Williamstown Community Chest Fun Run Returns Sept. 28

Community submission12:30PM / Wednesday, September 18, 2024Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Williamstown Community Chest will hold its 16th Fun Run on Saturday, Sept. 28.

This community event consists of two races, a 5K run and a 1-mile kids’ run/family walk. The Fun Run races are open to everyone, veteran or first-time runners, and daily or occasional walkers. Families with pets and strollers are also welcome to participate.

Both race events begin at 9 a.m. at the Williamstown Youth Center, 66 School St.

Sign-in and registration begin at 8:15 a.m. on the day of the race. Online registration is available at runsignup.com/Race/MA/Williamstown/CommunityChestAnnualRun .

The registration fee for the 5K race is $15 per runner and for the 1-mile walk/run $5 per participant; children 5 and under may participate at no charge. Scholarships are available, made possible by underwriting from MountainOne.

For 97 years, the Williamstown Community Chest has provided funding to local human service agencies and organizations that serve northern Berkshire County. Every dollar contributed to the Chest’s annual fundraising campaign is distributed to its nineteen partner agencies. Thanks to the generosity of the local business community and individual donors, $307,000 will be distributed in 2024-25.

For additional information or questions, call 413-458-2443 or visit www.williamstowncommunitychest.org.

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Williamstown Fin Comm Hears from Police Department, Library

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
10:10AM / Friday, March 06, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Police Chief Michael Ziemba last week explained to the Finance Committee why an additional full-time officer needs to be added to the fiscal year 2027 budget.

The 13 officers in the Williamstown Police Department are insufficient to maintain the department's minimal threshold of two officers on patrol per shift without employing overtime and relying on the chief and the WPD's one detective to cover patrol shifts if an officer is sick or using personal time, Ziemba explained.

Some of that coverage was provided in the past by part-time officers, but that option was taken away by the commonwealth's 2020 police reform act.

"We lost two part-timers a couple of years ago," Ziemba told the Fin Comm. "They were part-time officers, but they also worked the desk. So between the desk and the cruiser shifts, they were working 40 hours a week, the two of them. We lost them to police reform.

"We have seen that we're struggling to cover shifts voluntarily now. We're starting to order people to cover time-off requests. … We don't have the flexibility when somebody goes out for a surgery or sickness or maternity leave to cover that without overtime. An additional position, I believe, would alleviate that."

Ziemba bolstered his case by benchmarking the force against like-sized communities in Berkshire County.

Adams, for example, has 19 full-time officers and handled 9,241 calls last year with a population just less than 8,000 and a coverage area of 23 square miles, Ziemba said. By comparison, Williamstown has 13 officers, handled 15,000 calls for service, has a population of about 8,000 (including staff and students at Williams College) and covers 46.9 square miles.

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