2016
Pittsfield Citizen of the Year
Congratulations to Joseph Darrah on being selected as
the 2016 Pittsfield Citizen of the Year!
Joe was described in his nomination letters as someone with
“endless energy”; as someone who “doesn’t wait to be asked – if
he knows someone needs something done- he shows up and gets the
job done!” Joe gives back to the Town of Pittsfield every
chance he gets.
Joe probably will not be happy about receiving this award as he
never asks for any thanks and does not like recognition for
anything he does. But the Citizen of the Year selection
committee thought otherwise.
Joe is active with many organizations in town – to name a few –
Old Home Day Committee, Lions Club, Greater Pittsfield Chamber
of Commerce and Beautification Committee. A “few” of his
projects include the mowing and maintenance of the Washington
House lot and Aranosian lot for the Beautification Committee;
the mowing of the dam site area and garbage and debris removal
on a regular basis at the Rotary Park by the river. He has
trucked materials and donated the use of his equipment for the
stonewall work at the Washington House lot and for the repair of
the granite wall at the Community Center. He donated more
time, trucking and materials for the Historical Society Steam
Pump project and also for the Tilton Hill Road Baseball Park.
Joe works with the Chamber of Commerce by putting up the
Seasonal/Holiday and Historical banners throughout town in the
Spring and Winter. He recently helped to replace the
framework of the Chamber’s “Welcome to Pittsfield” sign on Route
28. The Christmas tree in Dustin Park gets new lights each
year with Joe’s help. Joe has done work at Drake Field to
make room for the playground equipment and has removed the
basketball hoops.
Joe has done charity work for local and state police departments
– including helping with National Night Out. He also
donates each year to The Cabaret for a Cure. Joe and his crew
have shown up (at the crack of dawn) and cleaned up and removed
all of the fireworks debris from the Old Home Day and Balloon
Rally fireworks shows (this is a tremendous sight if you have
ever had to pick up that stuff!)
We are sure there are many other things that Joe does that we
just don’t know about. Pittsfield is lucky to have a
wonderful individual who takes the time to make our community a
better place to live! Joe, THANK YOU for all you for
Pittsfield.
