image description — Charlie O'Brien, left, and Maureen Baran of Adams Community Bank meet with the Fallen Heroes committee Tuesday afternoon at Adams Town Hall.

Adams' Fallen Heroes Project Finds A Sponsor

By Jeff SnoonianiBerkshires Staff
02:29AM / Friday, January 24, 2020Print Story | Email Story

ADAMS, Mass. — The "Banners for Fallen Heroes" project has found a sponsor.

The project, which will honor Adams' servicemen and -women killed while serving the country with a banner hanging from utility poles through downtown, caught the eye of Adams Community Bank and it has stepped up to cover the associated costs.

"This is a no-brainer for our hometown. We know there will be some press obviously but we're not looking for that. This was something that was just right to do," said President and CEO Charlie O'Brien at this week's Fallen Heroes committee meeting. "These people have served our country so well, so nobly. Once we got some of the details everything just fell into place. It was something we had to do. We're happy and honored to be part of this project."

Selectman James Bush is part of the group and had trouble believing what he was hearing when he got the call from Senior Vice President of Lending Maureen Baran.

"It's the best news I've gotten in years! I had to pinch myself to believe it. This is awesome," Bush said.

Baran was surprised at how much the small group had already accomplished in such a short time period. The group was formed in late 2019.

"I was impressed from the first conversation with Jim at how far you guys had come. How much you had got done. You had who would do the banners, estimated cost, locations, Verizon permission. It had just hit iBerkshires when Charlie called me," she said.

The goal is to start production in March and get the banners hung before Memorial Day. The group wants to hold an opening ceremony roughly a week before the Holiday so they don't interfere with the annual Adams Memorial Day parade.

The banners, featuring a photo of the deceased along with their rank and branch in which they served, will be displayed from Memorial Day until Veterans Day. The committee has received just under 10 applications so far. Since there will be a picture of the deceased on the banner, permission in the form of a waiver is needed from the family to get included.

Anyone who is interested in participating can visit or call Adams Town Hall at 413-743-8300, Ext. 100, or the American Legion at 413-743-1469 and ask about the Fallen Heroes project. There is no cutoff date but in order to be part of the initial installation and ceremony, the group recommends getting in touch as soon as possible as the banners will be going into production soon.

Tags: veterans memorial,

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

RIBCO Supply

Check out our great lineup of Boss Plows, and spreaders. 2 Locations Clarksburg & Pittsfield!

ribcosupply.com

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

Letter: Progress Means Moving on Paper Mill Cleanup

Letter to the Editor05:00PM / Wednesday, February 11, 2026

To the Editor:

Our town is facing a clear choice: move a long-abandoned industrial site toward cleanup and productive use or allow it to remain a deteriorating symbol of inaction.

The Community Development team has applied for a $4 million EPA grant to remediate the former Curtis Mill property, a site that has sat idle for more than two decades. The purpose of this funding is straightforward: address environmental concerns and prepare the property for safe commercial redevelopment that can contribute to our tax base and economic vitality.

Yet opposition has emerged based on arguments that miss the point of what this project is designed to do. We are hearing that basement vats should be preserved, that demolition might create dust, and that the plan is somehow "unimaginative" because it prioritizes cleanup and feasibility over wishful reuse of a contaminated, aging structure.

These objections ignore both the environmental realities of the site and the strict federal requirements tied to this grant funding. Given the condition of most of the site's existing buildings, our engineering firm determined it was not cost-effective to renovate. Without cleanup, no private interest will risk investment in this site now or in the future.

This is not a blank check renovation project. It is an environmental remediation effort governed by safety standards, engineering assessments, and financial constraints. Adding speculative preservation ideas or delaying action risks derailing the very funding that makes cleanup possible in the first place. Without this grant, the likely outcome is not a charming restoration, it is continued vacancy, ongoing deterioration, and zero economic benefit.

For more than 20 years, the property has remained unused. Now, when real funding is within reach to finally address the problem, we should be rallying behind a practical path forward not creating obstacles based on narrow or unrealistic preferences.

I encourage residents to review the proposal materials and understand what is truly at stake. The Adams Board of Selectmen and Community Development staff have done the hard work to put our town in position for this opportunity. That effort deserves support.

Progress sometimes requires letting go of what a building used to be so that the community can gain what it needs to become.

View Full Story