Letter: Cancer Survivor Month

To the Editor:

June has a special significance for members of our community: it's the start of summer, end of school for students and teachers, and at the Phelps Cancer Center, we celebrate National Cancer Survivor Month.

As the medical director of the Phelps Cancer Center, I'm also proud to be marking the 10-year anniversary of the center's opening in 2014 and the progress we have made in delivering cutting-edge treatments and therapies to cancer patients here in Berkshire County for a full decade.

Being a cancer survivor myself, I know how a diagnosis changes your life. I hope that we never have to care for you or for your loved ones, but I want you to know that, if you need us, you will be able to receive world-class care, close to home at the Phelps Cancer Center. We provide the highest quality, personalized cancer care, including integrative health programs that support a patient's body, mind, and spirit. We are also proud to be the only Western Massachusetts member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative, giving our patients access to cutting-edge trials and Dana-Farber specialists for advanced care.

It is my greatest honor to care for patients in Berkshire County — the community I grew up in and still call home. Thank you to all of the providers, clinicians, and healthcare staff at the Phelps Cancer Center and Berkshire Health Systems who make this a community where a cancer diagnosis is marked by compassion and caring and no one has to make their journey alone.

Dr. Trevor Bayliss
Pittsfield, Mass.

New Moon Lodge Holds Veterans Dinner and Resource Fair

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:45AM / Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Andrew Berry, a psychologist who works with veterans, speaks at Saturday's resource fair. More photos here. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — More than 200 area veterans and their families were connected to a host of resources available to them on Saturday and had dinner, too. 

 

Organizations such as Hope for Warriors, American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, High & Mighty Therapeutic Riding Center, Veterans Affairs representatives and veterans service officers lined the hall at New Moon Lodge.

 

Local restaurant Biggins Diggins served up smoked prime rib, Cajun-smoked pork chops, smoked chicken, baked potatoes, and seasonal vegetables

 

The Freemasons hosted the inaugural Veterans Dinner and Resource Fair at their South Street lodge with hopes it will be replicated elsewhere.

 

Lodge Master Bernard Tremblay said these resources had never been gathered in one place before.

 

"We keep copious records of what events and things that go on during the course of our history here, and the last time we had any type of event like this for veterans was at the end of World War One that I can see at the Dedication of the Memorial Plaque up in the lodge room upstairs," he said. 

 

"So, this was very unique. I talked to the veteran services group around the perimeter, and they themselves said they haven't seen anything on a local level like this."