NORTH ADAMS - Mayor John Barrett III's office is full of memories from his 26-years at the helm of the city - a pair of cufflinks from the late U.S. Rep. Silvio O. Conte, a hard-hat from the ground-breaking ceremony of Brayton Elementary School, a hockey puck from the local skating rink, along with countless photos, buttons and cards from well-wishers.

"I have a lot of obituaries on that table - they're all people who've made a difference in my political life," Barrett said Friday, pointing to a table in his office overflowing with odds and ends given to him over the years. "There's also pictures of my wife [the late Eileen Barrett] all throughout there. To some people it looks like a pile of junk, but it helps keep me grounded."

"Just three days after the election in which he lost to challenger Richard J. Alcombright by 880 votes, Barrett, the state's longest-serving mayor with 13 two-year terms under his belt, wore a mask of calm as he attempted to hide a tide of emotions - a mix of disappointment, sorrow and relief - that bubbled to the surface as he talked about leaving the corner office.

""I'm going to ask the historical society to come in and see what they want," he quipped. "They're not going to get my autographs from Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio, but I am part of the city's history now. What some people will find amazing is the fact that we've saved every letter and every news clipping since day one. It's been an exiting period in the city's history.

""It's

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going to be sad to pack up, but nothing lasts forever," he added. "My only regret is that I didn't get to go out on my own terms. But I'm looking to the future as the next chapter of my life. I know that politics will play some part in my future, but running for office is already in my rearview mirror."

"Over the last few days, he said, he has received numerous job offers - interim town manager, interim school superintendent, political consultant and a position with a think tank.

""I'm looking forward to getting out of this fish bowl and having a little privacy," he said. "I want to stay in the city, but I don't know if I'll be able to. That's the hard part."

"Barrett is also being sought out for lectures, he said.

""I have a lot of opportunities presenting themselves. A few are in politics. I'd really like to teach part-time - that interests me strongly. I'm not ready to make a decision yet though - I'll do that in December It's amazing how very relaxed I am, knowing that all I have left to do is really clean up this place and hand things over."

"The mayor said he was severely disappointed at first by Tuesday's outcome - he had hoped to finish the Mohawk Theater before he left office and to lead the city through the impending fiscal crisis.

""Then I stepped back and realized that the job of mayor is one that is never finished," he said. "The real jewel of this city is the Mohawk Theater, and I hope that it will be finished. I'm walking out with my head held high, though. I'm leaving the mayor-elect with a city that's better than the one I inherited. We've rebuilt the economy with Mass MoCA. The city is in good financial shape with a good educational system and he'll even have a little money in the bank. He'll also have $15 million in projects that I'm leaving him."

"Looking back over the last 26 years, Barrett remembered a time when the Holiday Inn, then simply the North Adams Inn, was in and out of bankruptcy, Sprague Electric Co. was on its way out and the Transcript was running a daily tally box of the businesses that were leaving and the number of lost jobs.

""For the first 1 1/2 years I was in office, I was working 18 hours a day and never left the city," he said. "I worked seven day a week. The first time I took a vacation was on Nov. 29, 1986, when I got married."

"Even after the city turned around, Barrett has kept up the hard work.

""I've come in here every day for the past 26 years [except for brief vacations]," he said. "The hardest part is going to find someplace to go. I'm going to have to find an office."

"While he plans to set the city's tax rate as his last official act in office before Alcombright takes over on Jan. 1, Barrett said he believes he'll also have the skating rink renamed - an act that must be signed by the state Legislature - before he leaves.

""It will be the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink," he said. "He's the only man in North Adams to give his life during that war. People might not like it, but that rink is in North Adams."

"As for his advice for Alcombright, he said, it's no different than what he would tell any new mayor:

""Never let yourself believe that you're mayor for one minute. You've just been selected by your friends and neighbors to lead them for a little while. You must remember that you're not special and that you're not any different than them."