BERNARDSTON — The Family & Community Events Planning Committee wants residents to ponder, “When you think of Bernardston, what would you like people to think of?”
The answer will help inform the creation of a mural that the committee is planning for the west-facing side of the former Fire Station on Church Street in an effort to make the center of town more lively and vibrant.
“We just think it’s such a neat little downtown area,” said Family & Community Events Planning Committee member Lindsey Chirichiello, who moved to Bernardston with her husband Peter Chirichiello, who also serves on the committee, in 2021.
Adding some art, she continued, would be another element to draw people in. “A mural is a point of pride for a town.”
The idea, while in its early stages, has received initial support from the Selectboard. Selectboard Chair Brian Keir, upon hearing the proposal at the March 18 meeting, said it “ties in well” with other offerings in the center of town.
“There’s currently some green space there so you can see it,” Keir said. Referencing various events that are held in neighboring Cushman Park, he added, “It ties into the movies in the park; it’s right there. Scarecrow in the Park is right there.”
Although the committee was prepared to brainstorm other ideas if the Selectboard wasn’t in agreement with using the side of the former Fire Station, Lindsey Chirichiello said the building “was the first thing that came to mind” and “was the real goal” when the mural concept began to take shape.
“You can really see it if you’re coming from Greenfield, if you’re coming from Vermont … you can see it from Cushman Park,” she said.
The Family & Community Events Planning Committee has secured a $500 grant from the Bernardston Cultural Council to support the effort, although additional fundraising from local businesses and the broader community is anticipated. An artist has not been selected.
“We would love to have it done by the fall, but this is the beginning stages,” Chirichiello said, noting that the grant must be used by the end of 2026.
For now, the committee is turning its attention to launching a survey to garner input from residents on what they’d like to see be incorporated into a mural.
“We truly, truly want to make sure we reach everyone,” Chirichiello said, mentioning that collection boxes where people can leave feedback could be set up at Marshall’s Country Store, Cushman Library and “everywhere people frequent in town.”
Another hope is to involve Bernardston Elementary School students, possibly by incorporating their handprints into a design so that they can feel like they “have their hand, literally and figuratively, in the mural,” Chirichiello said.
Once complete, the mural could be one extra element that draws in visitors and helps highlight what Bernardston has to offer, Peter Chirichiello added.
“I’d love to bring more people to Bernardston to help businesses, too,” he said. “In my personal opinion, we have the best pizza, the best general store and the best bakery of anywhere in the Pioneer Valley.”
