Berkshire Veterans Photo Project Features Local Vets

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Photo by Bill Wright
World War II veteran Margaret Haggerty
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts is about to open an exhibition of the Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, which features more than two dozen Berkshire County residents who have served in the military.

The photos were taken by professional commercial and portrait photographer Bill Wright, himself a military veteran of the Gulf War. Wright's subjects range from a 22-year-old who has already served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, to a 99-year-old woman who served in World War II. Other subjects include local writer Kevin O’Hara, who served in the Vietnam War, and retired Judge Rudolph Sacco, a World War II veteran.

On Friday, March 12, from 5 to 7 p.m., the center, located at 28 Renne Ave., will host a free opening reception for the show. The show will run through April 10.

The Berkshire Veterans Photography Project is part of the upcoming Big Read community book project, the third to be held in Pittsfield in recent years. This year’s Big Read focuses on the Vietnam War novel "The Things They Carried," by Tim O’Brien, and spans the month of April 2010, the 35th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.

For more information on participating in The Big Read: "The Things They Carried," contact Ryan Weightman at the Office of Cultural Development, at rweightman@pittsfieldch.com or 413-499-9348. Free readers guides to "The Things They Carried" are available at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, the Berkshire Athenaeum, and Chapters Bookstore.
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Bianchi-Barbarotta Foundation Holds Awards Banquet

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Bianchi-Barbarotta Foundation Friday honored outstanding contributors to the Berkshire County sports scene at its third annual Awards Dinner at the Polish Falcon Club.
 
The foundation supports youth sports throughout the county each year.
 
In 2025-26, those donations totaled more than $30,000 to groups ranging from youth football and cheerleading programs, Pittsfield Little League, Northern Berkshire Softball and the Pittsfield Boys and Girls Club Recreation Therapy Program, to name a few.
 
Funds raised by the foundation also go to support its annual Vera Barborotta Memorial Sportsman Scholarship, which this year went to Lee High School graduate Joey Abderhalden and Taconic grad Madeline Harrington.
 
Two other recently graduated high school standout athletes were recognized as winners of the Al Bianchi Memorial Athletes of the Year: Madison McCarthy and Cooper Calvert, both of Wahconah Regional High School.
 
Pittsfield High School girls basketball coach Kristy Conyers and Hoosac Valley boys basketball coach Matt Larabee received the foundation's Coach of the Year Awards.
 
John Castonguay received the Bianchi-Barbarotta Foundation Living Legend Award. A.J. Ziter took home the Connie Bianchi Memorial Award of Merit. And Mark Moulton rounded out the honorees with the foundation's Volunteer of the Year Award.
 
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