Thank you for listening to the Audible Café podcast.

In today’s episode, I am airing my interview with Steve Sears of Dalton, Mass. (This interview was taped back in the winter, so our discussion of the cold weather might surprise you given that it’s over 90 degrees today!) My short hiatus turned into several months out of touch, so forgive me for my absence. But we’re BACK! And I’m excited to be lining up some really interesting interviews that I will share with you as they happen.

Steve Sears is a true Renaissance Man of the 21st Century. He’s a wildlife advocate and on the Board of MassWildlife. He’s a family man, musician, small family “homesteader,” and he has led the acquisition and transformation of The Stationery Factory in Dalton, Mass from an empty former Crane & Company factory into a thriving marketplace, maker-space, and community center.

I met Steve while organizing the Berkshire Earth Expo in 2016-2018 when Living the Change Berkshires and BEAT held the event at The Stationery Factory. The Factory offers tons of room for exhibits, activities, and Steve even encouraged us to bring a PEBL inside for test rides! Steve was incredibly generous with the space and helpful to us in planning the Expo. His community spirit is contagious, and Dalton is lucky to have him!

Please enjoy today’s show.

And after you listen to the show, visit The Stationery Factory’s website and try to catch an upcoming show in this new state-of-the-art music space!

As always, you can learn more and access archives and show notes with lots of resources on the Audible Café website.

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We appreciate your feedback. So if you’d like to get directly in touch with us, email listenup@audiblecafe.com.

All the best,

Judy Eddy

SHOW RESOURCES

The Stationery Factory, Dalton MA

Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MASSWILDLIFE)

“1Berkshires Spotlight” article on Steve

“The Rural We: Stephen “Steve” Sears - Article in Rural Intelligence, April 16, 2018

Remembering George “Gige” Darey - Mass.gov News. Gige was Steve’s mentor on the Fisheries and Wildlife Board. Gige served as Chairman for 35 years.

The Reintroduction Process of Spadefoot Toads - MassAudubon

Report Roadkilled Wildlife

Anyone seeing roadkill, or a turtle or amphibian crossing roads should consider visiting: 

https://www.linkinglandscapes.info/wildlife-roadkill-database.html to submit information.

Fill out the short survey, with detailed location information. There is a Google Map in the survey that can be zoomed in and panned to a specific location. The information provided on the website helps MassWildlife and MassDOT determine wildlife crossing hot spots to mitigate wildlife-human interactions and how best to manage them.