Quilters wishing to display their work or enter the quilt block contest during the 25th annual Berkshire Quilt Festival, scheduled for later this year, may now request applications by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Berkshire Quilt Festival, Berkshire Community College, 1350 West Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201.
The deadline for submitting an application to display a quilt is Sunday, Aug. 12, and the deadline for entering the quilt block contest is Monday, Oct. 1.
The theme for this year’s festival “25 Years,†was announced recently by coordinator Helen Kimpel. The festival, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6, and Sunday, Oct. 7, will be held from 10 to 5 both days at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield.
Quilts, quilted wall decorations, and quilted clothing will be on display during the festival. Events include a “Putting on the Glitz†quilt block contest and a quilt raffle. The 2007 raffle quilt is “Anniversary Waltz,†a two block quilt featuring the 54–40 or Fight and Snowball blocks. It was originally published as Tennessee Waltz by Judith Martin by That Patchwork Place. The quilt is machine pieced by Berkshire Quilt Festival committee members, machine quilted by Kate Mitchell and coordinated by Debra Rogers-Gillig. Measuring approximately 84†x 100â€, it contains fabrics from the previous 24 raffle quilts.
Quilts, quilting supplies and some gift items will be on sale. Admission to the Festival will be $6 for adults and $2 for children under twelve.
Sponsored by Alumni and Friends of Berkshire Community College, the festival attracts about 900 people each year and raises scholarship funds for students attending BCC.
In addition to Ms. Kimpel, Ms. Mitchell and Ms. Rogers-Gillig, other committee members include Terry Bissaillon, Jeanne Chivers, Nancy Gardner, Margaret Hintz, Chris Hover, Betty King, Chris King, Kathy McGrath, Karen Pratt, and Peg Shepardson.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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.
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