NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - For the first time in nearly two years, the Eagle Street coffee date gatherings met Friday morning in North Adams.  

What You Need To Know

  • The weekly Eagle St. coffee dates in North Adams are back

  • It was the first gathering since 2019

  • Dozens of people attend to meet new people and network

  • The coffee hours help bring traffic to other businesses downtown

The gatherings first started with a few members of the ‘Namazing’ Initiative, a local group focused on programming downtown, getting coffee together three years ago. They’ve grown into popular events every Friday morning, with as many as 100 attendees.

The get togethers were cancelled last year because of the pandemic. So, for many, Friday’s meeting felt like a return to normal.

“This is a sense of normalcy that I’ve missed immensely over the past year and a half,” said Ben Lamb, a member of the ‘Namazing’ Initiative.

“Especially after 15 months of not seeing anybody, I could not wait to get out of bed this morning,” said Pete Oleskiewicz, owner of Desperados Restaurant on Eagle Street, where the coffee hour took place.  “And if you know me, I’m not a morning person, and I was very excited to get up today.”

About 20 people showed up for coffee and conversation Friday morning. Everyone comes for a different reason. For some, it’s a chance to meet new people.

“These are people I may not have crossed paths with otherwise,” said Kim Roberts-Morandi. “And so you learn their stories, you learn their history, you learn what makes them come here, and what they take away from it.”

For others, the gatherings offer a wealth of potential business opportunities. 

“Why do people go to Chamber night?” said Lisa Blackmer. “Why do people go to business networking events? It’s a business networking event. It’s just in the morning, and it’s a little more personal than some of those things.”

Sometimes, on occasions like Friday, the coffee dates are also a chance to celebrate. The crowd broke into a chorus of "Happy Birthday" in honor of one of the attendees.

The size of the crowd keeps increasing year after year, which has the added benefit of bringing more people to Eagle Street, a once bustling commercial center that now sports several empty storefronts.

“We are seeing significant investment on Eagle Street now,” said Lamb. Over the course of the project and over the course of the last three years, it’s been a pretty consistent trend. So we like to think that maybe there was a little bit of inspiration that came from the coffee dates, but at the very least, people get caffeinated on a Friday and start their day happy.”