image description — Pat Masoero, financial director of the Christian Center, shows some of the children's games and activities at the annual Community Day on Saturday.

Christian Center Holds Community Day, Celebrates 130 Years

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:02AM / Tuesday, July 26, 2022Print Story | Email Story

The Civitan Club has been providing picnic food for the event for a number of years.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A portion of Robbins Avenue was filled with a celebration on Saturday as the Christian Center held its annual Community Day and marked 130 years as an organization.

"To be honest, for the last 130 years, the Christian Center has done essentially the same thing," Executive Director Betsy Sherman said, explaining that the center offers food, clothing, paths to jobs, and referrals to housing with the goal of helping people have a more secure life.

It was founded in 1892 as the Epworth Mission by the Methodist Church and has been at its current location since 1906. Sherman explained that in the late 1800s, many immigrants came to the West Side looking for a better life.

They were in need of basic necessities, which led to the first iteration of the Christian Center.

"All of these people needed housing, they needed food, they needed clothing, they needed a place to live," Sherman said. "And that's what we've been doing."

The free celebration included kids' games and prizes, arts and crafts, a bouncy house, and food provided by the Civitan Club of the Berkshires. Community agencies including Berkshire United Way were also present at the event to offer information about their services.

The Civitan Club is an all-volunteer, non-profit, service organization and has been providing food at the event for a number of years. The menu included hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, chips, and dessert all free of charge.

"Our mission is to analyze the community's needs and provide service volunteers to help organize and do whatever needs to be done," President Janet Smargie said.

At the end of the day, any leftovers is donated to the Christian Center or another similar organization.

Sherman said the center got a small grant to address safety issues in the house for women and children and is looking to do that work in the near future.

"We're thinking of combining that with the fire safety week in October to make a big push for fire safety in the fall and winter and around Halloween," she explained. "So these are some things we've been talking about and they'll firm up."

The Christian Center offers a food pantry Monday through Thursday from 10 to 1 and on Friday from 8 to noon; a clothing and housewares boutique on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9 to 1; a hot lunch Monday through Thursday from noon to 1 and a cold lunch on Friday from noon to 12:30 p.m.

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Healey Files Legislation to Suspend Gas Tax

06:33PM / Wednesday, September 23, 2026

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday filed legislation to lower costs at the gas pump, when buying concert and sports tickets, and on electric bills, while also making investments to strengthen health care, maternal health, food assistance and public safety.

The legislation includes Healey's proposal to suspend the state gas tax for two months. The war in Iran has driven up prices over 50 percent since February. It also includes her Great Divide Act, which caps ticket resale prices and fees and bans speculative tickets, as well as $2.25 million to strengthen postpartum care and mental health support for mothers and families across Massachusetts.

The bill includes changes to how utility companies purchase electricity for customers on basic service, which is estimated to save ratepayers $610 million, as well as $41.5 million for the Department of Transitional Assistance for caseworkers and technological upgrades to help people stay enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) despite President Donald Trump's cuts.

The legislation also provides critical funding for MassHealth, public safety and other state services. In total, it will enable the state to close Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) with a balanced budget by appropriating $2.24 billion in gross spending, at a net cost to the state of $1.46 billion after revenue offsets.

"While President Trump is driving up costs with his war and tariffs, in Massachusetts, we're doing everything we can to make life more affordable for people and businesses," said Healey in a statement. "This budget will lower costs at the gas pump, when buying concert and sports tickets, and on energy bills, while also making sure families can continue to access the health care, food assistance and services they rely on."

If passed, the legislation would suspend the state's 24-cent-per-gallon gas tax for two months, providing immediate relief for residents and truckers. The law will require gas stations to lower prices to reflect the suspended tax and ensure that drivers see the savings at the pump. The estimated $120 million in revenue will be replaced with a portion of unbudgeted, surplus fiscal year 2027 Fair Share surtax collections. For reference, in FY26 there was nearly $1 billion in Fair Share surplus funds available. This means that no ongoing or planned transportation projects financed through the Commonwealth Transportation Fund will be impacted. The Commonwealth will also remain compliant with its CTF bond obligations.

Great Divide Act

The Great Divide Act caps the resale price of concert tickets at 110 percent of the price of the face value of the original ticket. It also limits the service fees and charges that can be imposed by ticket resellers like StubHub and SeatGeek to no more than 10 percent of the total price of the ticket for resale. It prohibits the sale of speculative tickets, which are tickets that are not in the possession of the seller when they are listed for sale. Finally, it implements additional consumer protections measures, including prohibiting the use of deceptive websites by ticket resellers and misleading consumers about the availability of tickets.

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