There is still time to make a contribution to the Watson Fund to support families in need in South County this holiday season. Contributions may be dropped off at any Berkshire Bank branch of mailed to The Watson Fund c/o Berkshire Bank; 244 Main Street Great Barrington, MA 01230. To learn more about the Watson Fund and Rotary's involvement, please read the story below from the Facebook page of The Watson Fund:
The Watson Fund -- a South County Holiday Tradition
Jack Watson can't remember a Christmas without the Watson Fund. His father, John Watson, was the Great Barrington Bureau Chief for the Berkshire Eagle. It was 1936, the Great Depression, and John Watson had seen a lot of families in real need while out on the beat. He knew the families personally. He knew which children needed winter boots and "kind of" could guess their shoe sizes. He knew which cupboards in which homes would be lightly stocked with the holidays approaching and all. It was a small town and he was a local reporter.
At first it was called the Community Christmas Cheer Fund. There were some cash donations, but for the most part in those early years, John Watson simply went merchant to merchant with a list in hand. A boy's sweater, a girl's warm scarf, a basket of potatoes and carrots and squash.
Jack was seven or eight when he first helped out with the Fund. He was a Boy Scout. Two days before Christmas, Scout Master Charlie Schneider would gather Troops 22 and 23 to join members of the Great Barrington Rotary Club in the upstairs room of the old brick firehouse on Castle Street. The stairs were steep, but that did not stop them hauling up boxes of food and clothes purchased in bulk with donations to the Fund. They divided and packed the goods into individual boxes with the name of a family on each. On the morning of Christmas Eve, Scouts and Rotarians alike would come back and start deliveries to all the homes.
John Watson would make sure all donors to the Fund were publicly thanked in The Eagle. Most of the contributions were "in memory of" a family member or friend or were made as a donation in lieu of cards.
When John Watson died in 1963, the Community Christmas Cheer Fund had grown into a proud holiday tradition serving families in Great Barrington and Housatonic. But who would continue the tradition?
It was Charlie Schneider who approached Jack Watson. Jack was young and was just setting up his own accounting business and his memories of working with his father and his Scout Troop on the Fund were strong. He took up the challenge -- but not without help. Great Barrington Rotary Club members jumped in also. The Fund's name was changed to the "John S. Watson Fund, Inc.," also known as the Watson Fund, to honor its founder and a new phase of a tradition began.
Under Jack Watson's chairmanship the range of families served grew to include those throughout South County. The focus remained on clothes and food, not toys. The objective was to address practical needs. Cash donations grew to $25,000 per year. All contributors are still thanked in weekly press releases.
There were adventures, like the time Jack was making a delivery up Elm Court and over the railroad tracks. It was icy and the borrowed truck slipped down the bank and onto the tracks. Someone notified the railroad company that a truck was on the tracks. Jack made some calls. Peter Adams came by with a wrecker and pulled the truck out. Jack continued on his way making deliveries. It wasn't the only vehicle-stuck-in-a-bank story. Some of the homes were remote and more than one Rotarian lost the way when making deliveries.
Even though recipient families were encouraged to be at home on Christmas Eve morning to accept the donation, there was always at least one knock on the door that went unanswered. It fell to Jack to make the delivery later. And he could normally discover the family at a relative's or at a friend's for the holiday. The towns of South County are still relatively small and folks know each other. Jack credits Arlene Dezieck of the Visiting Nurse Association for "working up the list" of families in need. Mary Harrigan of Berkshire Community Action Council and now Community Health Program's Dorothy Heath has stepped in to help. A call goes out where families can request food or clothes donations from the Fund.
The work of the Watson Fund -- gathering names, collecting food and clothes, packing up boxes, and delivering -- is all accomplished in the matter-of-fact spirit of "let's get this done!" No thanks are needed. No special credit is given. It is community people doing work for their community by helping those most in need. "Of course we want to give to the Watson Fund," was Matt Massiero of Guido's comment when asked for a donation. "It is just what we do." Jack and his wife Barbara retired and moved to Nevada in 2004 to be near their children. But they remain on the board of directors of the Watson Fund. A local team, chaired by Kim Whalen of Smith Watson, continue the work with the help of many. This year the Great Barrington Rotary Club has formalized what has been a long-standing informal relationship with the Fund by creating a Watson Fund Committee. Rotarians Ray Murray, Ed McCormick, Susan Smith, Bobbie Hallig, Julie Hannum, and Gary Kobran are bringing their contacts and skills to support a valued South County initiative.
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