Lynne Blake Named Local Realtor of the Year

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Lynne Blake

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Lynne Blake, of RCI Real Estate in Williamstown and North Adams, has been chosen the 2005 Berkshire County Realtor of the Year.

Blake is being honored for her commitment to civic-minded leadership in both the Realtor organization and in the Berkshire community. Recipients of this award are nominated and selected by Realtor colleagues throughout Berkshire County.

Blake is most recognized among her peers for her commitment to volunteer service in the leadership of the Realtor organization. She has served since 1995 on the Board of Directors, starting her tenure as a Realtor representative for Northern Berkshire, as Northern Berkshire Council President and in varying leadership roles that lead to her election to the 2005 Presidential position.

She has served with distinction on the Multiple Listing Service Board of Directors as well as on the Finance, Professional Standards, Good Neighbor, Community Service, Orientation and Berkshire Newcomer Magazine Committees in the last year alone. Most recently, Blake was appointed to serve as the Berkshire Realtor representative on the Massachusetts Realtors Board of Directors in Boston.

In her service on the state level, Lynne has been active in meeting with Berkshire legislators on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., advocating for private property rights. Through RCI Real Estate, Blake speaks with high school students about the values of a good financial future, homeownership and the importance of maintaining good credit.

In the Northern Berkshire community, Blake is supporting member of the Friends of North Adams Library and the North Adams Historical Society. She is a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of the USA where she was presented with the "Thanks Badge," the highest award bestowed upon an adult member. She is a member of the Williamstown and Berkshire Chambers of Commerce.

Blake primarily works out of the RCI Real Estate Williamstown branch on Main Street and makes her home in North Adams with her husband, Ed. They have two grown children and one granddaughter.

As the 2005 Berkshire County Realtor of the Year, Blake will now be competing for the Massachusetts Realtor of the Year title at the Massachusetts Awards Ceremony in September. The following Realtor members from Berkshire County have brought home this state award four times since its inception; the late Ester Quinn (1986), Nancy Kalodner (1988), Debbie Dwyer (1998) and Sherry Street (2001).

The Berkshire County Board of Realtor serves more than 500 real estate professionals throughout the county in their mission to fulfill the American dream of homeownership for our citizens. Services include the compilation of property data, advanced education, professional standards services, and legal, environmental and market information. To find out more about the association go to www.BerkshireRealtors.com.

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.
 
Community Development Director Andrew Groff was before the Select Board on Monday night to talk about Town Hall's use of a $500,000 state grant to do preliminary design on major improvements to that portion of Route 2 that runs from Water Street west to the Field Park rotary, through the middle of Williams College's campus.
 
Groff introduced the elected officials to Amanda Bazinet of Worcester's Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, who is helping the town to develop a plan for Main Street that would align with the commonwealth's Complete Streets Program.
 
"Our project goals, in addition to the increased pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is just, in general, improving the sightlines and improving the intersection geometry," Bazinet said.
 
"Complete Streets … has a lot of different facets to it. As Andrew had mentioned, the goal is to improve the safety for all of the roadway users — not just the motorists. We're looking at improving it for pedestrians, bicyclists, anyone using a mobility device. We want to create streets that are safe for all ages and abilities to use. So, while bicyclists will still be allowed, legally, to use the roadway, we want to look at providing a separate bicycle accommodation along the corridor, whether it's a shared use path along both sides of the streets that is a little more accessible to young children or older people with disabilities to look at all transportation options."
 
One goal is to encourage "active transportation." The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who the town hopes one day might fund the construction, has a "healthy transportation policy," Bazinet said.
 
That MassDOT funding would come through the Transportation Improvement Program, which is managed locally by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The design work underway now is being done with an eye toward going after TIP funding years down the road.
 
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