image description — Artwork and readings that address street harassment were displayed at Park Square earlier this year in observance of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Art installations are not listed as being restricted in the policy.

Pittsfield Parks Commission Approves Sign Policy, Events

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:00PM / Thursday, October 20, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Parks Commission approved three events and a new sign policy on Tuesday during a swift, 30-minute meeting.

The policy aims to address signage only in Park Square.

It states that signage or displays related to event promotion, solicitation, or advertising are not permitted. Additionally, all installations and signage placed in the park are done under the commission's authority, which will review and vote on them.

"The thought was to keep it limited to Park Square, this policy specifically to Park Square," said Commissioner Anthony DiMartino, who drafted it. "Give us and reinforce that the commission has the jurisdiction over anything that goes in there and that specifically speaks to signage that would not be allowed."

Last month, the panel discussed a possible policy and motioned to draft one. Some commissioners agreed that signs should be kept out of Park Square with exceptions such as art installations with signage.

Park, Open Space, and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath noted that all proposals first come before city staff, and it would be helpful to have a set policy to reference when talking to applicants.

McGrath said that it is clear and gives the commission discretion.

"It sort of allows you to circle back around and consider something that's maybe advertising. If it's this acceptable idea that is community supported and more importantly, commissioned supported, it gives you an opportunity to weigh in on it," he added.

The third annual Dave Zerbato Memorial Wiffle Ball Tournament was approved for Nov. 5 at Deming Park from noon to 4:30 p.m. All proceeds will go towards scholarships for graduating seniors at Pittsfield High School and Taconic High School in honor of the late Dave Zerbato.

"We started this back in 2017, that's when Dave passed away suddenly. Dave was a mentor and a friend of mine and at first, he wanted to do something to give back to the family to help cover some medical bills so we had an event. We had a skills competition down at Demming, raised some money we gave all the proceeds to the family," event producer Justin Hopkins said.

"And then the next year we added on to that and we started a scholarship in his name. So since 2018, we've handed out about 15 scholarships, close to $7,000 in scholarships. Each year, we award them to graduating seniors from Pittsfield and Taconic High School. And this is our big fundraiser we hold every year this is going to be the third world wiffle ball tournament we have. Last year we had about 20 teams show up and we doubled our profits from the year before, so we're really excited about that."

The event consists of four different age groups, a raffle, and will have pizza provided by Papa John's.

Hopkins said that giving back to the community was important to Zerbato as well as bringing kids together, playing baseball, and having a good time.

The Berkshire Pride Parade and Festival was approved for June 3 at The Common from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. This will be the sixth year of the event, which is Berkshire Pride's annual LGBTQ+ festival.

The family-friendly event will feature live entertainment, speakers, food trucks, and other vendors.

Hundreds gathered along Eagle Street and Fenn Street and applauded the parade during the 2022 Berkshire Pride festival.

A Halloween Skate Jam hosted by The Garden was approved for Oct. 29 at the skate park on East Street. There will be prizes, giveaways, and music through a PA system.

Commissioners asked the skate shop's owner Bill Whittaker how the park has been since it was expanded.

"It's been really, really great," he said.

"We've seen people coming in from all over using the park. People are coming from far just to skate it and we've got some plans for future projects down there too, so looking forward to doing more, just continuing making it better down there and moving forward."

In other news:

It was reported that a boat wash station proposal for Community Preservation Act funds has been scaled down to a portable diesel-powered wash. It was found that there are only about six boats per year that come to the boat ramp infested with zebra mussels. The original proposal was going to cost over $250,000 and this one will cost about $75,000 with a CPA ask of $60,000 if deemed eligible.
Two historic stone piers at Springside Park will be subject to a CPA application. They sit at the southwest corner of the park across from the intersection of Weller Avenue and need to be repaired and cleaned. McGrath will meet with a mason to determine the cost of the repair.

Tags: Halloween, signage, tournament,

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PCTV Turns 40, Anniversary Celebration This Friday

By Breanna SteeleiBekshires Staff
03:30PM / Monday, September 14, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield Community Television is turning 40 this week, and it's celebrating with its viewers and listeners.

This Friday, Sept. 18, PCTV will celebrate at the Berkshire Hills Country Club. Ryan Peterson, WTEN News10 ABC anchor and Pittsfield High School graduate, will give the keynote address.

Executive Director Shawn Serre, who has been with the station for over 32 years, said it's their chance to celebrate all they have been able to bring to the community.

"It's a chance to reflect on everything that the organization has done over those years, all the people that have been involved. From board members to volunteers to producers to crew people to staff members, and all the different programs that we've produced," he said. "Everything from public programming to education, sports, graduations, parades, government meetings and forums, and election night coverage, and all kinds of other things that just year upon year of history that we've been able to create and document here for the Pittsfield community over those years."

Serre took over as executive director about nine years ago. Originally a volunteer fresh out of college.

The original board included former mayor Edward Reilly, Dan Dillon, Diane Morgenstern, Bernard Avalle, and John Fukes of the Berkshire Athenaeum. The operation was all-volunteer until PCTV hired the first executive director in January 1989.

PCTV has operated out of its station on Federico Drive since 1999. But originally they worked out of a basement.

"The first location that we ever had, we had all of our equipment stored in cardboard boxes in the basement of the Berkshire Athenaeum, because the Berkshire Athenaeum at the time was very gracious and allowed us to have some space while we sort of got our feet on the ground and sort of got things organized," he said. "But we had no location. We had no studio. We just had this equipment that was ordered with the money that we had from the original cable franchise grant."

"So that lasted a couple of years, and then we signed and got a lease over in our first studio location, which was over on Fourth Street in Pittsfield," Serre continued. "That was around the time that I first got involved, just before we moved to Fourth Street. So I was there in the basement of the library, opening those boxes up and seeing what we had for equipment. So we stayed there at Fourth Street for about 10 years, and then this building that we're currently in now, over on Federico Drive, was constructed in 1998. It was built kind of custom-made for the cable company and for us and for one other company."

Serre said one of their proudest moments was saving the radio station WTBR-FM back in 2018. PCTV made space for them so they could continue operation.

"We carved out some space here in our facility for that, and we've been operating that radio station ever since. So those are some of the big milestones of growth of the organization over the years, and the things that we've done," he said.

They have also invested in advanced technology to keep their programming accessible to all.

"Technologically, there's another whole series of things that we've gone through," he said. "We've started out with a single cable TV channel. We grew to three cable TV channels. We started out as standard definition on videotape, and we grew to digital, and then to high definition, and then everything went to the internet. So we're able to offer video on demand and live streams and video on social media. And then with the radio station, we also have a live stream there and podcasting. So we've seen a lot of technological change and tried to roll with that over the years."

Serre said that PCTV strives to keep people informed while also allowing space for people to create their own media.

"The whole idea behind PEG [Public Education and Government Access]...the whole idea behind that back in the 70s and 80s was that people could be left behind with the technology that's available to the big corporations," he said. "So, if you had a cable system at the time, ordinary people maybe they had camcorders at home, but they didn't have access to a TV studio; they didn't have access to the kind of technology that we had to allow them to create programs and share it with the community. So we filled that gap, and that was one of the main things that we did. And then also to be able to create programming for viewers and for the city, so that the municipal meetings can be shown, and so school committee meetings can be shown, and it really brings people in and involved."

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