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Adams Family Donates Gingerbread Displays To Senior Center

ADAMS, Mass. — A sweet tradition is on display at the Adams Visitors Center.

Each year the Coons family hosts a gingerbread house competition on New Years Eve.

The night had previously concluded with a "gingerbread smash" where they destroyed all of their hard work.

However, the competition has grown so large and the structures have become too impressive not to share.

They donated the two top displays to the Council on Aging to show them off and they have been a "huge hit" among those at the senior center.

This year, Laurie and Todd Coons with their 4-year-old daughter Malia Coons came in second with their rendition of the Hoosac Tunnel.

Laurie's sister Michelle Bachand, Rita Gomes and their 5-year-old son Evan Bachard took the championship with a replica of the Mount Greylock summit.

The structures are made out of homemade gingerbread and completely edible candy.

Cheshire Town Meeting Oks Budgets, Debates Potential Prop 2 1/2 Override

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
10:12PM / Monday, June 08, 2026

Moderator Carol Francesconi, left, and Anne Marie Furey were presented flowers in memory of the Rev. William Furey, their brother and husband, respectively. The town report was dedicated to him. 

CHESHIRE, Mass. — Town meeting on Monday approved all 35 articles on the annual meeting warrant, including a total spending for fiscal 2027 of more than $8.5 million. 

 

Some 77 of the town's more than 2,500 registered voters filled the Cheshire Community House meeting room, debating on a number of articles during the meeting that lasted nearly three hours

 

The town dedicated its annual report to the Rev. William David Furey, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church and more recently Berkshire Union Chapel in Lanesborough. Furey died last year at age 77.

 

His wife, Anne Marie Furey, and his sister, Town Moderator Carol Francesconi, were presented with a bouquet of flowers in tribute to him. 

 

He was an exemplary member of the community who left a lasting impression in each and every life that he touched, said Town Clerk Whitney Flynn. 

 

Voters approved several warrant articles that make up an operating budget of $3,840,314 for fiscal 2027. Of this amount, $1,642,481 is allocated for the general government budget, which was approved after clarification of a few questions.

 

One item was the administrative assistant's salary. Prior to the annual meeting, the town eliminated the executive assistant salary of $54,309 in favor of a part-time administrative assistant salary of $27,155, to reduce costs considering the financial constraint the town is in.