The North Adams Council on Aging and the Berkshire County Chapter of the American Red Cross have teamed up to offer a four-part family caregivers training series.
    This series is designed to provide information and skills that will enable family members, friends, and volunteers to better care for an elderly spouse, parent, or friend at home. The training series will be held at the Mary Spitzer Senior Center, 116 Ashland St., North Adams, from 1 to 3 p.m. on May 17, 24, 31 and June 7.
    Learning objectives of the series include being sensitive to the physical and psychological needs of the elderly; supporting and maintaining the rights of the elderly; encouraging the recipient of care to be as independent as possible; providing basic care; and acting as an advocate for the recipient of care as needed. Each part of the series will focus on particular topic areas.
    The first part, The Art of Caregiving, will focus on the Six Principles of Care: Safety, Privacy, Independence, Communication, Infection Control, Dignity, and Legal Documentation in Health Care. The second part is Keeping People Safe and Measuring Life Signs. This part will include information on what to do in the case of an emergency or sudden illness until professional help arrives. The third part will focus on Providing Personal Care, Healthy Eating, and Care for Specific Illnesses. The fourth part will focus on Providing Care for People with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Related Dementia.
    The series is open to anyone in Berkshire County. Contact the North Adams Council on Aging at 662-3126 to register or for more information.
    The North Adams Tree Commission will celebrate Arbor Day on Friday, April 28, beginning at 10 a.m. This year's activities will take place at Sullivan Elementary School. Mayor John Barrett III and Ken Gooch, from the state Department of Environmental Management's Division of Forests and Parks, will speak on the history of Arbor Day and recent Tree Commission awards. Samantha Therrien and Charles Toomajian, both fifth-grade students, will read the Arbor Day proclamation. Musical events will include presentations from both the Sullivan School Band and Chorus. A Bradford Pear tree will be planted in recognition of this special occasion. The public is invited to attend.
    Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the city of North Adams will hold the 9th Annual Community Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 29, beginning at 10 a.m. This annual volunteer service program clears debris from public parks and recreational areas, streets, and local cemeteries each spring. Last year, 150 volunteers cleaned 17 North Adams sites, resulting in 10 tons of trash. More than 20 sites have been selected for this year's cleanup events. If you or your organization are interested in volunteering, call 662-5251 to preregister (leave a message); walk-in volunteers are also accepted.
    Papyri Books, Main Street, North Adams, ends National Poetry Month with an event of its own creation - the whimsical Poetry Jam, where community members are invited to join in a variety of fun, exploratory, Poetry "jam sessions."
    The event will take place Saturday, April 29; a reception will be held at 7 p.m.; the jam will start at 7:30 p.m.
    The Adams Historical Society will repeat "Events of the 20th Century," a local history talk by Eugene Michalenko with slides from the society's collection, on Sunday, May 7, at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Hall of the Adams Free Library, Park Street.
    The program, which was originally presented in early March to a standing-room-only audience, covers highlights, lowlights, and little-known but intriguing stories of the 1900s in Adams, including tales and photographs of natural disasters, buildings that came and went, crimes of the century, and prominent local figures and sports heroes.
    The public is invited to attend; there is no charge for admission. Memorial Hall, on the second floor of the library, is accessible to people with disabilities by elevator.
    All aboard for the second program in the Family Fun series at Western Gateway Heritage State Park's Visitors Center on Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m. when John McDonough's Pumpernickel Puppets perform.
    The program, sponsored by the Department of Environmental Management, will include Sir George and the Dragon and The Lion and the Mouse.
    Based in Worcester, Pumpernickel Puppets have appeared at more than 200 locations a year. Sponsors have included the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Our National Heritage, the Puppet Showplace Theatre, and the New England Puppetry series. For more than 20 yeas, the Pumpernickel Puppets have entertained family audiences with colorful and humorous adaptations of classic folk and fairy tales.
    John McDonough uses handcrafted puppets, live music, sound effects, and fast-paced, humorous scripts to involve the audience. A behind-the-scenes demonstration of the workings of a puppet show follows the performance. Those attending are asked to bring a blanket or a sleeping bag to sit upon. A donation of a non-perishable food item is requested for the Northern Berkshire Community Action Food Pantry. The park is located on Route 8 between State and Furnace streets in North Adams. For more information, call 663-6312.
    Election of officers for the 2000-2001 year took place at the April 5 meeting of the North Adams Lions Club, with the current slate of officers unanimously re-elected by the members present.
    As of July 1, Paul J. Moriarty will begin his second consecutive term as King Lion, with Robin Martin, Robert Green Jr., and Daniel Perreault serving as first, second, and third vice-president, respectively. As treasurer, Philip Fosser will serve his first full term, having been appointed to the post in September following the death of long-term treasurer and club member Nini D'Arcangelo. Lisa Jarisch will begin her fifth year as the club's secretary, with James Sprowson and Henry Contois elected to continue their positions of Tail Twister and Lion Tamer.
    In other business, the club has scheduled its annual meeting for Saturday, June 17, at the Holiday Inn Berkshires, with new members to be installed and officers to be sworn in. Lions clubs from Berkshire County, as well as district officers and special guests will be invited to attend.
    The club also approved a request for assistance for the purchase of eyeglasses for a local child, and reported on the donation of coloring books and crayons to several departments at North Adams Regional Hospital.
    The North Adams Lions Club meets the first and third Wednesday of each month in September through June, with a 7 p.m. dinner meeting at the Holiday Inn on Main Street. Visiting Lions, guests and local residents interested in the Lions Club are welcome to attend.
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Berkshire Food Project Closed for Power Issues
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Berkshire Food Project is closed Monday because of a power outage early in the morning.
"We are unable to get proper electricity and heat to the building," according to Executive Director Matthew Alcombright. "We hope that this can be resolved and be open tomorrow."
The project does have some sandwiches and frozen meals that will be distributed at the entry.
The city has lifted a boil water order — with several exceptions — that was issued late Monday morning following several water line breaks over the weekend. click for more
The bridge had been closed to all vehicle traffic since March 2023 after being deemed structurally deficient by the state Department of Transportation. click for more
