Letter: April Is National Volunteer Month

Letter to the Editor01:00PM / Friday, April 15, 2022Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

Kindness and Compassion. April is National Volunteer Month.

Why do people volunteer? What do they get out of it?

We're taught from a very young age that we will feel good if we help others. It's true, volunteering gives us a sense of meaning, of purpose.

Thanks to a website, nextdoor.com, people can post requests for help. I just saw such a request from someone who knew of an elderly woman who was unable to walk her beloved dog and would have to give him up if she couldn't find help walking him. "Her health is declining, and the dog is her best friend."

I believe it's common knowledge that having something to care for can make a huge difference in someone's mental health as well as physical health; it can reduce anxiety and aid in recovery. Giving and receiving love is a basic need we all have. Sometimes a pet is all someone has. This is especially true of many elderly persons who would suffer social isolation without their pets.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if our towns took the reins to provide help to their citizens who are in need. Perhaps include the Police Department – this would be a great way for them to strengthen community partnerships. Schools could create clubs that would teach students community service and perhaps even give them credit. Dog walking would be a great job for a student!

Diane Perault
Williamstown, Mass.

Tags: volunteers,

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Williamstown's Gas Supply Is at Capacity, and Economic Development Is at Stake

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com
05:48AM / Monday, September 21, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For more than a decade, town officials have been grappling with how the Village Beautiful can spur economic development.

Last week, the Select Board heard about a major impediment the town can do nothing about.

"Berkshire Gas had reached out to me last week," Town Manager Robert Menicocci told the board during his report at the twice-monthly meeting. "I did meet with them, and they're reaching out to let us know they're out of capacity for Northern Berkshire.

"The pipeline that comes up through North Adams and feeds into us is at its maximum capacity. So there will be no additional installations for the very foreseeable and, probably, distant future."

That means that soon no more new residential or commercial hookups for natural gas will be available in town. And new development is exactly what Williamstown has been hoping to spur, particularly in its population center.

Economic development was the focus of an intensive, yearlong town study in 2015. It has been at the heart of many of the initiatives of the town's Planning Board in recent years. And it has been a rallying cry of the Finance Committee, which has consistently told residents that without "new growth" in the property tax base, the spiraling tax burden will continue to be split among existing taxpayers.

As recently as Aug. 24, during the Select Board's annual tax classification hearing, Town Assessor Christopher Lamarre told the panel why growing the tax base is the only way to avoid either cuts to town services or a Proposition 2 1/2 override vote.

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