'Haunted Streets' To Air On PCTV

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield Community Television has teamed up with the city's Recreation Program for a television event to air in place of the canceled 2020 Pittsfield Halloween Parade. 
 
"Once it became clear that the Halloween Parade could not happen in its usual form, we realized we needed to do something to keep this annual tradition alive in some fashion as it brings much joy to the community," Becky Manship, recreation and special events coordinator for the city of Pittsfield said.  "Since PCTV has been covering the parade for twenty-five years, the decision to do a retrospective of past parades was simple.  We hope the community will enjoy a look back in time as we have." 
 
PCTV will present "Haunted Streets: A Celebration of 25 Years of Halloween Parades" in place of when live coverage of the parade as it stepped off on Tyler St would have begun.  The program will look back at some of the best floats and moments of the past 25 years of PCTV's parade coverage.  
 
The television event is hosted by Manship and PCTV's parade commentator Jody Spielmann and will debut on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7:00 p.m. airing on PCTV Access Pittsfield Channel 1301, and also on the PCTV Select App available on Roku, Apple TV, and on the web at PittsfieldTV.org.
 
"In working with the Halloween Parade Committee on this retrospective program, and seeing all the amazing ways our community has celebrated this spooky and child-like season, I can see all of the tangible ways that we have brought each other fun and joy," Matthew Tucker, public access coordinator for PCTV said.  "While it can be hard to see, with the tragedy caused by the coronavirus all around us, programs like this remind us of the community we have always been - and what we're going to do to show that community when we come out on the other side of this."
 
The virtual Halloween Celebration will continue on Halloween when PCTV will air past year parades in their entirety, starting at 7:30 am with the 1995 Halloween parade.  The following years' parade will air immediately afterward, finishing with the parade special airing again at 8 pm.
 
The parades will air on PCTV Access Pittsfield Channel 1301, and on PCTV Select.
 

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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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