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Hinsdale Recognizes Their Emergency Management Director, Tours Disaster Bus

Bolduc has been with the organization for 38 years and counting

HINSDALE, Mass — The Central Regional Planning Committee honored longtime Hinsdale Emergency Manager, Raymond Bolduc.

Bolduc has been with the organization for 38 years and counting.

Members of the community, MEMA members, and others who have worked with Bolduc attended to show their support.

Not only did they recognize Bolduc, but attendees also toured of the newly renovated rehab bus, that is available 24/7 to county fire, local police, state police, county dive teams, and the community.

"A lot of Ray's hard work, and he got all the money to restore this bus which goes out 24/7 whenever they need it. It was his tireless efforts, honestly, his tireless efforts of getting small grants here and small grants there and talking to other communities," said Pittsfield Fire Chief Thomas Sammons.

"It was just a good time with the bus now back together again that we honor Ray for all of his hard work."

MEMA surprised Bolduc with a Massachusetts Professional Emergency Manager certification.

Bolduc says they caught him "flatfooted."

"It's been a lot of work, it's been a lot of fun, we've accomplished a lot," Bolduc thanked everyone.

Larry Turner, former Hinsdale fire chief, started the rehab bus project decades ago and worked to fix the new one. It was completed just a couple of months ago.

Turner said the region needed a rehab vehicle in the early 2000's after an incident in July when he was a firefighter. With hot summer temperatures, firefighters needed a place to drink water and cool down. 

The rehab bus fit this purpose.

"We got one that was a real cheap price, and then we just started deciding what we wanted to do and what we wanted to do inside to get the guys inside to warm them up when it's cold and cool the down when it's hot," he said. "That's when we decided to go ahead and build this."

The bus has a freezer, a microwave, a bathroom, air conditioner and heater, a generator, and radios making it a command vehicle as well.

That bus was purchase and built out through the firemen's association. In 2023, that bus needed to be fixed and upgraded. Bolduc sought out the grants to be able to cover the cost. 

"Ray is the best procurement officer I have ever come across. He is phenomenal about getting grants and money to do this stuff. So he started looking into this and he started talking to surrounding towns. Now they're giving us their allotment of money to go towards this because we've been in their town with this and doing it," Turner said. "Bottom line the association did not pay a penny to do the work because Ray got us enough grant money to do everything."

Lorri Gifford, Massachusetts Emergency Management grants unit supervisor, applauded Bolduc and was happy to be able to work with him.

"That is what you do, whatever they need, you do that. We are so proud to have been able to provide you with the regular funding that you received as well as dig into our pockets scrape up as much as we could and provide some additional funding to help get your bus back on the road. We know how important this bus is for Hinsdale and for every community within driving distance," she said.

Social Service Organizations Highlight Challenges, Successes at Poverty Talk

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:04AM / Sunday, April 05, 2026

Dr. Jennifer Michaels of the Brien Center demonstrates how to use Narcan. Easy access to the drug has cut overdose deaths in the county by nearly half. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Recent actions at the federal level are making it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

Brad Gordon, executive director of Upside413, said he felt like he was doing a disservice by not recognizing national challenges and how they draw a direct line from choices being made by the Trump administration and the challenges the United States is facing. 

"They more generally impact people's ability to work their way out of poverty, and that's really, that's really the overarching dynamic," he said. 

"Poverty is incredibly corrosive, and it impacts all the topics that we'll talk about today." 

His comments came during a conversation on poverty hosted by Berkshire Community Action Council. Eight local service agency leaders detailed how they are supporting people during the current housing and affordability crisis, and the Berkshire state delegation spoke to their own efforts.

The event held on March 27 at the Berkshire Athenaeum included a working lunch and encouraged public feedback. 

"All of this information that we're going to gather today from both you and the panelists is going to drive our next three-year strategic plan," explained Deborah Leonczyk, BCAC's executive director. 

The conversation ranged from health care and housing production to financial literacy and child care.  Participating agencies included Upside 413, The Brien Center, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Child Care of the Berkshires. 

The federal choices Gordon spoke about included allocating $140 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investing $38 billion to convert warehouses into detention centers, cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, a proposed 50 percent increase in the defense budget, and cutting federal funding for supportive housing programs. 

Gordon pointed to past comments about how the region can't build its way out of the housing crisis because of money. He withdrew that statement, explaining, "You know what? That's bullshit, actually."

"I'm going to be honest with you, that is absolute bullshit. I have just observed over the last year or so how we're spending our money and the amount of money that we're spending on the federal side, and I'm no longer saying in good conscience that we can't build our way out of this," he said. 

Upside 413 provided a "Housing Demand in Western Massachusetts" report that was done in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Donahue Institute of Economic and Public Policy Research. It states that around 23,400 units are needed to meet current housing demand in Western Mass; 1,900 in Berkshire County in 2025.