Smashing Hunger: Pickleball Tournament to Benefit Berkshire Bounty

10:21AM / Tuesday, August 04, 2026Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The Third Annual Fun(D)raising Pickleball Tournament for the benefit of Berkshire Bounty returns.

Pickleball players are invited to rally against food insecurity at this fun and friendly benefit for Berkshire Bounty, a not-for-profit organization with the mission to creatively advance community food security through food rescue and delivery..

Registration will be open Aug. 1 through Sept. 18, 2026, with the actual tournament taking place, rain or shine, on Saturday, Sept.26, 2026 at Bousquet Sport Club in Pittsfield.

"These types of benefits are gratifying to our organization and show how our community pulls together. We're so thankful," said Mark Lefenfeld and Jay Weintraub, Berkshire Bounty co-founders.

Teams of two may register in either the Beginner/Intermediate or Intermediate/Advanced Divisions. Entry Fee is $120 per team, with all proceeds going to Berkshire Bounty.

Current event sponsors include the Gilson Family Foundation, Osteo Strong, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Lance Vermeulen Real Estate, Berkshire Money Management, Beacon Bank, Ethan Kelpetar Law Firm, and October Mountain Financial Advisors.

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Letter: Time to retire Maryland's third senator

09:30AM / Tuesday, August 04, 2026

To the Editor:

Time to retire Maryland's third senator

Sen. Chuck Grassley visits all 99 Iowa counties every year (not every six years) as does his colleague Sen. Joni Ernst. The media has dubbed this tour "The Full Grassley."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar goes to all 87 Minnesota counties annually and Sen. Chuck Schumer shows up in all 62 New York counties each year.

Our junior senators from Ed Brooke to Paul Tsongas to John Kerry all made it a point to get to each and every part of the Commonwealth.

We have 14 counties (one of which – Nantucket - is a single town) and yet there are dozens of communities from the hilltowns of western Mass to North Quabbin and the Blackstone Valley that Sen. Ed Markey can't be bothered to set foot in. Since joining the US Senate in 2013, he's never visited almost all of the rural towns in the five western counties. This is unacceptable.

The fact that he spends more time in his Chevy Chase mansion rather than in Cheshire, Chesterfield and Charlton is why he's earned the disparaging moniker as Maryland's third senator.

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