Berkshires Beat: Elizabeth Freeman Center's Walk a 'Virtual' Mile Continues

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Elizabeth Freeman Center's Walk a 'Virtual' Mile Continues

The Elizabeth Freeman Center's 2020 digital Walk a 'Virtual' Mile fundraiser to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault, and Gender Violence continues through September. The following walks have been scheduled throughout the Berkshires. Bring a mask and remember to social  distance.
  • Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 5:30 p.m.: Join Jane Iredale and EFC staff at 294 Main St., Great Barrington.
  • Thursday, Sept. 10, at 3:30 p.m.: Join District Attorney Andrea Harrington at the District Attorney's Office at 7 North St., Pittsfield
  • Monday, Sept. 14, at 5:30 p.m.: Join North Adams Mayor Thomas Bernard, members of the City Council, and MICinc at MCLA Gallery 51 on 51 Main St., North Adams.
  • Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 5:30 p.m.: Join state Sen. Adam Hinds and the Berkshire Delegation at Steven Valenti's at 157 North St., Pittsfield.
  • Wednesday, Sept. 16, at noon: Join Chief Troy Bacon and the Adams Police Department at the Adams Police Station on 11 Summer St. in Adams.
  • Thursday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m.: Join local celebrity author Ty Allan Jackson at Dottie's Coffee Lounge at 444 North St., Pittsfield.
  • Friday, Sept. 18, at 4 p.m.: End the week with Elizabeth Freeman Center staff and friends at Carr Hardware at 57 Park St., Lee.
There are four Walk a Virtual Mile routes in Berkshire County, each with five storefronts with Walk a Virtual Mile "photo-booths." Stop in front of each storefront window and snap a photo or record a video of you or your group and share on social media with #WereHereWeWalk.
 
Register or donate here.
 

Gallop to Success

Gallop to Success, a non-profit organization in Shaftsbury, Vt., that works with at-risk kids, has announced a new additional horse camp program.
 
The program will take place through September, October, November, and December on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
 
The four-hour session will be the equivalent of a mini-camp for campers age 7 to 17. There will be arts and crafts, horseback riding under saddle, trail rides, bareback riding, and clinics but with a more individualized, one-on-one focus with the campers.
 
The program costs $175 per session and scholarship funds are available. Campers can sign up for up to four sessions and request scholarship funding.
 
Applications can be found online, or call 802-442-5454 or email gts@sover.net.
 

Ventfort Hall Lectures

Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum resident historian and author Cornelia Brooke Gilder will give the audience a peek at the subject of her next book titled "Overcoming Tragedies: Real Life in Lenox's Gilded Era Country Houses." She will give her talk at Ventfort Hall on Friday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m.
 
Drawing on the research that she has been compiling for her book, Gilder will speak on accounts of tragic love stories, defiant elopements, terrifying burglaries, financial ruin and the constant specter of contagious diseases.
 
Tickets for the talk are $20; register here. 
 
The event will be offered via Zoom. To attend the presentation at Ventfort Hall, reservations are strongly recommended as seating will be strictly limited. Masks are required and seating will observe social distancing. For reservations call Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206.
 
On Sept. 15 at 4 p.m., author and historian René Silvin will return to Ventfort Hall Mansion & Gilded Age Museum to give a Tuesday Talk on "All That Glitters Is Not Gold: The Perils of Being Too Rich."  
 
His focus will be two wealthy women, both of whom he knew, Ann Woodward, whom he dubs "She was a great shot" with good reason, and Christina Onassis, whom he titles "A Greek Tragedy."  
 
Silvin will make his visual presentation via Zoom from his home in Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 4 p.m.  
 
Tickets for the Silvin lecture are $20 per person. To view him on Zoom, register here.
 

AHEC Offers LGBTQ+ Health Care Presentation

Berkshire Area Health Education Center will present "Affirmative and Knowledgeable Healthcare for LGBTQ+ People" on Friday, Sept. 11, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. as a live virtual event via the Zoom platform. 
 
This program is designed to lead participants through an understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, and its unique culture, language, and health disparities. The goal is to improve communication and knowledge in healthcare delivery in an affirming environment. 
 
Speakers for this program will be Christina Cruz, Ph.D., an education specialist at Berkshire Health Systems, and Dr. Jeremy Stoepker, a physician at Community Health Programs at Lee Family Practice.

 


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Free Vaccinations Available Throughout Berkshire County

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Fall season is also the flu season, which means vaccine clinics are now available.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative will provide public vaccination clinics in Berkshire communities this fall, including the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. There are about 49 clinics. 

The collaborative began during COVID-19 to help vaccinate people across Berkshire County. Berkshire Health Systems started the Get Vaccinated Berkshires website and still manages it. The group works with the Pittsfield Public Health Department, Community Health Programs, and the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative.

"The majority of people will always get the flu [vaccine] because, as I said, if you've ever gotten the flu, you will always get a flu vaccine because it's so bad. And just so you know, the flu is already in Berkshire County. It's an early season this year," said Leslie Drager, who is the senior public health nurse at Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

Drager said last year they issued 2,705 vaccines, with more than 1,100 of them being for COVID-19 and more than 1,500 being flu. In total, they were able to vaccinate 1,669 people in Central and North County, in addition to Pittsfield.

Drager also said she will be carrying three types of COVID vaccines this year, which is in high demand.

"We have a high demand of COVID vaccine, which is awesome," she said. "So we're doing a lot of COVID vaccines. Also, I provide Pfizer, and this year I have Moderna and the Novavax, which I think is real important to get out there because the Novavax, a lot of people want, people with long COVID. So I'm carrying all three vaccines this year, which I normally only carry the Pfizer."

Public health departments also can help people access other vaccines such as for measles or meningitis when they cannot get them through a pediatrician, she added.

Using the website, people are able to get vaccines even if they are homebound by filling out a form.

All public Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative clinics are free of charge, but registrants are asked to provide insurance information, when available, in order to defray costs. The clinics are open to anyone 6 months of age or older, the age group recommended to receive an annual flu vaccine and the latest COVID-19 vaccine.

"I always encourage everybody to wear a short sleeve shirt because it makes it a heck of a lot easier to get at," Drager said. "And children, we do carry the nasal flu, the live virus of nasal flu for kids that are afraid to get needles."

Registration is highly recommended for the clinics. Walk-ins may be accepted depending on the number of vaccine doses available at each clinic, with preference given to those who are registered.

"It's really important. I'm really encouraging vaccinations for the schools, because not only you know if the kids are vaccinated and the teachers are vaccinated, the schools won't have the flu go wild right through it," Drager said. "And of course, the best way to prevent infections: washing your hands. So don't touch your face, and wash your hands."

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