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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 85 NO. 306
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2016
“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist,
but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” — G.K. CHESTERTON
75 cents
Airport commission makes decision on managerial position By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–The Barnes Regional Airport Commission has made a decision on who they want as their new airport manager. The three-person commission unanimously chose Marcelo F. Lima, of Birmingham, Alabama, last night to fill the vacant airport manager
position. The decision was given to the Westfield personnel department, who had an official on hand during the public meeting. Lima was one of two finalists for the position. The other candidate was Robert N. Snuck, who most recently served as the airport manager at Pittsfield Regional Airport. “I feel comfortable in the decision
I’m making,” commission chairperson Kim Cameron said. “Marcelo Lima has very strong communication skills, a great business background, has worked well with different municipal offices.” Both other commissioners, William Gonet and Donald Nicoletti, See Commission, Page 3
Marcelo Lima being interviewed by the commission on Dec. 2.
Franklin Ave K-Kids brighten holidays at Arbors with program By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – The K-Kids (Kiwanis) Club, fourth and fifth graders from Franklin Avenue Elementary School visited residents at the Arbors Assisted Living Community on Monday, bringing with them some holiday cheer. The students sang “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” before handing out wreath decorations they had made for the seniors, who packed the hall for the program. Resident Julie LaFogg had a special treat, receiving the wreath from one of her 18 great grandchildren, Allyssa Slack, a fifth grader at the school. LaFogg said she also has six daughters and two sons, all of whom went to Westfield High School, and thirteen grandchildren. High praise was also given by residents Geraldine Olinski, Jean Deon and Cam Chasse. See Franklin Ave., Page 3
Westfield State students Pollyanna Pyshnyak of Westfield and Sydney Demarais of Haverill explain their public gardens concept to James Homan of Westfield on Weekends and city councilor Ralph J. Figy. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WHS senior Lindsay Cousins, sophomore Aiden Chisholm and senior Erin McDermott reported on school activities to the School Committee Monday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
School Committee wraps up year on positive note By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Monday’s School Committee meeting began with a report from Westfield High School seniors Lindsay Cousins and Erin McDermott and sophomore Aiden Chisholm on recent activities at the school, and preparations to say good bye to vice principal Jack Dougherty. Dougherty announced recently that he would be retiring on Jan. 1. The students said they have decided that Thursday would be “dress like Mr. Dougherty day,” and they would wear khakis and polo shirts in his honor. This follows Wednesday’s “ugly sweater day” which Chisolm said everybody enjoys “except our grandmothers who gave us the sweaters.” “He brightened your day if you saw him,” said McDermott about the long-time administrator. “He would always say hi,” said Cousins. “A lot of the juniors and seniors are really sad to see him go.” During the business portion of the meeting, Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski gave an update on the district strategic initiative. He said the school has shown progress in several focus areas, including the use of data to make informed decisions and ensure effective use of resources. The school is also undergoing an inventory of all web-based programs licensed by the school, to see which are being used and to what extent. Towards the goal of integrating technology into the environment, business manager Ron Rix will be restarting a technology committee January through April to tweak the old plan submitted to the City Council at the end of 2015. The first goal of the committee will be to prepare to administer the MCAS tests online to all students in grades 4 and 8 this spring. Another program scheduled to start in the second half of the year is the Universal Design for Learning, to ensure that classes are meeting the needs of all the students at all levels, led by the special education department. Czaporowski also spoke about the success of the Westfield2Business Alliance, which has attracted the attention of the state secretary of work
Fifth grader Allyssa Slack gave her wreath to her great-grandmother, Julie LaFogg. (Photo by Amy Porter)
See Wrap Up, Page 3
WSU students dream big for riverfront area development By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – First-semester freshmen in the Honors Program at Westfield State University presented their ideas on riverfront development to residents at the Westfield Athenaeum Monday, after participating in a class called the “Discover Westfield” Learning Community. The class, a combination of English composition and introduction to community planning cotaught by professors Vanessa Diana and Marijoan Bull used Westfield as its text, and civic engagement as its goal for the new students. “Westfield State is trying to do a good job connecting the campus with the community, and getting freshmen involved from the start,” Diana said. The students spent the semester taking trips downtown for experiential learning activities. They sketched facades of buildings, visited the museum in the Athenaeum, did the walking tour “Whipping Around Westfield,” volunteered for HOOT day of service, wrote promotional pieces for the Farmer’s Market, and explored segments of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. They also measured sidewalks, lot frontages and street widths. The students also interviewed Barbara Trant at Westfield Creative Arts, Carol Martin at Westfield Whip manufacturing, Joe Giffune, representing the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail and Bob Plasse and James Homan of Westfield on Weekends. “We see you all as role models in what civic engagement looks like in practice,” Diana said. The final project for the students was to dream a future for the riverfront area. After researching designs and planning concepts for similar developments in other cities, they produced posters of See Riverfront, Page 3
North Pond calendars available for purchase By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – As $1.4 million in grant money was awarded towards conserving the North Pond land by the state a couple weeks ago, the efforts to raise more money has continued. Supporters of the land created a North Pond calendar that is available for $20 each and can be purchased at the North Pond headquarters on College Hwy. The calendars can also be purchased at the town Clerks office as well as at Red Riding Hood’s Basket on Congamond Rd. Dave Gunn, one of several North Pond supporters, came up with the idea of having a calendar and worked with the Historical Commission and the Cultural Council in order to create it. After working with both organizations on getting digitized images of old photos of Congamond Lake,
Southwoods Magazine printed the calendar and did the layout work. The photos consist of all parts of Congamond Lake, including North Pond, and are from the early 1800’s to the late 1900’s. Each picture in the calendar has a caption. Gunn sees the calendar as a great way to raise more money towards preserving North Pond because of what makes the calendar so special. “They’re picking up a little history of the lakes,” said Gunn. Gunn is still trying to get more calendars out to local businesses and get as much exposure as possible for the calendars. “I really want to get these calendars pushed as much as we can,” said Gunn. Gunn and the rest of the North Pond supporters will remain active on their pursuit to raise more money towards preserving North Pond.
Save North Pond supporter Dave Gunn helped create the North Pond calendars. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)