BFAIR Receives 2022 Health New England Award

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — BFAIR (Berkshire Family And Individual Resources) has been named a 2022 Health New England Well Worth It Award recipient at the GOLD level for successful worksite health promotion and employee health improvement.

The award recognizes BFAIR’s commitment to their employees’ overall health and their achievements in implementing health and wellness programs during 2021. This year’s workplace wellness activities included a variety of workshops to offer our employees such as mindfulness, exercise, healthy eating, and smoking cessation. 

"Taking care of our team that are working hard taking care of others remains a top priority for us at BFAIR. Our Wellness Committee wants to ensure that they had all the tools they needed to stay well," said Laura Baran, the wellness committee chair at BFAIR.  "We are honored to be recognized by Health New England for our efforts."   

Also included were a few self-driven challenges such as a "Thinner by Thanksgiving" and hydration challenges. Employees also participated in the Berkshire 150 Challenge through Berkshire Health Systems.

"Health New England is proud to recognize BFAIR for their commitment to employee well-being by supporting a culture of health in the workplace," said Katie Bruno, public health and wellness program manager for Health New England. "As the pandemic continued in 2021, BFAIR engaged employees in meaningful wellness programs to meet their critical needs and to support their overall health, both physical and mental. The Well Worth It Award is an extension of Health New England’s mission and honors the work being done by our employer groups to improve the health and lives of the people in our communities." 

North Adams Native Wins Sports Emmy for 'Toy Story' Production

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:19AM / Monday, June 03, 2024

Allison Cellana, a Drury High graduate, says the Emmy was heavier than she expected. Cellana is an animator at ESPN. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.— North Adams native Alison Cellana was part of an ESPN team that produced "Toy Story Funday Football," a production that clinched three Emmys at the 2024 Sports Emmys Awards. 

 

"Honestly, it was a bit of a dream come true for me," Cellana said about the award ceremony that took place on May 21. "I've always sort of wanted to walk the red carpet and go to a big event like this. So finding out that my team was nominated for some awards was awesome."

 

Cellana, a 2014 graduate of Drury High School, is an animator at ESPN where she works on various shows such as "SportsCenter," "Daily Wager" and NFL Live.

 

She was part of a team of 150 or so who created "Toy Story Funday Football" that streamed on ESPN-plus and Disney-plus. The production was recognized with three awards: 

1. Outstanding Studio or Production Design/Art Direction,  
2. The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award 
3. Outstanding Graphic Design – Event/Show 

Cellana was called up for the Outstanding Graphic Design award.

 

She explained that the production was essentially a live broadcast of a football game between Jacksonville and Atlanta played out live through Toy Story-themed animations.

 

"It was live one for one. So you could either go on ESPN and watch the live game with the humans or you could go on Disney-plus and watch these little animated characters doing the exact same thing," she said.

 

She said the ESPN team worked alongside Epic Games and Pixar for a few months to develop the one-of-a-kind project that utilized cutting-edge technology. She said they started working on "Toy Story Funday Football" in July 2023 and the game aired in October.