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Friendship Center volunteer Erik Wobus, left, Doppelgangers President Robert Donnelly, Director of Food Distribution Mark Lincourt, Doppelgangers Vice President Chip Beckwith and volunteer Fran Morandi were at the center on Eagle Street.

North Adams Motorcycle Club Aids Friendship Center

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Mark Lincourt helped carry the donations into the Eagle Street center.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Doppelgangers motorcycle club surprised the Friendship Center with a pickup truck full of donations Wednesday evening after collecting them from the area over the past two weeks.

According to club President Robert Donnelly, the group put boxes and posters in various local businesses and its clubhouse on Oct. 12  to collect food and clothing.

On Wednesday, Donnelly and Vice President Claude "Chip" Beckwith dropped off three boxes of food and multiple bags of clothing, enough to fill the truck bed.

In total, 182 pounds of clothing and blankets and 123 pounds of food.

"We want to be good neighbors," Beckwith said. He said the group had been looking for ways to help the community.

The Friendship Center has picked up where the Northern Berkshire Food Pantry left off when it closed two years ago. Entering its second holiday season, Director of Food Distribution Mark Lincourt said it now serves more than 1,100 families throughout North Berkshire.

The new pantry was started on Eagle Street by the Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initiative and received its first donation in February 2011. Lincourt said the center's operations have grown tremendously in the last two years.

The volunteer group distributes food to families in need. The Doppelgangers' clubhouse is in the Crystal Hard Hat's former location on Union Street. The club is private — with about 15-members — for owners of Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycles.

Tags: donations,   food pantry,   motorcycle club,   

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North Adams Schools Talk Final Budget Numbers for Public Hearing

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The elementary schools will be phasing in a new math curriculum over the next two years. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Committee received the presentation given last week to the Finance & Facilities committee for the fiscal 2025 spending plan.
 
The subcommittee is recommending the budget of $20,357,096, up $302,744 or 1.51 percent over this year. This was expected to be funded by $16,418,826 in state Chapter 70 education funds, local funding of $3,938,270 (up $100,000 over this year) and a drawdown of school funds of $575,237. This will also include the closure of Greylock School at the end of this year and the reduction of 26 full-time positions. 
 
A hybrid public hearing on the budget will be held on Thursday, May 23, at 5:30 at Brayton School, with a vote by the School Committee to immediately follow. 
 
The extra $100,000 from the city will likely not be part of this funding package, warned Mayor Jennifer Macksey, chair of the School Committee. 
 
"Going through all my process on the city side, so to say, with the rest of my departments, it's going to be really hard for me to squeak out the additional $100,000," said the mayor, alluding to a budget gap of $600,000 to $800,000 for fiscal 2025 she's trying to close. 
 
"I just want to be fully transparent with everyone sitting here, and as your School Committee chair, I don't know if the city budget is going to be able to squeak out that $100,000. That number will most likely change."
 
Director of School Finance and Operations Nancy Rauscher said the $100,000 had been a placeholder with administration understanding that it could change.  
 
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