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Eagle Street Beach will be held Saturday, July 14.

Eagle Street Beach Returns for 20th Year on July 14

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Saturday, July 14, will mark the 20th year of artist Eric Rudd's annual "Eagle Street Beach" community beach celebration.

In celebration of the anniversary, an illustrated children's book by Rudd will be given as prizes and distributed to schools, libraries and to the city of North Adams.

The beach event, originated by Rudd in 1999, has become a summer staple for creative fun in the sand. The party, sponsored by the Berkshire Art Museum, fills the street with 500,000 pounds of sand, donated by Specialty Minerals and delivered and cleaned up by the City of North Adams Department of Public Works. A team of volunteers spreads it, curb to curb, filling the entire length of downtown Eagle Street.

Mildred Elley has donated 300 sand-pails and shovels – free for all participants to use and keep. Beach attire is recommended; smoking is prohibited. The First Baptist Church will be giving away free ice cream cones and the SteepleCats will be giving away 250 tickets to children 12 and under. Several not-for-profit groups will also be on hand with a variety of other giveaways.

Eagle Street merchants and businesses have contributed sand toys, as well as special prizes for the most creative sand castles or sand sculptures, for the event, which runs from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Food color dye is acceptable, but no spray paint. Prizes will be awarded primarily to children, but prizes to groups of children as well as families with adults and individual adults will also be awarded. For example, Jack's has donated gift certificates good for one hot dog. Other merchants have given gifts and certificates to their stores



After the beach party, the eighth annual "Mexican Fiesta," presented with the City of North Adams, will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Desperado’s will be selling cold beer and margaritas curbside, and there will be live msuc by singer Lita Williams. Food is available for sale within the restaurant. The designated 21+ area will be clearly marked and anyone younger will not be permitted within the roped-off boundaries.

There will be no parking allowed on Eagle Street or North Church Street after 11 a.m. on the day of the beach party. Cars that remain parked on these streets will be towed at the owner's expense.

Volunteers are needed to help spread the sand at starting at 1:30 p.m.; shovels are provided.

In case of rain, the event will be moved to Saturday, July 21.


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Drury Senior Writes Song About Overcoming Challenges

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High senior and Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies student drummer Zach Hillard has composed a song, "Here I Am," as a personal anthem of overcoming challenges.
 
"If you want to do something, go do it. That's the whole point behind 'Here I Am,'"  Hillard said. "Any obstacles and challenges you may face in your life, if you have something you want to do, go for it. There is not one person on earth who does not have a dream or something they want to overcome. Whether it is physical or mental, it does not matter, if you want to do it."
 
The song is personal and showcases Hillard's struggles with cerebral palsy and how those struggles have shaped who he has become. 
 
The song opens with the lyrics:
 
Look — my name is Zach.
I was born early, eager to see the world
and drop some knowledge.
Doctors said that I would not talk, walk,
and be wheelchair bound.
But look at me:
Here I am.
I'm talking, walking, and can do anything
I wanna do; nothing can stop me.
 
Hillard said he never knew writing music would be so important to him and was surprised by how much he took to the BAAMS assignment that asked students to pen some lyrics and themes for an original song.
 
Hillard decided to write about his own life. 
 
"I've got a pretty cool life story. So I went home, I thought about it, and in about one day, I had most of it written," he said. "...The end of verse one I wrote ‘look at me here I am.' I thought 'Here I am' that is sort of catchy."
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