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Pittsfield Prayer Vigil Urges End of Hate, Racism

The Rev. Warren Dews Jr. sings during a prayer vigil in honor of the victims of the church shooting in South Carolina. See more pictures from the vigil here.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There is a story told to Jewish children about a teacher who directed his students to make sure they repent before they died.

The students, after pondering this question, finally asked the teacher, "But how will we know when we are going to die?"

"That's the exactly the point," the teacher told the students, and Rabbi Barbara Cohen told a crowd of several hundred people gathered Monday evening for a prayer vigil. "Live as if it's your last day."

That sentiment echoed throughout the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church, where the Berkshire chapter of the NAACP joined forces with the Lift Ev'ry Voice Festival and Multicultural Bridge to present the vigil in honor of the nine people killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. — from the opening chant of "this may be my last time" by local NAACP Vice President Luci Leonard to a closing plea by the Rev. Warren Dews Jr. to not let this service be the last time residents from all walks of life got together to pray together.

Speakers in addition to Cohen and Dews included the Rev. Ralph Howe from the host church as well as the Rev. Charles Pratt from the Victory Temple Church of God in Christ, Natalie Shiras from Church on the Hill in Lenox and Jose Andre Taylor from a Masonic lodge in Boston.

Howe offered a prayer on what confessions were needed, especially by people not of color who sometimes don't admit the privileges they enjoy simply by virtue of their skin color.

"We confess we take for granted many things that people of color don't," he said. "We must confess we create the condition of racial bigotry that mows down lives.

"Hear our confessions and hear our hearts."

In a rousing prayer, Pratt talked about how the key to eliminating tragedies such as this one is eliminating hate.

"If we can eradicate hate, we can eradicate racism," he said. "The unquenched fire of hate compressed within the heart burns fierce and will at last break into flames. That's what we're seeing around the country.

"Hate is too great a burden to bear because it is more injurious to the hater than the hated."

Yet forgiveness is also in order, even forgiveness of people like the South Carolina shooter who commit unspeakable acts of savagery.

"Oh, God, deliver us from the spirit of hate," he prayed, reminding the crowd that even as Jesus was dying on the cross he didn't ask for help for himself. "He said, 'Forgive them, Father.' May we say, let love abide."

Love filled the church, not only through the inspiring words offered by the clergy from different faiths but also through music. Young singer Shalia Billy performed "Welcome Into This Place" and Jerome Edgerton Jr. played a selection on his drum. And Dews sang passionate solo versions of "Amazing Grace" and "I Need Thee" before leading the entire crowd in singing "This Little Light of Mine" while waving their cell phones in a modern version of a candlelight vigil.

Dews, in closing the vigil, urged the crowd not only to continue to talk and pray together but also to spread a positive message in their own lives, especially those people not of color who remain silent when hateful and racist words are spoken around them.

"We all have a job to do," he said. "You have to stop it right there in its tracks. You have the power to make hatred uncomfortable. You have the power to stop the foolishness. 

"Stop it. Let them know they can't say it in front of you."

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.