Adams Historical Society Eagles Holiday Concert

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ADAMS, Mass. —The Adams Historical Society's annual holiday concert, featuring the Eagles Brass and Trombone Ensembles, will ring in the holidays at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30, in the Adams Free Library's G. A. R. Memorial Hall.
 
This year's concert will feature traditional Christmas carols, including "Joy to the World," "O ChristmasTree/The First Noel," and "What Child is This," along with contemporary arrangements of well-known holiday tunes such as "Jolly Old St. Nicholas/Up on the Housetop" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," as well as a bit of Bach.
 
The Eagles Trombone Ensemble, under the direction of Mike Oft, is conducted by Gerald Zaffuts, Kyle Smith and Ron Barron, retired principal trombone for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Eagles Brass Ensemble, a ten-piece brass band conducted by Deanna Fraher, has been performing for 30-plus years. Members of the ensemble come from the area and include former music instructors, professional musicians and amateur musicians with a passion for playing brass repertoire.
 
The public is invited to attend. There is no charge for admission. Memorial Hall is on the second floor of the Adams Free Library, 92 Park St. Please use the elevator entrance on Melrose Street to avoid the stairs.
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Hoosac Valley Seeks to Prevent 'Volatile' Assessments

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass.— The "volatile" shifts in Hoosac Valley Regional School District's town assessments year to year is hard for smaller towns to absorb; however, a proposed change to the regional agreement would fix that. 
 
During the Select Board meeting last week, Superintendent Aaron Dean presented the proposed change to the regional agreement that would set assessments based on a five-year rolling average rather than the annual student enrollment.
 
"The long-term goal is to make the assessment process a little bit more viable for people from year-to-year," he said. 
 
An ad hoc committee was convened to review the district's agreement, during which concerns arose about the rapid fluctuations in assessments.
 
"I think you have to look short term, and you have to look long term. The goal is to kind of level it off and make planning easier and flatten that curve in terms of how it's going to impact both communities," Dean said. 
 
Every year, it is a little more difficult for one community because they are feeling disproportionately impacted compared to the other, he said. 
 
"The transient nature of this population right now is like nothing I've ever seen," Dean said. 
 
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