GOSHEN — After several years of discussing the hiring of a town administrator, the Goshen Select Board has appointed Ira Brezinsky, the first person to serve in the newly created position.
A resident of South Hadley, Brezinsky is a retired business owner and manager in the consumer electronics industry. He is also no stranger to municipal government, having served on the Select Board, School Committee, Appropriations Committee, and Capital Planning Committee in his town.
“All of my background is in South Hadley, but in terms of policy and practices, I am very familiar with the nuts and bolts of how things run,” he said.
Brezinsky began his 32-hour-a-week position on Oct. 3 and said that he is settling in nicely.
“Right now a lot of the work is learning the position, learning the town, and becoming familiar with the people,” he said
He praised the town’s current leadership for the efforts they have been undertaking to meet the needs of residents.
“I have to say that I am really impressed with what the town has been doing on their own with just volunteers,” he said.
Brezinsky mentioned several grants that the town has recently received, including a Complete Streets grant designed to enhance connectivity and walkability in town.
With budget season about to get underway, he says he will work closely with the Select Board and the Finance Committee.
“Those two boards have done a tremendous amount of work in the last two years putting and best practices and solid policies into place,” he said. “They have a lot of good stuff in going on and I commend them for being forward thinking.”
In a letter to the residents posted on Goshen’s Town website, the Select Board said, “We are very much looking forward to working with Ira as we work to improve opportunities for all of Goshen’s stakeholders.”
WILLIAMSBURG — A colorful flag representing Williamsburg was installed in the Great Hall at the Massachusetts Statehouse on Wednesday.
State Sen. Adam Hinds and state Rep. Steven Kulik were on Beacon Hill to welcome Williamsburg town officials and those who helped to create the flag, as it was presented at the Statehouse.
Artist Lisa Tucker was the designer of the flag. It depicts Williamsburg as the gateway to the hilltowns, with traditional white New England churches and small clapboard homes that sit along the Mill River as it winds through the bucolic community at the foot of colorful hills. A water wheel sports the 1771 founding date of the town.
Kulik congratulated the town saying that the flag “perfectly captured the spirit of Williamsburg.”
Members of the Williamsburg Flag Committee helped design, plan and sew the flag. The committee included: Jeff Ciuffreda, Lisa Tucker, Jim Cahillane, Jennifer Reagan, Victoria Niciletti, Sandy Graves, Liz Ducharme and Sara Fredette.
The great hall of flags is the largest function room at the Statehouse. Of the 351 communities in the Commonwealth, only 12 are not represented.
CUMMINGTON — The Hilltown Seed Saving Network will host its 7th annual fall seed swap on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Cummington Community House from 1 to 4 p.m.
The event will feature a wide variety of seeds for herbs, vegetables, and flowers.
The featured presentation this year will be growing Crucial Medicinal Herbs with Sarah Stockwell-Arthen and Rachel Robertwon-Goldberg. This presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m. The seed swap will begin at 2:15 and go until 4 p.m. All are welcome and you do not need to bring seeds to attend.
There is a suggested sliding scale donation between $5 and $10.
Ideas for this column on life in the Hilltowns can be sent to Fran Ryan at: Fryan.gazette@gmail.com.