Letter: Planning Board Candidate Carin DeMayo-Wall

To the Editor:

I am writing in support of Carin DeMayo-Wall for Planning Board. I believe that her connection to and ongoing involvement in our town and our issues makes her the best person for the job.

Carin runs a family farm, so she knows the issues of farmers. She and her family rent apartments, so she knows the issues of people who can't find "affordable" housing in town. She has seen some of those families leave town, because they can not find affordable housing. She has worked for 30 years at the Williamstown food pantry, so she knows the issues of our citizens who find it hard to make ends meet. Not only does she have children in our school system, she herself was educated in Williamstown, including Williams College.

Carin has the ability to balance open space, farming and opportunities for housing in our community. She understands the importance of not only keeping members in our community but welcoming new members as well. Carin supports zoning that provides inclusivity for all.

With her depth of community involvement she knows problems exist. She is pragmatic and won't be distracted by calls for studies that can delay progress. She sees these problems first hand, and supports the community in many ways with her ongoing involvement in, and commitment to Williamstown.

Please join me in voting for Carin DeMayo-Wall on May 10.

Susan Puddester
Williamstown, Mass.

Williams Grads Reminded of Community that Got Them to Graduation

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14PM / Sunday, June 02, 2024

The graduates heard from two speakers — Phi Betta Kappa speaker Milo Chang and class speaker Jahnavi Nayar Kirtane. The keynote speaker, Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was unable to attend and recorded his speech for playback. See more photos here.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College said goodbye Sunday to its graduating seniors.

 

And a representative of the class of 2024 took the time to say goodbye to everyone in the community who made students' journey possible.

 

Milo Chang, the Phi Beta Kappa speaker for the class and one of two students to speak at Sunday's 235th commencement exercises, explained that the term "Williams community" applies to more than those who get to list the school on their resumes.

 

"It includes everyone who has shaped our experiences here, from loved ones back home to the dedicated staff members who make campus their second home," Chang told his classmates. "During my time at Williams, we've seen this community step up in remarkable ways to support us."

 

Chang talked about the faculty and staff who gave their time to operate the COVID-19 testing centers and who greeted students before they could take their first classroom tests in the fall of 2020, and the dining services personnel who kept the students fed and somehow understood their orders through the masks everyone was wearing when this class arrived on campus.

 

And he shared a personal story that brought the message home.

 

"We often underestimate the power of community until we experience a taste of its absence," Chang said. "I remember staying on campus after our first Thanksgiving at Williams, after most students went home to finish the semester remotely. I remember the long hours sitting in empty common rooms. I remember the days you could walk through campus without seeing another student.