The new owners of Chicks update the Selectmen on their plans for the property.
ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen have approved the transfer of an all-alcohol license to the new owners of the former Chicks Bar and Grill.
The new owners of the nearly century-old business went before the full board Wednesday to seek the transfer and update officials on their plans to reopen the pub.
Tammie Shafer, who owns the 128 Columbia St. property with her husband, Trent, plan to rebrand the bar as the Pine Brook Pub and have plans to overhaul the menu.
"We really want this to be a neighborhood establishment for all of Adams and the people in the neighborhood," she said. "That is why we picked the name because of Pine Street and the Pine Brook that runs through."
She added that they also plan to serve more craft beers.
"We are refreshing it and we will have a new format," Shafer said. "We want it to be more of an eatery with a bar, opposed to bar with bar food."
Former owner Dennis Knapp, operating as Densue Inc., had the bar on the market for some time after running it for nearly 20 years. The tavern has operated since at least the 1930s first as Chick's Cafe and later Chick's Lunch.
Shafer said they have been busy making some renovations and have removed the pool tables and games to make way for more seating.
"We have been super busy," she said. "We have been putting a lot of work into it."
Shafer plans to open later in the fall and the Selectmen wished her well in the endeavor.
"I wish you the best of luck ... I know you all very well and I know you will put your heart and soul into it," Selectman Joseph Nowak said.
The board held a second hearing to approve the all-alcohol package store license transfer for O'Geary's Package Store on 60 Commercial St. to Chehar Corp.
Chehar Corp representatives said they plan to keep the same name and same hours of operations.
The group purchased the entire plot that includes the redemption center and a closed used car lot. One of the principals of Chehar Corp, who attended the meeting, said they have no plans to use these other properties at the time and are just focused on the package store.
James Geary opened the store in the early 2000s and the family has operated the establishment since.
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A Rare Bird: Koperniak Stands Out in Triple-A
By Frank MurtaughThe Memphis (Tenn.) Flyer
With Major League Baseball’s September roster expansion just around the corner, Berkshire County baseball fans will be watching to see whether 2016 Hoosac Valley High School graduate Matt Koperniak gets the call from the St. Louis Cardinals. Heading into Tuesday night’s action, Koperniak had 125 hits this summer for the Cards’ Triple A affiliate, the Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds. He is hitting .309 this season with 17 home runs. In his minor league career, he has a .297 batting average with 56 homers after being signed as a free agent by St. Louis out of Trinity College in 2020. This week, sportswriter Frank Murtaugh of the Memphis Flyer profiled Koperniak for that publication. Murtaugh’s story appears here with the Flyer’s permission.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- I’ve interviewed professional baseball players for more than two decades. There are talented players who, honestly, aren’t that interesting away from the diamond. They’re good ballplayers, and baseball is what they know. There are also very interesting baseball players who aren’t all that talented. Now and then, though, you find yourself in the home team’s dugout at AutoZone Park with a very good baseball player who has a very interesting story to share. Like the Memphis Redbirds’ top hitter this season, outfielder Matt Koperniak.
That story? It began on Feb. 8, 1998, when Koperniak was born in London. (Koperniak played for Great Britain in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.) “My dad was in the military,” explains Koperniak. “He was in Italy for a bit, then England. But I have no memories of that time.” Matt and his family moved back to the States — to Adams, Mass. — before his third birthday.
Koperniak played collegiately at Division III Trinity College in Connecticut, part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference. He hit .394 as a junior in 2019, but beating up on the likes of Tufts and Wesleyan doesn’t typically catch the eye of major-league scouts. When the coronavirus pandemic wiped out his senior season, Koperniak received an extra year of eligibility but, having graduated with a degree in biology, he chose to sign as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I’ve always loved baseball,” says Koperniak, “and it’s helped me get places, including a good school. My advisor — agent now — was able to get me into pro ball, so here we are.” He played in a few showcases as well as for the North Adams SteepleCats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, enough to convince a Cardinal scout he was worth that free agent offer.
The Redbirds hosted Memphis Red Sox Night on Aug. 10, the home team taking the field in commemorative uniforms honoring the Bluff City’s Negro Leagues team of the 1930s and ’40s. Luken Baker (the franchise’s all-time home run leader) and Jordan Walker (the team’s top-ranked prospect) each slammed home runs in a Memphis win over Gwinnett, but by the final out it had become Matt Koperniak Night at AutoZone Park. He drilled a home run, a triple, and a single, falling merely a double shy of hitting for the cycle. It was perfectly Koperniak: Outstanding baseball blended into others’ eye-catching heroics.
“It’s trying to do the little things right,” he emphasizes, “and being a competitor. The Cardinals do a great job of getting us to play well-rounded baseball. Everybody has the same mindset: How can I help win the next game? You gotta stay in attack mode to be productive.”
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