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The Humane Race will take place on Saturday, April 29.

Berkshires Beat: Humane Race Kicks Off Spring

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The humane thing: It is officially spring, and one of the hallmarks of spring in the Berkshires is the Berkshire Humane Society's Humane Race, a 1-mile fun walk or a 5K run with or without a dog. Dog are not mandatory, only dog lovers! Scheduled for Saturday, April 29, in Williamstown, this year's 15th Humane Race promises a fun morning for people and their dogs with one small but exciting change: The run will be a timed race with the help of Berkshire Running Center.

Register ahead of time online for $20 for children under 12 and $25 for adults. Registration the morning of is an additional $5 for adults, but the same for children under 12. The first 150 runners and walkers to register will receive a race T-shirt. Dogs will get commemorative bandanas while supplies last.   

Participants can also collect pledges to raise more money for the Berkshire Humane Society and be eligible for special pledge prizes. Individual fundraising pages and pledge sheets are available online. Registration and pledge forms also available at Bark N’ Cat, Greylock Animal Hospital, Berkshire Running Center & Berkshire Humane Society. 

The Humane Race begins at 10 a.m. Check-in and registration is at the start line at 24 Water St. from 9 to 9:50 a.m.  The course winds through Williamstown and Williams College, ending at Spring Street. Prizes for runners, pledge earners and dogs will be awarded at the finish line and, refreshments, doggie pools and merchandise will be available.

 

Mother of all gifts: Berkshire Baby Box is encouraging people to make a donation for Mother's Day and in return will send a Mother's Day card acknowledging the donation to a deserving mom (or moms). Donations in memory of a beloved mom are welcome too.

Berkshire Baby Box provides safe sleeping spaces for newborns, items for new moms and new babies, and most importantly,  a connection to area resources, education, guidance and support. A donation of $100 or more will include a handy Berkshire Baby Box tote bag. Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 14; go online by May 7 to insure that your card arrives on time.



Feeling neighborly: The Northern Berkshire Community Coalition (nbCC) is accepting nominations for the Spring Neighborlies celebration, a community recognition award night. The Neighborlies will be held on Wednesday, May 17, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue, 53 Lois St. in North Adams.

Residents are encouraged to consider people of all ages who have performed acts of kindness or made a positive difference in their lives, in their neighborhoods or in their community. Anyone may nominate individuals or groups in one or more of the following categories: neighborly acts, young people taking the lead, business/agency support, groups pulling together on a project, and community health and wellness, celebrating those who’ve helped make our Northern Berkshire community a healthier place to work, play, and live.

Nominate through the nbCC website, or applications may be picked up and dropped off or mailed to the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition Office at 61 Main St., Suite 218, North Adams, MA 01247. Nominations may also be called in to 413-663-7588 or e-mailed. Send the name(s), address, phone and e-mail of those being nominated and those making the nomination, with category indication and a brief description of the reason (15 words or less). Nominations accepted through May 8.



Each nominee will receive an invitation to the event to receive their award, presented by Mayor Richard Alcombright and Coalition staff, who will present certificates of appreciation.



Outstanding employee: In 2001, to show appreciation for the work required to keep the town running smoothly, the League of Women Voters of Williamstown established an annual award to recognize an outstanding town employee. The League is seeking nominations for the 2017 award.

Nominees should be employees of the town of Williamstown who have provided outstanding service to the Williamstown community – duty above and beyond what is expected of them. This service can have been performed during the past year or in previous years. It can have been a single exceptional act or have been spread over several years. All employees of the town of Williamstown are eligible. For example, this includes snow plow drivers, librarians, cemetery workers, policemen, town department heads, custodians, teachers, transfer station workers, firemen or anyone on the town payroll.

Nomination forms are available at the Milne Library and at Town Hall. Nominations (on form or otherwise) can be emailed or sent to the League of Women Voters of Williamstown, PO Box 392, Williamstown. Nominations should include a description of the exceptional service provided and the name and telephone number or email address of the person submitting the nomination. The deadline for nominations is May 8. The name of winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 16, at the annual Williamstown Town Meeting.
 


Interning in the past: Bidwell House Museum, the Berkshires' own colonial history museum, is offering high school students with an interest in history — particularly local Berkshire colonial history — the opportunity to become a Young History Scholar Intern this summer. The museum will offer eight to 10 students the chance to get an inside view of the historic house and the operations of a non-profit.

The Bidwell House Museum is a 1760s New England heritage site providing through its land, house and collection a personal encounter with frontier life in early America. The museum includes the fully furnished colonial homestead, several outbuildings and 192 acres of grounds with gardens, stone walls, foundations and hiking trails. High school interns spend two weeks at the museum: in week one the intern learns about colonial Berkshire history, the Bidwell family, the house, the property and the collection, and how docents give tours; in week two each intern chooses a research topic and begins to give tours of the museum as a junior docent.

Thanks in part to grants from the Monterey, Lenox and Great Barrington Cultural Councils, as well as private sponsors and friends of the museum, each high school intern receives a $200 stipend for the two-week internship. The museum is also seeking a college student for an eight-week internship. The internship application can be found on the museum's website. Deadline for applications is April 30.

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

Williams Seeking Town Approval for New Indoor Practice Facility

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week gave Williams College the first approval it needs to build a 55,000-square foot indoor athletic facility on the north side of its campus.
 
Over the strenuous objection of a Southworth Street resident, the board found that the college's plan for a "multipurpose recreation center" or MRC off Stetson Road has adequate on-site parking to accommodate its use as an indoor practice facility to replace Towne Field House, which has been out of commission since last spring and was demolished this winter.
 
The college plans a pre-engineered metal that includes a 200-meter track ringing several tennis courts, storage for teams, restrooms, showers and a training room. The athletic surface also would be used as winter practice space for the school's softball and baseball teams, who, like tennis and indoor track, used to use the field house off Latham Street.
 
Since the planned structure is in the watershed of Eph's Pond, the college will be before the Conservation Commission with the project.
 
It also will be before the Zoning Board of Appeals, on Thursday, for a Development Plan Review and relief from the town bylaw limiting buildings to 35 feet in height. The new structure is designed to have a maximum height of 53 1/2 feet and an average roof height of 47 feet.
 
The additional height is needed for two reasons: to meet the NCAA requirement for clearance above center court on a competitive tennis surface (35 feet) and to include, on one side, a climbing wall, an element also lost when Towne Field House was razed.
 
The Planning Board had a few issues to resolve at its March 12 meeting. The most heavily discussed involved the parking determination for a use not listed in the town's zoning bylaws and a decision on whether access from town roads to the building site in the middle of Williams' campus was "functionally equivalent" to the access that would be required under the town's subdivision rules and regulations.
 
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