ADAMS, Mass. — It became obvious who the new selectman would be as the votes were read off at the Town Garage on Monday night. 

 

Christine Hoyt, in her first run for public office, clobbered her competition to take some 85 percent of the votes cast in what she called a "humbling" showing in a town that she felt has adopted her. 

 

"It's overwhelming, but it's nice to have been elected given that my platform was to unify our region and I'm hoping I'll be able to do that. ... overwhelming and humbling," she said. "I had a strong committee behind me to get my name out there and to introduce me to as many people in Adams as possible and I think that's what made the difference."

 

She'll replace Jeffrey Snoonian, currently chairman of the Board of Selectmen, who did not run for re-election. 

 

In unofficial results, Hoyt toted up 962 votes against Cassie Witek's 115 and Elizabeth Bushey's 50. 

 

Some 1,137 votes were cast out of 6,000 registered voters for a turnout of 19 percent. "It has been steady for the most part," Town Clerk Haley Meczywor said earlier in the day. 

 

Hoyt will attend her first Selectmen's meeting on Wednesday. She's looking forward to learning more and said she'll be prepared for the issues that come up. 

 

"It's going to be a difficult year with a four-person board," she said, referring to the seat left vacant by the resignation of Arthur "Skip" Harrington. "I think there will be a lot of work outside the meetings." 

 

Witek, in a post to her supporters on Facebook, congratulated Hoyt but she's not done yet and is looking forward to campaign 2018. 

 

"I will continue to fight for the little guy, the impoverished, and the voiceless," she wrote, thanking her family and friends for their support for her grass-roots effort. 

 

Cynthia Bird was awaiting a final count for her pursuit of a seat on the Parks Commission. Unofficial results showed her 14 votes shy of a second place win but she was holding out for some write-ins still being counted. 

 

In the three-way race for two seats on the commission, Jacob Schutz had polled 709 votes and Scott Cernik had 599, making them the winners. 

 

 "It's a bigger process than what I had anticipated," Bird said. Though she'd been on other committees and councils, and involved with youth sports, this was her first run at elected office. "This is a lot different, it's bigger, it's a bigger scale."

 

 She thought she could have done a better job in getting face recognition.

 

"I'm not sure that people recognized me," Bird said, noting that more than a few hadn't realized who she was until they saw her at polls. "I would like to have seen what would have happened if if wasn't here."

 

The election also saw incumbent Regina Hill hang onto her seat representing Adams on the Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee. Hill had been one of the four Adams representatives to vote to close Cheshire School, angering many in the smaller community.

 

Hill racked up 615 votes in Adams to challenger Michael Mucci Jr.'s 441 but Mucci nearly caught her Cheshire, which also cast votes for the seat. There, Mucci polled 260 votes to Hill's 149 but it wasn't enough to unseat her. The final unofficial tally was 761-702.

 

All other seats were unopposed or write-ins, which were still being tallied; this article will be updated with any new results on Tuesday. 

 

Official Results
Selectman			Adams-Cheshire District, Cheshire
Christine D. Hoyt	963		Adam B. Emerson	852
Cassie L. Witek	115
Elizabeth Bushey	50		Adams-Cheshire District, Adams
			Regina Hill (total: 763)	614
Moderator			Michael Mucci Jr. (total: 702)	441
Myra L. Wilk	978
			McCann School Committee
Assessor			Daniel J. Maloney Jr.	967
George J. Haddad	974
			Library Trustees (2 seats)
Board of Health			Anita L. Jamros	862
David Brian Rhoads	write-in 305		Brian R. Bishop	795
Planning Board			Park Commission (2 seats)
Sandra H. Moderski	942		Jacob N. Schutz	709
			Scott E. Cernik	600
Cemetery Commissioner			Cynthia H. Bird	587
Frederick S. Hobart	923