's clowns might go for repairs; 2nd clue: No early birds getting oil changes here
 
10. Who donates their time when the fire-eating rehearsal goes wrong?
 
11. You'll sometimes find less exotic animals on display here, and occasionally a fairy or two; 2nd clue: The gates are closed now, but they open for events like the Faerie Festival & the Fall Run
 
 
Invisible Leaf Hunt (mail-in entries only)
 
1. In 1851, an elephant billed as the largest in America, named ___________________, suffered a fatal accident on the Center Street bridge in the Northern Berkshire community of ________________. (Fill in the blanks)
 
2. Name one of the two famous traveling circus shows that performed in North Adams in the early 1900s.

Tags: Fall Foliage,   leaf hunt,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fully funding rural school aid. 
 
The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.
 
"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.
 
A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 
 
Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 
 
Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 
 
They will submit those with a school picture to the governor. 
 
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories