Williamstown digest

12:00AM / Thursday, January 29, 2004Print Story | Email Story

Piechota stays Mount Greylock Regional High School Superintendent Mark Piechota was not chosen to head the Milton school system, where he was one of three finalists for the position of school superintendent. Mary Cobb, chairwomman of Miltonâ€™s search committee, said yesterday that the School Committee there appointed Magdalene P. Giffune, formerly superintendent of Uxbridge public schools, as superintendent, contingent upon successful negotiation of the contract. The Milton post pays up to $130,000, compared with Piechotaâ€™s current salary of $95,000. Piechotaâ€™s contract was extended by the School Committee here for two years in August. In another development, in view of Mount Greylock Principal Russell Nortonâ€™s retirement at the end of this school year, the School Committee has voted to stop searching for his replacement and to form a study committee to explore administrative restructuring. This committee, with a deadline of June for its report, would consider a plan fielded by eight Mount Greylock teachers to eliminate the principalâ€™s position, dividing its duties among several teachers who would be designated as deans and paid for their added responsibilities. The plan would save an estimated $35,000. Fatal crash An 87-year-old Williamstown man was killed Friday night when he pulled his car out in front of a Collier County, Fla., sheriff deputyâ€™s cruiser in North Naples, Fla., law enforcement authorities there reported. William Lesser II of North Hemlock Lane (see obituary, Page 4), was killed, and his wife, Barbara Lesser, 75, a passenger, was seriously injured, according to the Naples (Fla.) Daily News. Barbara Lesser was still in the intensive care unit Wednesday at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Fla. Deputy Shannon Lee, 34, driver of the patrol car, was released from Naples Community Hospital on Friday night. Florida State Police and the sheriff's Traffic Accident Review Board are investigating the crash. Nomination papers Nomination papers for town offices will be available in the town clerkâ€™s office beginning Monday, Feb. 2. The offices on the ballot will be a moderator for a one-year term, two selectmen for three-year terms, two Elementary School Committee members for three-year terms, two library trustees for three-year terms, one McCann School Committee member for a three-year term and one Williamstown Housing Authority member for a five-year term. The annual town election will be held on Tuesday, May 11, at Williamstown Elementary School, 115 Church St. The annual town meeting will be held the following week on Tuesday, May 18. The presidential primary will be held on Tuesday, March 2, at the school. The deadline to register to vote or change party affiliation for the primary will be Wednesday, Feb. 11. The town clerkâ€™s office will remain open until 8 p.m. on that date. Anyone unsure of his or her voter registration status should call Town Clerk Mary Kennedy at 458-9341 prior to the Feb. 11 deadline. Skating event The Christmas Brook Figure Skating Club will present â€œThat's Amore!â€ its year-end show, on Sunday, Feb. 15, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Lansing Chapman Rink at Williams College. Tickets are $5 in advance, $6 at the door. Public meetings A schedule of public meetings in or about Williamstown, as provided by Town Clerk Mary C. Kennedy, 458-9341, from official postings. Meetings are held at the municipal building, 31 North St., unless otherwise indicated: Monday, Feb. 2, Board of Health, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, Sign Commission, 5 p.m. Harper Center The Elder Services Nutrition Program serves hot meals. Call 458-8250 or 458-5156; 48-hour notice is appreciated. Voluntary donations for van transportation are 50 cents one-way from Williamstown and $1 one-way from North Adams. Service is available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily: Thursday, Jan. 29, 10 a.m. tai chi; 11 a.m. van to Wal-Mart; 11:30 a.m. lunch; 1 p.m., crafts; 3:30 p.m. knitting group. Friday, Jan. 30, 10:30 a.m. exercise; 11:30 a.m. lunch; 1 p.m. bingo. Sunday, Feb. 1, 11:30 p.m. lunch. Monday, Feb. 2, 10:30 a.m. exercise; 11:30 a.m. lunch; 1 p.m. line dancing. Tuesday, Feb. 3, 9 a.m. oil painting; income tax assistance by appointment; 9:45 and 10:45 a.m. van to Stop & Shop; 1 p.m. crafts. Wednesday, Feb. 4, 9 a.m. van to Price Chopper; 10:30 a.m. exercise; 11:30 a.m. lunch; 1 p.m. bridge. Deaths Florence L. (Roy) Chalmers, 94, formerly of 127 Riverside Dr., Williamstown, died Friday Jan. 23, at Sweet Brook Health Care Center. She was born in Clarksburg on Jan. 7, 1910, a daughter of Amedee Roy and Angelina (Trahan) Roy. She attended schools in Clarksburg and North Adams, including the former Notre Dame Parochial School. She worked at the former Jones Division of the Arnold Print Works in Adams and was last employed for several years at the former Lambâ€™s Stationary Store on Main Street, North Adams, retiring in 1965. She was a longtime communicant of Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur Church in North Adams and was a former member of the Court Margaret 296 Catholic Daughters of Americas, serving as its secretary in her younger years. She was a longtime resident of Clarksburg and moved to Williamstown in 1981. She was the widow of Robert Hamilton Chalmers Sr., whom she married on June 17, 1939. He died on Dec. 3, 1989. She leaves include a son, Robert H. Chalmers Jr. of Adams; two daughters, Margaret Soucy of Sanbornton, N.H., and Marilyn Mitchell of Immokalee, Fla., and three grandchildren. She was predeceased by a daughter, Roberta Roy, who died in 1944; four sisters, Kit Butts, Gertrude Kirby, Edith Isaacson and Yvonne Marion, and four brothers, Francis Roy, Ernest Roy, Harry Roy and Frederick Roy. The funeral was Tuesday morning from the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna funeral home, West Chapels, 521 West Main St, North Adams. A Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady of Mercy Church, North Adams. Burial followed in Southview Cemetery, North Adams. Memorial Donations are suggested for the charity of oneâ€™s choice, through the funeral home. Phyllis Boushall Dodge, author, farmer and community activist, died peacefully on Jan. 17 at her home in Pownal, Vt., after suffering a heart attack on Christmas Eve. Born in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1923, Mrs. Dodge was the daughter of Joseph D. and Alice Marvel Boushall. She attended the Moravian Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa., Miss Fine's School in Princeton, N.J.; and Wells College in Aurora, N.Y. While at Princeton, she met her future husband, Cleveland E. Dodge Jr., whom she married in December 1942. At the end of World War II, they moved to Schenectady, N.Y., and in 1951 to Quarry Hill Farm in Pownal, their permanent home. For a decade, Mrs. Dodge raised sheep, beef and chickens on the farm and provided fresh eggs for her friends and customers in Williamstown. Always active in community service, she was a member of the boards of the United Counseling Service in Bennington, Vt., the Solomon Wright Public Library in Pownal, the Bennington Museum Acquisitions Committee. She was president of Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (Berkshire Unit), where she spent many years reading for the blind. A tireless fundraiser for the charities she championed, in 1967 she received the Woman of the Year award from the Bennington Business and Professional Womenâ€™s Club. She was a member of Friday Club in Williamstown and the Cosmopolitan Club in New York. Mrs. Dodge had a keen interest in history, a love of books, art, and travel. She was author of "Tales of the Phelps Dodge Families", published by the New York Historical Society in 1987. The book tells the history of the Dodge family from the 17th to the early 20th century as copper entrepreneurs and philanthropists. It received wide acclaim as a social history of the city. The Dodges travelled throughout the world visiting friends and family. Her favorite destination was London, where she owned an apartment and kept in touch with her many English friends and interests. The Dodges delighted in giving parties on both sides of the ocean. In Pownal, their annual â€œSportsfestâ€ in September and New Yearâ€™s Day parties became part of community tradition. She was an active sportswoman and enjoyed skiing, tennis and golf. In addition to her husband, Mrs. Dodge leaves a son, Cleveland E. â€œAndyâ€ Dodge III of Montreal, Quebec; two daughters, Alice Berkeley of London, England, and Sally Dodge Mole of Manchester, Vt.; a sister, Martha B. Tottenham-Smith of Princeton, N.J.; six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held at St. Johnâ€™s Episcopal Church in Williamstown on Jan. 24. Interment will be at a later date at the Dodge family mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Memorial donations are suggested to the charity of oneâ€™s choice. William Lesser II, 87, of 405 North Hemlock Lane, Williamstown, died Friday, Jan. 23, in Naples, Fla., as a result of an automobile accident. He was born in