Letter: Williamstown Youth Center Essential Community Component

To the Editor:

I am writing to thank Pat Meyers for prompting me to share the many reasons why $77,000 is a reasonable request for the Williamstown Youth Center to make to the town Finance Committee. In fact, this amount is a bargain considering the sheer volume and quality of the programs we provide for our town's families.

First, I should clarify the numbers. It is true that the dollar amount of our request has increased in the past eight years. I would point out, however, that in 2014 the average daily attendance in our After School Program was around 80-85 students. This year, it is 110 out of a total enrollment of 161. To put things in perspective, about two-fifths of the enrollment at the Williamstown Elementary School are in our building from 3:10-5:30 at least one day a week. When you account for inflation, the truth is that we are providing more services for less money than we were eight years ago.

Unfortunately, this is only one of many examples of how Meyers' letter is misleading.

They say "the Youth Center needs to raise its fees and go back to having fundraisers to help offset its expenses." They will be happy to hear that this year we raised our program fees by 10 percent across the board, while providing an option for families to pay more if they are able. As for fundraising events, in the 17 years I have been part of this organization, we have had our annual Snowfest/Springfest fundraiser, regularly sent out appeal letters, and hosted events sponsored by corporations and other organizations. In fact, as I write this we are working on not one but three fundraising events that will be held in the next six months. I confess that I'm not sure what it is they'd like us to "get back to." The reality is that funding is not an either-or proposition; to be financially responsible, the WYC needs to both fund raise on its own and ask the town and Community Chest for support.

It is also useful to remember that many if not most communities in Massachusetts and elsewhere have recreation committees that are part of town government and that are wholly funded by local taxes. Many also have after-school programs that are included in school committees' budgets. I invite anyone reading this to point me to a municipal department that can operate for less than $77,000 per year.

Michael Williams,
Executive director of the
Williamstown Youth Center

Images Cinema Community Rallies to Aid Departed Managing Director

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:34PM / Thursday, March 12, 2026

Janet Curran's friends started a gofundme to help her through the transition.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The community is rallying to support the longtime managing director of Images Cinema after her job was eliminated late last year.

 

As of Thursday morning, a Gofundme campaign for Janet Curran had raised more than $12,500 from 90 contributors.

 

"I feel really held and supported by the community right now," Curran said this week. "I'm really moved that people appreciate the work that I did at Images."

 

Curran did that work for about a quarter of a century, first as a volunteer in 2000, then as an intern in 2002 and finally as the managing director, a position she held since 2007.

 

"If you've been to Images Cinema in the last 25 years … you've probably been helped by her, welcomed by her, or had a conversation with her that you still think about," the creators of the Gofundme campaign wrote.

 

"Janet is one of those people who makes a place worth living in. She's kind without making a show of it, dependable in a way many people aren't, and she has given more to this community than she'd ever say herself."

 

Two days before Thanksgiving 2025, Curran learned from the Spring Street theater's board of directors and Executive Director Dan Hudson that her position was being eliminated. Her last day at the non-profit movie house was Jan. 2.