Letter: International Women's Day

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To the Editor:

This letter was ignored by the Berkshire Eagle

Friday, March 8, was International Women's Day. Here in the Berkshires, it was celebrated by the Zonta club, an International Women's Leadership organization, by honoring six dynamic women from our community at a special dinner that attracted over 200 attendees.

This diverse group of women has made monumental contributions from coaching young professionals to build careers here to providing over two million diapers to those in need. These women aren't CEOs of big corporations and they didn't develop the latest app. They excelled by giving their time, skills and in most cases their own money for the benefit and betterment of the Berkshires. Their stories are inspirational, serving as powerful testaments of selfless service to guide young girls and women.

On Saturday morning, I sat down with my digital copy of the Berkshire Eagle–our Hometown Newspaper– expecting to read about this event and the special women leaders who are uplifting our community but there was no story or photo. Making headlines was the lead story with photos about “Drag Time Story Hour for our Children.”


I seriously question the Eagle's editorial decision and judgment. How do you ignore this opportunity to illustrate International Women's Day through local coverage of Zonta's six remarkable honorees, from diverse backgrounds and roles, who are leading the Berkshires to build a more equitable, desirable and respectful place to live?

I've met the editor and publisher of the Eagle. He's a smart guy. This wasn't a mistake. I believe this was an intentional effort by our hometown newspaper to advance a political agenda while ignoring real community heroes. Eagle editors have demonstrated irresponsible behavior and a lack of leadership and judgment by propagating a targeted narrative.

Get the focus where it belongs.

Respectfully,

Roger Gibboni
Lanesborough, Mass. 

 

 

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Shipping Business PostNet Opens on North Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

Look for the banner over the door, next to the A-Mart.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — You can now design, print, bind and ship all from the same location downtown — and pick up your mail while you're at it.

Siblings Bina and Gary Patel recently opened a PostNet location at 524 North St. The worldwide chain offers shipping, printing and mailbox services.

Gary Patel also owns the convenience store A-Mart right next door.

"PostNet is a one-stop destination for shipping and printing. You can ship your stuff with the multi-carrier, because we offer UPS, FedEx, DHL, and post office, also, and we have a printing press here," Bina Patel said. "So if you want to print something like a brochure, business cards, banners, you can print here, and we also provide the mailbox services here also, so we have a physical mailbox and virtual mailbox both here."

The printers can accommodate large banners and print logos on shirts. The store also has tape, envelopes, other stationery items, packing materials, and shredding services.

The Patels said they were looking into a shipping business and had a friend who used PostNet and liked it. They researched for two years about the business and signed a contract with PostNet in October. 

They said they wanted to their destination to provide customers everything they needed to do, noting shipping services are scarce after FedEx closed its Pittsfield location last year. They had been getting inquiries about FedEx options and UPS, which has a store in Pittsfield and one in Williamstown.

"We just went many times, around here, maybe one UPS Store, even in Berkshire County, we have the A-Mart, and we're trying to make it like one stop," Gary Patel said. "So whoever comes from the hospital, comes for lunch or whatever, and they want to make it one stop to drop a package or something, and that'll help out the community."

The store also provides competitor prices from other carriers for customers to compare.

The store is open from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, with Sunday hours currently by appointment. 

 
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