I think of it as a county fair, but in this area they’re more commonly referred to as agricultural fairs. Heath hosts one of the more widely attended fairs in northwestern Massachusetts, attracting people from probably a 50-mile radius due to its advertising throughout the area. It was a treat to experience such a small town fair. In fact, we were not only attendees. We had met the fair director a few weeks earlier, and we were recruited to help sell tickets on the first day of the fair.
In the early 1900’s there was a trolley bridge across the river, connecting Shelburne Falls and Buckland, Massachusetts. After the trolley company went bankrupt in 1927, the Shelburne Falls Women’s Club adopted the bridge and in 1929, brought in loads of soil and planted gardens on the bridge. Today it remains a beautiful, relaxing spot that changes almost every day as new flowers bloom.
We enjoyed experiencing a different “culture” in Massachusetts. Yes, we were still in the US, but I’m sure many of you have experienced the fact that cultures and traditions vary in different regions. In a diverse area such as the Bay Area in California, culture can shift quickly from one neighborhood to another.
When I say Massachusetts, I am referring specifically to northwestern Massachusetts where we spent most of our time. The area we lived in is sometimes referred to as the “hill towns”, for obvious reasons (lots of hills). The area is also known as the Berkshires. I am NOT referring to Boston, which has its own unique culture.
I know I am generalizing, but the sense I got was that people in the small towns of northwestern Massachusetts watch out for each other. Yes, people there are highly independent and individualistic as is the stereotypical cultural image of much of the US, but at the same time, you don’t feel that people are so independent as to not care about their neighbors.
One day we stopped our car on the side of the road to take a photo. Within moments, another car stopped to check on us – “Is everything okay?”, the driver called out. It was a small gesture, but something that I don’t feel happens often enough in the Bay Area where people are too busy to take the time to check on others. In fact, in the Bay Area it is more likely that one or more aggressive drivers would try to intimidate those in the stopped vehicle.
Similarly, on another occasion, we had spotted an interesting-looking cemetery beside the road. We stopped to walk around and see how old the gravestones were. After a few minutes of walking around, a man tending a grave on the other side of the cemetery came by and asked us if everything was okay and if we needed anything. He then proceeded to show us some of the markers that he found interesting.
It’s hard to fully capture the feeling in words, but we really felt a sense of community in the area. These stories may not sound that unusual, but sadly, in my experience in the SF Bay Area, I rarely experienced these types of uplifting interactions with strangers.