Avery Family Begins Transformation At Former Penoâ€™s Bar

12:00AM / Wednesday, April 04, 2001Print Story | Email Story

Scott Avery and family are moving forward with renovations to the property at 139 Ashland St. in North Adams. Renovations to the building began officially the morning of Wednesday, April 4, when Mayor John Barrett III to the first swing at an interior wall of what will soon be operated by the Averys as "Canteen." Canteen will be a restaurant featuring American regional comfort foods and cocktails in a Mission-style inspired interior.

"Mayor Barrett, and the entire staff at City Hall, have been very encouraging and helpful with this process from the beginning," said Walter W. Avery, who with his wife Anita is helping Scott Avery with this venture. "We thought it only appropriate that the mayor take a "first swing" at what will be one of many new restaurants he has worked hard to bring to North Adams."

The Averys purchased the building last October from Robert Pontier.

"Bob operated Peno's for many years in North Adams," Avery said. "He was ready for retirement at the same time we were looking to invest in a downtown North Adams location. The timing couldn't have been better."

Scott Avery, perhaps best known as a local caterer and restaurateur at the former Savories of Williamstown, will operate Canteen.

"I am very excited to be involved with all the new growth here in North Adams. We will have a facility that will not only house a state-of-the-art kitchen for both catering and a restaurant, but a comfortable and welcoming environment for our guests," he said. "Architect David Westall is to be congratulated on his interior and exterior designs for the building. Once finished by Kip MacDonald and Jim Secor of MacDonald-Secor Associates of Bennington, Canteen will surely be a North County destination."

Canteen is planning a construction party in the near future. To be added to the Canteen mailing list for information about this and other opening events, contact Scott Avery at 663-8656 or by email at chefscott@att.net.

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North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

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