image description
The Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade has been canceled for a second year.

Pittsfield 4th of July Parade Canceled Again

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield's famed Fourth of July Parade has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic once more.
 
On Friday morning, Mayor Linda Tyer delivered "breaking news" that the parade will be canceled this year for the second time since 1977. It was also canceled last year due to the novel coronavirus.
 
"It's disappointing to have to put another pause on the Fourth of July parade, but I just don't think that we can safely hold it this year," Tyer told local radio station Live 95.9.
 
Though large outdoor gatherings of 250 people and parades will be permitted at 50 percent capacity beginning on May 29, Tyer said this does not help the parade because there is no way of determining the capacity and then limiting it to half. The parade regularly brings thousands of people to North Street and involves hundreds of participants and volunteers.
 
Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade Committee President Peter Marchetti added that the committee is brainstorming alternative options such as a citywide July 4 house decorating event.
 
Based on COVID-19 restrictions, he said, the panel wants to try and plan a belated event in the fall. The committee will meet on May 12, when alternative parade plans will be deliberated and announced shortly afterward.
 
In January, the parade committee was hopeful about the event's fate and was making plans despite many unknowns. At the time, members felt that vaccinations could help make the parade possible and that the thousands of attendees could stay 6 feet apart for social distancing during the more than two-hour march.
 
The committee has put parade fundraisers on hold until the May decision.
 
If it had gone forward, the theme would have appropriately been "An Old-Fashioned 4th: The Way We Were."
 
Additionally, Tyer announced that for the same capacity issues, monthly Third Thursday events will be on hold until the fall.

Tags: 4th of July,   parade,   

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

North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories