image description — Beverly Krol leads a group of residents in brainstorming for a kickoff ball.

Pittsfield Has Big Plans for 250th Birthday Bash

Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
04:00AM / Thursday, November 18, 2010Print Story | Email Story

Mayor James M. Ruberto expresses his excitment about the city's 250th anniversary.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For Pittsfield's bicentennial in 1961, James Arpante and his friends found an interesting way to celebrate. They grew out their beards or mustaches and formed the Bearded Brothers of the Berkshires at a time when facial hair was not very socially acceptable.

"I was the youngest guy. I was 15 at the time and it was fun, it was frivolous, there were no dues, no structure," Arpante said on Wednesday night. "We'd get together and talk. We'd plan what we were doing for the parade and talk about each other's beards. I can't remember any meeting in particular because it was just fun."

Some guys wore oddly styled mustaches, other just grew them long. The group made buttons and cards for mementos. They all bought derby hats and took a lot of photos, which he still has. It was that simple celebration that stuck in Arpante's mind and had him sharing those memories because Pittsfield has reached another milestone. It's 250 years old next year.

The Pittsfield 250 Committee held its first public input meeting on Wednesday to engage the public for a citywide celebration. With some events already planned, the group asked for more ideas and about 50 residents had plenty.

"I think it went great. I'm really excited. Some of the ideas the people who generated them said they'll start talking to groups," Mary Rentz, committee co-chairman, said.

Some ideas generated Wednesday include a historic bus tour, revival of Boys' Club dances of the 1950s, a blocklong pancake breakfast, merchandising hats, postcards and Christmas bulbs and, of course, a beard and mustache growing competition. The committee will now take these ideas and put volunteers to work to make them happen.

"Our main thing is to get people excited about the city," Rentz said. "We want this to be celebrated everywhere."

From motorcycle groups to church groups, Rentz hopes to celebrate all aspects of the biggest city in the Berkshires, and despite forming in May, the committee already has an array of events planned. The biggest features include an opening celebration the weekend following the anniversary of the city's incorporation in April, a welcome-back weekend with class reunions and dinners in July and homecoming in November.

The Pittsfield 4th of July Parade will have a then-and-now theme and local teachers have developed curricula for all grade levels focusing on the city's history.

"If we can get our kids excited about the place we live, we have a future that's more exciting," Kit Dobelle, the committee's other chairman, said. "A lot of interesting things have happened over the years."

However, with all the planning, organization and fundraising to do the group and the volunteers do not want to lose focus on what matters: fun.

"The celebration should be more. It should be about brotherhood and commonality. It should be about that common thread we all have," Arpante said.

The committee will meet next in December and expects civic involvement to continually increase.

"I often say and I believe this is the best small city in the Northeast," Mayor James M. Ruberto said.

Pittsfield 250 Event Calendar

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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