Weekend Outlook: Snow Days

Check out the events happening in Berkshire County this weekend including fundraisers, snow events, and more.

Editor's Pick

Community Free Day
Mass MoCA, North Adams
Time: Saturday, 10 to 5

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art opens its galleries for a community celebration. Includes thematic museum tours and art-making in Kidspace and a performance by devynn emory at 4 p.m. in Building 5 to activate Jeffrey Gibson's exhibition "Power Full Because We're Different.

More information here.

Friday

 

Nothing Birds with Eleanor Levine

Bousquet Mountain Grommie Jam
Bousquet Mountain, Pittsfield
Time: 11 a.m.

Grommie Jam is a community get-together where skiers and riders ages 16 and younger come together. Open to all with a valid lift ticket or season pass; prizes from Berkshire Bike & Board.

More information here.

Family Friendly Outdoor Adventures
Mount Greylock Visitor Center, Lanesborough
Time: 1 to 3 p.m.

Enjoy winter at Mount Greylock with hot cocoa and campfires. Also enjoy outdoor activities like snow tubing, a snowshoe walk,  and a mindfulness hike along the Bradley Farm trail.

Registration is required for the walk; call the visitor center at 413-499-4262.

More information here.

Ghost Tour with Robert Oakes
Ventfort Hall and Mansion, Lenox
Time: 7 to 9 p.m.

The Gilded Age mansion hosts a tour with "Ghosts of the Berkshires" author Robert Oakes, who will lead guests through the rooms and halls of the estate, sharing tales of its hauntings.

Admission is $30 and the minimum age to attend is age 12. Reservations are required. Purchase tickets here. 

More information here.

Friends & Film Night

Vertical Challenge Tour Stops

Ski Butternut, Great Barrington
Time: Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Jiminy Peak, Hanock
Time: Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Vertical Challenge is a series of free, casual ski and snowboard races held throughout the Northeast. Includes activities and prizes. Bring your skis or snowboards and join others with some fun free competition. 

More information here.

Sunday

More information here.

Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
07:25AM / Sunday, March 15, 2026

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.