Great Barrington Public Library, Great Barrington, Massachusetts







27JAN22 - I realized I accidentally included some incorrect photos - and will need to revisit the editing of this blog entry. Text has been removed accordingly during update process.

Text and photographs by George Parks
Sources are embedded in links

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Athanasius Parish, Reading, MA

Image
Saint Athanasius Parish, Reading, Massachusetts I intend to explore and experience the services of many different churches, predominantly near where I live in Massachusetts. Discovering all of these different faith communities builds my knowledge of the neighborhoods around me and the people who live there. These institutions are important, often overlooked and even misjudged centers of our communities that seek to make a positive impact on their participants, as well as others through their generosity and public service. It is possible that through this activity I may eventually consider a long term relationship with one of these pillars and foundations of the community, however I am eager to do a lot of exploring first. History & Building I was pleased to find that Saint Athanasius has an excellent write-up on their web page about their parish history. The parish is fairly new when compared to many I have visited, establishing in 1960, and their unusual, modern ch...
Read more

National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, Attleboro, Massachusetts

Image
National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, Attleboro, Massachusetts Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe.  Reflecting on my 2018 Journey Prior to discussing Our Lady of La Salette further, please humor me as I reflect. This blog has documented a year long journey that has taken me to over 50 different churches, shrines, temples and faith centers. Most of these I was privileged to attend a service and to mingle with community members. It has be a terrific experience exploring faith, religion, community, charity, and I am better off as a consequence. It is fitting that I write about the shrine of La Salette in Attleboro as my experience touring the lights in 2017 with my wife, drinking hot chocolate, warming ourselves by a fire, watching a candle light procession of Silent Night at a manger, and seeing families experi...
Read more

Second Parish Burial Ground, Burlington, MA

Image
I happened to be driving through Burlington to complete some errands, and I took the opportunity to take a stroll through this historic cemetery. The fall colors were past peak at the time, but still had a contrast to the greys of the headstones, and the browns and fading green of New England ground rapidly transitioning into winter.  Find a Grave's website , as typical is the go-to place to find information about this burial site. It notes that the site dates to the 1730s and was utilized for the Revolutionary War, as well as veterans of the war of 1812. The headstone above, of a Reverend, features this fascinating art work that seems like something created for a movie. I'm not terribly well acquainted with trends, however this strikes me as very unusual.  Text and photographs by George Parks Sources are embedded in links Follow Pillars & Foundations on Twitter Follow Pillars & Foundations on Pinterest
Read more

St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish, Melrose, MA

Image
St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish, Melrose, MA Pillars & Foundations was initiated as an exploration of communities as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share my experiences, and spread the positivity I obtain from them. Faith centers embody a drive to make a difference which they deliver upon, regardless if it is with one person looking for hope & community, or a recipient of their expansive charitable work. The Building & the History of the Parish I used to live close by on Pleasant St. in Melrose, and I was always impressed by this building. As seemed to be a smaller wooden, community church, that was designed in the fashion of a grand stone church. In recent times the parish chose to replace the wooden shingles with vinyl siding, however as you can see from the pictures, it was done carefully and tastefully, and the ornate features of the awnings, accents around the rose window and other windows are preserved. The church also si...
Read more

Madonna Queen of the Universe National Shrine, East Boston, Massachusetts

Image
Madonna Queen of the Universe National Shrine, East Boston, Massachusetts Pillars & Foundations was initiated as an exploration communities as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe. Faith centers embody a drive to make a difference which they deliver upon, regardless if it is with one person looking for hope & community, or a recipient of their expansive charitable work. This post took to the fringes of what I'd consider my neighborhood, and shows how much there can be to see right in our own back yards that we take for granted. For many years the sign on the side of Rt. 1A intrigued me but I never took the time to explore it. For whenever I saw it, despite being a twenty minute drive away, I was headed to a destination, perhaps the airport, or a business along the road. When I began exploring area churches, I finally made a point to research, and the reviews of visitors blew me awa...
Read more