Mirror on the world from Stockbridge

The table at The Red Lion Inn at the rear of the dining room under the mirror was reserved for the late State Sen. John Fitzpatrick and his wife, Jane, who were the innkeepers.

As was custom, they would be there for one of their meals. It was out-of-the-way in terms of the dining room or one’s experience. Many sought a window seat or, depending on the contingent, a large table.

The innkeepers, a.k.a. the owners of Country Curtain, would greet their employees with a smile, gesture or common greeting of hello. This was the age-old tradition of management to their workers, in this case: family.

We, at The Berkshire Beacon, have claimed family at the Sun Chronicle newspaper in Attleboro, where we visit weekly to pick up our newspapers and offer a warm greeting to the personnel from the mailroom to the printers, personnel in circulation, the accounting staff, the front end people, the advertising sales reps, the graphic designers, editorial department and the general manager and publisher.

We must be doing something right: They have scheduled their annual potluck lunch around our (my wife, Chris, and myself) arrival on Thursday, Dec. 20 to join the Chronicle family in Christmas cheer – no booze! As the owner, Elizabeth “Betsy” Brown of Kenosha, Wis., said at a recent meeting: “We are all family!”

I like to think that about the Fitzpatricks and their daughters, Nancy and Ann, who today each operate The Red Lion Inn and Blantyre respectively.

The Beacon, in the same light (see the masthead), reaches out across Berkshire County to its readers weekly to inform them, offer information not only editorially, but an opinion or two along with pushing forth our advertisers, who depend daily on their customers from the extended communities.

Our Sonata offers a medium whereby our visitors can find things to do from entertainment to visits to museums and special historic places along with side visits within the Berkshire Hills.

When I have visited the inn, I have tried to be gracious in my dealings with the personnel and offer them my warm wishes not only at this time of year, but continually.

Some Inn personnel I tell in jest that I am Jack’s nephew (no disrespect to the family), and then I admit I am not. But the greeting remains honest and true.

My goal is to pass along a kind word in a place where there is a lot of history top to bottom. It probably helps to have a coat and tie. One thing of late that I have noticed about the visitor: He/she is genuninely interested in The Berkshires.

With the advent of Locke-Ober’s closing in Boston and the auction of some of its items, today those special historic places are getting fewer. The old guard has retired and some have died.

The new generation does not appreciate deportment, the wearing of a coat and tie and eating in a formal setting. Sad.

My goal, just about every place I go, is to attempt to pass along a kind word to the working staff. Most times it works, sometimes one meets a disgruntled worker, who is there for the money, failing to understand the importance of good manners, a cherry hello and the historic importance of a place.

Thus, perhaps you, the reader, should take a page and acknowledge a server, bartender, bellman and/or hostess with a kind word.

The mirror on the world in this case, Berkshire County will be a better place for kindnesses shown by each of us this holiday season.

And next time you are at The Red Lion Inn, pay tribute to the Fitzpatricks for their efforts in keeping the inn open year-round along with a warm glowing fire in the fireplace to greet you on a cold winter day. There is no entertainment fee.

With this, the staff of The Berkshire Beacon offers its warm wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to its readership and acknowledges its support from the business community.

P.S.: Perhaps soon we can speak about our own growth and development thanks to you, the reader and advertiser.

Posted by George C. Jordan III on December 13, 2012. Filed under Opinion,View from the Tower. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry