200-year Tradition of Fine Journalism
As steward of the 200-year tradition of fine journalism at The Republican, I am privileged to stand on the shoulders of giants: Samuel Bowles, Samuel Newhouse and David Starr come quickly to mind.
To understand what they and so many others built and sustained is also to comprehend what makes America great.
This 2-volume set is their story, but also the story of their colleagues, living and dead. And of the city called Springfield. And of the broader Western Massachusetts community. And of democracy itself.
When Samuel Bowles founded the paper in 1824, he not only was publisher, but also editor, typesetter and printer. Today, The Republican’s business model would amaze and confound that first of the three Samuel Bowles who guided this newspaper. As publisher today, I have the help of many skillful specialists to do what the founder did himself, plus many things he never could have imagined.
What hasn’t changed through two centuries is The Republican’s passion for truthful, hard-hitting journalism – telling the news of the day from Springfield and around the world, while giving local citizens the information they need to make informed decisions about the direction of their community and their democracy. How did this happen? And, perhaps
more important, how was it sustained in the face of so much societal change?
Unlike many countries in the world, American journalists, including those in Springfield, do not work for the government. Instead, they report news that many politicians often wish was not reported, and in so doing protect us from official corruption and allow governance by a knowledgeable majority that votes.
The financial resources to pay the reporters and editors, the advertising and marketing people, the circulation, accounting and production staff, plus buy the modern equipment and computer technology, all come from the private sector. Private individuals, who invest and risk their personal wealth, created The Republican and keep it alive today. That’s how our society works, with men and women investing their money, often joining together for efficiency in companies and corporations. It’s what we call capitalism, a concept that is often misunderstood, attacked, and sometimes abused, but which forms the bedrock of the free world’s strength and independence. In the context of this book, there would not be a free press in America – or The Republican in Western Massachusetts for 200 years -- without there also being a free enterprise system to support it.
This newspaper was founded and built by generations of the Bowles
family – classic entrepreneurs who invested their money, time, and wisdom, starting 200 years ago. Their vision for this newspaper was wildly successful, allowing The Republican over 136 years to play a crucial role in ending slavery nationwide and helping Springfield grow and mature.
In 1960, The Republican was sold to another American family headed by another Samuel – Samuel I. Newhouse of New York, another classic entrepreneur who with his siblings took energy and values from their impoverished immigrant roots to grow a company from one newspaper on Staten Island to newspapers from coast-to-coast. Today, the Newhouse family still owns The Republican and operates one of the largest family-owned-and-operated print and electronic news businesses in the world. Advance, named after that first newspaper on Staten Island, is the name of the company under which fall The Republican and very diverse print and digital companies.
Congratulations to The Republican as you celebrate your 200th Anniversary.
As the longest serving Mayor in the City’s 388-year history and 10-year Reader Raves ‘Best City or Town Local Official’, I am proud to join, as a longtime subscriber, with your readership, our residents and business community to celebrate this historic milestone and anniversary.
I fondly remember my younger days as a proud Daily News paperboy. It was thanks to that job and having the most, new customers for the month, that I was able to win and get my first 10-speed bike.
Respectfully,
The Springfield Republican continues to serve as a trusted news source for our residents and business community. From covering our ongoing Springfield renaissance under my administration with the numerous economic development projects that create more of that good four-letter word, jobs, and the building of new schools, housing units, parks, neighborhood initiatives, and just as important the sound, stable and sustainable financial management policies that have brought our city back from the brink of bankruptcy to having the highest bond rating in the city’s history.
The Republican was also there during the various natural and man-made disasters, including the 2011 EF-3 tornado and more recently the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic where they covered my administrations weekly briefings with Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris and my Cabinet Heads as we shared vital and important public health and safety information for our residents and business community from our local health professionals at Baystate Health with CEO Dr. Mark Keroack and Mercy Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Roose.
On behalf of the City of Springfield, we celebrate and recognize this special 200-year milestone and wish everyone at The Republican continued success and good health. God Bless the City of Springfield.
Domenic J. Sarno - Mayor
One of the giants of The Republican through the years of Newhouse family ownership was David Starr, publisher in Springfield for 22 of the 64 years of Newhouse ownership, from 1977 to 1999. One of the heroes of the greatest generation, the diminutive Starr was in the first wave of American troops to liberate the concentration camps and went on to arrest ex-Nazi leaders across Europe as a member of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), predecessor to the CIA. In addition to his direct work for the newspaper, he also was a key figure in shaping modern Springfield from an economic, arts and downtown development perspective.
I came to Springfield in 1981 to learn from Dave, just as I was starting my first position as a publisher with Advance, at one of our sister newspapers in Michigan. He shared with me his community strategies, through non-profit volunteer work for organizations such as Springfield Central. We didn’t agree on it all, but we discussed in detail the tricky but terribly important ways in which a newspaper can help its community – indeed, be central to the very fabric of its community -- without compromising its independent and professional journalism.
Dave Starr was a major force within Advance nationwide, serving as its senior editor and advising Samuel I. Newhouse on some of his most important decisions elsewhere. The two men embraced the same philosophy of editorial integrity, allowing professional news people to make the best decisions for their own communities, regardless of advertising or business considerations. Yet the two of them also
understood that The Republican and its counterparts could only survive as long as they also could bring in more money than they spent.
Along the way, Dave and Springfield were also teaching tools for the descendants of Sam Newhouse. Two members of the Newhouse family who today lead this worldwide enterprise lived and worked for an extended time in Springfield as they learned, one on the news side and one on the business operations. In addition, there have been several other family members who have worked here for decades, including Robyn Newhouse, who continues to serve the community on a number of non-profit boards.
I am not a member of the Newhouse family. That’s the case with most of the publishers and managers who run various kinds of operations for Advance in different markets around the world. The company is too large for any other approach. That relatively decentralized style, which is markedly different from most news organizations that are run by publicly traded companies, encourages more creativity tied to the opportunities in different places. It also makes my job much more interesting and attractive than it otherwise would be. I report to two members of the Newhouse family in New York. Both know Springfield, knew Dave Starr well, and have known and worked with me for three decades.
This management structure has enabled The Republican to survive and expand over the past decades in ways that would have challenged the imagination of the Bowles family, however brilliant they obviously were.
They would have understood many of the print aspects of today’s business. They would have understood how we could have purchased two other newspaper companies in the region over the past eight years, Westfield News, the Reminders weekly group, which is headquartered in East Longmeadow, and a weekly Spanish language newspaper, El Pueblo Latino They would have comprehended how we could have expanded The Reminders to 12 weekly publications.
They would have been astounded at today’s modern printing operation in downtown Springfield, with two enormous printing presses able to print three newspapers simultaneously in full-color at speeds up to 70,000 copies per hour. They would have shaken their heads that The Republican now prints 165 different titles, for ourselves and 49 other companies. We get their stories and pages sent to us electronically, bounced off satellites. And we truck the printed papers to offices and post offices across the entire northeast.
I suspect they would have been surprised but thrilled that all that work is produced by a hard-working and diverse group of talented people who are very heavily Latino or African-American. After all, the Bowles family and this newspaper were instrumental in creating the Republican party of Abraham Lincoln, himself a subscriber to The Republican before and after the Civil War.
Most amazing to them probably would be today’s electronic means of carrying the news to readers wherever they might be, however they want to consume our information. Our affiliated statewide
As the Springfield Regional Chamber, we take immense pride in being a driving force behind the economic vitality of our business community and region. We are your connection to what moves Springfield forward: the people, businesses, and organizations that make it much more than just a place on the map.
Today, we extend our warmest congratulations to The Republican Newspaper as they mark a monumental 200 years of delivering news, fostering dialogue, and supporting local businesses and organizations. Their dedication to journalistic integrity has not only been a historical cornerstone but a guiding light that has shaped and strengthened the fabric of Springfield.
We’ve had the privilege of working hand in hand with The Republican for decades, and our collaborative efforts have been a significant catalyst for the economic vibrancy and success of our region. Together, we’ve created a dynamic environment that opens doors for businesses and individuals alike, laying the foundation for a prosperous future.
If you’re not already a member of the Springfield Regional Chamber, we invite you to join us and be a part of our vibrant community. As a member, you’ll receive the tools and resources needed to thrive now and into the future. You’ll create personal connections that support word-of-mouth marketing, benefit from pro-business advocacy, and have tangible opportunities to grow your business and boost brand awareness. Our in-person programming draws hundreds of business leaders, offering a consistently engaged, local audience.
Looking ahead, we are excited about the ongoing collaboration between the Springfield Regional Chamber and The Republican, knowing that together, we have a future filled with sustained growth and lasting prosperity for Greater Springfield. Cheers to the next 200 years!
website, MassLive.com, is visited monthly by readers on millions of desktops, mobile phones and tablets. Started from a tiny operation 200 years ago, with a manually-operated little printing press, the combined news content is read by more people across Springfield, the Commonwealth and indeed the world than ever before.
Once they adjusted to the technology, the substance of today’s news would look very familiar to the long-ago leaders of the Bowles family.
They would be elated by the continued existence of their free country, grown incredibly in complexity.
They would recognize their town, in all its human triumphs and tragedies. They would recognize the tenor of local controversies, even if the substance of local debates might be radically different.
I think they would be proud, as I am as their successor, for playing an important role in press freedom in Springfield, the nation, and the world. The Republican has done more than its share of telling the truth in public life, without fear or favor.
Today those of us at The Republican – and our readers - can celebrate that legacy together as we look forward to the years ahead.
200 Years of Bringing Home the News
We’re not accustomed to writing about ourselves here at The Republican, but after two centuries it was time.
Please enjoy the story about our newspaper and the amazing story of the city and region we call home.
Two centuries of powerhouse journalism.
Since 1824, The Republican has been bringing vital news and information to Western Massachusetts and beyond. Congratulations on 200 years. Today, we celebrate you.
Sports
By Ron Chimelis
The first part of the 21st century was transformational for Greater Springfield, Western Massachusetts and New England. That was certainly true in the world of sports.
It was a time when fans of the Boston pro teams were rewarded with 12 championships - only one of which came from the region’s historic powerhouse, the Celtics, whose 2008 title was the 17th in the NBA franchise’s glorious history, and its first since 1986.
There was six Super Bowl titles delivered by the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady New England Patriots, and four by the Red Sox, whose long-awaited success had not been seen in Boston since before and during World War I. The Bruins claimed hockey’s Stanley Cup in 2011.
Closer to home, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ended decades of trying to establish credibility and rose to become a globally recognized curator and marketing agent for the sport. The Hoophall Classic emerged as the premier in-season high school basketball tournament in the United States.
The long and proud pro hockey history in Spring-
field teetered on the edge of oblivion until 2016, when local investors purchased the Portland, Maine, franchise and brought it to the city, where the newly-named Thunderbirds drew the largest crowds in Springfield history.
In the ever-changing landscape of Division I college sports, the University of Massachusetts experienced both successful and difficult times. High school and local college and amateur sports continued, though interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Almost all teams, including the Thunderbirds, lost a full season or more, though one summer college baseball team, the managed to navigate safe ly through an entire 2020 season, during the heart of the pandemic, with protective restrictions in place.
Open at The Orchards in South highlight. So were the writings of istic legend whose reports spanned 71 years until his death at age 90 on January 31, 2022.
only wrote for Republican mental in helping organize the Baseball Hall of Fame, which
Our mission:
TOP: Tom Brady raising trophy from the New England Patriots 2017 Super Bowl victory celebration in Boston on February 7, 2017. Photo by Chris Marion The Republican.
MIDDLE: Members of the Boston Red Sox celebrate David Ortiz’s three-run homer in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park in Boston on Oct. 23, 2004. Photo by Christopher Evans / The Republican
ABOVE: Springfield Thunderbirds played against Charlotte Checkers at MassMutual Center for the Calder Cup Playoffs Atlantic Division Finals game, May 25, 2022. Photo by Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen The Republican
John L. Doleva, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, center, talks with Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, left, as he toured Kerry through the exhibits. They are looking at a bronze statue of the founder of basketball James Naismith, Mar. 1, 2008. Photo by David Molnar/The Republican
annually honors the sport’s legacy and its greats from the distant past and more recently.
The early 21st century added to a rich history of local and regional sports, ushering in a new era that promised to blend the past with an exciting future.
A Renaissance in Arts & Culture
By Aprell May-Munford
A REVIVAL
The long-awaited renaissance of the art and culture sector in Springfield has arrived; the cultural diversity celebrated in Springfield. With fresh colorful murals decorating the city, fashion designers are receiving their long overdue flowers, galleries are taking the lead in diversity, and fashion is creatively transforming the ordinary streets into urban catwalks.
Special events celebrating the community’s diverse population and cultural origins, new museums, music festivals, popular events and attractions all add to Springfield as a “destination” city. Springfield’s revival of its art and culture sectors are helping to quickly establish the “City of Firsts,” as the new arts and creative capital of the region.
TOP: Students and staff of The Community Music School of Springfield Sonido Musica performed at Thank An Artist celebrating Springfield’s creative community at MGM Springfield on September 21, 2019. Photo by Ed Cohen/The Republican.
ABOVE: Donald D’Amour, left, and Michele D’Amour stand in front of Claude Jean Monet’s “Haystack” in the French Impressionist Gallery at the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts on May 29, 2008. The couple gave $4 million to the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts and the museum was renamed in their honor.
Photo by Christopher Evans/The Republican.
celebrating diverse cultural museums, music events and to Spring“destination” city. revival of its sectors are establish as the new capital of
SPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS ADD NEW ATTRACTIONS
DR. SEUSS NATIONAL MEMORIAL SCULPTURE GARDEN
The Springfield Museums reported over 3,000,000 people visited the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Quadrangle since it’s unveiling. The statue of Theodor Seuss Geisel, who is widely known as Dr. Seuss sits at a desk on the edge of the garden. Famed author Theodor Seuss Geisel was born and raised in the “City of Firsts.”
The sculptures are surrounded by lots of open green space and life size depictions of Dr. Seuss’ most beloved characters, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, Horton, Thidwick, Yertle the Turtle, The Grinch, and Thing One and Thing Two among others. The Republican published a book detailing the story of the creation of the Sculpture Garden entitled Dr. Seuss, Springfield, and the Kettle of Bronze by park sculptor Lark Grey Dimond-Cates in 2017.
The Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History Tells the Community’s Story
The Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History is housed in the former Verizon building on Edward Street. The $7.5 million project broke ground on Sept. 5, 2008, and opened its doors in the fall of 2009.
TOP LEFT: Grand opening ceremony of the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Springfield Museums. Audrey Geisel, wife of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel, second from left, strokes the hand of the statue of her late husband during the ceremony. Behind her from left: Congressman Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., Joseph Carvalho III, president and executive director of the Springfield Library and Museums, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, sculptor of the Seuss statues and the step-daughter of Dr. Seuss, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass, May 31, 2002.
Photo by Michael S. Gordon/The Republican.
The museum emphasizes the city’s post-Civil War history and focuses on the remarkable record of Springfield inventions, products and people that changed America. The world’s largest Indian Motocycle collection, Rolls Royces, GeeBee airplanes, the largest collection of Smith & Wessons, and a long list of other notable Springfield products and inventions are on display. The museum also maintains a large local history archives and research library that documents the people, institutions, and events of Greater Springfield.
The Springfield Museums Opens a new Museum: The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum
The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, the newest museum on the Quadrangle, is devoted to Springfield native Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss! The fully bilingual (Spanish and English) first floor features family friendly, interactive exhibits exploring Dr. Seuss’s Springfield roots and providing opportunities to experiment with new sounds and vocabulary, play rhyming games, and invent stories–all in line with Geisel’s revolutionary role in changing how we learn to read.
The second floor, curated by Geisel’s two stepdaughters and great nephew, recreates Geisel’s studio and living room (with the furniture and art materials he actually used) and
TOP LEFT: Tyler and Madelyn Hoskinson of Wilbraham are seen at the grand opening of The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, June 3, 2017. The Dr. Seuss Museum explores the childhood and stories of Springfield native and world-famous children’s author illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel.
Photo by Jessica Hill The Republican.
TOP RIGHT: A Large Bas Relief sculpture by Lark Grey Dimond-Cates was installed at Forest Park in October of 2023 celebrating the longest serving Superintendent of the Parks, Theodor Robert Geisel, father of Theodor Seuss Geisel (“Dr. Seuss”).
Photo by Joseph Carvalho III / The Republican.
S
C
ABOVE: Maestro Kevin Rhodes conducting the orchestra at Opening Night of the Springfield Symphony’s 75th Anniversary Season at Springfield Symphony Hall on Sept. 22, 2018.
Photo by Steven E. Nanton/The Republican.
features never before publicly displayed art, family photographs and letters.
Naming of the D’Amour Art Museum
The former Museum of Fine Arts was renamed in honor of Donald and Michele D’Amour. In November 2007, the couple donated $4 million to the Springfield Museums. The museum originally opened in October 1933 and throughout the years the museum has collected 19th- and 20th-century American and old master paintings. The renaming and donation enables the art museum to maintain its collection preservation, programming and exhibitions at a high standard. Now the museum houses over 6,000 American, Asian and European objects.
Two
College Diversity
Over the past two decades colleges and universities have seen many changes.
Westfield State, Western New England and Bay Path all officially changed their names from college to university to recognize the higher degree programs they offer.
The college leadership across Western Massachusetts has also expanded dramatically to include multiple women and people of color as presidents.
Some of them are:
• Holyoke Community College president
Christina Royal, who served from 2017 to 2023 was the first woman, the first bi-racial and first openly gay person to head the college. She was succeeded by George Timmons, who is African-American.
• Linda Thompson became the first African-American woman to serve as president of a Massachusetts state university when she was selected as the president of Westfield State University in 2021.
• Kumble Subbaswamy, an immigrant from India, was the popular president of the more than 30,000-student
University of Massachusetts between 2012 and 2023.
• Harry E. Dumay, a Haitian immigrant, was appointed as Elms College president in 2017.
• Mary-Beth A. Cooper, was selected in 2013 to become the first woman president in Springfield College’s 128-year history.
• Robert E. Johnson, who is African American, was hired as president of Western New England University in 2020 after he served chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
ABOVE: On Jan. 16, 2019, from left to right, Bay Path University president Carol Leary, Holyoke Community College president Christina Royal and Springfield College president Mary Beth Cooper, headline the Western Massachusetts College Presidents Panel for the luncheon meeting of the Professional Women’s Chamber in Springfield.
Photo by Ed Cohen/The Republican.
Health care
By Cynthia G. Simison
Twenty-five years ago, the region was served by nine hospitals with nearly 10,000 employees. This did not include the state-run Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield and the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, along with the federally run Edward P. Boland Veterans Administration Medical Center in Northampton as well as Shriners’ Hospital for Children in Springfield.
The past two-and-a-half decades have seen the region’s health-care system evolve to meet the needs of the community, to address changing needs of an aging
population and to address advances in how health care is delivered.
The Republican has chronicled this evolution with countless stories regarding expansion of hospital services, specialized medical practices, medical technology manufacturers and innovators and community health care providers. The COVID-19 pandemic as it played out beginning in March 2020 underscored both the wealth of services in the region but also many challenges now being addressed.
The Greater Springfield region is fortunate to have some of the finest health
care resources and services close at hand. In addition, the region’s educational network, from the Population-Based Urban & Rural Community Health program of the UMass Chan Medical School at Baystate Medical Center to the nursing, health technician and other programs offered at community colleges and four-year schools, provides training for a steady stream of new employees.
Here are highlights of some of the most impactful developments and health care challenges we have faced:
ABOVE: Classroom and SIM lab photo of the Nursing & Allied Health program at Westfield State University. As Westfield State University overcame Covid-19 obstacles to hands-on nursing training, simulated treatment and care was practiced in the fall of 2020. The Republican file photo OPPOSITE PAGE: This map showing reported Covid-19 cases in Springfield was shown during the weekly city update on Covid-19 cases and response, Apr. 20, 2020. Photo by Don Treeger/The Republican.
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, from its outbreak in 2020 and its last vestiges that continue to unfold, was the leading health care story of the past quarter century. Here in Western Massachusetts, it tested the skills and services of municipal public health services, the region’s health care facilities and the state’s ability to respond to a public health crisis.
The city of Springfield’s response to COVID-19 stood out as exemplative of the response by communities large and small to address the needs of area residents.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris conducted the first press conference addressing COVID-19 on March 6, 2020. Together with the CEO of Baystate Health, Dr. Mark Keroack, and the medical director at Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Robert Roose, Sarno would over the subsequent 15 months host informational sessions to connect with residents and discuss the path of the virus through the city and region.
From setting up a state-of-the-art facility on Worthington Street to address the needs of the homeless community to leading efforts for vaccine clinics to serve both the city and the region, Sarno and Caulton-Harris, along with Keroack and Roose, helped guide the region through the pandemic and the region’s recovery.
TOP LEFT: Aerial photos of cars waiting in line for COVID-19 testing at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, Feb. 9, 2020.
Drone photography by Patrick Johnson/ The Republican
ABOVE: Health and Human Services commissioner Helen CaultonHarris speaking at the COVID-19 candlelight remembrance ceremony on the steps of Springfield City Hall, April 20, 2022 ( L-R Mayor Domenic Sarno, and Rep. Bud Williams in the background).
Photo by Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen The Republican.
One of the darkest results of the pandemic came in the outbreak of the coronavirus at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, where more than 70 residents died amid a controversy of the response made by leaders at the home in response to the virus. Subsequent efforts by state and federal legislators led to plans to erect a new veterans’ home and health care center on the site. Ground was broken in August 2023 for a $482.6 million project that will create a 350,000-square-foot facility with 234 long-term care beds.
Disasters
By Joseph Carvalho III & Wayne E. Phaneuf
Whendisaster strikes the community, The Republican’s entire staff immediately responds by reporting the events of the day. Our reporters and photographers are quickly on the scene to capture the details and images of the event in order to inform our readers as quickly as possible. The major disasters that impacted our community over the past 25 years are included in this chapter with the 2011 tornado the most dramatic moment for our region. What is remarkable is how resilient Springfield has been in the aftermath of each disaster. The Republican is proud of the work done by our journalists and photographers who have faithfully recorded the efforts to restore the areas and neighborhoods effected by these destructive events.
On June 1, 2011, a tornado carved a 39mile swath of destruction from Westfield through the middle of Hampden County to the Sturbridge-Charlton line in Worcester County during its one hour and 10 minutes on the ground. Although the storm generated three tornadoes, two of them were minor and took down only trees in non-populated areas. The principal tornado was a monster categorized as an F3 with winds of 158206 mph.
Tragically there were three fatalities but it was a “miracle” that there weren’t more given the totality of the damage to hundreds of structures in highly populated areas. The following photos provide a sample of our coverage of the
event. Later that year, The Republican published a book entitled Path of Fury replete with extensive photographic documentation of the devastation.
GIVING RESOURCES
NEW LIFE
We all play an important role in advancing sustainability for the world around us. The work we do, the infrastructure we build, and the investments we make help to enable our customers and communities to achieve their recycling goals.
Climate leadership isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing more. Each year, we recover over a million tons of materials. Over the next decade, we plan to double that amount.
Supporting the Community
The Republican believes there is strength in numbers as it continues to support and promote community wide efforts that aim to enrich the quality of life for the people of the region.
The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, founded in 1991, exemplifies that philosophy by serving as a catalyst for a wide range of charitable activities. It does so by tapping into the kindness and generosity of hundreds of individuals and corporate citizens as it seeks to raise money for the common good.
According to an editorial in The Republican, the agency raised $38.4 million in contributions from 634 donors in fiscal year 2020. In the process, “it raised $15 million in grants and $1.6 million in scholarships and interest-free loans, allowing more than 800 students to enjoy the benefits of its role in turning public generosity into individual benefit for people and organizations that need it.”
As a well-known and proven entity with a state-
wide profile, the Community Foundation distributed more than $13 million through the Covid-19 Response Fund.
In 2012, the Community Foundation launched Valley Gives, a 24-hour giving day to help area nonprofits
build their online fundraising skills and introduce donors to hundreds of nonprofits. In its first year, the effort raised $1 million with more than 10,000 gifts from 6,466 donors.
The annual give-a-thon, which al-
Where We Celebrate
Health New England extends warm congratulations to The Republican on reaching the remarkable milestone of 200 years!
As valued partners in our community, we celebrate their commitment to excellence in journalism through the generations.
ABOVE: L to R- Cora Swan and Aliciah Porter distribute books courtesy of the Davis Foundation program Text 413 Families at the Mason Square National Night Out event at Rebecca Johnson School in Springfield on August 6, 2019. Photo by Ed Cohen/The Republican.
fundraising skills and hundreds of noneffort raised 10,000 which al-
lows people to donate to their favorite charities, was relaunched in 2020 as Giving Tuesday.
The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation is another Springfield-based nonprofit agency that serves as both a catalyst for charitable giving and philanthropic agenda-setter. Founded in 1970, the Davis Foundation is dedicated to the cause of early education. The organization believes that education starts at birth, citing research that shows that reading, talking, and singing to children helps them become good readers in school.
In 2014, the Davis foundation partnered with The Republican, MassLive, ABC 40 along with Pride Stores to launch a social media campaign #413reads to recognize that the ability to read by 4th grade leads to success in school and later life. Local residents were encouraged to share photos of adults reading to children and favorite books that were posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The citywide effort earned national recognition from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, for the Davis-sponsored Reading Success by 4th Grade.
On May 15, 1851, MassMutual started here in Springfield with a single room and a single purpose – to help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. And for more than 170 years, MassMutual has put our customers at the heart of what we do by providing holistic financial solutions, guidance, and education on their terms. Our long-term strategy as a mutual company helps ensure that our policyowners and their loved ones can rely on us to be there when they need us most.
Over the years, we’ve helped millions of people work toward financial security and well-being. We’ve paid dividends to our participating policyowners consistently since the 1860s and have attained financial strength ratings among
the highest in the industry. Our financial professionals are spread throughout the United States, providing guidance and solutions to the financial goals of our customers at every stage of their lives.
MassMutual and its affiliated companies offer a broad array of insurance and investment products for individuals, families, and businesses across the United States.
Our company has grown significantly since our humble beginnings, yet to this day and for years to come, we remain a company defined by our embrace of mutuality. By living mutual, we work to create a world where we rely on each other to build a stronger future together... for our customers, our associates, and our communities. Dividends are determined annually, subject to change and not guaranteed. Ratings apply to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, C.M. Life Insurance Company and MML Bay State Life Insurance Company. Ratings are subject to change. Insurance products issued by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), Springfield, MA 01111, and its affiliated US insurance companies. Securities products and services offered through registered representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC, Member SIPC, Springfield, MA 01111-0001 or of a broker-dealer with a selling agreement with MML Distributors, LLC Member SIPC, Springfield, MA 01111-0001. Both MML Investors Services, LLC and MML Distributors, LLC are subsidiaries of MassMutual. MM202702-308222
Business & Development
By Jim Kinney
Oneof the most important roles of The Republican is informing the Western Massachusetts community about the latest activity regarding business and economic development in Greater Springfield. Informing our readers of new projects, plans for the future and other significant news affecting the regional economy is part of The Republican’s vital role.
Here are some of the most significant stories of business and economic development over the past 25 years:
MGM Casino
Enlivens Springfield
MGM Springfield brings hundreds of visitors daily to gamble, dine, take in a movie or just people watch in downtown Springfield. Most don’t know how this huge playground was able to fend off others in a rough-and-tumble battle that included proposals from at least nine other competitors.
Three were proposed for the Springfield site, including Penn National, MGM and
Ameristar, while there were other proposals from Mohegan Sun in Palmer and Hard Rock in West Springfield. A proposal for a casino on property on Mount Tom in Holyoke was also floated at one point. Both Hard Rock and Mohegan Sun were voted down by their respective communities, with Springfield left standing as the site for a Western Massachusetts casino.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno backed MGM. Penn National lost after voters cast the majority votes for MGM on June 13, 2014. After more than two years of construction
in Springfield’s tornado-ravaged South End, the casino opened for business on Aug. 24, 2018. The 2-million-square-foot complex contains a gaming area surrounded by a parking garage, hotel, spa, movie theater, restaurants and shops. The 125,000-square-foot casino features 2,550 slots, 120 table games, a high-limit room and a poker room with 23 tables.
MGM promised to hire 3,000 employees but made the goal only briefly. COVID-19 forced the state to close MGM and the state’s three other casinos for months starting in March 2020. Restrictions on crowd size and the number of games lingered into 2022.
At its lowest point, MGM had just 94 employees before rebounding to about 1,500 by the middle of 2023. Over the course of its first five years in business, MGM returned $100 million to the city of Springfield, and about $405 million in total taxes and fees to the city, state and surrounding
Baystate Medical Center and Baystate Health are proud to be part of Springfield’s history as well as its future.
Baystate Medical Center has been providing skilled and compassionate healthcare to the people of western Massachusetts for more than 140 years. From our start when Springfield Hospital opened its doors in 1883, through the multi-hospital partnership that created the modern-day Baystate Medical Center in 1976, to our continuously evolving healthcare organization, we have grown with the communities we serve. Through the years, one thing hasn’t changed; our commitment to provide our patients and their families with high quality care. And it is our honor and privilege to do so.
Baystate Health congratulates The Republican on their 200th Anniversary.
For200 years, the Springfield Republican has been the standard for journalistic excellence in western Massachusetts and across our nation. Since its founding by the Bowles family in 1824, the paper has been in continuous circulation for two centuries - a feat that few publications can attest to. Throughout the course of its history, the Republican has prioritized the reporting of local stories, providing timely and accurate news to their loyal readership.
In a time where social media dominates our nation’s discourse, and misinformation and disinformation run rampant, we can continue to count on the Republican for their commitment to constant objectivity. On the occasion of their bicentennial, I am grateful for their unwavering loyalty to the people of this region. Congratulations from the United States of America.
communities since 2018.
MGM also took on management of the MassMutual Center, booking national acts like Aerosmith and Bruno Mars. It is also required under its agreement with the city to bring shows to Symphony Hall.
In early 2024, rumors reemerged that parent company MGM Resorts International was exploring possible sale of the Springfield casino and another property in Ohio. Any new owners at MGM Springfield would be bound by MGM’s license with the state and with its host community agreements with Springfield and neighboring communities.
Baystate Health
Baystate
Health, having completed the $170-million build-out of its Hospital of the Future project in 2023, has embarked on a $70 million drive, “Healthier Tomorrows: The Campaign for Baystate Health,” to bolster its endowment, fund programs and address capital needs moving forward. Baystate now sees a million patients a year.
Congressman Richard Neal
The final phase of the Hospital of the Future project included 20 operating rooms that opened in March 2023. Also included are eight procedure rooms, including four cardiac catheterization labs that focus on the plumbing of the heart. The wing has two electrophysiology labs that focus on the electric impulses that drive the heart. Here, physicians perform cardiac ablations to correct abnormal heart rhythms. A neurolab focuses on interventions to the brain.
The Hospital of the Future was Baystate’s $296 million 641,000-square-foot new clinical facility at its main campus in Springfield. The first phase of the project, completed in October 2011, built the entire shell and core of the building. Over the years, Baystate built out shell space, adding procedure rooms and emergency departments for adults and children and other facilities.
Baystate Regional Cancer Program’s D’Amour Center for Cancer Care opened in 2004 as one of the first cancer programs to have its own free-standing facility developing processes totally focused on cancer patients and their needs. Located at 3350 Main St. in Springfield’s formerly industrial North End, it cost about $40 million - $10 million of which was for
LEFT: Baystate Health leaders and area elected officials break ground on March 8, 2022, for the $72 million Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke.
Photo by Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican
equipment – and brought state-of-the-art cancer care to Western Massachusetts, including “intensely modulated radiation therapy.” The center also introduced image-guided radiation therapy.
Baystate upgraded its radiation therapy in 2016 with a $2.5 million linear accelerator. The health-care giant has also continuously upgraded the technology at the D’Amour Center since.
In August 2023, Baystate Health, in partnership with for-profit Lifepoint Health, opened its 150-bed, $72 million Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke. The facility marked success for Baystate’s years-long effort to build a standalone behavioral health facility.
LEFT: Peter Pan Bus Lines held a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of their new corporate offices in Springfield’s Union Station. Speaking is Peter Pan chairman and CEO Peter A. Picknelly, Aug. 28, 2018.
The Republican.
Union Station Restored and East-West Rail
Plans
Sincethe completion of a $103 million federally and state-funded rehab of Springfield Union Station, the building –opened originally in 1923 – has become a hub for intra-city Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus service, long-distance service by Peter Pan, headquartered there, and Greyhound.
Union Station has also gained additional north-south passenger service from the Connecticut Department of Transpor-
tation’s CTRail Hartford Line and Amtrak’s Valley Flyer to Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield and on to points north. Better and more frequent service from Springfield to Boston has been elusive. The station sees just one passenger train headed east west each day as of 2023.
East-west rail is a priority for both the administration of Gov. Maura T. Healey and her Department of Transportation. Increased service has the backing of U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, who spearheaded the Union Station renovations.
Adding more Boston trains requires track work between Springfield and Worcester and coordination with freight hauler CSX. Amtrak would operate the service, stopping in Pittsfield and possibly Palmer as well.
The U.S. Department of Transportation already granted $1.75 million for track upgrades near Union Station and the state has purchased real estate.
Most recently, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Amtrak and freight railway CSX received $108 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to cover track improvements along 53 miles of railroad between Springfield and Worcester.
The work, which will add sidetracks and raise speed limits, promises to allow for two-hour trips to Boston and makes the advent of expanded east-west rail to Albany, New York, much more likely.
(Editors’ Note: In 2017, The Republican published Saving Union Station: A 40 year Effort Ends in Success, that documented Neal’s decades-long effort to preserve, restore and develop the historic station.)
ABOVE: The restored Union Station in Springfield opened in July 2017 with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority operating all of its Springfield service from the transit hub, initially moving about 6,000 people a day.
Photo by Don Treeger / The Republican
Photo by Don Treeger/
The MassMutual Center Thrives
The MassMutual Center generated a record $56 million in economic impact from July 2022 to June 2023. The previous high was in 2019, prior to the COVID pandemic.
Business not only has been driven by regular events like Springfield Thunderbirds and American International College’s Yellow Jackets hockey but also by conventions and trade shows. Managers at the venue say more than half the business is new business. MGM has been hosting more shows at the arena in recent times, including sell-out crowds in 2023 for Saturday Night Live castmates Amy Poehler and Tina Fey and music superstar Bruno Mars.
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which owns the building, is investing in upgrades, building new entrances and a three-side video marquee on Main Street.
The new $35 million Civic Center Garage, a five-story structure with room for 1,000 cars and with 10,000-square-feet of street-level restaurant and retail space for lease, is due to be completed in 2024. It replaces a 51-year-old building where some of the space couldn’t be used because the structure had deteriorated.
TOP: A new video screen was installed at the MassMutual Center at the corner of Main Street and Bruce Landon Way in downtown Springfield in early 2024. Photo by Don Treeger/The Republican
ABOVE: Cher brought her ‘Here We Go Again’ tour to the MassMutual Center on April 30, 2019. Photo by Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen/ The Republican
New Correctional Facility for Hampden County
After14 years of lobbying for a separate facility for incarcerated women, Sheriff Michael J. Ashe Jr. was gratified to be able to open the $26.1 million Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee on Sept. 13, 2007. In 1992, Ashe had been successful in lobbying for a new Hampden County Correctional Center. The $73.5 million facility opened at Stony Brook in Ludlow in September of that year.
(Editor’s note: In 2022, The Republican published the story of Sheriff Ashe’s and Sheriff Nick Cocchi’s correctional reform efforts in a book written by Joseph Carvalho III and Wayne E. Phaneuf entitled, Out of the Darkness: History of Corrections Reform at the Hampden County, MA Sheriff’s Department, 1661-2022.)
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ABOVE: An “inside the walls” look at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow, Jan. 25, 2017. Photo by Don Treeger/ The Republican.
CRRC MA Begins Manufacturing Rail Cars
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MA began manufacturing subway cars for Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Springfield in 2018. The Chinese-owned factory – prompted by a state requirement for work to be done here – returned an industry to Springfield that had been missing since Wason Manufacturing went out of business during the Great Depression. Wason made rail passenger cars and trolley cars starting in 1845.
The state has an $870.5 million agreement with CRRC to buy 152 new cars for the MBTA Orange Line and 252 Red Line cars. The plant, which has about 280 employees, faced delays and quality control issues delaying delivery.
A new quality control program appeared to pay dividends in the summer of 2023 with the factory closing in on completing delivery of the Orange Line cars with the last of the Red Line Cars expected to be delivered in 2026.
ABOVE: CRRC Ma. held a topping off ceremony at their North American railcar manufacturing facility in East Springfield, Aug. 25, 2016. Photo by Don Treeger/ The Republican. OPPOSITE PAGE: Demolition of the York Street Jail. The old cells are visible at right, Jan 21, 2007.
Photo by Michael S. Gordon/The Republican.
Springfield Redevelopment Opportunities:
The Old York Street Jail site
The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission’s $137-million York Street Pump Station project on part of the old York Street Jail site was completed in 2023. It has increased the volume of wastewater that can be pumped under the Connecticut River to the treatment plant. The rest of the York Street Jail site, left vacant since the jail was demolished in 2008, remains unused.
Over the years various proposals have come and gone. There was talk of a Royal Armouries Museum, a sports complex, or a parachute freefall simulation attraction. A plan for a $37 million hotel withered in the face of COVID restrictions.
The Springfield Redevelopment Authority, which owns the 2.5-acre site, received only one proposal in the summer of 2023 in response to advertising for potential developers.
A trusted resource and partner to the Greater Springfield community for generations, The Republican newspaper proudly upholds its commitment to diligently reporting on local, regional and national news with fairness and integrity.
Congratulations on This Milestone Achievement!
As a long-standing collaborator, Metro Creative Graphics salutes the publication and its dedicated team for their unwavering commitment to excellence in journalism. We’re honored to play a part in the continued success of The Republican and peer publications throughout North America with support content that helps local newspapers thrive and continue their critical role in our nation’s communities. Keep up the great work!
Eastfield Mall Site
With the closing of the large Eastfield Mall site, Springfield was faced with both a challenge and an opportunity.
The mall closed in July 2023, and the site is being developed by Springfield Crossing with owners promising to open in 2025. According to the developer, Onyx Partners Limited, the plan for the property is a “a state-ofthe-art central mixed-use commercial and retail hub encompassing the 46acre site.”
The development is to include a “nationally recognized anchor and other well-known national brand tenants who will be announced at a later date as the development project advances.”
Vibra Hospital site
In October 2023, Vibra Healthcare agreed to turn over its recently closed hospital and 17.5 acres of “prime economic development” property along the State Street corridor to the city for $1, ending years of speculation about the future of the former municipal hospital.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno announced on Oct.19, 2023, “We are going to take it over, we are going to put it out there and we want to get it back on the tax rolls, creating revenue for Springfield and creating a good four-letter word … J-O-B-S.”
The property includes a 92,000-square-foot building, a piece of that was once a tuberculosis ward, which has been unused and completely shut down for as long as 40 years.
Military bases boost the regional economy
Westfield Air Guard set to soar into future
The Air Force selected the Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport as the preferred location for a fleet of its $78 million, latest-generation F-35A fighters. If it passes environmental review, the upgrade in aircraft would secure the Guard base’s importance in the nation’s air defense and in the city’s economy for decades. If approved, the new fighter jets are not expected to arrive until 2026.
Preparations are already underway including plans for a $4.5 million entrance to the base from Routes 10 and 202 to meet current ground security standards. The base is also home to an Army National Guard helicopter unit. In recent years there was $4.7 million spent on taxiway and aircraft ramp improvements and plans to spend an additional $22 million to $23 million to build a new, 75-foot-wide taxiway running the full length of and parallel to the airport’s main runway.
The F-35A project includes 21 aircraft and two back-ups. The total number of personnel would increase by approximately 80 people including 15 officers and 65 enlisted military members.
Together, the airport and its tenants have an about $138.5 million payroll and a total economic impact of $236 million per year. The airport is responsible directly and indirectly for about 2,100 jobs, some 1,100 of which are at the Guard.
Westover upgrades to meet mission
W estover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee and its 439th Airlift Wing is in the process of completing a new $46.4 million Super Hangar. It will be
large enough to fit an entire C-5M Super Galaxy for inspection, maintenance and repairs.
The C-5, the Air Force said, is the largest aircraft in the Pentagon’s fleet and, at 247 feet long, the world’s second largest aircraft. Westover is home to eight of them. This new hangar will be the hub for all minor C-5 inspections, including all C-5s throughout the U.S. Air Force.
Two decades ago, U.S. Department of Defense officials were questioning if Westover, which is the largest employer in Chicopee, would even continue to exist. This development, along with other developments, are helping secure the base’s future.
Westover also completed a $32 million runway resurfacing project in 2022. The project called for a complete rebuild of Westover’s main runway — which at 300 feet in width is one of the widest in the country and at 11,970 feet long is one of the longest in New England. The project began in March 2020, was completed in October
ABOVE: An F-15 Eagle from the Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport takes off on May 21, 2021; the Air Force designated the 104th as the preferred location for a fleet of new F-35A Lightning II fighters. The plan is currently under review.
Photo by Dave Roback / The Republican
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ABOVE: Tech Sgt. Kevin Godek, of Palmer, of the Air Reserve’s 439th Airlift Wing, attaches a power supply to a C-5M Super Galaxy as he works in a maintenance hangar at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee on Feb. 3, 2022.
2021 and was certified for all uses in early 2022. Also completed in 2021 was an $11 million, hightech firing range training center that is being used by Air Reservists, as well as U.S. Marine Corps and Army units on base, Western Massachusetts police departments and federal law enforcement agencies in the region.
Westover, with a history dating back to World War II, is the nation’s largest Air Force Reserve base. It is home to more than 5,500 military and civilian workers and pumps more than $190 million into the Western Massachusetts economy every year.
Photo by Don Treeger / The Republican
Memoir of a Newspaper Ad Guy
By Mark French Chief Revenue Officer
It’s a Monday at 5 in the morning. (The 13-year-old me awakes) to a dark, frigid January morning in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I can hear the sleet pinging off my bedroom window above the whine of the alarm clock. My brother, Jeff, is already up and starting to pull on warm clothes.
We don’t speak as we both get dressed. Neither of us are looking forward to what’s ahead.
We trudge downstairs, pull on our boots and jackets hoping the inclement
weather hasn’t created a delay in our drop-off. As we step outside into the bitter cold a feeling of relief comes over us as we see the bundles of newspapers resting at the edge of the driveway. They are already covered in a half-inch layer of accumulated ice. We pick up the bundles, go back inside to the warmth while setting each on the floor of our “packaging area” of our operation – otherwise known as the kitchen.
Our family cat, Riley awaits one of his favorite moments of the day – his pupils dilated. He pounces on the plastic straps as we release them from each bundle. We
sort the newspapers from the sales flyers. Looks like we have three (to insert by hand into each of the papers today): Sears; Kmart; and JCPenney. We’ve done this many times before, so we go into action quickly with our impromptu production line. We deftly complete the task for all 120 newspapers in less than 10 minutes. Who would have thought that retail giants like Sears would entrust youngsters like us with the distribution of their sales flyers back in the day?
Next, we help each other load our oversized carrier bags. The bags are green canvas with a heavy duty, bright orange
ABOVE: Mark A. French, Chief Revenue Officer at The Republican, holds a variety of
at the 200th Open House celebration. Photo by Leon Nguyen Photography.
sales flyers. insert by hand Sears; done this into action production task for all 10 minutes. retail giants youngsters like sales flyers load our overgreen orange
reflective strap. It’s designed to make us more visible to early commuters to help them avoid running us over as they sip their first coffee of the day while clutching the steering wheel! Typically, the Monday paper is smaller in page count so the weight of the two bags crisscrossed over my shoulders is easy to manage. Unlike Sunday editions which are far more difficult to heft.
We’ve got to maintain a rapid pace to have our routes completed in time to shower and make the bus to school. Tomorrow will be more of the same. Our daily routine. We are carriers for The Morning Call newspaper - 365 days a year- a venture we took on two years prior.
That’s how my career in newspapers started back in 1978.
Take a big leap forward to 1986. Just days after graduating with my degree in advertising from Penn State I accepted my first “real job” working as a full-time advertising assistant at The Morning Call, the same newspaper for which I had been a youth carrier. Several years later I ended up with The Mercury Newspaper in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Then the Express-Times in Easton, Pennsylvania.
In 1999, I was asked by Dean Singleton, media mogul, owner, and CEO of MediaNews Group, to be the advertising director for one of his holdings in what at the time was referred to as “America’s Premier Cultural Resort”, the Berkshires. The newspaper was The Berkshire Eagle.
Becoming the advertising director for the Eagle, a property of New England Newspapers, is what brought me to Massachusetts. Seven years later, in 2006, I accepted the position as advertising director for The Republican. Including my four years as a carrier, my media career with a newspaper platform spans 42 years, with 18 of those years being at The Republican - so far.
When discussing newspapering with family, friends, clients or colleagues I’ll often refer to the black ink that runs in my veins. It’s because growing up with newspapers like The Republican has given me a deep love and appreciation for the medium and the vital role newspapers play in the communities that they serve.
I love the news, but I’m an advertising guy. Over the span of my career, I have had the privilege
of working with thousands of businesses from the smallest, sole proprietorships to enormous, publicly owned companies - several of which regularly appeared on the Forbes Fortune 500 list.
As the media landscape has evolved, so has The Republican with its
Celebrating 35 Years in Business
Providing excellent service from West Springfield to all of Massachusetts has been the cornerstone of our family-owned business.
affiliated news content-based platform (at MassLive).
Joining the 200-year-old daily newspaper are a myriad of other news and advertising vehicles, including the Reminder community newspapers with editions that provide what is often referred to as “hyper-local” news specific to the cities and towns covered by each edition.
El Pueblo Latino, a weekly Spanish-language newspaper, became part of The Republican based platform more than two decades ago. Its purpose has been to provide a newspaper for the rapidly growing and vibrant Hispanic population in Western Massachusetts.
We are a niche magazine publisher, too. One example is Go Local. Published monthly,
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Go Local presents a snapshot of the high-spirited lifestyle of residents of Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut along the (Interstate 91) corridor. Readers are treated to fresh content, upbeat features, intriguing interviews and stunning photography while promoting the region as a destination to live, dine, play and shop.
Another is Prime Magazine. Prime (targets) an ever-growing population of adults aged 45 and older. Each monthly issue contains timely information on health, finance, legal matters, travel and more.
Launched in April 2021, Cannabis Review Quarterly was developed to provide a go-to resource to discover all that’s happening within the cannabis industry. CRQ is a sophisticated, informative publication that keeps audiences abreast of the cannabis space in our local communities, the region and across the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Did I mention we are also a book publisher? From our Heritage History Book Series to professional hockey player, Bruce Landon’s The Puck Stops Here to Paws to Remember, the Wit & Wisdom of Theo the Golden Retriever, a collection of random musings of the only regularly appearing canine columnist in the country, to ROAM, a worldclass photography book that captures the mesmerizing beauty of Africa’s wildlife, people, and landscapes by Xtina Parks, an esteemed American photographer, filmmaker, conservationist and the visionary founder of ROAM A Xtina Parks Gallery. We have published more than 20 books since 2012.
