What’s Happening

April 2025 Newsletter

Saturday, April 5: Boathouse Opening

• Rain date April 12. . . But keep the 5^th on your calendar. We’ll email you if we have to postpone.

Wednesday April 16: BCR Annual Meeting 

• Church on the Hill Chapel 55 Main Street in Lenox, 6 pm to 8 pm.
• Agenda to follow. Lots to discuss, so it is important for as many of us to attend as possible.

Saturday April 19: First race of the season

• This race is at home on Onota; juniors and masters.  
• We expect Holyoke, Springfield and Northampton . . . and maybe some of our friends from Lenox.  
• More details as the date approaches.
  

Saturday, June 7, National Learn to Row Day 

• Everyone invited. Help us introduce rowing to the next 

Pre-season Rowing at the Pittsfield YMCA

• https://www.regattacentral.com  > Programs > Winter.
• Get in shape and tune up your technique before the on-water season starts.

• A bargain at $60.
• An even better bargain for  anyone who signed up for All Season Coached or Year in Full Masters. You’ve already paid.

2025 Programs and Memberships are now posted:

• https://www.regattacentral.com 

Come Row with Us!

info@berkshirerowing.com

We have a  new dock, and we have the same old awesome volunteers who got it unloaded and put together. The snow is falling today, and winter is definitely upon us. But we’re already looking to spring when rowing will be that much easier to get to.

Thank you to Randy, Karl, Connell, Tom, and Don! Thank you also to everyone who contributed financially. This is a huge plus for us!!

 

Two recent articles in the New York Times highlight the “pros” and “cons” of rowing.

This one is an homage to the benefits of rowing–physical, spiritual, psychological. Hurrah! It’s always invigorating to be in the news in a good way!

This one is a call to conscience for all lovers of the sport (this among other sports) that we make the benefits of rowing more available to people no matter their socio-economic status.

The article points out the obvious. The gear rowing requires is costly and fussy. The skill and strength rowing require take copious time to build up, meaning the one aiming to row must have that sort of time, which many, many people don’t. This isn’t one of the great injustices of our time, but it was one of the small ones, and these build up.

BCR is proud to have as its mission bringing rowing to all who’d like to enjoy this “elite” sport, and reap the benefits from it. Look around at other rowing clubs (browse online) and you’ll be floored to see how we manage to keep membership dues relatively low, while maintaining a well-stocked boathouse and well-appointed lakeside.

True, we have a lot of built-in assets. The beauty and cleanliness of the lake and surroundings, the city of Pittsfield charging us low rent and offering us terrific support, the dedication of our volunteers to build and maintain and staff, all come together to make it possible. If we were in Boston or Philly or San Diego we’d have a lot more obstacles to affordability.

So take advantage of the fact that we’re here. And celebrate how we’ve managed to build on that advantage. Come row, or come some time to watch the rowing. And raise a water bottle to the individuals who’ve really made it happen.

Hip hip hurray!

Rowing Is Largely About Reliability

We’re not going to lie to you. It’s been a tough year as far as staffing goes. We’ve had difficulty finding reliable help. But the ones we’ve got have been great.

Take Loren, for example. His second year with Berkshire Rowing, Loren is affable to the core. Eager to greet you (even at six in the morning), quick to help (even with awkward, sometimes heavy equipment), chipper in conversation (even when it’s foggy, windy, rainy, or cold), Loren is also, it turns out, good to have nearby when things get rocky.righting the tippled

One of our members wrote of her experience:

I am very grateful Loren returned to the boathouse this summer. Last Saturday, it was windy, and I was leery of heading out onto the lake in a single. Loren gave me strategies, though–clear and with confidence in my abilities; and then he was ready at the dock to celebrate with me when I returned.

The next day I was set to enjoy my 25th row of the season, and I was elated with my speed and my ability to implement what I’d learned at the winter erg classes. Loren was staffing the boathouse again, and he celebrated with me.

The following day, though, I had a tougher time, starting right as I was leaving the dock. Those singles are twitchy, and that day this inherent instability left me feeling rattled. But Loren was there to help me, to right and stabilize the boat, and talk me through my ambivalence about heading out anyway.  He reassured me that I would have a good row–which I did.

Loren has been of inestimable help to me rowing this summer. He is knowledgeable, always courteous, and his suggestions are given with great encouragement and awareness of my abilities. I am thankful each morning I arrive at Ononta to see Loren on deck.

BCR Boasts Its Best Volunteers

As a club, small though we are, we have some amazing volunteers, dedicated not only to rowing and to making the usually elite (which is to say expensive) sport of rowing available to those who aren’t of the British aristocracy, but dedicated even more so to the city of Pittsfield, its social and natural potential and need. Those of us who know BCR best know that we’re potentially a force for good here in a place that we love.

So, we build–the Cuyler boathouse, Boathouse B, and most recently the oar closets that will make our storage of gear more efficient. And who would you find at the foundation of all this building?

Randy, of course.

Chris, of course.

There are others–chiefly Karl, who built the walls of the oar closets, ordered the garage door for them, got permits from the city, so it would all be on the up-and-up, and probably took the pictures above (so he wouldn’t have to be in one of the pictures above).

So, thank you to all our volunteers, most recently exemplified in Karl, Randy, and Chris, though including many others. From those who row, from those who will one day row, from those who long to see Pittsfield and Berkshire County a place of community, mutual respect, and teamwork in all sorts of ways: THANK YOU!

The Kids Are Alright

Here are two of our juniors erging a 5k instead of sleeping in on Saturday morning. Why, just look at those shadows. You have to ge tup early in the morning to see shadows that long in early summer. They say ergs don’t float, but spending time on one certainly can help you move a boat faster. Well done, guys!

Ergs in summer always feel a little insulting. But…

…the fog can roll in fast over Onota, and is often surprisingly slow to lift. So you do what you must. Way to persevere, folks!

The Festival Regatta is always a fun way to end the spring season for our juniors (and our masters sometimes, though none raced this year). Our juniors, and our fearless coach Tanya, were bright spots on the dock and yellow blurs as they came down the course.

It was a gorgeous day!

Unfortunately, few other clubs sent their juniors, so ours ended up rowing against each other. But that can bring out a fighting spirit that makes everyone better.

On the Question as to Whether to Take Up Rowing

‘Nuff said.