image description — The tree near the monument is believed to be a double balsam.

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North Adams Opens the Holiday Season with Tree Installation

Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
12:21PM / Monday, November 03, 2025Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City workers spent the morning on Monday installing this year's Christmas trees.

"We love this," Wire and Alarm Inspector Mitchell Meranti said. "Everybody looks forward to it."

The tree closest to city hall is a Blue Spruce donated by the Mancini Family on Hathaway Street.

Kathy Mancini said the tree has been an important part of their lives for over 30 years. She said her daughter Katie made her first communion in 1993 and all she wanted for her first communion gift was a pine tree sapling to plant

"My husband's uncle Henry Dean went out into the woods and came home with the tiniest sapling I have ever seen," Mancini said. "They planted it and that is the tree that we just donated to the city."

She said the tree is well over 40 feet.

"We always decorated it at Christmas time until we couldn't, and it has been just such a sentimental tree for us…it just brought so much joy to this neighborhood," she said. "But I know I am not going to be here forever. We talked it over with our daughter…and we felt what better way to memorialize it…we wanted to donate it to the city for everyone to enjoy because it is such a beautiful tree."

She praised the city workers and said they cut her a slab from the tree. They plan to place photos of their daughter with the tree as well as a photo of the tree at city hall as a gift.

The monument tree was donated by Juan Bolte from Houghton Street. Meranti said it was a double balsam, about 30 feet tall.

"If you look at the branches on a single balsam, they are flatter. Double balsam has more of a rounded look to it," Meranti said.

Meranti said that although installing the tree was easy, getting it to downtown North Adams was a challenge.

"It's the first time we've had to unhook the truck from the trailer. I had to get in position first with the bucket to get the harness on," he said. "Then we had to back the trailer in. In very tight quarters, we had to back the trailer in and unhook that. Then we drove the crane in and got him set up. Then we reversed the whole operation."

"It went in very smoothly, and it is a beautiful tree."

Once both trees are secure, Meranti will spend the time between now and Thanksgiving stringing the lights.

This story will be updated with more information on the trees.

Tags: Christmas tree,

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Berkshires Remember First Responders, Military Personnel Lost at 9/11 and Aftermath

By Jack Guerino & Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:30PM / Friday, September 11, 2026

North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey, with Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre speaks at Friday's memorial.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The county's two cities held memorials on Friday morning to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Great Barrington was scheduled to hold a dedication of piece of steel from the World Trade Center at 6 p.m.

North Adams held its ceremony in the fire station's side garden starting at exactly 8:46 a.m., the time Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower.

The small square of grass was packed with police officers, firefighters, wire and alarm personnel, dispatchers, and Northern Berkshire EMS employees, and city employees, officials and community members.

After the ceremonial tolling of the bell, an honor guard presented the colors.

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said it felt odd welcoming people to a very solemn event.

"What happened 25 years ago put a mark on emergency services. It put additional pressure on police, fire, EMS, and dispatchers," Macksey said. "While we remember those who lost their lives during 9/11, and those who ran to help as many as they could during 9/11, we have to pause and appreciate those who continue to serve despite that awful threat that occurred 25 years ago."

She said it was a direct attack on the United States and all of its people.

"It was a question of our freedoms and our ability to be safe in our communities," the mayor said. "I can say today that here in North Adams, it could happen to us, but I know with the professionalism of our Fire Department, Police Department, EMS, and our dispatch team, we are a better community; we are a safer community than we were 25 years ago."

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