Berkshire Green Drinks to Feature Hoffmann Bird Club

11:45AM / Thursday, May 15, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Berkshire Green Drinks will host a presentation by Audrey Werner and Steven Miller of the Hoffmann Bird Club on Wednesday, May 21, at 6:00 p.m.

The event, titled "Flock Together with Hoffmann Bird Club," will be hybrid, taking place online via Zoom and in person at The Barn Kitchen & Bar of the Williams Inn, located at 103 Spring St, Williamstown, MA. An in-person social gathering will begin around 5:15 p.m.

The presentation will introduce attendees to the Hoffmann Bird Club, a Berkshire County nature organization. Werner and Miller, members of the club's executive committee, will discuss the club's history, upcoming bird walks and events, and its community science initiatives focused on bird conservation. The event is open to all, regardless of birding experience or equipment.

Participants can learn about birding in the Berkshires and how to get involved with the Hoffmann Bird Club.

Registration and further information are available at tinyurl.com/May2025-Berks-Green-Drinks.

The Hoffmann Bird Club, founded in 1940, aims to promote the study of birds in Berkshire County. Meetings are held from September to May and are open to the public. The club organizes field trips for birders of all levels.

Berkshire Green Drinks is an informal monthly gathering featuring speakers on environmental topics, followed by discussion. The event is sponsored and organized by the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT). For more information, contact BEAT at [email address removed] or by phone at (413) 464-9402.

Tags: BEAT,

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Williamstown Select Board Evaluates Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:39AM / Wednesday, October 28, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — In 2022, the town still was recovering from the twin blows of a global pandemic and a lawsuit that exposed disturbing allegations against the town's police department.

The latter ultimately led to the resignation of the police chief and the town manager. To replace the manager, the Select Board at the time turned to Robert Menicocci.

Menicocci represented a break in style from his immediate predecessor, who was a more prominent voice in town government. That prominence, in part, was a product of the times: When town boards and committees were not meeting in-person and access to town hall itself was limited at the height of the pandemic, the manager's voice in Zoom meetings was more front and center.

In his four years in the corner office, Menicocci has helped shepherd the police department on its path to certification and helped the town weather the fiscal storm of skyrocketing costs linked to inflation – particularly sharp increases in the cost of health insurance that hit hard for a labor-intensive endeavor like municipal government. All the while, he has been a little more taciturn, while always willing to participate, when appropriate, with responsive answers in discussions of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

On Monday, the current Select Board – completely turned over from the 2022 edition – pushed Menicocci to be more of a cheerleader for the town.

"Do you see your role more as a behind-the-scenes guy and our role is to be out in public?" board member Matthew Neely asked Menicocci during the board's review of the manager's job performance. "Or is there more of a role for you in that? So many people, if I say your name, they're like, ‘Who?'

"I would have assumed your role would be more public facing as well, and more, for lack of a better word, leading the charge as opposed to running day-to-day operations. I feel you're strong running day-to-day. But something we all wish is we had a little more of a proactive [manager] …. Since we need development, need all these things in town so much. … I'd love to see more outward energy, I guess.

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