Bowl-A-Thon Mentoring Benefit Set This Sunday

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Bowl-A-Thon returns for its second year to benefit the Youth Mentoring Program of Child Care of the Berkshires Inc.

The event will be held Sunday, Feb. 23, from 1 to 6 at Greylock Bowl & Golf, home of Mingo's Bar & Grill. Snow date will be the following Sunday.

Bowl-A-Thon was a popular fundraiser for the former Big Brothers/Big Sisters and has been rejuvenated by Child Care of Berkshires.

Teams of four can register for $25 per person. Included in the registration fee are the costs of shoes and up to three bowling games in each 1 1/2-hour time slot.

The competition includes raffles and individual and team prizes including a Boston Getaway, a Canyon Ranch Renewal Spa Day, a brand-new Apple iPad and more.

All participants will have their names entered into the raffle automatically. Raffle tickets will be sold for $2 per ticket or $5 for 3 tickets.


All funds raised will go directly to support the Youth Mentoring Program to expand the program, to offer fun activities for the youth, and to buy supplies for activities.

Adults who want to make a positive difference in children's lives are being recruited to share an extra hour each week in a school or community setting with an individual child or a small group of children. A mentor can influence young people in important ways.

A recent study by the National Mentoring Partnership found that youth with mentors were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college, 81 percent more likely to report regular participation in sports or extracurricular activities and more than twice as likely to report holding a leadership position in a club, team, school council or other group.

To download registration forms, view prize specifics or get more information, visit www.ccberkshire.org or call Melinda at 663-6593, Ext. 39. The agency can also be followed @MENTORCCB or on Facebook.

This program is funded by Northern Berkshire United Way, a grant from the William and Margery Barrett Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and local friends of mentoring.
 

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williamstown Select Board Inks MOU on Mountain Bike Trail

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A planned mountain bike trail cleared a hurdle last week when the Select Board OK'd a memorandum of understanding with the New England Mountain Bike Association.
 
NEMBA Purple Valley Chapter representative Bill MacEwen was back before the board on April 22 to ask for its signoff to allow the club to continue developing a planned 20- to 40-mile network on the west side of town and into New York State.
 
That ambitious plan is still years down the road, MacEwen told the board.
 
"The first step is what we call the proof of concept," he said. "That is a very small loop. It might technically be a two-loop trail. It's a proof of concept for a couple of reasons. One is so we can start very, very small and learn about everything from soil condition to what it's like to organize our group of volunteers. And, then, importantly, it allows the community to have a mountain bike trail in Williamstown very quickly.
 
"The design for this trail has been completed. We have already submitted this initial design to [Williams College] and the town as well, I believe. It's very, very small and very basic. That's what we consider Phase 0. From there, the grant we were awarded from the International Mountain Bike Association is really where we will develop our network plan."
 
MacEwen characterized the plan as incremental. According to a timeline NEMBA showed the board, it hopes to do the "proof of concept" trail in spring 2025 and hopes to open phase one of the network by the following fall. 
 
Williams and the Town of Williamstown are two of the landowners that NEMBA plans to work with on building the trail. The list also includes Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, the Berkshire Natural Resource Council and the State of New York.
 
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