Williamstown to Celebrate MapleFest

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.— MapleFest, the town's annual maple syrup celebration, is set to take place this Saturday, March 13, in Hopkins Memorial Forest.

Visitors will get the chance to see the entire process maple syrup-making process, from maple tree tapping to a working sugarhouse with an old kettle boiler, to syrup tasting and pancake eating. The free event will take place, rain or shine, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vans will be available from Chapin Hall.

Maple syrup celebrations have been a part of the country’s calendar for generations. The "maple moon" month, as this time of year is called, brings people together to cook maple syrup.

Visitors also are welcome to visit the sugarhouse anytime during the sugaring season, which is from early March to mid-April.

Hopkins Memorial Forest is located at the intersection of Northwest Hill Road and Bulkley Street. The reserve, managed by the Williams College Center for Environmental Studies, spans more than 2,500 acres in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. The land was donated to the college by the family of Colonel Amos Lawrence Hopkins in the 1930s. Since then, the college has actively maintained the forest, which it uses for teaching and research.
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Williams College Looking to Fill Commercial Space on Spring Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

The pharmacy opened by Berkshire Health Systems four years ago is closing because of 'low utilization.' Another college-owned property, the former Purple Dragon, will undergo a facelift to make the space more attractive to potential tenants.  
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A Williams College official who handles the school's commercial spaces on Spring Street said this week the school already has received interest in the space currently occupied by a frozen yogurt shop.
 
And another soon-to-be-vacant Spring Street storefront is ideally suited to host something similar to the drug store that is pulling out, the school's associate provost said.
 
Earlier this fall, two businesses located across the street from one another in the town's main commercial district announced their closure in rapid succession.
 
Spoon, a popular froyo shop on the first floor of the college's bookstore, plans to cease operations on Nov. 11. The Williamstown Apothecary will close on Nov. 14.
 
Both businesses operate in space rented from the college, which has extensive commercial holdings on Spring Street, which runs through the middle of campus.
 
Spoon owner David Little told The Record, the college's student newspaper, that he was giving up the business he ran since 2020 in order to spend more time with his loved ones.
 
Berkshire Health Systems, which opened a pharmacy in the heart of downtown and campus in August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced earlier this month that, "low utilization and pharmaceutical reimbursement rates" drove its decision to cease operations at 72 Spring St.
 
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