COMMUNAL SPIRITS.

November 10, 2009
1960s, 1970s, Artists, Designers, Foods, Hippies, Home, Music

There is a lot to learn from community living of the 1960s and 1970s. One of the largest communes of its day was located in a small town in Western Massachusetts. Brotherhood of the Spirit (renamed Renaissance) was started by Michael Metelica and birthed the band — Spirit of the Flesh.

The most inspiring story is how Renaissance revived the town of Turners Falls in 1975 opening several businesses — a 24-hour grocery, a record store, an audio supply center and a stylized pizza parlor. The most successful ventures were the Noble Feast restaurant featuring diversely innovative cuisine, Rocket’s Silver Train which provided luxury-modeled tour buses to rock musicians and the forerunners of the now nationally distributed Silver Screen Design and Renaissance Greeting Cards. Sadly, Michael Metelica became addicted to drugs, bought a Rolls Royce and drove the Rocket’s Silver Train business into the ground.

Can we all just go out to Western Mass, build homes on vacant land, revive a township and start making things?! Please! We have so many great ideas to share!

via University of Massachusetts Amherst
Further Reading History of the Brotherhood of the Spirit/Renaissance Community
and thanks to Andrew Post for leading me to these archives today

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