Zonta Club Honors Local Women

03:33PM / Tuesday, February 17, 2026Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — To celebrate International Women's Day, the Zonta Club of Berkshire County will host its 4th International Women's Day Recognition Celebration on Friday, March 6, 2026 at the Berkshire Hills Country Club.

The event will begin at 5:30 pm.

Jackie Melendez, President of the Zonta Club announced that this year five area women will be honored for their contributions to support and empower women.

"We're delighted to highlight the accomplishments and contributions of these women in our community," shared Melendez. "Through their work, the lives of area women and girls are supported and empowered."

The women to be honored at the event are Divya Chaturvedi, Executive Director of the Elizabeth Freeman Center; Lorena Dus, Director of Client and Community Services at Berkshire Immigrant Center; Shela Levante, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts; Brenda Opperman who was previously an Associate Professor at the U.S. Naval War College and Maria Rundle, Executive Director of Flying Cloud Institute.

"Each of the women chosen to be honored this year make significant contributions to the empowerment of women or girls through their work and we are thrilled to recognize them," said Melendez.

The Zonta Club of Berkshire County, founded in 1994, works to advance the status of women and girls through community service projects including The Period Project and provides scholarships to young women embarking on education. For tickets to the Women's Recognition event visit www.zontaberkshire.org or email Zontaberkshire@gmail.com.

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15 People Displaced in Pittsfield Home Fires

Staff Reports11:35AM / Sunday, October 11, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Fifteen people were displaced after 2-alarm home fires this weekend on Springside Avenue and Elaine Drive.

On Friday evening, the Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 209 Springside Ave., which took a four-hour battle to extinguish and resulted in a partial roof collapse. The next day, on Saturday evening, crews knocked down a fire at 121 Elaine Drive in about an hour.

The garage and part of the single-family home on Elaine Drive were gutted to the frame, along with a vehicle parked in the driveway. On Springside Avenue, the top level and porch of the multifamily were burned through.

A GoFundMe has been started for the family of the Elaine Drive home, which includes several young children. The fundraiser, with a $5,500 goal, explains they lost their home and all of their belongings. (iBerkshires.com does not confirm or endorse fundraisers; they are provided as information only.)

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries, and both incidents are under investigation. One dog was rescued on Springside Avenue.

On Oct. 10, around 6:15 p.m., PFD responded to the Springside Avenue home for a reported structure fire and saw a 2 1/2-story wood frame multifamily with a heavy blaze showing from the second-floor front porch, extending out.

The building suffered a partial roof collapse, which prolonged extinguishment. The fire was brought under control after about four hours.

“An aggressive offensive attack was mounted by first arriving crews stretching hose lines into the building as well as primary searches that proved negative. Ladders were placed around the structure to provide access as well as escape if needed. An off-duty Fire Captain had also been on scene early in the incident to help evacuate the structure and rescue a dog,” PFD wrote in a press release.

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