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“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”
— LOUIS NIZER
FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 117
75 cents
Food Drive set for tomorrow
Environmental science and biology students pose in the university wetlands after freeing trees from invasive species. (Submitted photo)
By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTFIELD – Tomorrow, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), in conjunction with the United States Postal Service, will once again sponsor the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive across the nation. Letter carriers started the drive 22 years ago to deliver food to the nation’s hungry. A 5 percent increase in collecting nonperishable food items is the goal set by the Westfield Post Office, according to Norman Smith, supervisor of customer service. “We collected close to 14,000 pounds of food last year and hope to surpass that amount this Saturday,” said Smith. “All food collected will be donated to the Westfield Food Pantry.” Jake Golen, a 16-year letter carrier who covers the Elm Street and South Maple Street areas, joined Smith during the interview and noted that all of the flyers have been distributed to city homes as well as the mailboxes at the 8 West Silver St. postal site. “We always have a very good turnout with people giving,” said Golen, noting he always fills his truck up at least once, unloads the food at the post office, and then resumes the remainder of his route. “By the time I return from my second run, my truck is always at least half full again,” he said. Both Smith and Golen noted that many residents will come to the See Food Drive, Pagee 3
Westfield State students free trees and look to clean up wetlands WESTFIELD – Students in the Environmental Science and Biology Departments at Westfield State University are being challenged by their professors to do something that matters. Dr. Tim Parshall, professor of biology, and Dr. Michael Vorwerk, chair and professor of environmental science, are motivating their students to combat invasive species that are killing trees on Westfield State property between the university and route 20. Vorwerk says that he has been using the property, which measures about 20 acres in size, as a teaching tool in his classes for almost 14 years. “Students, faculty, and volunteers have done a lot
A student measures the circumference of a tree.
of work putting in and maintaining an improved trail system during this time,” said Vorwerk. Part of the work of cleaning up the university’s wildlands has been taken on by students in Vorwerk’s and Parshall’s classes. To prompt students to take part in activities that benefit the environment, Vorwerk created a new requirement for his Principles of Environmental Science course. The new addition to the class’ curriculum requires students to do “something that matters – something to help the environment,” according to Vorwerk. Vorwerk’s idea allowed students to select from a few options as to how they wanted to help the environment, but most students chose to spend a class releasing the trees in the wildlands from an invasive species known as oriental bittersweet. Vorwerk wanted a way to have students improve their community, but he also wanted to combat some of the negativity that can surround a conversation about the state of the environment. “With all the doom and gloom you hear about the environment and environmental problems, I think it’s important for students to take part in making a positive change – to realize that their actions matter,” Vorwerk said. Parshall also brought students to the wildlands to cut vines away from trees. A year and a half ago, Parshall and his students freed 15 trees from the oriental bittersweet vines. “Last fall we revisited these trees and they are looking much healthier now,” Parshall said. “More importantly, the bittersweet vines didn’t sprout back as much as we thought they would.” According to Parshall, the oriental bittersweet’s first recorded occurrence in Massachusetts was in 1919 and it likely came from China to the U.S. as an ornamental plant around 1860. For the past three years, Parshall has been bringing his environmental senior seminar students to the university wildlands as part of an ongoing research project where environmental science seniors look at
(Submitted photo)
See WSU Students, Page 3
Westfield resident Jake Golen, one of 31 postal service truck drivers, will be collecting nonperishable food items for the Westfield Food Pantry on Saturday as part of the annual National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. (Photo by Lori Szepelak)
Police: student stored loaded gun in car WESTFIELD (AP) — The case of a former Westfield State University student arrested for allegedly bringing a loaded large-capacity gun to campus has been continued. Brendan Tefft was ordered to serve three years of probation and complete 100 hours of community service on Thursday. If he complies with probationary conditions the case will be considered for dismissal. Masslive.com reports that a campus police officer in February spotted the handgun in a storage case in the 22-year-old Tefft’s vehicle in a school parking lot. See Gun In Car, Page 3
Firefighters put out 10-acre brush fire By LAURIE LOISEL @LaurieLoisel Daily Hampshire Gazette HUNTINGTON — About 40 firefighters from at least eight Hilltowns, including Chesterfield, Goshen, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington, spent several hours Thursday night helping Huntington firefighters put out a brush fire near Pisgah Road that covered at least 10 acres. Westhampton Fire Chief Christopher Norris, who is also a member of the Northampton Fire Department, said he and four other members of the
Westhampton volunteer department responded to the fire, reported about 5 p.m. Crews stayed on the scene until about 9 p.m., according to Norris. “The fire’s contained at this time,” he said shortly after returning to Westhampton. “We pulled everyone out of the woods when it got dark as a safety precaution.” He said one firefighter was treated for dehydration by a Hilltown ambulance unit. He also said there were no people in the woods at the time. Norris said additional crews will be returning to the area at daylight to put out
hot spots, “mop up” and try to figure out what caused the fire. Norris said state forest firefighting crews from the Department of Conservation and Recreation District 10 as well as firefighters from Russell and Chester also responded. According to Norris, the cause of the fire was not known Thursday night. The Western Mass News website reported that the fire was believed to be sparked by a downed high-voltage power line that sparked dry brush. Laurie Loisel can be reached at lloisel@gazettenet.com.
HUNTINGTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
May 16
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2015