Editor’s note: As part of the Greenfield Recorder’s end-of-the-year features, we are publishing in three parts our choices for the top 10 newsmakers of 2024. They are listed in no particular order.

Baker’s Country Store

For a period of time in 2024, it looked like Baker’s Country Store, the only retail store in Conway, would be doomed due to a severe summer storm that damaged the river embankment, crushed the septic tank and washed away a portion of the parking lot.

With no functional bathrooms and gas pumps that needed to be emptied due to the damage, the store carried on as community and family members rallied to help fund the more than $80,000 in repairs.

As of this fall, Helen Baker, who has owned the store since 1985 and worked there since 1972, said the store is fully back in business.

Tens of thousands of dollars were raised through a GoFundMe organized by a friend and Baker’s children supplemented that with a chicken barbecue fundraiser.

Work included the stabilization of the embankment above the South River, installation of a 3,000-gallon septic system and rehabilitation of the parking lot.

With work completed, Baker’s Country Store, located at 101 River St. in downtown Conway, lives to serve coffee, pump gas and sell all manner of products for another day.

— Chris Larabee

Changing of the town administrator guard

Many familiar faces left town halls around the region in 2024, as several town administrators stepped away from their positions for a variety of reasons.

Several of those vacancies, though, were then filled by more familiar faces, as folks shifted into new positions in their respective town halls or jumped over from a neighboring community.

Southern Franklin County perhaps saw the biggest change. Deerfield’s Kayce Warren retired in September, Sunderland’s Geoff Kravitz left in July to accept a state position and Whately’s Brian Domina joined Hampden’s Town Hall in March. Filling their roles, respectively, were Christopher Dunne, who moved up from Deerfield’s planning and economic development position; Rebecca Torres, who left Shutesbury’s town administrator position; and, as the only non-local hire of the bunch, Swampscott Assistant Town Administrator Peter Kane returned to his native Pioneer Valley.

In Montague, Steve Ellis stepped down after seven years as town administrator on June 30 — he gave more than seven months’ notice — to tackle some personal goals. He, too, was replaced by a familiar face, as Assistant Town Administrator and former Town Planner Walter Ramsey stepped into the position at the beginning of the fiscal year.

Longtime Colrain Town Administrator Kevin Fox hung up his hat as well, and he was also replaced with a familiar Franklin County face. Diana Parsons, former Colrain town coordinator and Greenfield finance director, returned to the community, marking one of what would become a series of departures in Greenfield’s Finance Department.

— Chris Larabee

Libraries (Deerfield, Shutesbury, Rowe)

After years of planning and fundraising, 2024 was a key year for construction and library expansions, with work kicking off at Deerfield’s Tilton Library and Shutesbury.

On May 10, Deerfield began an expansion project that will triple the square footage of the Tilton Library to a total of 12,784 square feet. The new space will offer its patrons a makerspace, quiet study and reading rooms, computer areas, a cafe and more.

Construction is nearing completion. In the new year, work on the interior of the addition and final details will be completed. The new, expanded library is expected to open in spring 2025.

On Aug. 2, Shutesbury broke ground on a new $8.98 million library. The new 4,400-square-foot space on Leverett Road will include spaces for kids, teens and adults, as well as a public meeting room, reading nooks and space for staff. While the design for the new library involves a simple one-story building, the new library includes modern touches like large windows and solar panels. By comparison, the current M.N. Spear Memorial Library, a 768-square-foot building, was built in 1902 and does not have a bathroom or running water.

The new Shutesbury library is expected to open to the public in fall 2025.

As Deerfield and Shutesbury look to wrap up their library construction projects in the new year, Rowe’s will just be beginning. In mid-November, the Rowe Selectboard appointed a new Library Feasibility Committee to begin planning a library renovation and oversee a $50,000 feasibility study, which will evaluate the building’s current needs and capabilities.

The committee is eyeing improvements that will make the more than 90-year-old building accessible per Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. This will include widening the space between shelves and upgrading the bathrooms. The committee is also hoping to replace windows, refinish the floor, and add more space for community meetings and programs.

— Madison Schofield