Pittsfield Airport Develops Educational Programing

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
02:00PM / Friday, October 23, 2026Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Airport is collaborating with Miss Hall's School for the development of a Horizons Program, introducing the school's students to various careers and opportunities in aviation.

The program was presented to the Airport Commission at its meeting last month, after the school reached out to the organization to inquire about doing one of their internships at the airport, Commissioner Michael Preihs told iBerkshires.

Preihs and another commissioner are assisting in the process of setting up the program.

So far, there are five girls interested in participating in the program, which is projected to start on Oct. 28, Preihs told the commission.

"It looks like there will be a few two-hour sessions at the airport introducing the students to the various careers and opportunities in aviation," he told iBerkshires.

A decade ago, there were not many women in aviation, Preihs told the commission.

"When I hired with [American Airlines] there were three women, and that's it. That was probably 20 to 30 percent," he said.

This is a good program to show girls about careers in aviation, whether it is mechanics, airline pilots, airport management, or other areas, Preihs said.

This is not the only education program in development. The airport commission is also working on developing a Berkshire Aviation & Aerospace Pathway program for Berkshire County schools.

The project was presented to the commission in the spring and is hoped to begin at the start of the 2027-28 school year, Preihs told iBerkshires.com

"It has not yet been determined as to what school/schools in Berkshire County will be participating in the project. I have a meeting with [Mayor Peter Marchetti] later this month to discuss the details of the program and how and if it might be implemented," he said in an email correspondence to iBerkshires.

The state has earmarked $250,000 for the development of this project. However, the airport cannot directly receive the funding, so officials will meet with the City Council to determine the details of the funding and how it's distributed, Preihs said.

Tags: miss halls school, pittsfield airport,

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Pittsfield's This and That Sports Celebrating Six Years

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:34PM / Friday, October 23, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — This and That Sports is celebrating its sixth birthday with a party.

Owner Reggie Davis opened the collectables and card store at 128 Fenn St., pursuing a hobby he has had since he was a teenager.

He started with small card shows and later collected a broad range of items, including sports memorabilia, autographs, Beanie Babies, and Matchbox cars.

"It's been a long time, and it's not just cards. I mean, I collect everything. I love sports memorabilia, autographs," he said.

Originally from Great Barrington, he moved to Connecticut and operated a collectibles store there from 2004 to 2014 before moving back to Berkshire County. He worked for FedEx before opening the new store in 2020.

For the first six months, he balanced the store with his career with FedEx, with help from his wife, Crystal, who worked around her own overnight hospital shifts. He left FedEx to focus on the store full time and works with his son, Bret.

He said it is more than a job and he is happy to open his doors to the collecting community.

"It's like something that I looked at as a pleasure business. It wasn't about the money. It was more like bringing the collecting part of the hobby to Berkshire County," he said.

Davis said he misses live baseball in Pittsfield, recalling Pittsfield Mets games. He said collecting brings him closer to that feeling of watching a local team when he was younger.

"I've always remembered growing up as a kid of the Pittsfield Mets and then the Pittsfield Suns and baseball being here and I was a big sports person, I played a lot of sports, and it's kind of sad and I think I want to continue the sports collecting part, the hobby. You can't go to a baseball game here unless it's like a high school game. So it's kind of continuing the collecting part of the hobby without the actual sports being here," he said.

Davis said the store's customers have become friends. He added that he likes to see the younger generation open packs of cards.

"The amazing part about it is not just the kids, but the customers. Like, I have customers that've been coming in for four, five, six [years] even new ones that just started coming in like a month ago," he said. "We've been out to dinner with these people. We travel. Customers have become friends, even close friends, which is nice."

He said one of the most challenging parts of the business has been to keep everything in stock especially with the surge in popularity of Pokemon cards.

"We have people that stop in all the time, and they're like wow you got a great selection of Pokemon, you have a big selection, and I think that's you know we have distribution for sports and Pokemon, but it sells so quick," he said. "I think the hardest thing is to be able to keep product on the shelf."

Not only does he sell collectibles, but he also purchased a card grading company called Revolutionary Card Grading that he opened next door. The company, based in Georgia, produces specialized color-matched designs but card grading and customer submissions are now handled locally since taking full ownership of the company last year.

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