Wintergreen concert
WILLIAMSTOWN — The Berkshire folk trio Wintergreen will perform at the Sweetwood auditorium tonight [Thursday, July 8] at 7:30 at 1611 Cold Spring Road (Route 7). The public is welcome.
Wintergreen is composed of Alice and Larry Spatz and Jared Polens. The Spatz’s have been performing folk music since the early 1960s, starting out at the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York City. Together they play at least eight instruments and offer a repertoire that spans traditional and contemporary folk, original songs, dance tunes, work ballads and ethnic music. Polens is a vocalist and hammered dulcimer player.
Public meetings
A schedule of public meetings in or about Williamstown, as provided by Town Clerk Mary C. Kennedy, 458-9341, from official postings. Meetings are held at the municipal building, 31 North St., unless otherwise indicated:
Monday, July 12, Recreation Committee, 12:30 p.m.; Selectmen, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 13, Elementary School Committee, 7 p.m., school; Planning Board, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, library trustees, 5:30 p.m., library; Conservation Commission, 7:15 p.m. Thursday, July 15, Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m.
Harper Center
Elder Services Nutrition Program serves hot meals. Call 458-8250 or 458-5156; 48-hour notice is appreciated. Voluntary donations for van transportation are 50 cents one-way from Williamstown and $1 one-way from North Adams. Service is available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Thursday, July 8, 10 a.m., tai chi; 11 a.m., van to Wal-Mart; 11:30 a.m., lunch. 1 p.m., crafts; 3:30 p.m., knitting group. Friday, July 9, 10:30 a.m., exercise; 11:30 a.m., lunch; 1 p.m., bingo. Sunday, July 11, 11:30 a.m., lunch. Monday, July 12, 10:30 a.m., exercise; 11:30 a.m., lunch; 1 p.m., line dancing. Tuesday, July 13, 9 a.m., oil painting; 9:45 and 10:45 a.m., van to Stop & Shop; 1:15 p.m., Friendship Club. Wednesday, July 14, 9 a.m., van to Price Chopper; 10:30 a.m., exercise; 11:30 a.m., lunch; 1 p.m., bridge.
Deaths
A memorial service to celebrate the life of George Heard Hamilton of Williamstown, who died on March 29, will be conducted at St. John’s Church, 35 Park St., Williamstown, by the Rev. Peter Elvin, rector.
A reception will follow at the Williams College Faculty Club next door. Internment will be at a later date in Litchfield, Conn. Mr. Hamilton was director emeritus of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and professor emeritus of art at Williams. He leaves his wife, Polly, a son, Richard Heard Hamilton of Edgartown; a daughter, Jennet Hamilton La Casse of Royal Palm Beach, Fla,, and two grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to the George Heard Hamilton Memorial Lecture Fund, c/o Graduate Program, Clark Art Institute, 225 South St., Williamstown, MA 01267.
Peter Burchard, 83, of 118 Church St., an author, illustrator and authority on the Civil War and black history, died Saturday, July 3, at his home.
He was the author of 26 books, nonfiction and fiction, adult and juvenile and the illustrator of more than 100 books. His biography "One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment" (1965), became the main source of historical material for "Glory," the Academy Award-winning film featuring Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick, who portrayed Col. Shaw, commander of the first black regiment in the Civil War.
Mr. Burchard was born on March 1, 1921, in Washington, D.C., son of Russell Duncan and Ethel Brokaw Burchard. He attended Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Conn. He lived in Rockland County, N.Y., from 1950 to 1963, then in New York City and Stonington, Conn. Williamstown had been his home for the past 19 years.
His first published illustrations appeared in Yank, a magazine published by the Army, in which he served as a signal operator during World War II on troop ships between the United States and France, Egypt and the North Atlantic. He began illustrating books in 1947, the year of his graduation from the Philadelphia Museum College of Art.
Beginning with "The River Queen" (Coward McCann, 1957), a riverboat story, Burchard wrote several self-illustrated books for children. His short novel, "Jed" (1960), the story of a friendship between a 16-year-old Yankee soldier and a Southern boy, had 14 printings in the United States and was published in several languages, including Arabic. He received a Christopher Award for the humanitarian value of his illustrations for Bulla's "Pocahontas and the Strangers."
