Berkshire Penny Saver by Hersam Acorn

There’s Something In It For You!

Congratulations

Berkshire

Penny Saver www.berkshirepennysaver.com

Graduates!

June 9, 2010

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Auto ....................................... 13 Business Directory ................ 11 Classiﬁeds ................................ 2 Soduko Puzzle ....................... 12 Help Wanted .......................... 15 Real Estate ............................. 12 Graduation .........................8-10 Furry Friends ........................... 4 Health & Wellness ................... 5

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editorial email berkshire@hersamacornma.com advertising email art@hersamacornma.com Editorial Deadline: 20th at noon the month before publication. Classiﬁed Deadline: Thursday June 20, 2010 Display Deadline: Thursday June 20, 2010

Renee Tassone, General Manager

Welcome summer! I love the heat and the sun. I swear I am solar powered. There is nothing better than floating around my pool with great music, a cold beer (or two) and sunshine. I live for days like that. We do not see many of them here in the Berkshires so we have to take advantage of them. My husband has 10 years left at UPS, we don’t plan on seeing an eleventh winter. We want to move somewhere that has at least 300 days of sunshine, where we can have an in-ground pool and a constantly flowing keg. We don’t require much. I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend and that you were able to relax with

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family and friends. We had a picnic on Sunday at our house with clams, burgers and wonderful desserts. On Monday we walked downtown to the Memorial Day service. It is important that we remember the brave souls who died while serving our country. I learned that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day because they used to decorate the graves of soldiers who were killed during the Civil War. Sad that so many people have given their lives protecting our rights, they have given the ultimate sacrifice. I hope that everyone remembers the true meaning of Memorial Day. Congratulations to all of the graduates, we

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Berkshire Penny Saver

June 9, 2010

wish you all success in your bright futures. I hope you enjoy our graduation section in this issue. We hope you enjoy this publication. As always, we encourage your feedback. Feel free to send us your press releases to berkshire@hersamacornma. com. -Renee Tassone, General Manager

Berkshire

Penny Saver 800.234.1432 Classiﬁeds 800.234.1432 editorial email berkshire@hersamacornma.com advertising email art@hersamacornma.com

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Renee Tassone, General Manager Linda Devlin, Circulation Manager Sarah Masiero, Advertising Sales Sheryl Gibson, Advertising Sales Carrie Devlin, Advertising Sales Melissa Miller, Art Director Mary A. Garcia, Artist Jen Hathaway, Artist Chris Sobolowski, Artist

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Deadline*: 20th of Prior Month

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*Deadlines will change due to Holidays. See special deadline notices published before major holidays.

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June 9, 2010

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Submission Guidelines: Those wishing to submit event listings or editorial content may email berkshire@hersamacornma.com. ■

Notice: The Berkshire Penny Saver will not knowingly accept or publish advertising which is fraudulent or misleading in nature. The publisher reserves the sole right to edit, revise, or reject any and all advertising, with or without cause being assigned, which in the publisher’s judgement is contrary to the interests of this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. ©2008, Hersam Acorn Newspapers. All contents of the Berkshire Penny Saver News are copyrighted, and any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Martin Hersam, Chief Operating Ofﬁcer Thomas B. Nash, Publisher

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FROM MY CORNER

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...these shoes are made for walkin’... My friend in California told me about a new pair of shoes she bought for walking. She loves them and said they have made a big difference in her back and knee pain. Linda isn’t one to spend money on herself. In fact, she’s very careful with her funds. When she said she bought this new pair of shoes, I was a little surprised. She said they were pretty expensive but well worth the price. They’re “Shape Ups” made by Sketchers.

— by Susan J. Coons

After our phone conversation, I looked them up on the internet. Wow! Yeah, they are expensive! I was shocked that she would spend so much on a pair of shoes! Sneakers, yet! Since that conversation, I’ve heard from others who swear by their Shape Ups, raving about their comfort, how great they are for walking, and light on their feet. So for my aching back, knees, feet and ankles, my daughter gave me a pair for Mother’s Day. Now I’m adding myself to the list of rave

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(...these shoes are made for walkin’...continued) reviewers for these shoes. I don’t want to take them off. I’ve been wearing them for a week and I haven’t had any problems with my knees, feet or ankles. My back doesn’t ache, either. These shoes are so comfortable that I feel I can walk anywhere anytime. I encourage you to at least check them out. If you have any kind of back pain or have had knee surgery or suffer from arthritis, give them a try. These shoes are supposed to strengthen legs and back and improve posture. They work for me! I’ll be endorsing my favorite cereal next week! Ha!

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What Bears Do in the Woods Join us for a fascinating look at one kind of animal sign – it starts with “S” and ends with “T” – scat! From looking at scat, we can tell a lot about what animal left it behind, and often we can learn what that animal was eating. Lynn Levine, co-author of “Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Tracking Guide” recently dubbed “The Scat Lady” by a group of fourth graders, will be doing a

hands-on program using scat as a tool to engage children and adults alike in the natural world. Using her carefully preserved scat collection of 27 species from mouse to mountain lion, participants use their powers of observation to learn about identifying animals from their scat. Scat is a great jumping off point to study the forest ecosystems in the Northeast. A librarian from the Rockingham Library

in Vermont said “Lynn is a fabulous presenter, so engaging and relaxed and provides so much information!” Come learn about scat with the Scat Lady, Lynn Levine, at Berkshire Community College, Room G-10 on Friday, June 18 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. This program is presented by Berkshire Wildlife Trackers, Berkshire Environmental Action Team, and Berkshire Natural Resources

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(What Bears Do in the Woods continued) Council. Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) is partnering with Berkshire Natural Resources Council to continue to host Berkshire Wildlife Trackers whose volunteer wildlife monitors are trained by Susan Morse, founder and director of Keeping Track® in Jericho, Vermont. We are currently looking for volunteers who may be interested in taking the intensive Keeping Track® training of 6 very full days scattered from October 2010 to April 2011. For more information please visit BEAT’s web site – www.thebeatnews.org.

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Berkshire Penny Saver

Lee High School 2010 Graduates Liana Kayla Alicea Christopher David Babcock Tawnia Marie Bailey Monique Anne Belliveau Nicole Elizabeth Bernoi John Robert Besaw Danielle Elizabeth Bona Ashley Lynn Borsotti Shane Robert Briggs Tori May Brighenti Alexander Colby Brittingham Kristen Cara Brunell Jonathan Michael Bullock Jennyfer Maryury Chacon Ortega William Buck Cogswell Christopher William Coughlin Jordan Daniel Daigle Samantha Rose Daoust Nathan James Dilego-Heath Jessica Susan Dow Kelly Rose Dunn Kathryn Mary Eckert Brianna Lucia Fitzgerald Avery Jane Forget Alyssa Gina Forzano Joseph Eugene Fuller Christopher William Gaherty Emily Ann Glidden Rachael Anne Gorr Dalton William Griffin Maeve Teresa Guinan Amber Marie Harris Joseph Dalton Hayden

Anderson Steven Ramirez Hernandez Emily Jade Kirby Cassandra Elizabeth Laudon Kate Lynn Maroney Josephine Elizabeth McDonald Codey Lee Moore Elyse Justine Morin Robert Elmer Morin IIII Kayla Rose Murray Kyndle Marie Newton Peter Jacob Newton Corey Edward O’Brien Katelyn Jean Olds Brittany Chalis Phair Molly Ann Porter Jace Kareemah Qura Kristina Lynn Raftery Susan Marquis Richard Rahul Nmn Sangar John Daniel Schneider Brian James Scolforo Jessica Rae Scolforo Samantha Christine Sitzer Ashley Nicole Smith Robert Ernest Smith Nicholas Jon Strezynski Danielle Patricia Toomey Jordan Scott Wadsworth Julia Marie Warner Lee S. White III Michael Kenneth Winters Nicole Lynn Woodard

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Tips for Retooling a Resume For many people, 2009 will not be a year that’s fondly recalled in their golden years. By mid-year, the nation’s unemployment rate had exceeded 9 percent, with hundreds of thousands of people finding themselves out of work. As difficult as the year has been thus far, financial forecasters have begun to report encouraging signs that the economy has started to rebound. For the scores of people out of work, that’s encouraging news and an indicator that it’s time to revisit their resume. While the economy might be rebounding, it’s important for job seekers to understand the competition for job openings will perhaps be more fierce than ever, as never before has there been so many people out of work. That only highlights the importance of a strong resume. Those looking to take advantage of the economy’s possible rebound and re-enter the work force should consider the following tips for making a resume stand out above the rest. Utilize keywords. Nowadays, technology plays a role in nearly everything. Human resources has proven to be no exception to this trend. Oftentimes, resumes are ranked electronically using certain key words from the initial job posting. Job seekers can recognize such words more easily with each want ad they read. Upon identification of these words, job seekers should make sure to include them in their resume, preferably at the top. Placing them near the top of a resume is important since many human resources professionals spend less than half a minute on average overlooking each resume they come across. The closer those keywords are to the top, the more likely it is the hiring manager will spend more time perusing a given resume. List accomplishments, not just responsibili-

ties. A good resume will list accomplishments as well as responsibilities. Accomplishments can include past awards, be it through professional organizations or the company itself, and promotions. For candidates hoping to re-enter a given field, listing responsibilities may not be enough, as the hiring manager will already know what’s expected of a given position and what responsibilities are standard. Listing accomplishments in addition to responsibilities is a good rule of thumb when attempting to make a resume stand out.

