ELECTION SCHOOLS Remote Staff Summer balloting preps ... · honored fire personnel. In 2015, it was...

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A TURLEY PUBLICATION ❙ www.turley.com

May 7, 2020 ❙ Vol. 42, No. 10 ❙ $1.00 www.agawamadvertisernews.turley.com

ADVERTISER NEWSAGAWAM

ELECTION Remote balloting availablePAGE 3

SPORTSSummer league troubles PAGE 9

SCHOOLSStaff preps closure PAGE 5

Stacy Wieners, co-president of the Agawam PTSO, posts a banner last Saturday evening honoring Teacher Appreciation Week. PHOTO BY GREGORY A. SCIBELLI

Honoring educators

By Shelby Macri [email protected]

When schools were first closed due to the coronavirus, there were many changes to help accommo-date students and their families. One of those changes includes a lunch program to help relieve families and students who would normally have lunch provided in school.

This lunch program start-ed on March 23, and is held on

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fri-days from 11 a.m. to 12 noon at the Agawam Junior High School. Families are allowed into the building one at a time to keep up the social distancing standard. Parents can park in front of the building and enter with a box to carry the meals.

“Agawam’s School district usu-ally doesn’t do a summer lunch program, so we spent some time

AGAWAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Cafeteria staff working hard at lunch program

From left: Lunch workers Lorie Gessay and Annmarie Perry both from Agawam High School, Jennifer Bennett from Robinson Park School, Kerry LaFromboise and Jen-nifer Dellaripa from the Roberta Doering School, Asiye Caglar from Robinson Park School, Sue Piogia from Agawam High School, and Anna Grady from Agawam High School help to prepare and bag the lunches for Monday, May 4.

PHOTO BY SHELBY MACRI

LUNCH ❙ page 8

ANIMAL CONTROL

Dog licenses now available for 2020


If your family includes some-one with fur, four legs, and who loves to play fetch, then you will be needing a new dog license for the year 2020. Dog licenses will available for application begin-ning on April 1.

People can register their dogs online by searching for the An-imal Control office on the Aga-wam town website. Paper appli-cations will still be accepted, and can mailed to the Animal Control office. Upon receiving the appli-cation the office will process the application and mail the dog li-cense tags to applicants. In 2013, the Animal Control office started making the dog license tags in themes.

It began with the tags being blue badges to honor the law en-forcement in town, each tag hon-ors a section of the community or tries to teach kids and residents about dog safety.

“It’s nothing formal, just a sil-ly thing we do because we need to change the shape and color of the tag every year.” said Agawam Animal Control Officer Allison Strong. “We only have so many choices of shapes and colors through the distributor, so this isn’t something we are going to be able to do forever.”

For now, tags are fun and creative keepsakes that help to honor the community. In 2014, the tags were red hydrants that honored fire personnel. In 2015, it was a Purple Heart to honor service members. In 2016, it was a green doghouse to honor the members of 4H and FFA. The 4H organization is a U.S. based network of youth organizations whose mission is to engage youth to reach their fullest potential, while advancing the field of youth development. While the national FFA is an American youth orga-nization that specifies in career and technical students, its based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agri-cultural education.

In 2017, tags were purple tele-phones, to remind and educate the community that they should make a call when they lose or find a dog. In 2018, tags were green squares to honor teachers and the Sandy Hook promise to “see something, say something”, while

LICENSE ❙ page 5

By Tyler S. WitkopStaff Writer

Across the country, business-es of all sizes are taking a hit as a result of restrictions to help limit the spread of infections caused by the novel coronavirus. Here in Western Massachusetts, among the hardest hit sectors is that of Tourism, Hospitality and Arts and Culture.

To help spread the message and to encourage future business, two local leaders joined state Sen. Eric Lesser (D-Longmeadow) of the first Hampden and Hamp-shire District, Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Econom-ic Development and Emerging Technologies, for a Facebook Live Q&A session Friday, May 1. Join-ing Lesser were Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Spring-field Convention and Visitors Bu-reau, and John Doleva, president and CEO of the Naismith Memori-al Basketball Hall of Fame.

“Every family and small busi-ness has felt pain from this cri-sis, but we know one sector that

has been particular-ly hard hit is our vital tourism and h o s p i t a l i -ty industry, which is the third largest source of employment for Massa-c h u s e t t s f a m i l i e s ,” Lesser said. “We must all work to-gether to keep families safe, stop the spread of this virus, and en-sure our economy recovers.”

According to Wydra, tourism and hospitality has been “hard hit” by state and local orders closing non-essential business, limiting gatherings to 10 or fewer people and keeping six feet of seapration between others. She said since Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker issued his stay-at-home adviso-ry in March, there have been 118 pieces of lost business in Western Massachusetts, which represent business and trade conventions at

places like the MassMutual Cen-ter in Springfield and the Eastern States Exposition in West Spring-field. That equates to roughly $49 million in lost revenue to the local economy coming from sources including food and retail vendors and booked hotel rooms.

“Hopefully the numbers won’t keep climbing,” Wydra said.

Trickle EffectBut more than just individual

businesses struggling, Wydra said the shutdown also hampers state and municipal revenues through sales, meal and occupancy taxes.

Doleva, of Wilbraham, said he and the staff at the Hall of Fame

BUSINESS

Business leaders answer questions during Facebook Q&A

BUSINESS ