Sherry Street last week became the fourth Realtor from the Berkshires in 15 years to be selected as Realtor of the Year.
Street, of Hinsdale, was named Massachusetts 2001 Realtor of the Year at the Massachusetts Association of Realtors’ annual Realtor of the Year and Professional Awards Banquet. The banquet, which was originally scheduled to take place at MAR’s annual convention on Sept. 12 but was postponed because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, took place last Thursday at the Sheraton Tara Hotel in Framingham.
“I really never expected this honor,” said Street, a broker with Dayspring Realtors in Pittsfield, who was clearly surprised by the award.
Street competed with 16 other Realtors who were nominated by their local associations.
A Realtor for about eight years, Street was nominated by the Berkshire County Board of Realtors, of which she is currently president. She is a state director for MAR and a member of the organization’s Issues Grassroots Work Group. A participant in MAR’s annual Legislative Day on Beacon Hill for the past several years, Street has also supported the MAR Political Action Committee.
In addition, Street is a director of the Berkshire County Multiple Listing Service.
Street joins three other Berkshire County Realtors who have received the award. In 1998, Deborah Dwyer, a Pittsfield resident and past MAR president, was chosen. Nancy Kalodner of Otis took the honor in 1992, and Esther Quinn of Pittsfield received the award in 1986.
In addition to the Realtor of the Year award, MAR leaders also presented $6,500 in grants to seven housing organizations in Massachusetts that were nominated by the state’s local Realtor associations.
MAR’s Charitable & Education Foundation provided the grants through its Housing Grant Program that was set up last year.
Among the grant recipients were Bread & Roses Housing Trust, a Lawrence agency that transforms abandoned and poorly maintained property into owner-occupied homes for low- and moderate-income families; and Construct Inc., a Great Barrington housing agency that provides transitional housing, homeless prevention programs and foreclosure and first-time homebuying counseling.
Since the foundation’s creation in 1992, some $90,000 has been donated for educational and charitable projects, according to foundation President Jeanette Tighe.
The awards banquet comes about a month before MAR installs next year’s executive board. Among those who will be installed at a dinner scheduled for Nov. 28 in Plymouth are 2002 President David Drinkwater of Coastal Countryside Properties in Cohasset, President-elect Peter Casey of Prudential Wilmot Whitney Real Estate in Weston and Secretary/Treasurer Maggie Tomkiewicz of Marianne MacDonald Real Estate in Dartmouth.