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Whether a recent graduate or a professional with extensive work experience, the job market figures to be especially competitive in the coming months, highlighting the importance of making a resume the best it can possibly be.

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Be sure to spell check. While spell checking a resume seems like a no-brainer, many hiring managers have a host of stories about poor spelling on resumes. Because the job market figures to be extremely competitive over the next several months, it’s important to make sure there are no careless errors on a resume. Do some homework. One thing many unemployed people have a lot of these days is time. This time can be advantageous. Take free time to search the Internet and examine the resumes of others in the same field. Job seekers should review how others are touting their accomplishments and work histories, and tailor their resume to stand above those they’ve seen online. TF099458

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Berkshire Penny Saver

Savvy Ways to Save When Heading Off to College (MS) -- Across the country, recent high school graduates are transitioning to freshman at colleges and universities. There will be many decisions facing the nation’s next crop of college students, from where to live to what courses to take to whether to join an academic club or fraternity/ sorority. Perhaps the most vital decisions current and future college kids must make are financial ones. For most students, college is the first time they’ll be managing their own money. While money management is most often a trial and error process for college kids, there are tricks to money management that today’s teenagers and young adults can use to their advantage. • Don’t be late. Being late for class isn’t a good way for students to ingratiate themselves with their professors. But being late with bills can be an even worse idea. In addition to the negative impact paying bills late can have on a young person’s credit rating, late fees can pile up quickly. The average late fee for credit cards is $28, which is in addition to the balance remaining on the card itself. That’s $28 the average college kid can save simply by paying on time. Another way to avoid late fees is to save before splurging. That means, save up the cash to pay for your purchase and skip the credit card entirely. • Rent, don’t buy. While renting and not buying is a philosophy typically associated with student housing, it’s now applicable to textbooks as well. At the onset of each school year, students across the country face steep bills for textbooks, many of which they’ll use for a semester or quarter and never open

again. And textbooks aren’t a student’s only expense. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2009 back-to-college s u r v e y,

students and their parents can expect to spend an average of $618 on back-to-college supplies this year, a 3 percent increase over 2008. Fortunately, today’s students have the option to rent their textbooks. With more than 2.4 million titles, Chegg.com is the world’s largest online textbook rental service, boasting discounts between 65 and 85 percent off the list price. In the last two years alone, Chegg. com has saved students and their parents more than $41 million at 6,000 colleges and universities across the country. Rentals are

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available by the semester (125 days), quarter (85 days) and summer (60 days), and students can even ask for rental extensions or purchase the books at any time. “I got books from the campus bookstore and spent almost $450,” says Ernest, a student at North Carolina State University. “When I came home and checked out Chegg.com I realized I could save $200, so I took my books back to the bookstore.” To learn more about saving on textbooks or to order your own books today, visit www. Chegg.com. • Use your student status to your advantage. Local businesses surrounding college campuses typically offer student discounts when students present their university I.D. Restaurants, movie theaters, music stores, etc., are among the many businesses that offer student discounts up to 20 percent. If going out to eat or having a date night at the movies, remember to bring along your student I.D. and reap the rewards. • Watch ATM cash drain. Some ATMs charge in upwards of $3.50 for cash withdrawals, particularly ones that are “convenient” or close to campus. You can quickly deplete your savings with a few bucks withdrawn here and there. Instead, consider opening up an account at a local bank that offers good perks (not just fluff incentives luring college students) and no-fee ATM withdrawals. Your school also may be affiliated with a credit union that offers special plans to students, including good interest rates and discounts on other financial items such as auto insurance. •Start saving for the big trips. Are you planning your first big vacation before you’ve even passed your first exam? If so, start thinking about saving for those trips now, because Spring Break will be here before you know it. As these trips can get very expensive, putting extra money away each month will go a long way to making that dream trip a reality. TF09A624

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Berkshire Penny Saver

June 9, 2010

St. Mary’s School 2010 Texas Hold’em Tournament Friday June 11, 2010 at Greenock Country Club Lee, Massachusetts. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Play starts at 7:00 p.m. $110 Donation. Guaranteed $2000.00 First Prize. Light Buffet included. Full cash bar and restaurant on location. Win a free seat! Register early with Dave Johnson at 413-2071294, www.berkshirepoker.net, or at LeePokerNight@AOL.com. Verbal/email registration earns one chance at a free seat. 50/50 Raffle. All net proceeds to benefit the children of St. Mary’s School.

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PAYMENT INFORMATION

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