Lenox Library to Host Pelvic Floor Foundations Workshop

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LENOX, Mass. — Lenox Library will host a special health program entitled "Pelvic Floor Foundations" on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. with Molly Rivest, a Nurse Practitioner passionate about women's health and pelvic floor awareness.
 
In this workshop, attendees will explore the essentials of pelvic floor anatomy and function, uncover the root causes of common challenges like incontinence, pain with intimacy, and pelvic discomfort, and discuss practical strategies for improvement. This safe and stigma-free session offers time to address individual concerns and explore potential interventions. Open to anyone curious about the female pelvis, this workshop promises to leave participants informed, empowered, and equipped with actionable next steps for better pelvic health, stated press release.
 
Childcare will be available at the Library during this program. Please call the Lenox Library at 413-637-0197 or email info@lenoxlib.org to register for childcare.
 
Molly Rivest, DNP, FNP is a doctorally prepared Family Nurse Practitioner with expertise in women's health. She is the founder of BodyWise Health Collaborative, a private practice located in Pittsfield, where she provides compassionate, evidence-based care for women of all ages. Her practice is grounded in a patient-centered philosophy that respects and elevates each individual's innate understanding of their own body.
 
Rivest specializes in addressing sensitive and frequently overlooked areas of care, including sexual health, contraceptive management, perimenopausal care, and pelvic floor dysfunction. She fosters a supportive and stigma-free environment, ensuring that patients feel safe discussing even the most complex or taboo health concerns.
 
Before founding BodyWise, Rivest delivered women's healthcare at CHP Barrington OB/GYN and served as a primary care provider at UMass Hahnemann Family Health. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the UMass Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing and holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Smith College.
 
Rivest's dedication to women's health is deeply influenced by her earlier career as an officer in the United States Air Force, where she conducted laser eye protection research and served as a victim advocate for survivors of sexual assault. These formative experiences strengthened her commitment to creating environments of safety, trust, and empowerment—principles that remain foundational to her clinical practice today.
 

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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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