Letter: Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

To the Editor:

The Board of Directors of the Al Nelson Friendship Center Food Pantry in North Adams wishes to thank the North Adams, Clarksburg and Florida Mountain community for their generation donations to the May 11 Letter Carrier Food Drive.

We received a total of 3,595 pounds of food and personal care items.

We equally want to thank our Letter Carriers who work out of the North Adams Post Office. They again went above and beyond in collecting the donations and bringing them to the collection and sorting site. They are always a pleasure to work with.

We also want to thank the Northern Berkshire United Way, the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, and the Berkshire United Way for their support, as well all of the volunteers who helped on the day of the Food Drive.

Lois Daunis
North Adams, Mass. 

Daunis is the board president of the Friendship Center.

Clarksburg Meeting OKs All Articles on Warrant

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:45PM / Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Police Chief Michael Williams was recognized at the annual town meeting. The chief has shifted into a part-time administrative role since the Police Department was shuttered last year. 

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — With a total budget up by a modest 3 percent from fiscal year 2026, town meeting cruised through most of the fiscal articles on the warrant without much discussion.

 

But one item caught the eye of meeting members.

 

"Is this an increase from last year, and is there any way to compare it?" a resident asked when the meeting turned to the appropriation for the town's Sewer Enterprise Fund.

 

Yes, Moderator and Select Board member Seth Alexander informed the meeting, the requested appropriation for FY27 represents a 6.9 percent hike from the current year.

 

Higher costs are on the horizon, though.

 

"All the compost over [at the Hoosac Water Quality District], which they used to be able to sell, they're not going to be able to anymore," Boucher said. "They're looking at next year almost a 17 percent increase."

 

Clarksburg is the smallest member of the three-municipality solid waste district. The declining market for compost made from human waste because of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination has been a big topic in Williamstown, site of the HWQD treatment plant, for a couple of years.