But wait, there’s more! For those who prefer pixels over paper, The Republican e-Edition offers the full experience of the printed edition and more. And there’s MassLive.com, The Republican’s affiliated website, which has consistently been at the forefront of community engagement since the site launched in 1998. Today, MassLive is accessed by an audience averaging more than 4.4 million unique visitors per month making it one of the largest news and information websites in New England. As other digital solutions continue to grow in popularity, we have evolved to incorporate them into our media mix. Our POP Network, short for Point-of-Purchase, features DOOH - digital-out-of-home smart screens that display community news, photos, weather, and other local information in high-traffic retail locations.
And when publishing daily and weekly community newspapers, magazines and books, maintaining our website and high-exposure signage network, we host some of the area’s most popular events. They include our Spring and Fall Dream Destinations Travel Shows, the Prime Senior Lifestyle Expo, and Reader Raves Winners Celebration. Whew!
So, while it’s The Republican’s 200th anniversary, it’s important to know that The Republican Company is much more than the daily and Sunday newspaper. And while I love the full scope of what we do, both in print and digitally, for this ad guy the black ink of newspapering will always run strongly through these veins.
Celebrating 200 Years The Republican Hosts an Open House
The Republican’s press hall was turned into a celebratory venue on April 11 for an open house event to launch the year-long 200th anniversary observance. More than 200 invited guests from the community were greeted by employees for the evening that included hors d’oeuvres, live jazz, speeches and tours of the newspaper plant.
“We’ve been telling your story for all those years, as honestly and accurately as we can,” said George Arwady,
publisher and CEO of The Republican. ”We thank you for the privilege of letting us do it, for the chance to serve our community for so many years.”
“We might be 200 years old, but we’re brand new every day,” said Mark French, Republican Chief Revenue Officer. “How many businesses today can claim that?”
Staffers of Note
By Cynthia G. Simison
During their lengthy tenure, the daily newspapers here have carried bylines that eventually gained broad renown in journalism, literature and other fields. More than two decades before her poetry was printed in book format, Emily Dickinson published her work in The Republican. Edward Bellamy, co-founder
of the former Springfield Daily News, wrote the historical novel “Sprigs of Hemlock” for the Union and later left the Daily News to finish his most fabled work, “Looking Backward.”
Charles Henry Dow started at The Republican at the age of 21, rose to assistant editor and then moved to New York, where he founded the Wall Street Journal.
His name and that of his early partner, Edward D. Jones, are imbedded in history and culture, as creators of the Dow-Jones Industrial Average stock market index.
Just after graduating from Dartmouth College in 1925, Springfield’s own Theodor Seuss Geisel - better to known to all as Dr. Seuss - was a summer columnist for the Springfield Union.
TOP: Bronze sculpture created by Lark Grey Dimond-Cates of her stepfather, Theodor Geisel seated at his desk at the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Springfield Museums. Photo taken May 8, 2002 by Michael S. Gordon/The Republican.
In more contemporary times, Tom Wolfe, a Yale University graduate and former Springfield Union reporter, has carried to the most renown a previous affiliation with the newspapers. Wolfe, who began work at the Union in 1959, is credited with being among the finest of the New Journalism school, a breed of writers who melded reporting with literary techniques. Wolfe, who has returned to Springfield to address the Valley Press Club and speak in the Springfield Public Forums series - which he covered as a Union reporter - has written such lauded fiction and non-fiction works as Bonfire of the Vanities, The Right Stuff, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and his latest, A Man in Full.
A pair of former Daily News employees, Jim Trelease and Suzanne Strempek
Shea, also have established themselves in recent times in the book world. Trelease, well-known locally for his talents as a newspaper artist and cartoonist, has gained international recognition as a
partner, in history Dow-Jones index. Dartmouth own Theodor to all as columnist for
writer, lecturer and advocate of reading aloud to children. His The Read-Aloud Handbook has sold more than a million copies and is in its fourth printing. Shea, wife of Union-News columnist Tom Shea,
TOP LEFT: Edward Bellamy on his wedding day. Image courtesy of the Edward Bellamy Memorial Association Archives. TOP RIGHT: Emily Dickinson at the Emily Dickinson Museum. Photo by Michael S. Gordon/The Republican.
BOTTOM LEFT: Suzanne Strempek Shea. Republican file
BOTTOM RIGHT: Jim Trelease. Republican file photo.
TOP RIGHT: U.S. Rep. Edward P. Boland. Republican file photo.
made her mark at the newspaper as a reporter and editor, and she still contributes articles. But the Palmer native has won broader acclaim as the author of three books of fiction - Selling the Lite of Heaven, Hoopi Shoopi Donna and the new Lily of the Valley.
One of the nation’s top private lawyers and a former Hampden County prosecutor, Oliver C. Mitchell Jr. was much earlier in life a newspaper carrier here. In 1970, while a Cathedral High School student, he won a trip to Europe through the newspaper and the magazine Parade in the Young Columbus essay contest.
Other former reporters here, who gained wider recognition, include Antanas Van Reenan, who has achieved renown with his history books; Ben Haig Bagdikian, a journalist and educator, who has published books on social issues; Avrom N. Romm, a Holyoke native, who went on to be editor of the Middletown (N.Y.) Daily Record; and Norman Corwin, an award-winning writer in radio in the 1940s, as well as a screen and stage writer. U.S. Reps. Edward P. Boland and Richard E. Neal were also carriers in their childhoods, bringing home the news.
TOP: U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal during meeting with the editorial board of The Republican in Springfield, May 19, 2023. Photo by Don Treeger The Republican.
photo.
Sincerely,
Christina Loy
A Proud American and Chicopee Resident
Premiere Staffing
Polish National Credit Union
6-Brick’s Dispensary • Barnes Air National Guard Base
Baystate Health • Congressman Richard Neal
Eastern States Exposition • Economic Development Council
Eversource • Flint Group Company
Lancer Transportation & Logistics • Legacy.com
Manroland Goss Web Systems Americas LLC
MGM Resorts International • PeoplesBank
Raymond James Financial
Springfield Museums
Springfield Symphony Orchestra
Altus Dental • Bay Path University • Berkshire Hathaway
Casella Waste Systems, Inc. • Chicopee Chamber of Commerce
Clean Rentals • Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
Fujifilm Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau
Hadley Printing • Hazen Paper
Health New England Heritage Funeral Home
Holyoke Community College • Hub International
Liberty Bank Lift Truck • Christina Loy
M.L. Schmitt Electrical Mayor Domenic Sarno
Monson Savings • Penske Trucking
Pieroway’s Furniture Puffer’s Salon & Day Spa
Sampson Family Chapels • Spirit of Springfield
Springfield Chamber of Commerce • Springfield Parks
Springfield Thunderbirds TigerPress
Trinity Health
