Come play in the Berkshires!

Years ago he thought, “Gee, I could volunteer at Berkshire Botanical Garden and learn a little about gardening. This is what I wound up doing, and it turns out I’m really happy with this.” With a laugh, he hastens to add, “It beats weeding.”

Certainly, Joseph is the perfect volunteer for the job. He had a 38-year engineering career, first with General Electric and ending with his retirement 19 years ago from General Dynamics. He won’t be outsmarted by a pernickety Gravo-Graft, nor an Addressograph. He’s MacGyvered a standard stake to which he attaches those plastic labels. The stakes are made from metal strips originally intended to tie rafters together. With tin snips, he bevels the stake ends so they can easily be shoved into the soil.

Among Joseph’s momentous claims to fame is his 54year marriage to Janice, a Harvest Festival volunteer. They have two daughters and three grandkids. He counts among his enjoyments of retirement the vegetable garden he tends at his Pittsfield home. “I like to garden for the sake of playing in the dirt and experimenting,” he says. “It’s not a thing of beauty, believe me.”

By the way, don’t ask him the Latin name for anything. While he took two years of Latin in high school in Rhode Island back in the late 1950s, he’s the first to admit those studies have proven useless when it comes to, say, Cotinus coggygria — his first label of the 2023 season.

“C-o-t-i-n-u-s c-o-g-g-y-g-r-i-a,” he says, checking his spelling, then re-checking his spelling.

That’s a good sign.

Live, Love, Laugh ... Volunteer!

Are you getting enough out of life? I know that’s a personal question! But if you think you could be just a bit happier, a bit more fulfilled, maybe more connected to your community, well then, I suggest you consider becoming a volunteer. More specifically, a Volunteer at BBG.

I don’t like to boast (well OK, maybe I do) ... but I happen to think BBG Volunteers are some of the happiest, most motivated and most connected volunteers I’ve had the pleasure to know. That’s because BBG is small enough to feel like a family, but big enough to offer a terrific variety of ways to get involved.

For just a few examples: you can be a tour guide, a greeter in the Visitor Center, a docent in our art galleries, a special events volunteer, an office assistant, and of course, a hands-on gardener. While we love a weekly commitment, you can be a BBG Volunteer with just an occasional few hours — such as a four-hour shift at our famous Harvest Festival.

We thank our amazing Volunteers with special perks and recognition events that bring us together with BBG staff to celebrate our successes. It’s so rewarding to be a Volunteer at Berkshire Botanical Garden, and I invite you to learn more.

Simply go to the Volunteer page on our website (berkshirebotanical.org/volunteer) and fill in the Registration Form. You’ll start to get our Volunteer e-blasts and learn about upcoming opportunities.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Lauretta Harris President, BBG Volunteer Association