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Contestants pose after 20 minutes of eating hot dogs to raise more than $1,000 toward the Eagle Street Initiative.
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City Council President Benjamin Lamb, in green, explains the rules.
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The benefit was a formal affair.
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Down the hatch.
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North Adams Dog-A-Thon Raises Over $1,000 for Eagle Street

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Over $1,000 was raised at the first NAMAzing Dog-A-Thon to benefit the Eagle Street Initiative.   
 
A small group formed at the pocket park on Eagle Street on Friday evening to watch six worthy competitors dressed in their Sunday best ingest as many Jack's Hot Dogs as they could in in very long 20 minutes.
 
After going over the universal signal for choking and strategically placing a barf bucket near the table, competitors Benjamin Lamb, Geeg Wiles, Mike Walker, Annie Rodgers, Nathan Rodgers and Piper Jacobs, 8, loaded their plates.
 
What started out as a sprint soon became an endurance contest as Nathan and Annie Rodgers tapped out early while Lamb, Wylde and Walker fought it out to the bitter end.
 
Although Jacobs was named the winner, earning a Jack's T-shirt and coupon, Lamb inhaled 10 dogs and was able to down half of a dog to cheers from the small crowd before time ran out, raising $330 on his own.
 
The Dog-A Thon is only part of fundraising efforts to raise $25,000 for a MassDevelopment matching grant to revitalize Eagle Street. Lamb, City Council president, has been spearheading the effort by the NAMAzing Initiative through the crowdfunding website Patronicity and with the nonprofit Partnership for North Adams as the financial agent.
 
The fundraising has reached more than $13,000 with another 21 days left. The funds could be used to create pop-up "parklets" for more social space, gateways to mark each entrance of the historic street, branded trash and recycling receptacles and highly visible signage for each business.
 
Lamb thanked Jack's Hot Dogs for its donation as well as all those who attended the event.
 
"Thank you all so much for coming out and thank you for your support both being here and cheering us on and watching us destroy ourselves and contributing to the Eagle Street Initiative," Lamb said after regaining his composure.
 
The entire 20 minute contest was streamed through Facebook Live here.

 

Tags: fundraiser,   good news,   hot dogs,   

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Clarksburg Gets 3 Years of Free Cash Certified

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Town officials have heaved a sigh of relief with the state's certification of free cash for the first time in more than three years.
 
The town's parade of employees through its financial offices the past few years put it behind on closing out its fiscal years between 2021 and 2023. A new treasurer and two part-time accountants have been working the past year in closing the books and filing with the state.
 
The result is the town will have $571,000 in free cash on hand as it begins budget deliberations. However, town meeting last year voted that any free cash be used to replenish the stabilization account
 
Some $231,000 in stabilization was used last year to reduce the tax rate — draining the account. The town's had minimal reserves for the past nine months.
 
Chairman Robert Norcross said he didn't want residents to think the town was suddenly flush with cash. 
 
"We have to keep in mind that we have no money in the stabilization fund and we now have a free cash, so we have now got to replenish that account," he said. "So it's not like we have this money to spend ... most of it will go into the stabilization fund." 
 
The account's been hit several times over the past few fiscal years in place of free cash, which has normally been used for capital spending, to offset the budget and to refill stabilization. Free cash was last used in fiscal 2020.
 
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