Dear Friends,

ABC 40 TV news crew out of Springfield, traveled to Stockbridge for a story
on BerkShares.

Eric Fisher enjoyed a “sustainable breakfast" (all locally sourced foods) at
the Red Lion Inn where he interviewed owner Nancy Fitzpatrick about the
Inn’s use of the local currency. Nancy commented that when customers use
BerkShares, no fee is leaving the business for credit card companies. She
likes seeing that value re-circulating in the community.

One of the places she re-circulates BerkShares is with Stockbridge Gas.
Owner Nick Nardorff commented that he likes to receive BerkShares because he
knows the customer is concerned about the local economy and doing something
about it.

Eric changed his federal dollars for BerkShares at the Stockbridge Branch of
Berkshire Bank. Bank Manager Gail Colantoni, and a member of the
Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce, said that she has seen tourists coming into
the bank for BerkShares because they had heard about it through national
press.

Speaking for the board of BerkShares, Louann Harvey said the purpose was to
encourage people to spend locally. In that way jobs would stay local and we
would be supporting our neighbors.

During his walk around the town, Eric Fisher used his BerkShares at
Stockbridge Booksellers to purchase Michael Shuman’s “Going Local” and then
picked up a few things at the Elm Street Market to munch on the return
drive.

You can view his newscast at:
http://www.berkshares.org/ABC40/Abc40.htm

The BerkShares Team
P. O. Box 125
Great Barrington, MA 01230
413 528-1737
www.berkshares.org