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Children making sand art at the Summer Step Up Program community event at Clarksburg School. The evening included lots of games, activities and food.
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Children fish for bags of tickets for prizes.
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Opening the tickets.
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Lots of prizes to choose from
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Picking a prize.
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NBSU Wraps Step Up Program With Ice Cream and Games

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Many of the children, and a few adults, were sporting painted faces. 
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Northern Berkshire School Union wrapped up its summer camp last Thursday with what's becoming an annual event: a school community night at Clarksburg School. 
 
That meant a bounce house, music, dunk tank and lots and lots of activities — plus ice cream and hot dogs for dinner. 
 
"Oh, it's fantastic. They do a really good job," said one Monroe parent as her daughter waited for a balloon animal. 
 
The five-week summer camp program is open to children in the school districts of Clarksburg, Florida, Monroe, Rowe and Savoy. 
 
The program is funded through a grant from the United Way Summer Step Up Program, through the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley with the support of Northern Berkshire United Way.
 
"I love this event because it brings our community partners together. It showcases all the things that we do during the summer camp. Jordan [Rennell] puts together a great program for all of our kids in our four schools," said Assistant Superintendent Tara Barnes. "And this is an extension of that where we are able to bring in our community partners and our families into one venue and really do this for the kids. 
 
"Which, as you can see, are having a blast. Parents are having fun, too."
 
The activities — ranging from tie-dye to block building to face painting to "fishing" for prizes — were coordinated by staff members. 
 
"We brainstormed on how to bring families together and how to show them what we do with their kids all day," said Rennell, the district's director of summer programming. "So almost everybody came up with an idea and when we gave them a table station, ordered the things they wanted and brought it to life."
 
Outside, Nolan and Seamus Barnes, Barnes' sons, were taking turns as the targets in the dunk tank. 
 
"I wasn't here last year. I did it two years ago and it's not that bad. It's the most entertaining thing to do here, probably," said Seamus, a 2023 graduate of Mount Greylock Regional. "I'm the big guy they love to dunk. They see me up there, they're like everyone comes over and they want to do it.
 
"Everybody's just sharing what they're passionate about — working with kids and fun things that they do. They're really good at it, too."
 
Patti Messina, executive director of the Northern Berkshire United Way, said funding was lower than expected this year but NBSU made it work. She dropped by during the event, she said, "there was so much going on."
 
Denise Maselli, "Nana to the Moultons," was there having fun with three of her grandchildren.
 
"They went to camp for a whole week, they loved it. They did all kinds of stuff," she said. "It's nice I get to do this with my grandkids."

Tags: Clarksburg School,   

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Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff

Staff Reports

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Matthew Parker, a 44-year-old North Adams man, is set to face multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court on Friday morning following an hours-long, armed standoff at a Houghton Street home.

The defendant is being arraigned for:

  • Domestic Assault and Battery
  • Assault with the Intent to Murder (3 counts)
  • Carrying a Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol (3 counts)
  • Possession of a hi-capacity firearm (4 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a hi-capacity firearm (2 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a firearm (6 counts)

According to a report, on June 10, at approximately 8:42 p.m., officers responded to 365 Houghton St. following a report of a domestic assault and battery. The caller said she and her husband had been involved in a physical altercation.

She said her husband was intoxicated, making suicidal statements about shooting himself, and had access to both a shotgun and a pistol.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with both the caller and Parker. During the encounter, Parker threatened to shoot officers before retreating into the home and refusing to exit.

Officers believed that Parker was armed.

To ensure public safety, police established a perimeter around the home and requested assistance from the Berkshire County Special Response Team (SRT) and North Adams Police crisis negotiators. The Brien Center was also contacted and promptly provided an emergency mental health clinician to assist with the incident.

Special Response Team personnel deployed drones to monitor the residence and provide aerial illumination. During the operation, officers saw Parker exit the house carrying a rifle. He pointed it at the drones, stated a report. Parker subsequently pointed the rifle toward several officers positioned behind their cruisers. After officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Parker returned inside the residence.

Trained crisis negotiators maintained communication with Parker for several hours in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation. At approximately 2 a.m., Parker ceased communication with negotiators.

Drone operators later observed Parker unconscious in a recliner on the first floor of the residence, with a rifle and shotgun on the floor nearby.

Members of the Berkshire County SRT then executed a coordinated operation. Diversionary devices were deployed through a window while an entry team simultaneously entered the home, secured the firearms, and took the defendant into custody.

A search warrant was executed after Parker was in custody. North Adams Police seized four shotguns, six rifles, two handguns, and thousands or rounds of ammunition from the home.

During the operation, one SRT member sustained a minor injury related to a less-lethal bean bag deployment. Parker also sustained non-life threatening injuries during the arrest and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for medical evaluation.

"We thank the community for its patience and cooperation throughout this incident, particularly residents in the affected area who complied with temporary shelter-in-place requests," Police Chief Mark Bailey said.  "The North Adams Police Department extends its sincere appreciation to the agencies that provided mutual aid and assisted by handling calls for service during this incident. We are especially grateful to the Berkshire County Special Response Team for its professional and decisive response, the Brien Center for the rapid deployment of a mental health clinician, and our crisis negotiators whose efforts helped maintain dialogue and contributed significantly to the safe resolution of this incident."

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