Cult Survivors to speak at Ventfort Hall

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LENOX, Mass. — Hear sisters, Elita Galvin and Karen Briggs, share their stories of how they grew up in a cult, The Bible Speaks, on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 4 pm at the mansion. 
 
A tea will be served after their presentation.
 
According to a press release:
 
Speakers will discuss how a small town bakery driver became a religious con man in small town New England. They will explore how The Bible Speaks came to be and the impact on the New England towns where Carl Stevens grew his religious empire.
 
Karen Briggs and Elita Galvin are the hosts of Children of Grace, a storytelling podcast that's reached listeners in 38 countries and charted in three. With over 40,000 listens in under two years and a growing community of 300+ loyal followers, Karen and Elita bring warmth, wit, and just the right amount of mischief to every episode. When they're not behind the mic, they're usually researching new ideas or spending time with family and friends.
 
Tickets are $45. Members receive a discount code for $5 off all ticket prices. Students 22 and under are $22. Ticket pricing includes access to the mansion throughout the day of this event from 10 am to 4 pm. 
 
Reservations are strongly encouraged as seats are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or call (413) 637-3206. 
 
Note that all tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker St. in Lenox.
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Dalton Eyes New Software to Streamline Payroll

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — Since taking on the role of town manager, Eric Anderson has been finding ways to streamline operations to save on labor hours — now he is eyeing improving workforce management. 
 
"By my rough math, we're chewing up some 1,500 hours a year doing payroll, and there's just no reason for that. The way we're doing it now is incredibly inefficient," he told the Select Board last week. 
 
The board approved Anderson's recommendation to undergo contract negotiations with TimeClock Plus, a scheduling software designed to simplify employee time tracking and workforce management.
 
The town has 62 paid employees who currently submit their timesheets on paper, which are then manually reviewed by department heads, who calculate hours, vacation time, and prepare cover sheets before forwarding them to the treasurer or town manager to be approved. 
 
The assistant treasurer then spends several days each week processing the town's payroll, Anderson said. 
 
As part of his efforts to streamline this process, Anderson looked at multiple different services narrowing it down to TimeClock Plus, or TCP, because of its ease of integration with the town's regular financial software and that it's commonly used by municipalities. 
 
"Some of the payroll programs are designed to go directly to payroll companies, but since we do our payroll in house, this cuts all the manual correlation, and it filters directly into our existing [Enterprise Resource Planning] financial software," he said. 
 
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