‘Be Our Guest’ program to offer free admission for hospitality employees
Lenox — Beginning Saturday, May, 12, and running through Thursday, May 31, 10 Berkshire County cultural attractions will collaborate via the “Be Our Guest!” initiative to offer free admission to their properties for hospitality and tourism industry employees of Berkshire County.
Rebecca Brien, director of sales at the Hilton Garden Inn, commented: “So often, a person can live and work in the Berkshires but never get a chance to see the things that draw tourists to the area. By welcoming the local hotels to see these attractions, it will allow them to share their experience with insight and passion.”
The area attractions participating in the program are Berkshire Botanical Garden, the Berkshire Museum, the Bidwell House Museum, Chesterwood, the Clark Art Institute, Hancock Shaker Village, Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, the Mount, Naumkeag and Ventfort Hall. “Be Our Guest!” entitles an employee of the hospitality and tourism sector plus one guest to free entry to the sites when mentioning the program to admission staff upon arrival. Specific dates and hours vary by location and those who wish to take advantage of the program are advised to contact individual attractions for additional details. To encourage future communication, participants will be asked for their email addresses and places of work.
–E.E.
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BerkShares to hold networking event
Lenox — On Wednesday, May 9, at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby of Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, BerkShares Inc. will hold a business-to-business networking event for those who accept BerkShares at their business and those who want to learn more about the region’s local currency.
This event is the culmination of this year’s BerkShares Ambassadors program, which is aimed at facilitating a network of citizen advocates for locally-owned businesses and community banks. The event is also an opportunity for business owners to become ambassadors themselves by catalyzing more BerkShares activity and identifying new opportunities to recirculate the currency Since their debut 12 years ago, an estimated 10 million BerkShares have passed through businesses across the Berkshire region, keeping money circulating locally.
This event is free to attend. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information or to RSVP, contact BerkShares at (413) 528-1737 or info@berkshares.org.
–E.E.
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Becket Arts Center installs chairlift
Becket — The Becket Arts Center has announced the installation of a new mechanized chairlift, which will enable patrons who cannot utilize stairs to reach its second-floor gallery.
The chairlift, which looks and acts just like an elevator, has been built after years of fundraising. It represents a broad collaboration among official agencies and individual citizens. In addition to the town of Becket, its commissions and officials, major support has come from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Barbara and Gunther Stuhlmann Fund and Central Berkshire Fund, and Anne Leonhardt and the Leonhardt Family. Additional support came from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund.
“This will be a real revolution for cultural programming in Becket” said BAC fundraising chair Ted Greenwood. “For years, seniors and patrons with disabilities have struggled up the Arts Center’s elegant winding staircase … Now the chairlift will make the ascent swift and safe.”
–E.E.
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HospiceCare in the Berkshires earns Hospice Honors
Pittsfield — HospiceCare in the Berkshires has announced that it has been named a 2018 Hospice Honors recipient by HEALTHCAREfirst, the leading provider of internet-based home health and hospice software, billing and coding services, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys, and advanced analytics.
HCIB was one of only six organizations in Massachusetts to be recognized. To earn the designation, HCIB had to be above the national average in at least 20 of 24 evaluated questions. Award criteria were based on hospice CAHPS survey results for the evaluation period of October 2016 through September 2017. Award recipients were identified by evaluating performance on a set of 24 quality-indicator measures. Performance scores were aggregated from all completed surveys and compared on a question-by-question basis to a national performance score calculated from all partnering hospices contained in HEALTHCAREfirst’s hospice CAHPS database.
–E.E.
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Salisbury Bank to offer seminar on the basics of Medicare
Lakeville, Conn. — On Thursday, May 10, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Town Grove, Salisbury Bank will offer a seminar on Medicare choices and options for eligible applicants.
In the seminar, attendees will be provided with an overview of Medicare as well as the information they need to make decisions about their Medicare choices. Topics will include enrollment periods, choices, Medicare supplement insurance and the various state programs.
The seminar will be presented by Michael Beck, who has been the municipal agent for the town of Salisbury’s elderly and senior services director since 2006 and a certified choices counselor through the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging since 2007. He has been an instructor for the AARP safe driving course and is also an AARP tax aide counselor and site director.
Reservations are suggested but not required. To reserve a place, contact Kevin Norton by calling (860) 453-3497, or emailing knorton@salisburybank.com and typing “MEDICARE” in the subject line.
–E.E.
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Jewish Women’s Foundation of Berkshire County seeks proposals
Pittsfield — The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Berkshire County, an associate of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, is soliciting grant proposals from nonprofit, Berkshires-based organizations for projects or programs aimed at “fulfilling unmet needs in the Berkshire community,” specifically those that meet clients’ basic needs for shelter, food and clothing; and promote the development of life skills such as cooperation, communication, academics, literacy and empowerment.
Both Jewish and non-Jewish organizations are encouraged to apply for grants up to $3,500. All proposals must be submitted by Wednesday, May 30, via the online grant application. Paper applications will not be accepted. Final decisions will be announced in October. For more information, contact Phyllis Cohen, grant committee chair, at phyllis111cohen@gmail.com.
–E.E.