In 1966, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for the Shaw biography. Other subjects of his books are sailing, the history of flight, World War II and New York City during the Boss Tweed era. His most recent book was "Frederick Douglass: For the Great Family of Man" (Simon and Schuster, 2003), a Parents' Choice honor book.
He was a member of the international PEN Club and, up to the time of his death, served on the panel of advisers for the George Polk Awards. His final work, a fictionalized autobiographical story of a young serviceman's first love affair in New York City, is "Paper Shoes."
He leaves two daughters, Lee Carney of Forest Knolls, Calif., and Laura Harbeck of Jericho, Vt.; a son, Peter Burchard Jr. of Fairfax, Calif.; four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and his longtime companion, Jane Poncia of Williamstown.
Interment will be private and at the convenience of the family. A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 10, at 1 at First Congregational Church in Williamstown. A gathering in his honor will follow at the home of Jane Poncia, 328 Luce Road. Contributions of food to share are optional. Memorial donations may be made to the Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Northern Berkshire Inc., 535 Curran Memorial Highway, North Adams, MA 01247.
Irving Duncan Fish Jr., 81, of Meacham St., Williamstown, died Monday, June 28, at Sweetbrook Care Centers.
He was born in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 30, 1923, the son Irving Duncan Fish and Constance Moffitt Mitchell Fish. He received his early education at the Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich, Conn., and was a 1940 graduate of Hill School in Pottstown, Pa. He was a member of the Class of 1944 at Williams College and graduated in January, 1947, after service in the U.S. Air Force during World War II.
During the war, he served as a second lieutenant, bombardier with the 15th Air Force, 98th Group, 343 Squadron, which was based in Italy. On Aug. 18, 1944, his plane was shot down while he was flying his 43rd mission. He was captured and escaped prison and was awarded several medals, including the Purple Heart.
Prior to his retirement, he worked as a stockbroker for Smith Barney and Co. Inc. and Alex Brown and Associates in New York.
A passionate birdwatcher, he was a lifelong member of the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy. He was also an avid golfer and a lifelong supporter of independent schools and colleges.
He leaves four children, Irv Fish of Minneapolis, Minn., Selina Fish Zaluda of Petaluma, Calif., Mike Fish of Dewitt, N.Y., and Mary Fish Arango of Carpinteria, Calif.; his companion and friend Edith Schwartz and seven grandchildren.
Memorial services were held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, on Tuesday, July 6, with the Rev. Peter Elvin and the Rev. Sinclair Hart officiating. Private committal services took place at Westlawn Cemetery.
Contributions may be made in his memory to the Irving D. and Constance Mitchell Fish Scholarship fund at Williams College, through the office of the George M. Hopkins Funeral Home, 61-67 Spring St., Williamstown, MA 01267.
Ennie Irene “Nan†Krudener, 91, of 112 Patterson Ave. Greenwich, Conn., formerly of 2 Higgins Court, Williamstown, died Friday, July 2, at the Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich.
She was born in Fitchburg on March 17, 1913, a daughter Matti Lane and Alina (Salo) Laine. She attended schools in Fitchburg and graduated from the Fitchburg High School in 1931. She attended Fitchburg State College and later the Long Island City Business College.
She worked as a secretary at the Mason Candy Co. in Brooklyn, N.Y., and part-time as a secretary at the Lafayette Federated Church in Ridgewood, N.J. She was a longtime resident of Ridgewood, New Jersey until she moved to Williamstown. She had been a resident of Greenwich for about eight months.
She was a member of the First Congregational Church in Williamstown and of the Friendship Club and the Spruces Club, as well as a volunteer at the Williamstown Women’s Exchange.
Her husband, Howard Henry Krudener, died on Jan. 7, 1990. They were married on Sept. 7, 1941.
