New Williams College Student Union to be Named "The Paresky Center"

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Williamstown – Williams College announced today that its new student center, scheduled for completion in early 2007, will be named The Paresky Center in honor of David Paresky, Williams Class of 1960, and his wife, Linda. In 2004, the Pareskys made a multi-million dollar gift one of the largest contributions the college has ever received to The Williams Campaign in support of Williams' endowment and financial aid program. In recognition of their generosity, the Board of Trustees voted to name the new student center in the Pareskys' honor. "Dave Paresky is a devoted son of the college and of our local community," Williams President Morton Owen Schapiro said. "I am delighted that The Paresky Center, which will be so central to our campus activities and experiences, will bear his family's name." Paresky attended Williams on full financial aid and says he both felt the obligation, and cherished the opportunity, to give others a similar educational advantage. In 1985 he endowed a scholarship fund in honor of his 25th Williams reunion, which has supported 17 Williams students since its creation. Paresky often muses that every student who attends Williams receives a form of financial aid. "Full tuition and fees still only cover 47 percent of what it really costs Williams to provide them with an excellent education," he says. "The remaining expenses are covered by annual earnings on Williams' endowment and alumni contributions. My own contribution is one way of honoring generations of Williams alumni whose gifts made a Williams education possible for me." The Pareskys co-founded the Boston-based Crimson Travel Service in 1965, expanding nationwide as Thomas Cook. By the time American Express purchased the company in 1994, Crimson/Thomas Cook had become America's third largest travel agency, with David serving as CEO and Linda as co-chair. According to Francis T. ("Fay") Vincent, Jr., a Williams classmate of Paresky's, "Dave's generosity speaks volumes about a very successful alumnus who began as the son of a small shopkeeper in Bennington, Vermont, and has now provided our alma mater with extensive resources to provide an even better undergraduate education for students today and tomorrow." When they initially made their gift, the Pareskys asked to remain anonymous. "I am glad they have agreed that we can now celebrate this contribution publicly," said Schapiro, "something they've allowed us to do not because they require any recognition but because they hope to inspire others to be generous to Williams and our ambitious strategic plan." The Paresky Center is being constructed on the site of Williams' former student union, Baxter Hall, named for the college's 10th president, James Phinney Baxter, 3rd, Class of 1889. To carry on Baxter's name, Paresky requested that the central gathering place in The Paresky Center be called Baxter Hall. "This is precisely the sort of graceful gesture Dave Paresky would think to make," said Schapiro. The Paresky Center is designed as the college's first true student center. It will feature meeting rooms, offices for student organizations, an academic center, a flexible performance space, a pub, and a snack bar highly reminiscent of the beloved snack bar in Baxter. The student mailboxes that became one of the building's focal points over the years also will return to The Paresky Center. The Paresky gift supports key initiatives of The Williams Campaign. Launched in September 2003, the campaign has raised more than $300 million toward its $400 million goal. The campaign is funding a comprehensive strategic plan to advance Williams as a model educational community, where students learn from faculty and each other in countless ways, inside and outside the classroom. In addition to The Paresky Center, campaign objectives include permanent funding for 30 new faculty positions, a wide range of curricular initiatives, enriching students' extracurricular lives, and extending Williams' long-standing commitment to admit students regardless of their ability to pay. The campaign also supports the recently opened '62 Center for Theatre and Dance and improvements to Sawyer Library and Stetson Hall that will create a new home for the humanities and social sciences.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

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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