Greenfield License Board Approves Bears Can Seasonal Alcohol License After Year of Delays

Other Committee · Meeting of June 16, 2026

Greenfield License Board approves seasonal alcohol license for Bears Can, Shriners Circus, and new cafe in busy June session. The Board of License Commissioners, chaired by Ruth Ellen Henry, voted unanimously to grant a seasonal all-alcohol beverage license to Placent Ventures LLC, doing business as the Bears Can at 5 Bank Row, ending more than a year of delays caused by state licensing system complications; the license still requires Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission sign-off before the venue can open. The board also unanimously approved an entertainment license for the Milhau Shriners Circus, co-produced with Westchester Circus Arts, at Franklin County Fairgrounds July 10-12, with proceeds benefiting Shriners Hospital in Springfield, and granted a common victualer license to Patrice Leonard for Sage Community Cafe, a 17-seat breakfast-and-lunch spot planned for 70 French King Highway with a target opening of August 1.

In a split vote with one abstention, the board gave the Meadows Cafe and Golf Center 60 additional days to complete a sale, with an explicit condition that the alcohol license will be revoked if no sale is finalized by mid-August. Two Eversource utility petitions — one for a joint pole with Verizon at 33 Scout Road and one to replace 18,000 feet of primary cable and more than 150 poles throughout the city — were approved following back-to-back public hearings at which several Scout Road-area residents received detailed project explanations from an Eversource representative.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of June 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.