Berkshire South 5K Fundraiser Returns

04:00PM / Tuesday, September 24, 2024Print Story | Email Story

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Berkshire South Regional Community Center's 5K Fall Fun Run returns this year on Sunday, Sept. 29.

The walk/run starts and finishes on the runway of the Walter J. Koladza Airport in Great Barrington, with check-in beginning at 8:00 a.m. and a race start time of 9:00 a.m. The annual event is a critical fundraiser for Berkshire South's free Teen Outreach Nutrition and Exercise program (TONE).

New this year is a Family Scavenger Hunt, which takes place at 9:30 a.m. and is appropriate for children ages 10 and under.

"Students in the TONE program learn about what it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Crucially, the program allows for all students to have access to facilities for which there's typically a fee. This is extremely helpful for students who come from low-income backgrounds and who do not have the means to pay for memberships. The program gives students the opportunity to learn about health and nutrition, how to exercise safely, and make smart choices for their overall wellbeing," said Jenise Lucey, executive director of Berkshire South.

Registration for the event will remain open at berkshiresouth.org/5K for a discounted rate of $35 through noon on Saturday, Sept. 28. Registrations on the day of the race require a $45 entry fee. The first 100 entrants receive a race t-shirt. Snacks will be available post-race and prizes will be awarded to the top finishers in various age brackets.

The 5K is a family friendly event. All fitness levels are welcome. The 2024 5K Fall Fun Run will be administered by the Berkshire Running Center. Those who are not able to participate in this year's walk/run are encouraged to make a donation at berkshiresouth.org/5K.

Berkshire South thanks this year's 5K sponsors: Ed Herrington, Inc, The Montessori School of the Berkshires, Berkshire Corporate Retreats, SS Home Improvements, Berkshire Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Center, C.W. Nelson Land Design, Sheldon Glass Service, Ormsbee Gas Co, Inc, Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates, Race Mountain Tree Service, Timpane Construction, Inc, Adelson & Company PC, Lee Audio 'N Security, Inc, and Reliable Yardworks, in addition to the Great Barrington Airport.

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South County Celebrates 250th Anniversary of the Knox Trail

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
06:18PM / Sunday, January 11, 2026

State Sen. Paul Mark carries the ceremonial linstock, a device used to light artillery. With him are New York state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and state Sen. Nick Collins of Suffolk County.

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. —The 250th celebration of American independence began in the tiny town of Alford on Saturday morning.

Later that afternoon, a small contingent of re-enactors, community members and officials marched from the Great Barrington Historical Society to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center to recognize the Berkshire towns that were part of that significant event in the nation's history.

State Sen. Paul Mark, as the highest ranking Massachusetts governmental official at the Alford crossing, was presented a ceremonial linstock flying the ribbons representing every New York State county that Henry Knox and his team passed through on their 300-mile journey from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in the winter of 1775-76.

"The New York contingent came to the border. We had a speaking program, and they officially handed over the linstock, transferring control of the train to Massachusetts," said Mark, co-chair of Massachusetts' special commission for the semiquincentennial. "It was a great melding of both states, a kind of coming together."

State Rep. Leigh Davis called Knox "an unlikely hero, he was someone that rose up to the occasion. ... this is really honoring someone that stepped into a role because he was called to serve, and that is something that resonates."

Gen. George Washington charged 25-year-old bookseller Knox with bringing artillery from the recently captured fort on Lake Champlain to the beleaugured and occupied by Boston. It took 80 teams of horses and oxen to carry the nearly 60 tons of cannon through snow and over mountains.

Knox wrote to Washington that "the difficulties were inconceivable yet surmountable" and left the fort in December. He crossed the Hudson River in early January near Albany, crossing into Massachusetts on what is now Route 71 on Jan. 10, 1776. By late January, he was in Framingham and in the weeks to follow the artillery was positioned on Dorchester Heights.

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