Albany, N.Y., on Jan. 26, 1916, a son of William Lesser and Marjorie (May) Lesser. He attended schools in Albany and graduated from Albany Academy. He graduated from Williams College in 1937. He was a decorated veteran of both World War II and the Korean Conflict, serving as a pilot with the U.S. Air Force. He was a longtime resident of Westchester County and New York City, where he worked in the hops and brewing and the packaging and display sales industries. He retired in the mid 1980s as president of Eastern Packaging & Display Co. in New York City. He moved to Williamstown following his retirement. He was a member of the Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown and was an avid tennis and squash player and sportsman. He was a former member of the board of directors of the Williamstown Youth Center. He was married to the former Barbara Berkman in 1975 in New York City. Besides his wife, he leaves a brother, Richard Lesser of Orlando, Fla.; a stepson, Steven Roth of Weston; two step-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service will take at a later date. Memorial donations are suggested to Williams College, through the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna funeral home, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams MA 01247. Julia Mary (Abraham) Sundbergh, 90, of 23 Orchard Lane, Williamstown, died Tuesday Jan. 27, at the Williamstown Commons, where she was admitted on Dec. 11, 2003. She was born in Adams on Aug. 3, 1913, a daughter of George Abraham and Rose (Tuma) Abraham. She attended schools in Adams. She and her late husband, Francis Sundbergh, a real estate broker whom she married on Feb. 11, 1942, in Salem, N.H., lived in the Boston area for many years, where she assisted him in the family real estate business. They moved to Williamstown in 1968. He died on June 10, 1974. Mrs. Sundbergh was a devoted homemaker and wife. She was a communicant of St. Patrickâ€™s Church in Williamstown. She leaves two sisters, Viola Rys of North Adams and Ruffa Trozzi of Rockland, and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was predeceased by a sister, Sadie Hurlbut, who died on May 12, 1984. A Liturgy of Christian Burial for will be celebrated Friday at 1:30 p.m. at St. Patrickâ€™s Burial will follow in Eastlawn Cemetery, Williamstown. Calling hours at the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna funeral home, West Chapels, 521 West Main St,. North Adams, will be Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Memorial donations are suggested for the charity of oneâ€™s choice, through the funeral home. Genevieve S. (Winiarski) Wondoloski, 87, of 2B Village East, North Adams, formerly of 801 Mohawk Trail, died on Jan. 27 at her home. She was born in Warren, R.I., on April 28, 1916, a daughter of Peter Winiarski and Louise (Goloskie) Winiarski. She attended schools in Warren. She was employed for several years in the Cotton Mills in Turners Falls. She was a volunteer at the Franklin County Medical Center in Greenfield during World War II, then worked for Sears in Greenfield. She moved to North Adams in 1946 and assisted her husband in the operations of the family business Stanâ€™s Rubber Welders Co. on the Mohawk Trail. She was a communicant of St. Francis of Assisi Church, North Adams. Her husband, Stanley Wondoloski, whom she married on Aug. 9, 1933, died on March 20, 1986. She leaves two sons, James S. Wondoloski of Williamstown and Christopher H. Wondoloski of North Adams; a sister, Stacey Delekta of Warren, R.I.; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a son, Anthony P. Wondoloski, a member of the Pittsfield Police Department who died on March 1, 1995, and two grandsons. The funeral will be Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna funeral home, West Chapels, 521 West Main St. North Adams. Ma. Burial will follow in Southview Cemetery, North Adams. There are No calling hours. Memorial donations are suggested for the charity of oneâ€™s choice, through the funeral home.

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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

02:13PM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."

The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School.

The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday.

The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season.

The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations.

"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.

"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."

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