SoCo Creamery creates ice cream flavors for BIFF
Great Barrington — SoCo Creamery will unveil three specially designed ice cream flavors as part of the 11th annual Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) set to run from Thursday, June 2, through Sunday, June 5.
Yo-Yo Road, honoring cellist and festival guest Yo-Yo Ma, is a combination of SoCo’s traditional chocolate ice cream, No. Six Depot’s Sumatra coffee, and Italian-style chocolate chips. Feel the Dern, a tribute to two-time Academy Award-nominated actor Bruce Dern, is a butter pecan-based ice cream infused with semi-sweet chocolate chips, pecans, and SoCo’s house-made butter crunch. Back by popular demand, Reel Friends Fudge pays homage to BIFF’s Reel Friends Film Society with a double dark-chocolate base and house-made caramel ripple with toasted coconut marshmallows.
All three ice creams are hand-crafted by SoCo Flavor Master Matt Scott and will be available in the SoCo Creamery scoop shop at 5 Railroad St.
–E.E.
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CHP-WIC gets program funding boost
Great Barrington — The Women, Infants & Children (WIC) nutrition program at Community Health Programs (CHP) has received a funding boost that will help to eliminate the program’s longstanding budget shortfalls.
CHP-WIC, which works with about 850 families in the South County region annually, received word last month of a nearly $57,000 annual funding increase for the fiscal year that will begin Friday, July 1. The WIC budget – a federally-funded, state-administered grant – has never paid for all the costs of CHP-WIC outreach and services and the WIC program deficit was nearly $58,000 in 2015 (slightly lower than in prior years). CHP has typically covered the WIC program loss through other revenue sources from CHP’s countywide healthcare network, but CHP-WIC will now be closer to a self-sustaining program, said Philip Morrison, CHP’s chief financial officer.
CHP is the contracted WIC provider for southern Berkshire County. The WIC program is an essential component of CHP’s comprehensive health care services for children and families.
–E.E.
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Fairfield Inn & Suites wins Performance Award
Great Barrington — The Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott has been presented with the Silver Performance Award by Marriott International, Inc. The award is given to brand establishments that rate in the to 20 percent of overall guest satisfaction scores.
“Our dedicated team is making a difference by consistently putting the guests’ needs first, enabling them to make the most of their time in the Berkshires. We are very proud that the associates create an atmosphere that our visitors can call home,” said General Manager Patty Jordan.
The Fairfield Inn & Suites also was recently rated the No. 1 hotel in Great Barrington by TripAdvisor.
–E.E.
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BTG receives grant from the Shubert Foundation
Pittsfield — Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) has announced has received a prestigious $45,000 grant from the New York City-based Shubert Foundation, which provides grant support to theatres throughout the country. The Shubert Foundation, Inc. was established in 1945 by Lee and J.J. Shubert in memory of their brother Sam, and is the sole shareholder of the Shubert Organization, Inc. which currently owns and operates 21 theatres.
–E.E.
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October Mountain Financial Advisors appoints new managing director
Lee — October Mountain Financial Advisors has announced the appointment of Gary M. Schiff as managing director. Formed earlier this year, October Mountain Financial Advisors is an alliance of Lee Bank and Springfield-based St. Germain Investment Management.
Schiff most recently served as vice president/senior investment advisor with the Private Client Group at TD Wealth in Pittsfield from 2001 – 2016. Previously, he joined Bank of Boston’s Berkshire Region senior management team in 1995, and held senior positions at the bank in marketing, communications, government, and public relations. Schiff is a graduate of Middlebury College, received his M.A. from Harvard University, and has attended the Cannon Financial Institute Trust School. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations. Schiff is presently a member of the Berkshire Funders’ Roundtable and serves as a corporator of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Foundation. He is a member of the Congregation Knesset Israel Investment Committee, the Berkshire County Estate Planning Council, and chair of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires Investment Committee. He is a past director and president of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, past director of the Berkshire Economic Development Corporation and the Colonial Theatre, and a former member of the Town of Lenox Planning Board, Berkshire County Regional Employment Board, and Berkshire Community College Business Advisory Committee.
–E.E.
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Shred Day at Salisbury Bank
Lakeville, Conn. — Salisbury Bank & Trust Company will sponsor a free Community Shred Day on Saturday, June 4, from 9 a.m. until noon at its Lakeville location. Each person may bring up to four boxes of paper (paper only; no binders) for shredding.
Salisbury Bank is proud to offer this service as a way of enriching the communities it serves. All shredded paper will be recycled.
–E.E.
