LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Four women were recognized on Monday at Town Hall for their volunteer work in the treasurer/tax collector's office. 

 

Mary Reilly, Linda Pruyne, Deborah Maynard and Jodi Hollingsworth were presented with thank-you gifts and saluted by the Select Board, Town Administrator Gina Dario and other Town Hall staff. 

 

"The event was to show deep appreciation for the volunteer efforts of four dedicated people during the recent change in staffing in the treasurer/collector office," said Select Board Chair Michael Murphy in a release to iBerkshires.

 

Town officials said it would have been impossible to get through the transition in the office — what Select Board member Timothy Sorrell deemed a "crisis" at one board meeting — without their help. 

 

The town suddenly found itself with a vacant office in late June when both the full-time treasurer and part-time collector resigned. 

 

Dario sent out a signal for help until the posts could be filled and the four, particularly Pruyne and Maynard, heeded the call. 

 

Sarah DeZess, a certified public accountant, was hired in late July for the treasurer/tax collector post and Caren Adams, former tax collector for the town of New Marlborough, as assistant treasurer/collector on July 21. 

 

The "task force," as Dario dubbed them, continued to support the new hires during the transition. 

 

Pruyne is tax prepare, treasurer of the Council on Aging and a volunteer on other boards. Maynard is a member of the Planning Board and Public Safety Building Committee and was the treasurer of the Dalton Fire District for 22 years. 

 

Reilly, a retired teacher, is a longtime volunteer with the town, the Fire Department, and the ambulance service, and chair of the Cemetery Commission. And Hollingsworth has worked for the town as treasurer and tax collector at a number of times over the years. 

 

Murphy, at July's hiring of DeZess and Adams, called out Pruyne and Maynard. 

 

"You already give above and beyond for this town so for you to take on yet another task that we so desperately need right now the words don't really do it justice," he said. 

 

Dario also thanked the town staff who lent support and stepped in when needed and residents for their patience during the transition.