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Weekend Outlook: Flower Power

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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Check out the events happening this weekend including First Fridays, musicals, and more.

Editor's Picks

First Fridays

North Adams: Holden Street will be closed to car traffic to make room for a variety of activities, including live music, food trucks, and vendors. This month's theme is Flower Power. 

Businesses in downtown North Adams will have extended hours, and many will have galleries or will be hosting openings, closings, and other special events focused on starting fresh. 

More information here.

Pittsfield: Downtown Pittsfield will be alive with activities, including a maker's market, an arts walk, and a Family Fun Zone. 

There will also be live entertainment at Persip Park and throughout North Street.

More information here.

Multiple Days

'The Prom Musical'
Berkshire Community College
Showings Friday through Sunday

A small-town prom is getting too much attention when a student wants to bring her girlfriend as a date. A troupe of Broadway stars arrive in the conservative community out on a mission to help in this musical comedy.

More information and tickets here.

Baby Animals
Hancock Shaker Village
Time: 11 to 4, through May 10

A sure sign of spring is the arrival of baby animals at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield. See lambs, piglets, calves, chicks and kids and enjoy events and activities throughout the Village, from daily talks about the farm and the Shakers to craft demonstrations to walks along the Farm & Forest Trail.

Admission is $8 to $20, free for children 12 and younger. More information here.

Friday

Drag Open Stage
Door Prize, North Adams
Time: 8 to 10 p.m.

Hosted by Jackie Legs and Vuronika Baked, spend the night watching or even performing on stage no matter what talent you want to show off.

Tickets $10 in advance, and $15 at the door.

More information and tickets here.

Karaoke Fridays at Methesulah
Methuselah Bar and Lounge, Pittsfield
Time: 9 p.m.

Sing your favorite songs.

More information here.

Halfway to Halloween
Lenox Library
Time: 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.

Bring your kids to get in the spooky spirit and dress up, enjoy snacks, play games, and more.

More information here.

Saturday 

City of the Dead 

Pittsfield Cemetery
Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Interested in learning about the history of the 175-year-old Pittsfield Cemetery? Hear about the tragic and fascinating stories of some of those buried there and more.

Cost is $10; RSVP to info@berkshirehomehistory.com.

More information here.

 

Sheep to Shawl Festival
Sheep Hill, Williamstown
Time: 11 to 3

Williamstown Rural Lands invites the community to have fun with sheep and more at the biennial Sheep to Shawl Festival. Will include demonstrations of border collie sheep herding, shearing, spinning, weaving and dying. Vendors include pottery, maple syrup, crafts, food and raffles. Held rain or shine.
 
Suggested donation $5 and up. Parking is limited so carpooling or other transport is recommended. Daily updates on social media and the website. 
 
More information here.

Kentucky Derby Night
Steeple City Social, North Adams
Time: 6 to 9 p.m.

Dress up in your best derby attire and enjoy snacks and drinks. Bring your best derby hat to win the hat contest.

More information here.

Birds of Prey with Tom Ricardi


Milne Public Library
Time: 1 to 3 p.m.

Bring your kids to enjoy a live birds of prey presentation.

More information here.

 

Sunday

Central Berkshire Record Store
The Stationery Factory, Dalton
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Central Berkshire Record Show is returns for the fifth consecutive year. 

Hosted by Berkshirecat Productions, it will feature DJ sets, food, drinks, and 1000s of Records, CDs and more from 30 tables of vendors from New England.  A line up of DJs will spin music throughout the day.   

Tickets can be purchased for $4 at the door, with VIP entry available for $10. 

More information here.

May Day Races
Nessacus Regional Middle School
Time: 9 a.m.

The annual fundraiser is back. Make sure to grab your running shoes and race the day away.

More information and tickets here.

All Ten and John
PortaVia, Dalton
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.

Enjoy this Sunday's music series with All Ten and John.

More information here.


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Letter: Williamstown Should Adopt Ban on Sewage Sludge Land Application

Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

This year, Williamstown Town Meeting will be considering whether to adopt a new bylaw that would prohibit the land application of sewage sludge or sewage sludge-derived products (biosolids). The ban would apply to land application of sludge and biosolids to farmland as a soil amendment or to home gardens where store bought compost may contain biosolids. The intent of this bylaw is to protect farmland, water sources, food crops and ultimately animals and people from PFAS contaminants.

PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of "forever chemicals," and are linked to health issues like cancer, liver damage and immune system dysfunction. They enter wastewater systems through residential, commercial and industrial sources. Conventional treatment processes are largely ineffective at removing them. As a result, PFAS pass through treatment systems into surface waters or accumulate in sewage sludge/biosolids.

Most states and the federal law have been slow to regulate this activity. The EPA's January 2025 Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment identified human health risks associated with land-applied biosolids containing as little as 1 part per billion of PFAS and yet federal law does not yet impose limits on PFAS in biosolids.

A growing number of states are adopting a range of regulatory and monitoring strategies. Maine is the only state so far to impose an outright ban on land application of biosolids from wastewater treatment plants, while Connecticut has banned the sale of biosolids containing PFAS for land application. In New York State, at least two communities, Thurston and Cameron, have banned the land application of biosolids.

At this time, we don't know of any farms in Williamstown that currently use biosolids. But we also don't know the future of the farms in our community. Biosolids can also be found in some commercially bagged compost. While this bylaw would not ban the sale of these products, we hope it will raise awareness and encourage our residents and local vendors to find biosolid-free products for use.

Let's keep our lands safe for our children and future generations. Williamstown's Select Board, Agricultural Commission, and the Board of Health recommend adoption of this article. We hope you will support this article on May 19, 7 p.m. at the town meeting at Williamstown Elementary School.

Stephanie Boyd
Sharon Wyrrick

Williamstown, Mass. 

 

 

 

 

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