Mayor's Downtown Celebration Brings Area Residents Together
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A tradition in late August, downtown streets are closed to traffic while vendors and local organizations line the streets to offer delicious food, hold contests and giveaways, play games with children, and distribute valuable information about their organizations.
"Isn't it great that the raindrops teased us late this afternoon and then went away," said Mayor John Barrett III. "This is a great night in the city of North Adams and once again we have a great crowd."
Barrett said the crowd was a little late in coming downtown this year because of the light rain that fell late in the afternoon, but once the threat was gone and blue skies appeared, the crowd quickly grew.
"In this down economy, this is the type of event where families can come out and enjoy an affordable night together," said Barrett. "They can socialize with friends, enjoy something to eat and have fun."
Entertainment was offered around every corner as people enjoyed live bands, student performances, line dancing, and theater performances. A number of businesses offered free popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, water and sno-cones, which certainly made the night affordable, Mayor Barrett said, for local families. (iBerkshires and BerkshireJobs were among those handing out popcorn.)
Casey Finnegan attended the event with her baby and fiance.
"This is something to do other than sit at home and it gives me a break from school," Finnegan said. "I take online classes through the University of Phoenix, majoring in criminal justice, and I was looking forward to taking the baby out for a nice walk and having a fun time."
Children's activities were located at the entrance of Steeple City Plaza (near the L-shaped mall). Children played games, made name signs, drew chalk pictures on the sidewalks, got their face painted and waited in line to enter the Fire Department's smoking Kid's Safety House.
Firefighter Dave Simon explained the importance of the Kid's Safety House and his hope that children take away some knowledge of fire safety that they can teach their families at home.
“This is not a carnival ride, it is an educational drill," said Simon."The Kid's Safety House is always a big hit and sometimes the line of eager children is hard to keep up with but spreading the word about fire safety to children is so important."
One mother who waited in line for her family to enter the house was Lorie Bolte.
"This is a great family day," Bolte said. "You get to see friends, listen to music and the kids have so much fun." As Conner, age 7, exited the safety house he said in an excited voice, "Oh my God, there was smoke in my eyes, but we all got out safely."
Children's activities were provided by the Elizabeth Freeman Center, the Fire Department, Big Brother Big Sisters, BFaire, the Lead Poison Prevention Program, Head Start and Northern Berkshire Neighbors.
The Mayor's Downtown Celebration also marked the opening of the mayor's campaign headquarters on Ashland Street, across from the post office. Volunteers passed out stickers reading "Keep the Mayor, mayor," and bumper stickers to people in support of re-electing Barrett.
The 13-term incumbent is facing a challenge by City Councilor Richard Alcombright, whose own supporters were easily identified Thursday night by their green T-shirts. Headquarters for the evening for the green team appeared to be Cup & Saucer. Council candidates also were out and about slapping stickers touting their campaigns on passersby and handing out pins. Some also went the T-shirt route - Michael Boland's crew in white sporting "Boland Backers" in blue.
"I am pretty hopeful in the outcome of the election," Bosley said. "Lots of people have come out to show support for Mayor Barrett and, hopefully, people will see that this is only one thing that the mayor does for the city."
Rod Bunt, director of the Mayor's Office of Tourism and organizer of the annual event reiterated the tone of everyone in attendance, "This was once again a great night."
"We are exceptionally blessed in North Adams to have great businesses that make an event like this possible," Bunt said. "I would like to especially thank the Adams Co-Operative Bank, the North Adams Transcript, Mass MoCA, Legacy Bank, Greylock Federal Credit Union, who also helped with set up details, and the Hoosac Bank for sponsoring acts that performed for the crowds."
There are a few people on the planning committee Bunt wanted to mention and thank for their hard work: Laurie Babcock, Debbie Leveque, the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Cristine Hoyt and Sue Killam, director of performing arts for Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and her intern Simon.
"The Mayor's Downtown Celebration is always a lot of fun," he said.
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Editor: to the person who posted about 8:20 Friday morning, please post again. Your comment was accidentally deleted. It referred to no one speaking to Alcombright supporters; we covered an Alcombright campaign event here. We are committed to being as fair as possible in this election.
