Lanesborough Fire Department Hosts Junior Firefighter Academy

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LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Lanesborough Fire Department hosted its first-ever Junior Firefighter Academy on Saturday, May 7.

The event was done in conjunction with the Berkshire County Fire Chiefs Association. Sixteen juniors attended from a number of Western Massachusetts fire departments as far away is Goshen, Huntington, Northfield, Monterey and Alford. 

The inspiration for the Junior Fire Academy was Nick Garrity. He and his father, Deputy Fire Chief Wood Garrity, saw the Junior Fire Academy being hosted by the National Volunteer Fire Council, and for the costs associated to attend that decided instead to host an event locally.

The juniors that attended rotated through eight stations the stations, which included rope rescue from the western Mass Regional Technical Rescue Team ladders and lettering from the Adams Fire Department vehicle extrication with the Lanesborough Fire Department and Sayers Auto Wrecking. There was also a station where students were giving GPS coordinates and had to locate and extricate a patient.

The academy was largely supported by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. There were also a number of static displays, including the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office Communications vehicle, the Massachusetts State Police Communications vehicle, Department of Fire Services, and the Hampshire and Berkshire County DART trailers.

In addition, the Pittsfield Fire Department assisted by setting up a mini firefighter combat challenge. There also was a Rural Water Supply demonstration with the assistance of the Clarksburg Fire Company, the Richmond Fire Department, the New Ashford Fire Department, the Hancock Fire Department, the Lanesborough Fire Department and the Cheshire Fire Department.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Bureau of Fire Control also sent six vehicles and set up various stations for junior firefighters to see and demonstrate forest fire equipment.

The day concluded with a graduation ceremony and certificates distributed by Kevin Connolly from the Massachusetts Call Volunteer Fire Association and the Adams Fire Chief and president of the Berkshire County Fire Chiefs Association PJ Goyette.


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Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation Scholarships

LUDLOW, Mass. — For the third year, Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) will award scholarships to students from Lanesborough and Hancock. 
 
The scholarship is open to seniors at Mount Greylock Regional High School and Charles H. McCann Technical School. BWPCC will select two students from the class of 2024 to receive $1,000 scholarships.
 
The scholarships will be awarded to qualifying seniors who are planning to attend either a two- or four-year college or trade school program. Seniors must be from either Hancock or Lanesborough to be considered for the scholarship. Special consideration will be given to students with financial need, but all students are encouraged to apply.
 
The BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project, a 12 turbine, 19.6-megawatt wind farm located on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. The non-profit BWPCC consists of 16 municipal utilities located in Ashburnham, Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, and West Boylston, and their joint action agency, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC). 
 
To be considered, students must submit all required documents including a letter of recommendation from their school counselor and a letter detailing their educational and professional goals. Application and submission details will be shared with students via their school counselors. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 19.
 
 MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities.  MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities. 
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