Second Annual Adams Street Fair to be Held on July 24

ADAMS, Mass. — In cooperation with and to benefit the town's first responders, the second annual Adams Street Fair will be held on July 24 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Hoosac Street and the Adams Visitor Center grounds. 

"Every year, the Adams Street Fair Committee is going to hold a street fair for our first responders. It was very well done last year. We had a lot of compliments," said Joseph Martin, chair of the Adams Street Fair Committee. "We raised some good money for [first responders]. This year, we're going a little bigger." 

Martin explained plans for the fair to the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday and said the fair will have expanded programming and festivities this year. The first Adams Street Fair was in August 2021.

"We have huge entertainment coming," Martin said. "We're going to have a mainstage set up for bands. We have a kid's area, which is going to be all for the kids. We have a magician coming, a juggler, clowns, along with our vendors." 

One new event coming to the fair is a first responders parade. While the route is not yet final, Martin said he plans to speak with Police Chief K. Scott Kelley to plan that out. 

"We're going to ask communities around if they'd like to participate and bring one of their apparatus and just do a little quick drive-by parade through the fairground," said Forest Warden Chief Griffin Willette, also on the fair committee. "We're going to determine a safe zone where no one will be jeopardized of getting in the way to our designated areas where we'll park our rigs. And the kids and community will be able to come up and look at them." 

While the board fully supports the event, they urged the organizers to make sure vendor offerings are family-friendly after complaints about one vendor at last year's event. Martin said this should not be an issue this time around, and the contract will stipulate vendors need to keep their booths appropriate for families. 

"This is a family event, and we are not going to have any of that," he said.

Hoosac Valley Presents Academic Certificate, Talks Absenteeism

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:32PM / Tuesday, December 09, 2025

Dean of Students JJ Choquette, left, high school Principal Colleen Byrd, middle school Principal Lisa Lesser and elementary Principal Chris Wenz explained their efforts to combat absenteeism. 

CHESHIRE, Mass. — Senior Anna Thurston is this year's recipient of the Superintendents' Certificate of Academic Excellence at Hoosac Valley High School.

 

The award was presented at Monday's School Committee meeting by Superintendent Aaron Dean, who said she has been involved "in anything that brought student voice to the table."

 

"She conducts herself in a professional way, but brings humor to the table. She's just really a joy to be around and a joy to work with," he said. "Congratulations on this great accomplishment and congratulations to your parents."

 

Thurston is an honor roll student and a recipient of a John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. She's been a member of the Portrait of a Graduate committee, the Leo Club, the school's Student and Adult Advisory Board and the National Honor Society. She was on last year's first-place team in the General Dynamics STEM Competition and is a medal winner for figure skating in the Bay State Games. 

 

Principal Colleen Byrd read letters of endorsement from Thurston's teachers, who described her upbeat attitude, intelligence and confidence, her curiosity, and the positive, can-do energy she brings to all her efforts. One teacher spoke of how she joined the engineering class during her free period to support the only girl in that class. 

 

"Of course, she accepted instantly, soon became one of the strongest students in the class and paved the way for other young women to flourish," the teacher wrote. 

 

In other business, the committee heard about efforts to stop chronic absenteeism from Byrd, Principals Lisa Lesser and Chris Wenz, and Dean of Students for the middle and high school JJ Choquette.