Community Contra Dance in Williamstown

12:03PM / Thursday, September 26, 2024Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN — The North Berkshire Contra Dance returns to Williamstown on Saturday, Sept. 28, with a community contra dance taught by caller Jeff Walker and New England-style fiddle music.

Contra dancing is the contemporary face of a living tradition; some of the dances are hundreds of years old, some are recently composed.

Everyone is welcome. New dancers and families with children are encouraged to arrive at 7:30 pm for an introductory lesson. Come with or without a partner; most people change partners for each dance throughout the evening.

Kathy and Jeff Walker have been playing New England-style dance music for over 40 years. Kathy plays fiddle and Jeff accompanies her on guitar and calls. Their repertoire spans the Celtic world drawing tunes from Ireland, Scotland, Galicia, French Canada, Cape Breton, and Appalachia, and includes many kinds of dance music from fast, energetic jigs and reels to slow waltzes.

The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main St., Williamstown. Admission is pay-as-you-can, $12 - $20 suggested.

Visit www.NorthBerkshireDance.org for more information.

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Mount Greylock Schools Bracing for Another Big Health Insurance Hit

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
12:42PM / Monday, January 12, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Like municipal entities across the county, the Mount Greylock Regional School District is bracing for another year of steep increases in health insurance costs.

It is unknown just how steep, but Superintendent Joseph Bergeron tried to prepare the School Committee at its January meeting on Thursday.

"The rumors, just so you hear them from me … are not confirmed, but right now, the projections are we might be close to a 20 percent increase in what's proposed in order to have premiums cover cost," Bergeron said.

"We're going to see where that goes. That's not at all confirmed. But, if true, a 20 percent increase, if that needs to go all to the appropriated budget, that by itself would be a 3.6 percent increase in our assessments."

Those are the assessments the district makes to member towns Lanesborough and Williamstown that voters each see in the form of, effectively, a bill that gets approved each spring at the annual town meeting.

For the current fiscal year, FY26, the district sent the towns assessments that were up from FY25 by 6.45 percent in Lanesborough and 7.59 percent in Williamstown.

Those hikes largely were driven by the 16 percent health insurance hike sought by the Berkshire Health Group to cover the cost of municipal employees covered by the joint purchase group.

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