She leaves a grandson, Ian H. Wilson of North Adams, a niece, Carol Lutz of Greenwich, with whom she made her home, several other nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Her daughter, Kristin L. Wilson, died on Aug. 18, 1996. Three brothers and two sisters are also deceased, Armas, Arbo and Arne Laine, Ruth Lombard and Tyyne Richard.
A memorial service will be held at a time to be announced. Memorial contributions may be made to the First Congregational Church of Williamstown in care of the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna funeral home, West Chapels, 521 West Main St. North Adams, MA 01247.
Ralph J. Pitroff, 83, of 59 Friend St., Adams, died Saturday, July 3, at the North Adams Commons Care Facility, where he had lived since July 2001.
He was born on Sept. 22, 1920, in Adams, son of John and Yvonne R. (Cirice) Pitroff. He attended Renfrew and C.T. Plunkett schools and the former Adams High School, where he graduated in 1938. He excelled in sports with the high school varsity teams.
He became a sales representative with the Pierri Buick Motor Car agency of Adams. He entered the U.S. Navy on Sept. 3, 1942, and saw combat on sea duty in the Alaska-Russian supply conduit, where he was a gunners mate 2nd class. He was honorably discharged at the U.S. Naval Base in Boston on Sept. 26, 1945. Returning to civilian life, he secured a position with the former Arnold Print Works of Adams and retired in 1985 as a foreman in the company’s color department.
He was a communicant of Notre Dame/St. Thomas Aquinas Church, where he exchanged marriage vows with the former Dorothy M. Rupprecht on May 26, 1945, with his brother, the Rev. Francis B. Pitroff, as the celebrant in St. Thomas Aquinas Church.
Besides his wife, he leaves three sons, James P and Mark A. Pitroff of Adams and Ralph M. Pitroff of Williamstown; three daughters; Anne Janik, Frances D. Vogel and Theresa M. Pfister, all of Adams; a brother; John A. Pitroff of Baltimore, Md; five grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brothers Wilfred and the Rev. Pitroff.
A Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated Tuesday, July 6, in St. Thomas Aquinas Church, by its pastor, the Rev. Daniel J. Boyle. Burial followed in the family plot in Bellevue Cemetery, Adams. The McBride Funeral Home, 6 Liberty St., Adams, was in charge of arrangements.
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North Berkshire Educational Study Updating Communities
By Breanna Steele & Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The steering committee for a regional study on secondary education is getting the word out to participating communities and asking for input.
The goal of the study is to focus on Grades 6 through 12 to understand current conditions across districts, hear people on their educational priorities, analyze strengths, opportunities, and challenges, and identify opportunities for future collaboration.
Steering Committee Chair Erin Milne, also a member of the Hoosac Valley Regional School Committee, introduced the study and why it was needed.
"We've been talking for decades about how the Northern Berkshire school communities can better collaborate with one another, rather than necessarily duplicating services," she told he Cheshire board. "And over time, it's become more and more of a pressing issue as our enrollment has been going down, but costs have been going up."
Hoosac Valley, North Adams, Mount Greylock Regional, Clarksburg, Savoy and Florida are participating in the study. A combination of declining population and rising costs are putting pressure on the districts, but the study will also look at educational opportunities that could come from collaboration.
In North Adams, Superintendent of Schools Timothy Callahan noted that "the reality is that in the North Adams Public Schools, our graduating class is now closer to what Lenox used to have as a graduating class 20 years ago ... So those are the realities, and what can we sustain, and what are the educational opportunities for our young people? Those are the questions that we're asking."
The Cooperative Hoosac Valley football program will resume football related activities on Monday, Sept. 28, after being on “pause” for the past nine days. click for more
Hoosac Valley High School has postponed this weekend’s football games following a reported alleged hazing incident involving a large number of football players, the athletic director announced Friday afternoon. click for more
The increase is because of a 9.12 percent hike in the levy based on the budget and fiscal articles approved for FY27 at May's annual town meeting. click for more
The mission of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires is to facilitate growth for charitable organizations through shared resources, affordable services, and creative collaborations. click for more
Talk about strangers in the night. There's lots of social intercourse between Frankie and Johnny. There's also lots of sexual intercourse. click for more
