Pets are welcomed in Lenox

This rural farm town has changed over the years, from its agricultural development to becoming the home for estate dwellers to more contemporary uses as the home of Tanglewood and several other non-profit organizations.

In so doing, Lenox, a town of 5,000, has become the tourist town of The Berkshires.

Yet, there is a draw to Williamstown due to Williams College, its summer theater (Williamstown Theater Festival) and its cute downtown area.

Then there is Great Barrington with its cultural menu of the arts.

Pittsfield continues to develop its role in the tourist market with various stages, along with its Friday night art base showings on North Street.

About 15 years ago, a small group of businessmen sought to get the Lenox selectmen to pass a “pooper scooper” law that forced dog owners to pick up after their pet. It was pretty much aimed at one family, who had three dogs.

Nothing much changed. Police did not arrest anyone. The family was told by a local lawyer that he would represent them free as he thought, along with the family, that it was an upsurged regulation given the history of the town. Further the law had no teeth-I mean bark.

Today there is a clash between locals and the selectmen and the chamber of commerce about the payment and need for an event coordinator.

That clash will probably continue until the chamber and its members can come together in the planning stage from now until the end of the year and draw up plans to coordinate events that will draw people to Lenox.

With that plan, the chamber and the selectmen must designate monies for the promotion and advertising of the events.

They also must decide whether or not the town needs an event coordinator.

Case in point is the one-night car show in June that had no promotion and no advertising. The rain caused it to shutdown midway through the night.

What could have been a sell-out crowd and expanded from one night into the weekend became a thud.

So what is Lenox missing in its approach to bring new revenue into town?

In a word: pets.

Lenox should announce it is dog-friendly.

Pets should be welcomed at outdoor restaurants and on the streets of this cosmopolitan town.

Innkeepers along with merchants may provide clean water for pets.

A dog relief station can be set aside in a narrow area of the town’s parks.

If Lenox is the inward place of Newport, R.I., with its mansions, then it should follow its counterparts and become dog-friendly.

Pet owners have money. A smile along with a welcome biscuit may open up the cash drawers of local establishment for pet owners. The price is right.

Lenox’s motto: Treat pets as welcome guests and their owners will follow with monies to buy your products.

If Lenox is to succeed as a wellness community, it must reach out to all members of the family as we go forward with new bike and hiking trails and encourage people to use sidewalks with their pets.

Posted by George C. Jordan III on July 11, 2013. 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