Downtown Pittsfield Inc.’s 20th Annual Downtown Pittsfield Spring Cleanup, held May 18th, 2018, was a huge success! 22 teams made up of 150 volunteers from local businesses sported trash bags, rakes, and brooms and took to the streets of Pittsfield for the 2 and a half hour clean up last Friday afternoon.
For twenty years, local businesses have supported this initiative* of Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and have come together for a fun afternoon of hard-work and competition. Teams from 1Berkshire, Berkshire Bank, Berkshire County Arc, Berkshire Fairfield/Scarafoni Financial Associates, Berkshire Family YMCA, Berkshire Health Systems, Berkshire Housing, Berkshire Museum, Berkshire Theatre Group/Colonial Theatre, BRTA, Cohen Kinne Valicenti & Cook, Cross Insurance and Surety, Framework, General Dynamics, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Guardian Life Insurance, Hotel on North, Jan Perry Realty, MountainOne, Pittsfield Co-op Bank, RBC Wealth Management, Teton Management, and The Funky Phoenix sported team shirts and swept away winter’s remnants and trash from our downtown sidewalks and planters. Many individual residents also participated. The City of Pittsfield provided trash bags for this event, and employee volunteers brought their own clean-up equipment.
After the Clean Up, an awards ceremony was hosted at J. Allen’s Clubhouse Grille. Event judge, Bill Mulholland, retired Vice President of Workforce Development and Community Education at Berkshire Community College and former DPI board member, determined the award winners. Gary Levante, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility at Berkshire Bank, and DPI board member, announced the winners. The following awards were presented:
Art of Recycling = Most Energetic Team: Berkshire Museum
Broken Blister = A Small Team That Did a BIG Job!: Guardian
Clean Sweep = Represents Real TEAMwork!: The team of Funky Phoenix, Framework, Jan Perry Realty, & Nick Russo (All members of one team.)
Crushed Soda Can = Remembered To Have Fun and Still Get the Job Done!: Berkshire Health Systems
Getting it Done = Making a Big Impact!: Cohen Kinne Valicenti & Cook AND Berkshire Bank (Two awards in this category were given this year.)
Golden Trash Bag = Used Extraordinary Measures to Get the Job Done!: Teton Management AND Hotel on North (Two awards in this category were given this year.)
*DPI’s Annual Downtown Pittsfield Spring Cleanup is an important part of DPI’s Quality of Life Committee’s mission to keep downtown clean, safe, and friendly.
By Kimberly Gritman
Downtown Pittsfield, Inc.’s 20th Annual Downtown Spring Clean Up.
May 18th, 2018. Photos by Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware.