Letter: Bond Will Be a Reliable Community Leader

Letter to the Editor06:45PM / Tuesday, October 26, 2021Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

When looking toward the future of this great city, it is important not to neglect the voices of the younger generations. It is also important not to underscore the value community service has in shaping a candidate. Coming from an MCLA student and soon to be officeholder, I believe the person to best connect with our youth and represent the value of community service is Lynette Bond.

The most important memories I've made as a college student were through active volunteerism. As a person who dedicates my time in such a way, I can see how volunteer work has influenced Lynette Bond as a person, and how it will shape her tenure as the next mayor of North Adams. Through her dedication as a foster parent, her time in the Peace Corps, and her intense dedication toward the Colegrove Park Elementary School project, she has proven to me that she will be a reliable community leader.

I have been able to call North Adams my home for 22 years. MCLA was my school of choice because of this beautiful city I have been able to call my home. I think the school is especially emblematic of our community's younger demographics, and it makes me pleased to see who younger people want as their leader. The feedback we have received from the overwhelming majority of them? The future is with Lynette.

With students who want to make North Adams their home after they graduate, and have taken on our community as one that represents them, Lynette is an especially symbolic person to take office as our next mayor. Lynette may not have been born in North Adams, but she chose our city as her home like so many others here do. I am confident in Lynette's experience, transparency, and communicative nature to lead our city for the next two years. I hope with all this information in mind, you will vote for her assuredly on Nov. 2.

Joshua Vallieres
North Adams, Mass.

Joshua Vallieres is a candidate for North Adams School Committee.

Tags: city election, election 2021, letters to the editor,

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'Into Light': Addressing Addiction One Portrait at a Time

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
08:13AM / Sunday, March 08, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The "Into Light" exhibit is sketching a new path toward transforming the conversation around addiction — one portrait and story at a time.

Since 2019, the nonprofit's founder Theresa Clower has put on close to 21 exhibitions around the country, sharing the stories of more than 600 people who have lost their lives to addiction.

Now, the installation will be on view at Hotel Downstreet from Friday, March 13, through June 30, featuring 10 portraits of local community members who died from addiction and 20 portraits from the eastern Massachusetts exhibit.

This collaborative effort combines municipal opioid settlement funds and lead sponsor Berkshire Health Systems, in collaboration with the Northern Berkshire Opioid Abatement Collaborative, HEAL Coalition, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and North Adams Regional Hospital.

In addition to the installation, the team has developed programs and forums to be held throughout the three months to start a conversation and improve education on the disease.

"The core to our efforts around 'Into Light' is the community education, especially building on people's awareness of addiction as a disease and as a disease that is curable," said Andy Ottoson, BRPC senior public health planner.

Ottoson stressed the importance of treating substance use disorder like any other disease, reducing stigma, and normalizing open conversations around addiction and the resources out there to help recover.

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