Williamstown – Williams College announced today that its new student center, scheduled for completion in early 2007, will be named The Paresky Center in honor of David Paresky, Williams Class of 1960, and his wife, Linda.
In 2004, the Pareskys made a multi-million dollar gift one of the largest contributions the college has ever received to The Williams Campaign in support of Williams' endowment and financial aid program. In recognition of their generosity, the Board of Trustees voted to name the new student center in the Pareskys' honor.
"Dave Paresky is a devoted son of the college and of our local community," Williams President Morton Owen Schapiro said. "I am delighted that The Paresky Center, which will be so central to our campus activities and experiences, will bear his family's name."
Paresky attended Williams on full financial aid and says he both felt the obligation, and cherished the opportunity, to give others a similar educational advantage. In 1985 he endowed a scholarship fund in honor of his 25th Williams reunion, which has supported 17 Williams students since its creation. Paresky often muses that every student who attends Williams receives a form of financial aid. "Full tuition and fees still only cover 47 percent of what it really costs Williams to provide them with an excellent education," he says. "The remaining expenses are covered by annual earnings on Williams' endowment and alumni contributions. My own contribution is one way of honoring generations of Williams alumni whose gifts made a Williams education possible for me."
The Pareskys co-founded the Boston-based Crimson Travel Service in 1965, expanding nationwide as Thomas Cook. By the time American Express purchased the company in 1994, Crimson/Thomas Cook had become America's third largest travel agency, with David serving as CEO and Linda as co-chair. According to Francis T. ("Fay") Vincent, Jr., a Williams classmate of Paresky's, "Dave's generosity speaks volumes about a very successful alumnus who began as the son of a small shopkeeper in Bennington, Vermont, and has now provided our alma mater with extensive resources to provide an even better undergraduate education for students today and tomorrow."
When they initially made their gift, the Pareskys asked to remain anonymous. "I am glad they have agreed that we can now celebrate this contribution publicly," said Schapiro, "something they've allowed us to do not because they require any recognition but because they hope to inspire others to be generous to Williams and our ambitious strategic plan."
The Paresky Center is being constructed on the site of Williams' former student union, Baxter Hall, named for the college's 10th president, James Phinney Baxter, 3rd, Class of 1889. To carry on Baxter's name, Paresky requested that the central gathering place in The Paresky Center be called Baxter Hall. "This is precisely the sort of graceful gesture Dave Paresky would think to make," said Schapiro.
The Paresky Center is designed as the college's first true student center. It will feature meeting rooms, offices for student organizations, an academic center, a flexible performance space, a pub, and a snack bar highly reminiscent of the beloved snack bar in Baxter. The student mailboxes that became one of the building's focal points over the years also will return to The Paresky Center.
The Paresky gift supports key initiatives of The Williams Campaign. Launched in September 2003, the campaign has raised more than $300 million toward its $400 million goal. The campaign is funding a comprehensive strategic plan to advance Williams as a model educational community, where students learn from faculty and each other in countless ways, inside and outside the classroom.
In addition to The Paresky Center, campaign objectives include permanent funding for 30 new faculty positions, a wide range of curricular initiatives, enriching students' extracurricular lives, and extending Williams' long-standing commitment to admit students regardless of their ability to pay. The campaign also supports the recently opened '62 Center for Theatre and Dance and improvements to Sawyer Library and Stetson Hall that will create a new home for the humanities and social sciences.
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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