Eagles Community Band Hosting a Free Stage Band Concert

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Eagles Community Band's stage band is bringing a concert to the community on Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m. at First United Methodist Church on Fenn Street.

The event will feature local musician and trumpeter Jeff Stevens.

"This is something new for us. We typically have our concerts on Sunday at three o'clock," said stage band director James Stakenas.

The band was encouraged to bring something to Pittsfield at a time of year when it's not usually playing,  hoping it gives the community something to come and enjoy that's free.

Stakenas said, "Stage band just sort of roundly describes the fact that we're a 16-piece instrumental group, and we play music from all sorts of different genres."

The band plans to play many tunes from the '40s, "The Bare Necessities," and more including solos from Stevens and other band members.

"He's also going to solo with us on a couple of other tunes, different spots of the program, but we will also have a trombone feature, an alto sax feature, and I think a barry (baritone) sax solo. So we're going to showcase some of the other members of our stage band," Stakenas said.

"We're hoping it's an entertaining program. We have some good music picked out. Jeff’s a great soloist. We want people to relax and then just enjoy the afternoon. It should be fun for both us performing and for the people in the audience."

The band is encouraging young students to attend to help improve their own playing and enjoy a set of music that's not usually heard around the Berkshires.

"The nice thing is that they're going to see there's not many local big bands for them, for students, to come check out. And I always tell my students to go listen to other people play, because that's one of the best things you can do to improve your own playing, is listen other people," said bass player Jacob Keplinger. "There's jazz, a lot of jazz performances around Berkshire County, but not many big bands," 

The Eagles Community Band has performed in the Berkshires and beyond for nearly 90 years. The concert band has about 70 members and all ensembles combined have around 90, ranging from high school ages to musicians in their 80s. The band was originally sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 358 and became a nonprofit organization in 1993.

State Launches Workforce Innovation Tour at Interprint

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:38AM / Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Secretary of Labor Lauren Jones starts her statewide jobs tour at Interprint in Pittsfield on Monday. The colors in the signage were inspired by the Eras Tour. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development kicked off its "revolutionary" workforce tour at Interprint and learned some about decor printing.

On Monday, the Healey-Driscoll administration launched the "MassHire 250 Workforce Innovation Tour" to celebrate local and regional workforce innovations across the state. From now until July, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones will visit each of the state's 16 MassHire regional workforce boards to hear about partnerships that fuel and sustain sectors.

"Berkshire companies are innovative in creating new possibilities," said David Moresi, chair of the Berkshire Workforce Board. "Technology and innovation are part of the Berkshires' industrious past, thriving present, and limitless potential."

In celebration of Interprint's 40th year in the city, state and local officials toured the surface design and printing facility and even participated in an ink matching exercise. With around 200 employees, the company sells its decorative papers and films worldwide and has seen several expansions.

"As I often say, workforce development takes collaboration and the network of organizations, community leaders, and workforce partners represented here demonstrates the partnerships that drive outcomes from career coaching and job training to employment," Jones said.

"That was demonstrated certainly by hearing some of the highlights shared during our tour of the partnership with MassHire and the employment and professional development outcomes that we see at a company like Interprint."

In a week, Massachusetts will join five other states in celebrating Patriots Day, commemorating the inaugural battles of the American Revolutionary War: Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy (Arlington). The workforce tour builds on the launch of Massachusetts 250, a statewide initiative to celebrate 250 years of America's independence and Massachusetts' revolutionary legacy.

Jones noted the Taylor Swift's Eras Tour inspired the signage.