Celebration Aims to Bring 3rd Berkshire Towns Together

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Communities throughout the county are facing similar challenges, but discourse across town boundaries could be part of the solution, which is why state Rep. Leigh Davis has established an event to foster these conversations over a game of cornhole.
 
On Saturday, Aug. 22, Davis invites community members to Barrington Hall, formerly Crissey Farm, for a free day filled with food, music from WSBS Radio's Dave Isby, family activities, and a friendly cornhole tournament featuring public safety officials across the 18 towns in the third Berkshire District.
 
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine, with all activities moving indoors if it rains.
 
Two-person first responder teams will compete for cornhole bragging rights, with each team guaranteed at least three games and extra boards available for casual play. Davis is still looking for teams from towns. Sign-up by emailing her at Repleigh@gmail.com
 
The competition will begin with pool play followed by a single-elimination championship bracket. Trophies will be presented to the winning team, and Davis hopes to establish a perpetual traveling trophy that will move from town to town and record each year's champion.
 
"Each town has their own identity, but our challenges don't stop at the town line. So, I wanted to create a day that strengthens those connections and also give something back to the community," she said. 
 
This year, the event is putting first responders at center stage to recognize their service while shining a light on the five emergency medical services bills she filed this session, which did not move this term but will be redrafted and presented in the next term. 
 
"One of my legislative priorities this term was emergency medical services. Filing five bills, I became very, very aware and cognizant of the needs of EMS reform, so it just seemed to make sense that first responders might be the first group, but it doesn't necessarily mean that every year it's going to be focusing on first responders," she said. 
 
The five bills proposed designating EMS as an "essential service" so it receives a guaranteed state funding stream, and teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation in high schools, with local EMS providers introducing students to lifesaving skills and EMS careers while strengthening the future workforce.
 
It also looked at ways to create a funding stream for EMS, such as ways EMS can be reimbursed when they provide treatment on scene, even if they don't transport the patient, instead of only being paid for transports.
 
Additionally they looked at models of how EMS services are provided such as a compact model that makes it easier for EMS to work between states. 
 
"The five bills that I filed were really the result of many many conversations, and we got a lot of traction, a lot of momentum," Davis said. 
 
"They didn't move this term, but I'm going to be redrafting them and plugging away until we get something done."
 
Since being elected in 2024, she said she has been dedicated to staying informed, communicating with residents and connecting them to resources they need. 
 
"I'm out in the communities, and having the conversations and making sure that if there's concern, if there's an idea, if there's something that we can do better as a state or as a you know municipality, that that's communicated," the representative said. 
 
Her role has been a catalyst in learning from so many people and that is a gift she wants to share with her constituents through this event. 
 
"This is a path to research, a path to opening up town lines and realizing that we have so much in common and we can learn from one another," Davis said. 
 
"So, this is really giving the power to people and saying, ‘hey, you have the power to to solve many of these problems,' and I think that for me having the ability to facilitate those conversations is powerful." 

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Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

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