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Clarksburg Volunteer Firefighters stand with Leveque after the delivery.

Anheuser-Busch, Girardi Distributors Donate Water to Clarksburg Firefighters

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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Anheuser-Busch and Girardi Distributors deliver 2,500 cans of water to the Clarksburg fire station.
 
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Anheuser-Busch and Girardi Distributors delivered canned emergency drinking water to the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department.
 
To a passerby Monday morning, it would appear as though Girardi Distributors was delivering cases of beer to the Cross Road fire station. The unknowing passerby would certainly become a concerned passerby.
 
But a closer look at the cans would tell a different story. 
 
"This is great," Lt. Matthew Boillat said. "This water will be used and is much appreciated."
 
Girardi was not delivering 2,500 cans of Budweiser to the volunteer firefighters but 2,500 cans of emergency water.
 
Anheuser-Busch has a long-standing partnership with the American Red Cross, dating back to 1906. The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Merrimack, N.H., will periodically halt beer production to can drinking water, specifically to donate to communities for when natural disasters and other crises arise.
 
Since 1988, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesaler partners have provided nearly 83 million cans of water to the communities throughout the country in need.
 
More recently, they developed a partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council. To date, they have donated 2.6 million cans of water to fire departments.
 
"I think giving back is something we have always done at Anheuser-Busch and at the distributor level," Girardi Distributors General Manager Tom Leveque said. "Giving back to the community and trying to be a community partner. The Girardi family has been in business for over 75 years and we are the only beer distributor in Berkshire County." 
 
Leveque said they have delivered water in Dalton, Williamstown, and North Adams.
 
Boillat said he has seen the emergency water cans out in their field before, to his surprise at a structure fire.
 
"I had to do a double-take," he laughed. "Are we cracking a beer at 4 in the morning? It was water; it was kind of funny." 
 
He said he saw the initiative on Facebook and filled out an application for the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department.
 
"We applied and here it is," he said. 
 
Boillat said the water will be used in trainings as well as on calls. He said they can hand it out on their own calls as well as mutual aid calls.
 
"That is what is great about our community, we stick together," he said. "It is great that Anheuser-Busch and Girardi and can help us, especially in a time like this."
 
Leveque thanked the volunteers for doing what they do.
 
"They are going to do something really nice too, and they are going to share it with other people," he said. 
 
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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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