Dog Day Afternoons
Patrick White for State Representative
My mom painted this sign in the 1960s to advertise my parents' kennel.
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This week I'd like to share a memory of growing up with pets and how this relates to life today in the Berkshires.
Dog Day Afternoons: Raising Collies in the Berkshires
My parents raised the three of us here in the Berkshires, but before they did, they raised puppies. Collies to be exact.
It was the time of the TV show Lassie, and Collies were all the rage. For about ten years, my parents ran the Mah-Kee-Nac Kennel. I have so many early memories of these pups. One grew up to be a show dog. His name was Troubles. Funny how well that name fit. You just know when they are puppies.
In my early years, my mom worked as a chambermaid at Music Inn and Wheatleigh. My dad was an engineering technician at General Electric. They raised puppies out of love, but I imagine it was also a side gig. A lot of folks still talk about the loving little critters they got from my parents.
Peanut Butter with a Crunch
I remember the 50 lb bag of dry dog food we kept on the back porch here in Stockbridge. I also remember the time when my mom was at work, and the babysitter was busy watching TV or doing whatever it was that babysitters do when they aren’t you know, watching the toddlers. She told us to make our own peanut butter sandwiches, and my brother had the bright idea of creating a peanut butter/dry dog food combination. Tasty! I am pretty sure when my parents heard about that one, that was the last time this specific babysitter spent any time at our house. Then again, babysitters were easier to come by as there were a lot more teenagers around back then.
You might be wondering, what does this have to do with running for State Representative? Well, here is the connection. Things are a lot more regulated now. Let’s take the example of pet medications. My dog Sadie takes a heartworm chew monthly and gets a tick collar twice a year. In many states, you can order these items online or get them from Costco or a local pet store. Not in Massachusetts. Here, you need a prescription. The result: the prices are up to 40% higher for these basic items that any responsible pet owner must buy.
The result is that the cost of owning a cat or a dog is higher than it has to be. So a family that has to watch its budget maybe decides the kids won’t have a pet. That’s both sad and worth addressing, at least to me.
This is the Job of a State Rep
This is just one of dozens of examples I could give you about how we need common-sense regulation reform. Just because Massachusetts has done it the same way forever doesn’t mean it’s the best way. Lots of regulations are not only necessary but critical to protecting health and the environment. The example I just gave you, in my humble opinion, isn’t one of them. Let’s look for every way to save a family a hundred bucks that we can. Do it five or ten or 20 times, that adds up to real money.
We should recognize as a society that there are trade-offs and impacts. Most folks live on a budget, and we can do a better job of addressing all the ways that their costs are burdened. I will give you another example: hidden fees generally and credit card interest specifically. Why is credit card interest allowed to run at 20% or more above the prime rate? It’s usurious. I will tell you why, of course. It’s the bank lobby, just like the high cost of prescriptions (for both you and your dog) are a result of the pharmaceutical lobby. How about we do something about that?
I live a modest life, and this for me is only about one thing: what is in your best interest? Not the interest of big pharma, or big polluter, or big whatever. My modest proposal is this: send folks to Boston, or Washington, or your local town government for that matter, who put your interest above all else, including their own. That’s how we take back our government and get it to work better. It’s your government. I for one wish it felt that way just a little more often.
Spring Swim!
Two of My Favorite Things
Most folks don’t like to sit through meetings, but two meetings I look forward to are ones with Anne Gobi, the Director of Rural Affairs, and Oleander Stone, who recently got promoted to Deputy Director of Climate Equity and Environmental Justice for Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Rural Affairs News
Anne runs a weekly meeting that I attend every chance I get. It usually has over 50 other local leaders of rural communities from around the state. I learn something every time I do. This past week, Anne had a representative of the Conway School in Northampton, where students do project work related to Climate Resilience, Conservation, Food and Agriculture, and Master Planning. For a sample of their project work, please visit:
https://csld.edu/real-projects/project-list/
Bear in my backyard. Please secure your garbage, especially if you use a weekly trash service and are away during the week!
Community Climate News
Oleander runs the Community Climate Advisory Council, a group of 35 of us that was just named from around the state to effect change that can positively impact the climate crisis. . I’d been talking with one of the new members of the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission, a great guy named Louis, about a certain type of pocket forests he’d like to see at Mahkeenac Terrace called Miyawaki Forests. It led to a connection with another member of this Council whose name is Neal. Neal did a state Municipal Vulnerabilities Preparedness grant for pocket forests for the communities of Ayers and Devens. You can read about their project here:
https://climateresilient.wixsite.com/ayerdevens
I like to do Zoom meetings from local trails whenever possible. This week I chose the Brothers Trail at Olivia's Overlook for the state's climate zoom.
