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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Willinet Cameras to Capture Monday's Williamstown Select Board Session

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
02:31PM / Saturday, October 24, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board's third-floor meeting to complete its evaluation process for the town manager will be televised by the town's public, educational and governmental television station.

Willinet Executive Director Teri Yuan confirmed this week that the station will put a camera in the upstairs conference room to record a planned 8 p.m. single-item agenda meeting to do the annual review of Town Manager Robert Menicocci.

The board at its last meeting decided to break the evaluation out from its regular 7 p.m. meeting in the first floor Community Meeting room, which is set up with multiple cameras and audio equipment to facilitate live Willinet telecasts of most public meetings of town boards and committees.

The Select Board offered no real explanation for the desire to complete the evaluation in an otherwise public meeting outside of view from Willinet's cameras other than a desire to "sit around the table" rather than sit on one side of a large table along one side of the first floor meeting room.

The "sit around the table" talk was particularly puzzling given the fact that Willinet has a camera mounted on the wall behind the spot where Menicocci generally sits for Select Board meetings, a camera that gives a full view of both sides of the table, and an angle that Willinet frequently uses when panels like the Finance Committee invite participants to sit across the table from the committee to give testimony.

Perhaps the real reason is better explained by a joking comment from one Select Board member at the Sept. 28 meeting who indicated that doing the evaluation without access to things like Zoom capability was "the object" of moving that business to the third-floor meeting room.

The evaluation discussion on Monday evening will follow on a survey of the five board members assessing Menicocci's performance in fiscal year 2026, which ended on June 30.

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