Berkshire Trail student nature program keeps track of animals in winter

One great advantage of attending school in the Hilltowns is that students can enter nature’s classroom simply by walking out the door. There, coyote, bobcats, squirrels and other animals leave behind a narrative of sorts, especially in winter, when their tracks leave clear evidence of their presence in the snow-covered woods and meadows.

Last week, at the Berkshire Trail Elementary School in Cummington, some 80 students from first through fifth grade had a chance to study animal tracks and "predator-prey relationships" during an all-day Animals in Winter workshop presented by 11 AmeriCorps workers.

Hilltown photo exhibit on the move

A girl skating on a pond and boy waving a rhubarb leaf like a magic wand as if to summon spring are two images that are part of a photo exhibit now on display at the Worthington Library.

Hilltown fire departments win grants for equipment

WORTHINGTON - Seven area fire departments Monday received grants ranging from $1,500 to $2,000 that will go to buy boots, tools, pumps and protective clothing.

Plainfield woman enjoys a 'kinship' that spans nine decades

Grandmotherhood, it seems, does not always depend on bloodlines. For Plainfield resident Kathryn Metcalfe, who is 99, that distinction came unexpectedly, in the form a 9-year-old girl named Sage Guiel.

Cummington welcomes fire truck (and Santa)

Arriving just in time to spread good cheer for Christmas, the town's brightly shining, new 3,000 gallon vacuum tanker fire truck was delivered the Cummington Public Safety Complex last Saturday.

Worthington woman's effort to send cheer to troops keeps growing

Worthington resident Louise Finn received a whopping 12,450 cards in response to her call for signed Christmas cards that have now been sent to Soldiers' Angels, a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization, where they will be placed in Christmas boxes to be sent to every deployed American soldier around the world in time for the holiday.

Worthington farm celebrates year with trio of successes

The saying goes, good things happen in threes or, at least in this case, trees. For John Patrick Welch - best known around town as J.P.