image description — Select Board member Ronald Boucher and Danielle Luchi earlier this year. Boucher has submitted his resignation from the board and Luchi, vice chairman, was sworn in as chairman on Thursday.

Clarksburg Chairman Resigns From Select Board

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
04:02PM / Thursday, September 09, 2021Print Story | Email Story

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town is down to two Select Board members with the departure of Chairman Ronald Boucher.

Boucher, in his second term, submitted his resignation from the board on Thursday, Sept. 2.

He said he felt he didn't have the time to dedicate to the position, noting he has nine grandchildren and a new job that keeps him on the road a lot.

"It's been a tough three years," he said. "There were a lot of changes within town government, changes in my life and there comes a point ... I've given back enough and I just don't have basically the adequate time and energy to do it the right way."

Boucher acknowledged that this resignation had taken the other board members by surprise but he didn't think it was fair to the taxpayers to stick around if he couldn't commit 110 percent.

Select Board member Danielle Luchi confirmed his resignation and said she was sworn in as chairman of the board by Town Clerk Marilyn Gomeau on Thursday morning.

"I'm happy to take on the responsibility as the new chairman," she said.

Boucher, a former North Adams city councilor, was elected to a three-year term on the board as a write-in 2018 and re-elected this past May.

There is no Select Board meeting scheduled yet this month. Luchi, elected in 2019 and vice chairman, said no decision has been made about filling the board vacancy. Boucher said he had strongly advised holding a special election "because you really need three people on that board."

"I've been talking with Marilyn, she's looking through bylaws, and talking with town counsel," Luchi said. "I'm taking it one day a time and doing what's best for the town."

She said it was important to prioritize things, particularly what's been happening in the town treasurer's office, where a consultant has been working with the treasurer to straighten out the town's finances.

The problems there had boiled over at the last Select Board meeting in August when Boucher lost his temper over the chaotic conditions in the office. His resignation came a week later.

Boucher is also the town moderator, taking the post after no one stood for election this past spring, and said he will continue in that role.

Tags: resignation,

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MCLA Kicks Off Fall Term With New President, Full Dorms

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:41AM / Wednesday, September 09, 2026

President Diana Rogers-Adkinson says she's excited to be at MCLA and impressed by the work done by the college's faculty and staff.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts kicked off the school year last week with fully occupied dorms and its "lucky 13th" president.

Diana Rogers-Adkinson welcomed the gathering of staff, faculty and student representatives in the Venable Hall gymnasium for the traditional convocation breakfast on Tuesday, along with several trustees and Mayor Jennifer Macksey. Theater arts professor Laura Stanley sang the alma mater, starting a new tradition.

"This is a great time of the year. It's a time of new beginnings on many levels for us this year, and I'm really excited," said the college's new leader. "I hope everyone is prepared for an exciting school year ahead. I am constantly impressed by the work that the MCLA staff and faculty do every day. You work tirelessly to provide our students with a fantastic education and a home away from home. I want to thank you on behalf of our board for your dedication, determination, and hard work."

The hard work is paying off as the college's enrollment continues to climb out of the hole it dropped into during the pandemic.

The college has 162 first-year students and 89 transfer students, Richard Glejzer, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said, up from 219 last year.

"We also have an additional student pool that we've kept separate in our count because it's a one-time pool," he explained. "As we are serving as a teach-out partner for two [closed] institutions, Anna Maria College and Hampshire College, we have two students coming from Anna Maria, and we have 20 students coming from Hampshire College. That brings us up to 272 new students, up 24 percent when you add all this together from this from last year and 29 percent from the year before."

He held up his hand to halt the applause to "add one more thing": looking at a "slice" of graduate student numbers, the college is expecting 105 to be enrolled, up from 92 last year.

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