Berkshire County Historical Society Celebrates Plant a Tree Day

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Join the Berkshire County Historical Society on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 5:30 pm as they celebrate Plant a Tree Day with a ceremonial planting of a young American elm "Jefferson" on Park Square. 
 
The tree will be planted to honor the Berkshires' first known environmentalist Lucretia Williams. Williams threw herself before the woodsman's axe to save a towering elm known as the Pittsfield Elm on Park Square in 1789. 
 
"BCHS is very grateful to the Pittsfield Parks Department and George and Alice Wislocki for helping make this possible, said Executive Director Lesley Herzberg. "It is a fitting and lasting tribute to Lucretia Williams whose story resonates with us today over one hundred years after her efforts to save the Pittsfield Elm."
 
This free event is open to the public.
 
"BCHS is very grateful to the Pittsfield Parks Department and George and Alice Wislocki for helping make this possible, said Executive Director Lesley Herzberg. "It is a fitting and lasting tribute to Lucretia Williams whose story resonates with us today over one hundred years after her efforts to save the Pittsfield Elm."
 

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Town Meetings That Rejected CBRSD Agreement to Vote Again

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The three towns that failed Central Berkshire Regional School District's proposed regional agreement last year will likely see it again on this year's annual town meeting warrant. 
 
The item failed during last year's town meetings in Hinsdale and Peru, as well as Cummington's special town meeting — the regional agreement needed six out of the seven towns to vote in favor of passing. 
 
Until an updated agreement is approved, the school district will continue to operate under its current agreement and follow state law. 
 
The original agreement, created in 1958, has been amended several times and approved locally but never by the state Department of Education, which is required.
 
Over the past year, David Stuart, the vice chair of the School Committee and chair of the ad hoc regional agreement committee, and other School Committee members have visited the towns to find a solution and inform residents about what the state allows to be included in the regional agreement.
 
Despite this, they were unsuccessful in getting the Hinsdale, Cummington, and Peru's select boards to support it. 
 
"It's been hard. There's a lot of good things in here," Stuart said. 
 
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