As Election Day approaches on Nov. 8, Americans will head to the polls to decide a slew of national, state, and local races. The Record spent a morning with the patrons of the Chef’s Hat and the Moonlight Diner & Grille, and conversations with diners revealed a slice of the electorate with widely varying views on the best path forward for the country.
Voting is the most profound act of civil participation for an American citizen. It actualizes American democracy to a degree that our country’s founders could have barely dreamt of. For many of us this is the first presidential election that we will be eligible to vote in. It’s imperative that we vote in the 2020 general election.
When retailers, restaurants and hotels could begin to offer some in-person services again under phase two of the Massachusetts reopening plan in early June, most small business owners were not expecting much from the summer, which is usually their busiest time of the year.
Having completed the budget for fiscal year 2021 in February, town manager Jason Hoch ’95 had to go back to the drawing board once the effects of the pandemic became clear.
The Clark and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MOCA) both closed on March 14 and remained shuttered through the spring. The long months without visitors took a heavy toll on both museums.
As college towns across the country have reeled from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses, cultural institutions and local government in Williamstown have weathered heavy losses while managing to avoid the absolute worst of the crisis. Still, lasting pain from the spring and deep uncertainty about the future remain.
![Excited moviegoers queue up for tickets and popcorn. (Photo courtesy of Juan Baena [Osito Mountain Photos]).](https://williamsrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-10.34.24 PM-1200x733.png)
