Williamstown and area mourn the loss of one of our best and brightest

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Williamstown lost one of its own when last week’s terrorist attacks claimed the life of 33-year-old Peter Morgan Goodrich, a passenger aboard the hijacked United Airlines jetliner that crashed into the World Trade Center. Peter Goodrich was remembered as a standout athlete with great intellectual curiosity across a wide range of interests, and for his kindness and respect for others, as a loving husband and chess-player who folded origami and lifted dragonflies out of harm’s way. He grew up on White Oaks Road, with his parents, Donald and Sally Goodrich, his brother Foster and sister Kim. Peter Goodrich was a six-time All-American in track and field at Bates College, where he graduated in 1989. He lived in Sudbury with his wife, Rachel. He was educated in the Williamstown public school system and graduated in 1985 cum laude from Berkshire School in Sheffield. Donald Goodrich is a local lawyer with offices in Adams and Bennington, Vt.; Sally Goodrich is Title I coordinator with the North Adams public schools. They are longtime Williamstown residents who recently moved to Bennington, Vt. Peter Goodrich graduated with high honors in mathematics from Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine. He worked for several years at Software Emancipation Technology, and at the time of his death was the director of production development for MKS, its successor company. He was on a business trip to the West Coast, headed from Boston’s Logan Airport to Los Angeles for a trade show aboard United Airlines Flight 175, the plane that was hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center’s south tower at 9:03 a.m. Tuesday. A service to celebrate the life of Peter Goodrich will be held today, Wednesday, Sept. 19, at noon at Old First Congregational Church, Bennington, Vt., with the Rev. Scott Barton, and the Rev. Peter Elvin, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Williamstown, officiating. Elvin called Peter Goodrich “one of the best and the brightest” when he told the congregation of his loss Sunday morning. Peter Goodrich met his wife, the former Rachel Wallis Carr, while at Bates. She was the manager of the track team and supported him through his athletic and academic career. They were married in Guilford, Conn., Oct. 11, 1993. He is remembered for his intellectual curiosity across a wide range of topics, including mathematics, religion and entomology; for his love of the Boston Red Sox, and most important, for his kindness to many people. He was also known for his sense of humor. A story in The Boston Globe described him as “gentle and fair,” and listed his interests as ranging from kayaking and playing chess to folding origami and grinding his own telescope lens. Speaking by telephone yesterday, his mother Sally Goodrich told of how he loved dragonflies, and insisted on removing them from the driveway before backing out his car rather than risk hurting them. “He was a naturally inquisitive, warm, fun and very gentle person,” she said. “He was so curious about so many things. He always had tons of questions. “Rachel said if at the entry point into the everlasting you get the answers to unanswered questions, then Peter’s interview is still going on.” “He loved everything. He wanted to become proficient in everything,” she said. “He was a voracious reader, on philosophy, on religion. He was fun, silly, loud, and he gave the best hugs of anybody. They were just enveloping.” “He was a loving husband, and truly the most fair-minded person. “For his thesis for high honors in math he created his own chess programs,” she said. On board the doomed flight, he carried “a tiny little chess piece Rachel had given him to remind him of her,” his mother said. “He read the Koran, and he worked with people from many different countries. He played chess with Russian immigrants, Serbs, Indians. He never met a person he didn’t like.” In his obituary, the family specified that “he would wish that in this time of turmoil, that we should show respect for all, including those of Arab descent and those of Islamic beliefs.” “It is our intention to take a bit of Peter forward in a way that is in total contrast to the way he died,” Sally Goodrich said. The family is creating a memorial trust for charitable and educational issues that interested him. There has been an outpouring of community support, she said. “We feel everybody’s love and concern.” And, she said, “the flags are a comfort to families.” At Bates, Peter Goodrich was six-time NCAA Division 3 All-American, specializing in the 35-pound weight, discus and hammer. He was elected team captain, and was described by his track coach as “a marvelous team leader and teacher,” nicknamed Bear by his teammates for his size and strength. After coworkers observed a moment of silence in his memory, they held scooter races in his honor. Besides his wife and parents, he leaves a brother, D. Foster Hetherington of Brandon, Vt.; a sister, Kimberly Trimarchi of Adams, and his maternal grandfather Peter F. Donovan. Parking for today’s service will be available at the Bennington Center for the Arts on West Road; shuttle service will be provided to Old First Church, starting at 11 a.m. A memorial service will be held in the Boston area at a time to be determined. To offer condolences, please consult www.nsm.org/covey. Memorials in his honor may be made to the Peter M. Goodrich Trust for charitable and educational issues of interest to Peter in care of Hanson-Walbridge Funeral Home, P.O. Box 957, Bennington, VT 05201.
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Clarksburg Officials Debate Need for School Repairs, Renovations

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff

Select Board member Colton Andrews stands next to a bucket catching leaks as he talks to the joint gathering. 
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — School officials acknowledged that Clarksburg School is need of renovation or rebuild but declined to commit at this point to plan of action.
 
"We can't say that because it hasn't even been put out to the town," said School Committee member Cynthia Brule. "So I mean, we could say, 'yeah, I want a new school,' but it means nothing."
 
The comments had come during a joint meeting of the Select Board and School Committee last week over what to do with the leaking roof. 
 
"We're dealing with a pretty leaky roof that's affecting several classrooms," said Superintendent John Franzoni. "The leaks are continuing and impacting the classroom learning."
 
Select Board Chair Robert Norcross had pushed for the committee to make a declaration after talks with the governor's Western Mass office over the lingering $500,000 in a bond bill for the roof. 
 
He and Assistant Superintendent Tara Barnes had spoken with Kristen Elechko, Western Mass regional director, he said, and Barnes had mentioned the school could use more than a roof. 
 
"Kristen sent me an email the next day saying that I can't go for a roof if we're going to go for a new school or if we're going to go for something bigger," Norcross said. "You have to decide quickly what we want to do, because all these deadlines are coming up. So that's why I wanted to push the meeting forward and that's why I asked the Finance Committee and the Select Board to be here, because we got to make a decision tonight."
 
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