Florence Bank presents President’s Award to 3 employees
FLORENCE — Florence Bank recently presented the 2026 President’s Award to three employees for exceptional service. Established in 1995, the President’s Award recognizes outstanding performance, customer service and overall contribution to the bank. Those named are nominated by their colleagues at the bank.
This year’s award recognizes Otto Mantz of Easthampton, a senior teller and customer service representative at the bank’s King Street branch in Northampton; Paola Sherman of Williamsburg, community mortgage loan originator at the main office in Florence; and Devon Wonderlie of Ware, community relations and communications manager also at the main office.
Matt Garrity, president and CEO of Florence Bank, said, “These employees embody the qualities we value at Florence Bank — hard work, determination, dependability, enthusiasm, and compassion. They have built enduring relationships with colleagues and customers alike, giving their peers good reasons to nominate them.”
2026 Amherst Area Business Expo set for June 24
AMHERST — Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce will host the 2026 Amherst Area Business Expo on Wednesday, June 24, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., under the event tent at the Inn on Boltwood.
Admission is free to this annual event that will bring together local businesses, entrepreneurs, organizations, and community members for an evening celebrating innovation, collaboration, and economic growth throughout the Amherst Area.
The expo will feature 30-plus local, product demonstrations, samples, and giveaways, door prizes, lawn games, light refreshments and cash bar.
The expo creates a lively, open-house atmosphere where attendees can connect with emerging ventures, discover local collaborations, and engage with the individuals and organizations helping shape the future of the regional business community.
New chair of trustees elected at Eric Carle Museum
AMHERST — The board of trustees of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has elected Claudette S. McLinn as board chair. A member of The Carle’s board since 2023, most recently serving as vice chair, McLinn follows William P. Gorth, a longtime trustee who served as chairman from 2023-2026. The board also announces new members and roles.
“I am honored and humbled to be elected as Board Chair and value this opportunity to be of service,” said McLinn. “I wholeheartedly support The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art’s mission to celebrate and elevate picture book art and the museum’s vision of a world where people everywhere experience joy, hope, and understanding through picture book art.”
In addition to the election of the board chair, Leonard S. Marcus will become vice chair, and Drew Ellis will become secretary. Grace Lin will rejoin the board as a trustee, and Ann Lewinson will join the board as a representative of the Eric and Barbara Carle Foundation. The Museum’s board now comprises 18 trustees from around the country.
McLinn is the executive director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature in Inglewood, California, and currently concluding her one-year term as president of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
An active member of ALA, ALSC, and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), McLinn has served in numerous capacities during her 44 years of association membership. Most recently, she served on the ALA-Children’s Book Council Joint Committee (2021-2023) and served on three ALA Presidential Advisory Committees. McLinn also served as chair of the 2022 Randolph Caldecott Award Committee, 2017-2019 Coretta Scott King Book Award Executive Board, and chair of the 2009 Pura Belpré Award Committee.
Among her many accomplishments, McLinn was an invited presenter at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2019 and served as the U.S. representative on the 2024 Bologna Ragazzi Award Jury and was a judge and chair of the 2023 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, presenting at the 74th Annual National Book Awards ceremony.
Gorth has been a Carle board member for more than 16 years, most recently serving as chairman from 2023-2026. He previously chaired and served on the Carle’s finance committee, as well as holding treasurer and secretary positions on the executive committee. He co-founded National Evaluation Systems in Amherst, which he sold to Pearson in 2006. With his wife Janet Gorth, he has been a longtime donor to the museum, including a major contribution to the museum’s endowment in 2008.
Window World recognized for customer service
BELCHERTOWN — Window World of Western Mass. of Belchertown received the 2026 Guildmaster Award from GuildQuality for demonstrating exceptional customer service within the residential construction industry.
Out of nearly 2,000 eligible applicants, Window World of Western Mass. is recognized for consistently delivering superior customer care by achieving a recommendation rate of 90% or above from their customers surveyed by GuildQuality.
In determining which businesses receive the 2026 Guildmaster Award, GuildQuality reviewed thousands of survey responses submitted by customers of Guildmaster candidates and considered two primary metrics for each candidate: the percentage of customers stating they would recommend the business to a friend, and the percentage of customers who responded.
Since 2005, GuildQuality, an Atlanta-based third-party customer satisfaction surveying company, has powered the Guildmaster Award to recognize and celebrate home building, remodeling, and contracting professionals demonstrating the highest level of customer service within the U.S. and Canada.
Triangle Family Dental to hold grand reopening
AMHERST — Triangle Family Dental will celebrate the reopening of their dental office and spa with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, hosted in partnership with the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and the Amherst Business Improvement District (BID). The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 23, from 12 to 1 p.m., at 203 Triangle St.
Triangle Family Dental is a patient-centered family dental practice offering dentistry and spa treatments in an accessible, welcoming environment. Led by Dr. Marjan Khodadoust, known to many patients as Dr. K, the practice has served the Amherst community from its downtown location on Triangle Street for more than 20 years.
After a flood in 2025 forced the practice to temporarily close and remodel the space, Triangle Family Dental has reopened its doors and is welcoming both returning patients and new clients into the space for services such as general dentistry, emergency dentistry, and cosmetic dentistry.
The practice also offers spa and wellness treatments including a hyperbaric chamber, unique to the area, and non-invasive facial treatments such as Forma and Define by InMode.
The event is free to attend, with RSVPs encouraged on the event page here.