The fifth annual Northern Berkshire Relay for Life turned out a record crowd on Friday night, May 21. More than 200 cancer survivors walked the red carpet for the traditional Survivors' Lap at Noel Field in North Adams.

Relay organizers said this was the biggest event yet, with more than 1,000 team members, friends and family raising $125,000 to date - up $1,000 just since Sunday. Donations can still be made by contacting Laura.Baran@cancer.org.

The top team so far is Everday Heroes with $3,900; top individual fundraiser is Joan Bator of the Hike to Strike team with $1,386.

The weather was beautiful for this year's event, after last spring's rainy night. Still, the 2009 Relay raised more than $124,000 for cancer research and patient and family support.

Photos of this year's event will be posted later Tuesday.

...That's what the Nutshell Playhouse says. Its studio is now accepting students for ongoing classes in circus skills, including acrobatics, slack rope (see photo), tumbling and juggling. No experience is necessary.

Don Jordan, founding director of the playhouse, will teach. Jordan's resume includes directing the Pickle Family and Pan Twilight circuses, appearing on Broadway in "Mummenschanz," and touring the U.S. and Europe as a clown and mime.

Classes meet every Wednesday night from 7 to 9 at 7 North St. on Park Square, Pittsfield.

For more information, contact Jordan at 413-637-1245 or info@nutshellplayhouse.org.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Volunteers boxed up hundreds of pounds of food for the spring Letter Carriers Food Drive.

Residents could leave non-perishable food items next to their mailbox for the postal carrier to pick up during his or her rounds. The donations were taken to 107 Main St., where they were boxed and up

The spring event is sponsored by National Association of Letter Carriers Local 286 and coordinated with Berkshire Community Action Council  North.

Marie Harpin of BCAC North said the group had to scramble to find new place to package the food because work is being done at the North Adams Armory, the usual location. David Carver donated use of 107 Main (which is getting a lot of use as a community site lately) and Big Y donated cardboard boxes for packaging.

Donations will be taken to community food pantries.

Update: Harpin told us Monday that the final tally was 7,000 pounds, a good number although not as much as the more recent record of 8,100. Harpin put it down to the lingering fiscal troubles that are forcing so many to pinch pennies.

Volunteers and postal workers haul food donations from a mail truck to the packaging site at 107 Main. An errant Toyota parked in the 'no parking' spot messed up the delivery somewhat, forcing the mail trucks to double park.

Know a seventh or eighth grader interested in having an adventure this summer? Berkshire Community College will facilitate one for you, when it offers its "Tech Adventures" program in July.

Free to students and families, the program offers hands-on, interactive activities focused on math, writing and manufacturing. Participants will visit local manufacturing companies to see products and meet employees; there will be a field trip to Windsor, Vt. museums to observe the roots of manufacturing and view glass blowing demonstrations; and there will be recreational activities both on and off the BCC campus.

Lunch and transporation to activities is included, with area drop-off and pick-up sites at 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Allendale Shopping Center and Williams Street Plaza in Pittsfield.

The program runs from Monday, July 12 through Friday, July 23. For more information, contact Kathy Dion at 413-236-5252 or kdion@berkshirecc.edu.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — WJJW, 91.1 FM, the student-operated non-commercial radio station at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, will hold a 24-hour fundraising marathon and album sale on Saturday, May 8.

  The marathon begins at midnight (Friday night) and ends at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Listeners can call the station at 413-662-5110 with a donation pledge, or stop by the studio on the third floor of the Campus Center. Any amount is appreciated, and there will be prizes available.

The album sale will be held from noon to 4 p.m., Saturday, also on the third floor of the Campus Center. WJJW has thousands of used vinyl records from all music genres dating back to the late 1960s. Bulk discounts will be available. The sale is cash only, and all sales will be final.

Proceeds from the events will be used toward the purchase of a new sound board and equipment for web streaming.

Donations can also be sent to WJJW, Student Government Association, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 375 Church St., North Adams, MA 01247; checks should be made payable to the Student Government Association/WJJW.

For more information on the marathon, contact station manager Charlie Schnitzlein at CS3967@mcla.edu; on the album sale, contact WJJW faculty adviser Jim Niedbalski at 413-662-5418.