Great Barrington, Massachusetts: We go into the downtown of this village, just on the fringe of the pulse of Tanglewood Music Festival, the summer home of the Boston Symphony. This is the arts colony of the Berkshires. Not too long ago it was a neglected old mill town. Today, it is a picture postcard -- the town is in a renaissance sparked in part by two men who thought they were going to retire.

Richard Stanley and Joe Wasserman are heroes because they jumped in to solve a problem. They didn't say, "Why doesn't somebody do something." They became the somebody and they caught the imagination of the town.

This episode of the show opens with Hattie's comments: "Richard Stanley and Joe Wasserman tried to quit."

They came separately to Great Barrington to relax, retire and perhaps fiddle around with real estate and whatever caught their fancy. They met each other while attending a town meeting; and as entrepreneurs will do, they talked about their dreams for improving Great Barrington's historic business district.

Now you see what became of their first meeting.

Comments long-time resident and businessman (and their insurance advisor), Marty Salvatore, "Richard and Joe have regenerated interest in the older buildings -- places in town that were being let go or run down. They created the momentum and now there is a lot of real activity .... if we lost the core area of town, if that died, the rest of the town would have died too. I think Richard and Joe are just great."

The Lightbulb. Retire? Why? Is there something wrong with work? Most entrepreneurs we meet love to work and rarely think about retirement. They're having too much fun being creative. But beyond the issues around living a vibrant life, we believe it is not good for the country for our most experienced thinkers to leave the workforce just when we need them the most. There has to be a better way to balance the need for more time with grandchildren and the desire to contribute to the health of our communities and culture.

• CONTACT:
  The Triplex Cinema
  70 Railroad Street
  Great Barrington, Massachusetts 01230
  Tel: 413-528-8885
  E-mail: mngr@thetriplex.com
  URL: http://www.thetriplex.com/
  And More : Read Michael Novak's Business as Calling. (a review) To order, first try Laissez-faire. They are a small business.
  
  These big two also have reviews: Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS. We invite your comments and questions.

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