The Guthrie Center

No American Thanksgiving dinner is complete without turkey, stuffing, gravy, and "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" by Arlo Guthrie, son of legendary folksinger Woody Guthrie and a talented songwriter in his own right.

Based on a true story, the ballad recounts an act of kindness gone awry where Arlo, who had dumped the garbage that accumulated in Alice's home off a cliff, was arrested for littering in the small town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. And it's this criminal blemish which jeopardized Guthrie's chances of getting drafted into the US Army to "burn women, kids, houses, and villages," as he dryly remarks.

The nearly 20-minute song helped put the town of Stockbridge on the map, and as critical as Guthrie might have been towards the local police institution, residents seem to have welcomed the artist's cultural contribution with open arms, the site of Alice's Restaurant becoming something of a tourist destination.

But as astute listeners of the song will know, "Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell tower."

The church in question (also a quick jaunt from the railroad tracks) was built six miles south of Stockbridge as St. James Chapel in 1829, renamed Trinity Church by the time it came under the possession of Alice and Ray Brock around 1964.

The property changed hands several times until Arlo acquired it in 1991 to create the Guthrie Center, an interfaith house of worship. Today, the center has become a beloved folk music venue, hosting a summer concert series and monthly open mic hootenannies, along with community lunches and a Thanksgiving dinner that can't be beat.

The facility is also open during routine business hours, inviting visitors to look at a few displays highlighting contributions to the fight against Huntington's disease, which took the life of Arlo's father. With permission, you can visit the second floor and see various musical instruments, stained glass windows, and part of the stairwell to the bell tower where Alice once lived (though the tower itself is closed off).