Two More of My Favorite Things
Berkshire Camps: A Past Worth Remembering
I don’t really do websites for a living, but I used to work in high tech and part of those endeavors was to build massive sites. When folks need a website, sometimes they call me to see if I might help them out. I’ve got a small project helping a friend doing a website that will serve as a testament to his life. He’s 95 and spent a lifetime doing work as a Harvard Professor and whose range of accomplishments, like many in the Berkshires, is truly remarkable.
He was introduced to the Berkshires when he attended summer camp at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac in the 1940s, just a stone’s throw from where I live. It resulted in a lifelong relationship with the Berkshires, where he has enjoyed a vacation home as an adult for decades. His is a quintessential Berkshire story. Connecting here as a child and experiencing all it has to offer.
Let me just say I love our summer camps. They provide great opportunities for employment for local high school and college students. They introduce the kids who attend them, and their families, to a place that is truly special. They connect people with the beautiful natural world we all cherish.
Mohican Tribe President Shannon Holsey with Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll at Stockbridge Town Hall last summer.
Stockbridge Mohicans: A Past Worth Respecting
My friend Sherry White is the Tribal Liaison for the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohicans. You can learn more about the Tribe here:
https://www.mohican.com
Sherry spends a week in the Berkshires every month traveling from her home on the reservation in Wisconsin, working with locals on issues of importance to the Tribe. She was in town this past week, and I had the pleasure of enjoying a few lunches, one with her and the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, a guy named Jeff Bendremer, and another with Teresa O’Brient and Dan Miraglia. Teresa owns the Country Store in Stockbridge and Dan is a Board member of the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen.
The Tribe has a rich history in the Berkshires. That history lives today in the ground. It’s the archaeological sites that contain the remnants of villages past. It is the ancient burial grounds that contain the bones of their ancestors. While recorded history in these parts goes back less than 500 years, many of these sites date back 8,000 to 10,000 years or more. Modern America does a lot of digging, and we spend a lot of time ensuring we are digging safe, for example making sure we don’t nick a gas line as we excavate. We need to do a better job identifying and preserving historic sites whether we are building something or cleaning up a river. Let’s not bulldoze the past as we build a better future.
Enjoying lunch with Mohican Tribal Liaison Sherry White and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Jeff Bendremer.
Other Berkshire Climate News from This Past Week
Citizens Climate Lobby
I attended the Citizens Climate Lobby event at Berkshire South in Great Barrington Wednesday night. It was a great place to network and featured a presentation on MassSave. CCL is an amazing, worldwide organization that is doing the hard work to preserve this planet. They have chapters around the world including right here in the Berkshires. Want to get more involved in local climate activism? Check out their website:
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/chapters/MA_Berkshires/
New Marlborough's David Guenette
I had fun yesterday attending the lecture at Lee Library by David Guenette, the author of Kill Well, who lives in New Marlborough. His talk centered on the impacts of Climate Change in the Berkshires. David is a novelist, and his book, Kill Well, is part of a series set in the Berkshires in the newish genre of climate fiction. Check out his website, and order his book if you like to read!
https://davidguenette.com
Author David Guenette at Lee Library. BTW, it's worth a visit to the Library to check out the quilts on display.
One Last Shout Out
Thanks to Laurie Norton Moffatt, the director of the Norman Rockwell Museum, for hosting a breakfast for local business leaders at NRM this past Monday. It was jam packed with local leaders who keep the Berkshires going strong day after day. Nice event and great group!
The owners of Hot Plate Brewery presenting at NRM this past Monday. Afterwards, we discussed grant opportunities to help them grow their business.
Diana Rose eulogizing her dad Stephen C. Rose at Stockbridge Congregational Church last weekend. Liz Goodman of Monterey (left) presided.
Want to Learn More?
Please consider supporting my candidacy to represent you in the State House. To learn more, visit https://www.patrickwhiteberkshires.com
You can donate by clicking here:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/patrick-3rd
Or you can mail a check to:
Patrick Thomas White Committee
81 Hawthorne Street
Lenox, MA 01240
I've reached about 25% of my fundraising goal. Thanks for any help you can provide. I am in it to win it and am running to effect real change. I'd love to have your support.
Warmly,
Patrick White
PS: You can find detailed positions on my campaign website:
https://www.patrickwhiteberkshires.com
One of the spotted salamanders that live in the stone foundation that is my basement.
Previous Notes
Week ending 4/5/2024
Remembering Searles Middle School. read more
Week ending 3/29/2024
It's all about the jobs. read more
Week ending 3/22/2024
Snow - Taxes - Childcare - Grants - School Play read more
Week ending 3/15/2024
Economic development, family farms, why just water? read more
Week ending 3/8/2024
Affordable housing, Climate Advisory Board, Multicultural Bridge, economic development, ROR filing. read more
Week ending 3/1/2024
West Stockbridge rent control brief, PCB radio interview, cancer and the river, reducing property taxes. read more
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