WTBR Programs Win National Awards

11:58AM / Thursday, June 02, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two local programs produced on Pittsfield Community Radio, 89.7 WTBR-FM won Hometown Media Awards in a national contest conducted by the Alliance for Community Media.

"On Patrol with the PPD," produced by the Pittsfield Police Department, and "Wheeling the Pathways of Life," produced by Brian Fitzpatrick, were chosen out of nearly one thousand submissions as best in their categories.

The Hometown Media Awards is the Foundation of the ACM's yearly awards program. It is established to honor and promote community media, community radio, and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access cable television channels. Proceeds go to the ACM Foundation which is exclusively used for facilitating, preserving, and promoting education in community media.

"On Patrol with the PPD" won in the category of "Government Profile Community Radio." The program, hosted by Chief Michael Wynn and Captain. Gary Traversa features the latest news from Pittsfield's Police Department - whether they're introducing their staff, sharing a new initiative, or telling a story that "you just can't make up."

"The Pittsfield Police Department is honored to be recognized by the Alliance for Community Media for our show, On Patrol with the PPD. While the show was created to train our personnel in the use of radio technology during an emergency, it has become much more than that," said Pittsfield Police Chief and host Mike Wynn. "As an additional medium for us to communicate with our residents, the show has become an integral part of our communications strategy. Sharing stories about our department and introducing our listeners to our guests has been incredibly beneficial."

"Wheeling the Pathways of Life" was chosen as the best "Underserved Voices Community Radio." The show is a snapshot of the day-to-day experiences of a disabled individual as they navigate the pathways of the world. Host Brian Fitzpatrick hopes to shed light on and open eyes to new perspectives on the lives of those with disabilities.

"I am very honored that the show, was recognized for a national award for excellence in the category of Underserved on Radio," said Fitzpatrick. "This was something I was not expecting but I am very appreciative of, I don't do it for me I do it for other people."

All award-winning programs will be presented during the annual Hometown Media Awards Ceremony. The ceremony will be held in Chicago on Wednesday, June 29 at 7:30 pm.

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Pittsfield's This and That Sports Celebrating Six Years

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:34PM / Friday, October 23, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — This and That Sports is celebrating its sixth birthday with a party.

Owner Reggie Davis opened the collectables and card store at 128 Fenn St., pursuing a hobby he has had since he was a teenager.

He started with small card shows and later collected a broad range of items, including sports memorabilia, autographs, Beanie Babies, and Matchbox cars.

"It's been a long time, and it's not just cards. I mean, I collect everything. I love sports memorabilia, autographs," he said.

Originally from Great Barrington, he moved to Connecticut and operated a collectibles store there from 2004 to 2014 before moving back to Berkshire County. He worked for FedEx before opening the new store in 2020.

For the first six months, he balanced the store with his career with FedEx, with help from his wife, Crystal, who worked around her own overnight hospital shifts. He left FedEx to focus on the store full time and works with his son, Bret.

He said it is more than a job and he is happy to open his doors to the collecting community.

"It's like something that I looked at as a pleasure business. It wasn't about the money. It was more like bringing the collecting part of the hobby to Berkshire County," he said.

Davis said he misses live baseball in Pittsfield, recalling Pittsfield Mets games. He said collecting brings him closer to that feeling of watching a local team when he was younger.

"I've always remembered growing up as a kid of the Pittsfield Mets and then the Pittsfield Suns and baseball being here and I was a big sports person, I played a lot of sports, and it's kind of sad and I think I want to continue the sports collecting part, the hobby. You can't go to a baseball game here unless it's like a high school game. So it's kind of continuing the collecting part of the hobby without the actual sports being here," he said.

Davis said the store's customers have become friends. He added that he likes to see the younger generation open packs of cards.

"The amazing part about it is not just the kids, but the customers. Like, I have customers that've been coming in for four, five, six [years] even new ones that just started coming in like a month ago," he said. "We've been out to dinner with these people. We travel. Customers have become friends, even close friends, which is nice."

He said one of the most challenging parts of the business has been to keep everything in stock especially with the surge in popularity of Pokemon cards.

"We have people that stop in all the time, and they're like wow you got a great selection of Pokemon, you have a big selection, and I think that's you know we have distribution for sports and Pokemon, but it sells so quick," he said. "I think the hardest thing is to be able to keep product on the shelf."

Not only does he sell collectibles, but he also purchased a card grading company called Revolutionary Card Grading that he opened next door. The company, based in Georgia, produces specialized color-matched designs but card grading and customer submissions are now handled locally since taking full ownership of the company last year.

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