UCP Telethon Returning For 50th Year

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The UCP telethon is returning for its 50th years next month.

The United Cerebral Palsy Association's annual telethon is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza from 1 until 5 p.m.

The telethon is one of UCP's largest fundraisers. Last year $36,675 was raised to support the organization's programming for people with disabilities.

This year's honorary chairman is Daniel E. Bosley, former state representative, propertier of Bosley Consulting and president of the North Adams SteepleCats.

The telethon features raffles, auctions and an array of entertainers — including Cantarella School of Dance, Albany Berkshire Ballet Junior Company, Billsville Boys, Catholic Youth Center Cheerleaders and Berkshire Music School’s Bing’s Strings.

There will be seven hosts of the telethon: Cheryl Adams of WUPE Radio; Dave Winchester, formerly of WNAW/WSBS; Ron Gallagher, the regional director of vocational rehabilitation and independent living/social service programs for the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind Western Regional Offices; former Adams Town Clerk Paul Hutchinson; Youth Leadership Host Allyson Pratt; Pittsfield City Councilor and Director of Accounts and Lead Communications Consultant for OneEighty Media John Krol; and UCP Board Member Ashley Sulock, the director of marketing and communications for the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce.

Krol and Sulock will be reporting from the fishbowl, where they will be collecting donations from and speaking with members of the community and civic organizations. Brenda Carpenter is this year’s stage manager, and she will be assisted by UCP staff and volunteers as well as Pittsfield Community Television Corporation staff and volunteers.

All funds raised remain entirely in Berkshire County to support children and adults with physical and developmental disabilities and their families. UCP represents and supports all physical and developmental disabilities, including multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, brain injury, and autism. UCP of Berkshire County’s  services include adult family care, advocacy: general/education/and self, assistive technology, computer training, durable medical equipment-loaner program, individual and family support, early intervention, social and recreational children’s programming and the Berkshire Talking Chronicle radio reading service.

The telethon will be televised simultaneously on Pittsfield Community Television (Channel 16 in Pittsfield and Central Berkshire); on Northern Berkshire Community Television Corp. (Channel 15 in North County); and Community Television of the Southern Berkshires (Channel 16 in South County). In addition, Todd Lee from WUPE 100.1 FM will be hosting a radiothon simultaneously from 1 to 3 p.m.

Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Friday, April 26, 2024

Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.

Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.

"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.

"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."

The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.

"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.

One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.

"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.