Dalton Firefighter Recognized for Going Above and Beyond

DALTON, Mass. — The Dalton Fire Department is celebrating one of its own with the inaugural Above and Beyond Award.

Firefighter and emergency medical technician Ryan Foley was presented the award in December.

"In the past, had a couple of different types of awards just trying to recognize folks for their hard work and efforts throughout the year and encourage people to sort of push themselves professionally," said Charlotte Crane, fire prevention officer and EMT.

Interim Fire Chief Chris Cachat proposed the recognition after noticing many of the firefighters going "above and beyond" with their work.

Foley was selected for always doing more than needed. For example, he helped install washers and dryers for the crew to use for their gear, and worked on the renovation of the station's basement into a  day room and workout area on his days off.

"He's very professional, very driven, and really gets right to work, doing the tasks that are assigned to them on a daily basis. But then, once those are complete, he often will start working on other things, whether that's cleaning something that hasn't been assigned that day." Crane said.

"But in particular, once he came on full time, he started working towards a couple of different projects that were really helpful and beneficial to the department, including helping to move and install some washers and dryers for our equipment, and that's down in the ladder bay, putting together information on some of the equipment that we have on our apparatus, he's also been incredibly instrumental in renovating our basement space."

Foley has been with the department for two years and became a full-time firefighter about six months ago. He is also an assistant chief at the Huntington Fire Department and has a job outside of the department.

"In addition to sort of the physical efforts that he has made here in the department, he continues to pursue, professional development. He's regularly involved in various trainings through the Massachusetts Fire Academy. And on top of that, he still continues to balance all of the other demands of his life, including, a family and another job and a leadership role in a neighboring town, the Huntington Fire Department. So he's a busy guy, certainly skilled, but very driven," Crane said.

Foley said he grew up always wanting to be a firefighter.

"My grandfather was a police officer. I've had other family members in different lines of service. It's just something I love doing. Of course, everybody says they get into this to help people, but that's sort of black and white, there's a lot more to it than that," he said. "It's the day-to-day stuff — it's very rewarding.

"The people that recognize the effort you put in and the camaraderie with different people that you work with. And there's a lot that goes into it, a lot of people say it's the best job in the world, and I guess I tend to be one of those people."

One of his proudest moments was when he was chosen to move from per diem to the full-time post, a spot that many have to wait to open up.

"Just the recognition of being at the top of the list for these guys on their per diem. They have a lot of people that work per diem hours and want to be full time here and as soon as that position opened up, I was the first one on the list," Foley said. "It's kind of a defining moment to finally be called in for a full-time position."

Foley said the award shocked him and that it felt great to be recognized and helps motivate others to do the same.

"It's nice. It gives everybody something to look up to strive for. It's kind of why I do it. If I see something that needs to be done and I do it, if there's something I can assist with, then I feel like I can offer to the department and give back a little bit and put some extra time in," he said.  "And I do it, I don't really think too much of it. So if at the end of the day it gives somebody else something to look up to and strive for."

Foley is always striving for success as he takes courses to improve his training and become a leader. He hopes to one day work his way up the fire pole in the future.

"I just took an officer class, and I'm signed up to take a instructor class, and a Massachusetts fire and life and safety class, a lot of different goals and ambitions to maybe work my way up to chain of command in the future, and just kind of give back to the crew, knowledge-wise and training-wise," he said.

Foley said working at the Dalton Fire Department has been great and that he enjoys being able to help to protect Dalton.

"I think we got a great crew here, everybody works hard, everybody pitches in, a lot of good camaraderie between the chefs here, and everybody gets along. And I appreciate being able to be here and put my time in and give back to the town of Dalton first," he said. 

Drury High Students Get a Taste of Local Beef

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:25PM / Saturday, November 07, 2026

The pilot program is being funded by a $180K federal grant and is part of a partnership of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures and Mass Farms to School. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High School students don't have to ask "where's the beef" from, now that the school has partnered to bring local meat into its food service system.

Nonprofit Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) is partnering with Mass Farms to School to bring locally produced ground beef to school cafeterias as part of a pilot initiative funded by a $180,133 USDA Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant. The program is named for the retired Vermont senator who wrote the original legislation in 2010. 

North Adams Public Schools is one of two school district partners on the pilot project, Lenox being the other. 

BAV hopes the project can takeoff and expand into more schools or institutions. 

"We're really hoping that it takes off, and that we, in the sense of we can work with, or more schools can be part of this in the future, and we can kind of work out the kinks, which I think is part of what this is all about" said Audrey Hackett, BAV's communications and development manager.

She said part of the nonprofit's mission is to help strengthen the local food system and work with local farmers.

"Part of BAV's larger work to strengthen our local food system. So a lot of what we do is work directly with farmers and support a lot of livestock farmers," she said. "More than 40 percent of our farmers in our region are livestock, and so we work directly with them oftentimes, but it's also increasingly an opportunity to work, you know, a level up at the food system level to bring together partners for projects like this that bring more local food into to our not only our schools. I mean, there are lots of opportunities across institutions throughout our region, hospitals, prison systems, nursing homes, and all of that remains to be done." 

Last week, students were having burgers made from meat brought by Marty's Local, a regional food distributor that works with more than 160 farms and food producers. 

Marty's Local CMO Sandra Thomas said it was great to partner with BAV to help bring the meat to the school, citing that getting more local meat into the market fills a gap in the local food system. Thomas was able to work with Cherry Point Beef, a Western Mass distributor that sources cattle from four local farms.

Food Services Director Thomas Lark said they are excited to be a part of the program and that it's important to be able to showcase local food on the menu, especially for the students to be able to try these new things.

"We want them to see local food on the menu, to know that it's coming from somewhere they recognize. A lot of the time with school lunch, there's a little impression of like, oh, what's this? Where did this come from?" he said. "And so, this is a great way to say, this is what it is. This is where it comes from. Like, it's just down the road. You've driven past here before, and have them understand that, like, we're serving local stuff too. It's not mystery meat from far away."

Lark also said they have been working with the meat since earlier this year, testing out new ideas to bring to the students like a Korean beef bowl.

"Was a new thing, but we thought new ingredient, new recipe, let's really highlight it, and it was pretty successful. We're running it again next Monday. Actually, Marty's truck was here this morning delivering the beef for next Monday, and we're going to run that again. And that was one where the students who were willing to try it really liked it, and were telling their friends like, "Oh, you should have gotten this." So we're excited for Monday, we'll probably see even more kids trying it out," he said.

The North Adams Public Schools were highlighted last year by the state for its farm-to-school initiatives to bring fresh, local produce to students. 

A couple students who had the burger for lunch said it was good.