Residents Welcomed To Honor Fallen Soldier

Staff Reports04:16PM / Friday, August 24, 2012Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Residents are encouraged to line the streets to welcome home Michael DeMarsico, who was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Afghanistan.

The soldier's family released on Friday the itinerary for the funeral.

On Wednesday, Aug. 29, at approximately 12:30 p.m. a motorcade carrying DeMarsico will arrive via Route 2 and the stop briefly at Veterans Memorial Park on its way to Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals' West Chapels.

All are encouraged to line the streets to welcome him home. Parking at the funeral home will not be available to anybody except family and the motorcade.

On Friday, Aug. 31, there will be calling hours at the West Main Street funeral home from 2 until 7 p.m.

On Saturday, Sept. 1, the funeral service and celebration of his life will be held at the First Baptist Church on Main Street. The procession will go travel east on West Main Street to the church and then from the church north on Eagle Street to Route 2, to Holden Street, to American Legion Drive, to Ashland Street and end at Southview Cemetery.

There will be a reception immediately following the services at the St. Elizabeth's Parish Center on St. Anthony Drive.

The city will be detouring traffic along the procession routes and there may be heavy congestion along the alternative routes.

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Northern Berkshire United Way: War and Peace

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
09:38PM / Saturday, February 28, 2026

Northern Berkshire United Way is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Each month, we will take a look back at the agency's milestones over the decades. This first part looks at its successes and challenges during the war years.

The Community Chest started the decade on the upswing but ended with a decline in fundraising. A bright spot was its establishment of new agencies to help the citizens of North Adams and Clarksburg.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Community Chest ended its first decade on an upswing, even as the clouds were darkening over Europe.

But what goes up, must eventually come down.

The 1940 campaign drive again set a goal of $39,600 and volunteers toted up $23,000 at the first meeting.

James Hunter Machine was the first to attain 100 percent enrollment with annual gift of $6.13 per person for a total of $1,275. Some 200 businesses and organizations hit their red feather level of 100 percent, including all of the schools as well as State Teachers College.

The litany of businesses and organizations included long-gone establishments such as Simmons Funeral Home, Spofford Motors, McCann Ice Cream Co., C.H. Cutting, West End Market, Apothecary Hall, Florini's Italian Garden, and Pizzi's, along with still existing enterprises like Whitney's Beverage Shop, Cascade Paper and Mount Williams Greenhouse.

The now annual dinner was served by the Ladies Aid Society of First Congregational at the YMCA, and attendees were entertained by singers from the Advent Christian Church, directed by the Rev. Martin Ball and accompanied by his wife on the piano. "Assisting in useful capacities" were YMCA junior members Howard Goodermote, Roy Modlinger, Fred Myers, Norman Remillard, George Grenier, Wallace Konopka and Anthony Pessolano.

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