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BFAIR & Greylock Federal Distribute 250 Bicycle Helmets

BFAIR's Tara Jacobson and Christine Meiklejohn hold signs at the trailhead off the Connector Road. Last year, the organization was able to distribute 200 helmets. 

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Saturday's word of the day was "safety" at the Ashuwilliticook Rail Trail as two organizations partnered to distribute hundreds of free helmets in honor of National Brain Injury Awareness Month. 

Stationed at the trailhead on connector road, representatives of Berkshire Family and Individual Resources and Greylock Federal Credit Union handed out 150 helmets for ages 6-13 and 100 helmets for those 14 and older. 

"This is our second annual bike helmet distribution in honor of Brain Injury Awareness Month, which is in March but we wanted to do it in April because the bike trail was open and more people are out here," BFAIR's Director of Development Tara Jacobsen said. 

"We are able to distribute these helmets through funding through Greylock Federal Credit Union and this year, we have about 250 helmets that we're going to be distributing today and I think they're going to go pretty quickly." 

The event ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and community members were lined up for helmets even before the event kicked off. 

Jennifer Connor-Shumsky, Greylock's vice president of community support and events, said the credit union values its partnership with BFAIR and that, hopefully, the distribution will prevent as many injuries as possible.  

"We're just delighted to be here," she said. "[BFAIR] is a community gem and they are one of our many partners and we're proud of what they do. They provide such valuable services to our community so we're delighted, we have been working with them for a long time." 

BFAIR works with people who have developmental disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injuries. There are six residences dedicated to acquired brain injuries, which happen after birth and can be the result of a trauma impact, degenerative disease, and toxins. 

The helmets aim to prevent any possible injuries from impact and came with a complimentary fitting to ensure the best protection possible. 

Jacobsen explained that an ill-fitting helmet is "like a car without brakes." 

"So we want to make sure that not only we're supplying resources to the community but we're actually giving them resources that they can use," she said. 

Last year, BFAIR partnered with the non-profit organization All Out Adventures Inc. in Northampton to hand out around 200 helmets. 

"It was just such a rousing success because I think helmets are one of those things that people don't always think about or don't always have the resources or the means to get," Jacobsen said. 

"And so being able to provide it to the community to help promote healthy and safe brains is really something we're looking forward to."

Mad Macs Shifts Location, Focus at Allendale Shopping Center

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:19PM / Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Store manager Tim wright and co-owner Scott Kirchner in the company's new space.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Apple products repair company Mad Macs has moved downstairs from its previous location in the Allendale Shopping Center.

The authorized Apple repair service was established in 1998 to provide service to Apple computers and devices and has had an ever-changing history.

"Since we started, we've grown and changed and shrunk and grown again, and we've done a lot of different things," said co-owner Scott Kirchner. "We've had multiple stores. We've grown from service into retail, and now we're on the other side of that, getting out of retail and back to our roots in service."

Kirchner and co-owner Daryl Corbett were most recently located next to Walgreens in Allendale. They have now moved downstairs into Suite 101.

And while they used to sell retail and manage information technology services for businesses, that division was separated and merged with Dalton-based Renatus Solutions to form Revolution IT. They now have gone back to their roots of only repair service.

Kirchner said the COVID-era inventory shortages made retail difficult, and they went about a year without being able to obtain a computer to sell. Meanwhile, competition from Apple, online sellers, and retailers increased, while margins were low.

"Eventually it got to the point where the amount we were making doing the retail really wasn't worth it anymore," he said. "Things had changed within Apple, things sort of changed within our business model and eventually what happened is the competition got to be too much." 

Since their former space was larger than needed now that they didn't have retail, they asked the plaza owners if they could move into a smaller space as they wanted to stay in the shopping center's central location. Kirchner said they are the only Apple-authorized service within 50 miles.

"A lot of our decision to downsize was to be able to preserve to be able to continue to provide that service for the county, so people didn't have to go to Holyoke or Albany, in order to get their phones fixed and devices as well," he said.

Mad Macs is mainly run by store manager Tim Wright, who now has a more secluded space to do his repairs.

The shop's hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; it is closed on weekends and holidays, and there is an elevator to access the lower level. More information here.