image description — The Fire Department rescued four people and one cat from the Spruces Mobile Home park.

Four Rescued By Boat From Spruces

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
08:22PM / Sunday, August 28, 2011Print Story | Email Story

Water was nearly five feet deep in the park.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Four people and one cat were rescued by boat from the Spruces Mobile Home park after the Hoosic River overflowed.

According to Fire Chief Craig Pedercini, the park was flooded with as high as 4 or 5 feet of water. A bus was brought in to evacuate the residents earlier this morning but some refused to leave. After the river overflowed, rescue workers used the boat to save the few that were remaining.

"As far as I know everybody is out of there," Pedercini said. "People changed their minds since the river crested over on the east side."

Even still, a couple residents initially refused to leave but Pedercini said emergency personnel was "persistent" and able to convince them to leave on the boat. The power and gas was cut from the park. At about 5:30 p.m. fire officials left the scene.

Residents were urged to evacuate prior to the onset of Hurricane Irene but many remained. Park manager Kimberly Purcelli said the residents were given yellow pieces of papers to hang in their windows to signify that they had left the home. However, some had hung the sign and stayed which made it difficult to know who had actually left.

"We pleaded with them to leave," Purcelli said, adding that the park managers and some park residents had knocked on everybody's door and asked residents to leave.

At about 5 p.m. Purcelli said the damage to the park is significant. People are being turned away from entering the park until at least Tuesday, Purcelli said.

The Williamstown Elementary School was opened as a shelter but some people went to the homes of friends or family.

Purcelli said a stop sign was completely underwater and Pedercini said 8 inches of water have been reported in the homes.

Despite the few that needed to be rescued by boat, Purcelli sang high praise for the residents' response to the storm.

Tags: flood, Irene, Spruces,

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Your Comments

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If you are asked to leave and you choose not, at least have the common courtesy to indicate you are still in your home so rescue worker don't waste valuable time having to check every house of the people who have actually left.
from: Laurie	on: 08-28-2011 10:43PM I Agree (44) - I Disagree (1)

Wow. I hope the residents who intentionally misled the rescue workers are fined or charged. How self-centered.
from: really?	on: 08-29-2011 07:38AM I Agree (33) - I Disagree (3)

does anyone know when residents can return to the spruces ?
from: Mike	on: 08-29-2011 10:41AM I Agree (1) - I Disagree (0)

Is it true that The Spruces has been condemned?
from: TT9F	on: 08-29-2011 01:45PM I Agree (2) - I Disagree (2)
Editor: The homes have been condemned because they are temporarily, at least, uninhabitable.
I Agree (2) - I Disagree (0)

Many places now make people who stay after being asked to leave sign a paper that says they know rescue workers will not come back for them if things turn ugly, and put down a next-of-kin notification. It is very harsh but it gets people moving. Those self-centered people forget they are endangering the lives not just of themselves, but also those of emergency responders.
from: Enough	on: 08-30-2011 08:00AM I Agree (18) - I Disagree (1)

Someone is misleading someone. People "in the know" around Williamstown have said that The Spruces is condemned and that after every resident salvages their possessions, the place will ultimately be bulldozed. The news stories tell a different story, in that people "MAY" be able to return to their homes at some point. Who's telling the truth????
from: Cockerbeagle	on: 08-31-2011 07:30PM I Agree (2) - I Disagree (0)
Editor: We would like to talk to those so-called "knowledgeable" people and find out who they're getting their information from.
I Agree (4) - I Disagree (0)

Coggins Classic Golf Tournament Helps Bennington Project Independence

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:37PM / Saturday, September 05, 2026

This was the tournament's fifth year; it combined with the independence project's annual golf outing this year.

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Thirty teams hit the green for this year's Coggins Classical Golf tournament, helping Coggins Auto raise money for Bennington Project Independence.

Coggins Auto Marketing Director Valerie Harrington said the fifth annual tournament, which was held on Aug. 28, continued a tradition of community-driven giving.

Harrington first helped organize the tournament in 2022. She hoped to raise $10,000, which would allow the auto group to leverage a $10,000 Toyota match program.

The tournament has successfully raised more than $50,000 the last two years, with last year's beneficiary the Cancer Center Community Crusaders.

This year, it raised more than $50,000 alone, including meeting the Toyota match the third year in a row.

Harrington said she wanted to help the nonprofits in the area, especially those that might get overlooked.

"The idea of it was especially for those nonprofits that are pretty small and don't have really the funds or the means or understanding of how to put on a golf tournament, and to give them an opportunity to get at least $20,000 in funds that year, which is huge for a lot of them, and it's really grown since then," she said.

"There's a lot of nonprofits that are big and big and loud and you know about them, but there are so many more that are like people don't even realize they exist. But what they do is super critical and important to the people in our community."

Local nonprofits submit an application each year explaining their mission and what they need to succeed. Coggins employees narrow the submissions to their top three choices and then let the community decide who they should pick.

Bennington has more than 100 nonprofits, and it can be hard to keep track of them all, but with the tournament, Coggins is able to have many people learn and see the needs in their community and nonprofits they haven't heard about.

"Even if they don't win, they've got in front of thousands of people who read their story and know what they need and know what they do to just spread awareness," Harrington said. "And then by having the community vote on it, then we know for sure what we're doing is what the community wants the most at that given time ...

"The community is saying, 'Hey, we want this nonprofit. We like what they're trying to do. Let's give them help because it's the decision of hundreds to thousands of people rather than just a handful of us.'"

Bennington Project Independence is an adult day service for individuals and families facing the challenges of aging or disability. This year the organization is combining its 13th annual golf tournament with Coggins.

"I think they've affected a lot of people's lives and helped a lot of families because it's an adult day facility for not just the elderly but also special needs," Harrington said. "So what they do every day to keep those folks' lives enriched while giving the family a break or allowing them to go to work and do these things. It's really important."

The 2027 tournament submissions will open in March of 2027.

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