Two Fundraisers Planned For Local Girl's Walk to Cure Diabetes Team

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Noelle's Belles, a JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes team, is holding two fundraisers over Columbus Day  weekend.

The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes raises funds for scientific research to better treat, prevent and ultimately cure type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. For this reason, people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin in order to stay alive. Unlike type 2 diabetes, it cannot be controlled with lifestyle changes.

Noelle's Belles is the team of Williamstown third-grader Noelle Dravis, who was diagnosed with type 1  diabetes four years ago at the age of 4. Her team walks in the JDRF of Greater Connecticut/Western MA  Chapter's walk on Sunday, Oct. 19, at Six Flags New England in Agawam.

The first fundraiser will be held Saturday, Oct. 11, from 2 to 4 p.m. in Williamstown. Hosted by The Progressive Palette, a painting business locally owned and operated by two sisters with a shared passion for art and inspiring others to discover their inner artist, guests to this event will paint a specially created design on their very own canvas to take home with them. The cost is $35, which includes all supplies, instruction and snacks. Seating is limited and advance registration is required online at progressivepalette.com.



The second fundraiser will be held Monday, Oct. 13, at 10:30 a.m. at the North Adams Movieplex in North Adams. On the day off from school and work, the public is invited to come see "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" on opening weekend for just $5 per person. No advance registration is necessary.

Disney's "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (rated PG) follows the exploits of  11-year-old Alexander (Ed Oxenbould) as he experiences the most terrible and horrible day of his young  life - a day that begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by one calamity after another. But when Alexander tells his upbeat family about the misadventures of his disastrous day, he finds little sympathy and  begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him. He soon learns he is not alone when his mom  (Jennifer Garner), dad (Steve Carell), brother (Dylan Minnette), and sister (Kerris Dorsey) all find themselves  living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

For more information on these fundraisers, contact Rebecca Dravis at 413-458-0298. To donate directly to Noelle's Belles online, visit walk.jdrf.org.

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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