LitNet Hires First-Gen College Coordinator

08:33AM / Thursday, September 14, 2023Print Story | Email Story

LEE, Mass. The Literacy Network (LitNet) announced the addition of Deisy Escobar to its staff as the organization's First-Generation College Coordinator.

In this newly created role, Escobar will serve as a community ambassador for LitNet by helping to develop programming, outreach, and partnerships centered around supporting and educating first-generation college applicants and their families about the college application process and related opportunities. With Escobar's support, LitNet hopes to launch its first First-Generation College-Goer Fair in spring 2024.

Escobar, a second-generation immigrant and first-year college student, graduated from Mount Everett High School in June of this year. The daughter of a Mexican immigrant and Colombian immigrant, Escobar is Spanish-English bilingual and has served as a LitNet volunteer tutor since 2021. Escobar has independently hosted a bilingual workshop for first-time college-goers and is active in the community as a co-host for the radio show Mundo Latino with her mother, Martha Escobar, with whom she also hosts an awards ceremony for community individuals and organizations who have provided outstanding support to Berkshire County immigrants.

"Deisy has been steeped and active in service in the Berkshire Community for many years now," LitNet's Executive Director Leigh Doherty said. "She is a perfect example of one we can call 'wise beyond her years!' As a new college student herself, Deisy is well-informed about the process, the challenges, and the excitement of it all. I look forward to having Deisy's first-hand, direct experience to guide us."

LitNet currently serves more than 200 individuals, the majority of whom are immigrants from South and Central America who are working on their English language skills. In 2019, LitNet launched Berkshire County's first scholarship program for prospective U.S. citizens, the Matthew and Hannah Keator Family Scholarship for New Americans, which supports recipients financially and legally and provides English and civics tutoring in preparation for the citizenship interview.

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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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