Letter: Support for Lynette Bond for mayor

To the Editor:

I'm writing this letter in support for Lynette Bond as mayor of North Adams. I've known Lynette for nearly 10 years through my previous work at the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition. She organized one of the first teams when we launched the Mayor's Fitness Challenge, she and her family participated in our Downtown Bikearounds, and she attended our yoga in the parks events.

Lynette was also the lead organizer to help move forward Smoke Free parks and playgrounds throughout the City of North Adams. She believes and understands how important recreation and fitness is to a community and supports the work to get us there.

Lynette was instrumental during the planning for the  city's Vision 2030 Plan as a resident and planning board member. Throughout the Vision 2030 plan was a theme of "nonmotorized and active transportation." This means that we safely connect people to places for work, school, services, outdoor recreation, and improved health. (North Adams Downtown Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, City of North Adams).

A shared-use path to connect with the Mohawk bike and pedestrian path in Williamstown and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail in Adams was listed in this Plan as High Importance. I couldn't agree more and I know Lynette shares this thinking. The pedestrian/bike path is the single most important project that provides nonmotorized transportation to the residents of North Adams, with transportation being one of the leading challenges for some of our residents, having a safe way to travel by bike can help to overcome the barrier of transportation.

Lynette understands the intricacies of this project because she worked for the Town of Adams and helped to facilitate the rights of way and other items that needed to happen for the extension of the bike path from Hoosac to Lime Street. A bike path through North Adams is an important way to connect neighborhoods and allows our residents to safely bike and walk within the city and to our neighboring towns.

Along with transportation, residents of all ages can enjoy physical recreation and the health benefits that walking and biking provide. These activities reduce stress and improve the mental well-being of a community. I know Lynette will work well with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, the Towns of Adams and Williamstown, MassDOT, and engineers because she has already demonstrated and succeeded in working collaboratively with these partners. She has the experience of working on the Rail Trail extension in Adams and has the passion to ensure we move forward with this critical project for the City of North Adams.

I ask you to vote for Lynette Bond and ensure that the work to advance bikeability and walkability within our city continues.

Amanda Chilson
North Adams, Mass. 

BArT Grads Express Gratitude, Aim for Continued Growth

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:29PM / Saturday, June 01, 2024

Marissa Ostrowski and M. Madeline Schrade thank the people 'who treated us as family' even though they entered later in their lives. See more photos here.

ADAMS, Mass. — Jonathan Igoe is a relatively new member of the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School community.

 

But the interim executive director learned a pretty valuable lesson about the 28 members of the class of 2024 who gathered in school's gym for Saturday morning's graduation.

 

Recently, he heard a story about 14 of those seniors on the class field trip to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.

 

"They went out to lunch together, a group among this larger group," Igoe said at Saturday's ceremony. "And the owner of the restaurant was so impressed with this group of students that she asked to take a photo and put it on her Instagram account.

 

"She told them that they were the most polite and best behaved group of students that she had ever encountered."

 

True to that reputation for good manners, gratitude was a major theme of Saturday's graduation exercises.

 

In addition to the annual "Moment of Appreciation" school tradition when graduates each give a flower to a faculty member who impacted their life in a significant way, two seniors made appreciation for their parents a major theme of their remarks.