Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation Scholarships

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LUDLOW, Mass. — For the third year, Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) will award scholarships to students from Lanesborough and Hancock. 
 
The scholarship is open to seniors at Mount Greylock Regional High School and Charles H. McCann Technical School. BWPCC will select two students from the class of 2024 to receive $1,000 scholarships.
 
The scholarships will be awarded to qualifying seniors who are planning to attend either a two- or four-year college or trade school program. Seniors must be from either Hancock or Lanesborough to be considered for the scholarship. Special consideration will be given to students with financial need, but all students are encouraged to apply.
 
The BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project, a 12 turbine, 19.6-megawatt wind farm located on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. The non-profit BWPCC consists of 16 municipal utilities located in Ashburnham, Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, and West Boylston, and their joint action agency, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC). 
 
To be considered, students must submit all required documents including a letter of recommendation from their school counselor and a letter detailing their educational and professional goals. Application and submission details will be shared with students via their school counselors. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 19.
 
 MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities.  MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities. 

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Lanesborough Elm Tree Named Largest in State

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — King Elmer is living up to his name, now deemed the largest American Elm in the state.

Jim Neureuther, chair of the Tree and Forrest Committee, happily reported this to the Select Board on Monday.  The Department of Conservation and Recreation released an updated Champion Trees list on May 4 with the town's over 100-foot tall elm at the top.

"It's official, King Elmer is the largest American Elm tree in Massachusetts," Neureuther said.

Located at the corner of Route 7 and Summer St., the king is believed to be over 250 years old and is 107 feet tall with an average canopy spread of 95.5 feet.  It scored 331.88 points with the state based on a 201-inch circumference, which is a 64-inch diameter (5'4 through the middle of the tree.)

King Elmer dethroned the former champion elm in Old Deerfield Village that has been cut down.  In 2019, Neureuther traveled to Franklin County to see it only to find a stump, prompting him to submit the Lanesborough tree's official measurements.

He thought, "Wait a minute, we're moving up the ranks now."

The second-place elm scored 320 points, giving King Elmer a lead in the race barring the loss of a limb.

Earlier this year, the town was notified by the Arbor Day Foundation that it had been recognized as Tree City USA for 2023, a long-held designation.  

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