BCC's '40 Under Forty' Winners to be Honored

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC), together with partners 1Berkshire and Mill Town Foundation, will honor the winners of its annual 40 Under Forty Awards on Thursday, March 27 at 5 pm in the Robert Boland Theater, located on the main campus at 1350 West Street, Pittsfield.  

Tickets are $75 per person (free for award winners and one guest per winner) and may be purchased online at www.berkshirecc.edu/40-tix. Proceeds benefit support Workforce programs at BCC, addressing immediate needs and helping to build a lasting endowment. 

According to a press release, 40 Under Forty celebrates talented people in the Berkshires, under the age of 40, who have a deep dedication to improving the quality of life for those living and working in our community. Nominees, who hail from throughout Berkshire County, are eligible for the award through their professional work and how it makes a difference, their personal commitment to their community, or other efforts to improve the quality of life for those living and working the Berkshires. 

Mill Town Foundation, for the second consecutive year, will provide funding for each 40 Under Forty Award winner to re-grant $1,000 to an eligible Berkshire-based nonprofit organization. 

Designed to promote purposeful giving, the Mill Town Foundation initiative encourages each award winner to research area nonprofit organizations to gain an extensive understanding of their mission and work before choosing which group to support. 

The winners, along with their non-profit of choice to receive the $1,000 funding, are: 

• Melissa Agosto, Director of Finance, Austen Riggs Center; donating to Berkshire Children’s Chorus 
• Abigail Allard, Development & Communications Manager, Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center; donating to Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center 
• Christian Bianchi, CEO, Berkshire Family YMCA; donating to Community Access to the Arts (CATA) 
• Dr. Ashley Clancy-Gagnon, Audiologist, Berkshire Medical Center; donating to Berkshire Humane Society 
• Kate DeWolf, Certified Nurse Midwife, Berkshire OB/GYN & Associates; donating to Berkshire Nursing Families  
• Marina Dominguez, Community Coordinator, Downtown Pittsfield / Founder, Katunemo Art & Healing / Owner, Maru Art & Studio; donating to Berkshire Immigrant Center 
• Grace Enchill, Attorney, Heller & Robbins PC; donating to 18 Degrees  
• Samantha Farella, Reading Specialist, Pittsfield Public Schools; donating to The Love of T Foundation  
• Luke Fitzgerald, Case Coordinator, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health / Executive Director, The Love of T Foundation; donating to The Love of T Foundation 
• Mystie Ford, Fraud and Loss Prevention Officer, Greylock Federal Credit Union; donating to No Paws Left Behind 
• Kelly Galvin, Program Director, Community Access to the Arts (CATA); donating to BRIDGE 
• Christopher Hantman, College and Career Readiness Coordinator, BART Charter Public School; donating to PopCares 
• Darci Hess, College and Career Readiness Coordinator, General Dynamics Mission Systems; donating to Berkshire Music School 
• Daniel Hudson, Executive Director, Images Cinema; donating to Images Cinema 
• Michael Jefferson, Family Medicine Physician Assistant, Community Health Programs; donating to Roots Rising  
• Kevin Kelly, Founder & CEO, After Hours Hospitality, LLC; donating to Berkshire Bounty  
• Matthew Kosiorek, Program Director, College Internship Program; donating to Wildcat Sports Group 
• Hayden Kuhn, President, Thunderbolt Ski Runners (TSR) / Pharmacist, Berkshire Community Pharmacy; donating to Roots Rising  
• Gabriela Leon, Outreach Coordinator/Recovery Coach, Berkshire Health Systems (Berkshire Connections); donating to Berkshire Humane Society’s Safe Pet Program 
• Cheryl Martin, SVP Consumer Banking, Lee Bank; donating to Berkshire Humane Society 
• Michael Massery, Owner/Head Coach, The Infield; donating to Baseball in the Berkshires 
• Brandy McKie, First Vice President, Retail Banking, Lee Bank; donating to 18 Degrees 
• Cailin McMahon, Special Education Teacher, Branches School of the Berkshires; donating to Road Runners Club of America  
• Christina Meucci, Owner, The Recovery Room; donating to Girls Inc. at the Gladys Brigham Center 
• Tiffany Moreno, Program Manager, Berkshire Community College; donating to Latinas413 
• Mary Morrison, Math Teacher, Pittsfield Public Schools (Pittsfield High School); donating to Berkshire United Way 
• LaTonia Morton, Behavioral Intervention Paraprofessional, Pittsfield Public Schools; donating to R.O.P.E. 
• Bethany Prince-Malloy, Program Director, Family Center of Northern Berkshire, Child Care of the Berkshires Inc.; donating to Child Care of the Berkshires Inc. 
• Adam Rice, CPA, Partner, Killeen Arace & Quinn PC; donating to No Paws Left Behind 
• Megan Rose, Attorney, Hilgers Graben; donating to Strong Little Souls   
• Heather Roy, Domestic Violence Specialist, Department of Transitional Assistance; donating to Elizabeth Freeman Center Inc. 
• Allen Scaccia, Project Manager, Senior Estimator, Thermo Expert; donating to Gladys Brigham Center 
• Ryan Sears, Executive Director, Commonwealth Collaborative; donating to Berkshire Pride 
• Taylor Staubach, Community Conservation Senior Manager, Berkshire Natural Resources Council / Founder, Berkshire Family Hikes; donating to Berkshire Natural Resources Council 
• Mary Summers, Owner, Tommy’s Compost Service; donating to Berkshire Agricultural Ventures 
• Jeanna Tinney, Founder & CEO, Romans 828, LLC; donating to Berkshire REIGN Youth Sports 
• Lyndsey Wadsworth, Systems Engineer, General Dynamics Mission Systems; donating to Elizabeth Freeman Center Inc. 
• Jen Weber, EMS Director, Lanesborough Ambulance; donating to Western Mass Critical Incident Stress Management  
• Rebecca Wehry, Executive Director of Development, Berkshire Community College; donating to Berkshire Community College Foundation 
• Andy Wrba, Program Director, Mill Town Foundation; donating to Focus Is Our Children 

WWII Veteran Reflects on D-Day at VFW Post Induction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:25PM / Saturday, June 06, 2026

The members in the picture are Bret Miller, Coast Guard, Desert Storm; Hank Morris, Army, Vietnam; Brad Havill, Navy, Global War on Terror; VFW Post 448 Vice Cmdr. Mark Pompi, Army, Global War on Terrorism, Afghanistan; Post Cmdr. Arnold Perras, Korea; Joe Difillipo, Army, Vietnam; Teri Billington, Navy, Desert Storm; and Carmen Ostrander, Air Force, Afghanistan.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Anthony Salatino Jr. says his memory is getting a little foggy about his time in the Army. 

But he remembers how terrible D-Day was, and feeling lucky he wasn't among those in the initial invasion force 82 years ago. 

 

"One of the most horrible things was in Normandy. We went shortly after D-Day. I got lucky, very lucky on D-Day. We went to a staging area the night before … and at the very end, somebody called, I was in headquarters, they called all the headquarters personnel at the center," the 103-year-old said. "We did not go. There's about 30 of us. The rest of the battalion was gone, and the reason for that was because there was another battalion coming from the States, and they had no headquarters. 

 

"We stayed back, but we did go to Normandy shortly after that, and when we went to Normandy, it was all over."

 

Salatino was attending an induction ceremony on Thursday at the Lt. John N. Truden VFW Post 448. Joseph Texidor, who served in the Army for 17 years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sworn in as the post's newest member. 

 

Salatino served in the Medical Corps and wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a World War I veteran wounded at Verdun. Salatino was in the Army for about three years.

 

"The whole memory is what I just told you, very, very alive to me," he said. "That is, I can never forget, never forget that."

 

D-Day on June 6, 1944, was the start of Operation Overlord, and the largest invading force to cross the English Channel since 1066. Their goal: to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.