Williams Hosts Exhibit on the French in New England

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WILLIAMSTOWN - The Center for Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Williams College will host an exhibit themed "Le français en Nouvelle-Angleterre: The French Language in New England & Notes from the Franco-American French Project." The exhibit will be on display in the lobby of Weston Hall on the Williams campus from March 31 to April 25. It premiered last summer at the Jacob Edwards Library in Southbridge, Mass.

To mark the official opening, project author Cynthia Fox, associate professor of French studies at the University at Albany (SUNY- Albany), will deliver a lectured titled "C'est pas mal la manière qu'on parlait: Franco-American perspectives on the French language in New England" on Wednesday, April 2, at 4:15 p.m. in Weston Hall, room 10. Both the lecture and the exhibit are free and open to the public.

Funded by a National Science Foundation grant, the Franco-American French Project is a collaborative, multi-year study of eight New England communities with high proportions of French Canadian ancestry.

Through interviews with 275 French speakers in these communities -- Southbridge and Gardner, Mass.; Bristol, Conn.; Woonsocket, R.I.; Van Buren, Waterville and Biddeford, Maine; and Berlin, N.H. -- the project revealed that although actual numbers of French speakers are decreasing, the language is still vital in the daily lives of these speakers.

Although Williamstown was not specifically targeted in the project, it is one of several towns in northwestern Massachusetts, which attracted French Canadian and Acadian immigrants during the so-called "grande migration" of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Fox and Jane Canova, the director of the center, have incorporated material about these communities into the exhibit. The display will include photographs and artifacts on loan from the Williamstown House of Local History.
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.

Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.

The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.

Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is  appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.

Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.

Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.

Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.

The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.

The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.

Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.

Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years. 

He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.

Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.

Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve  a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.

Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.

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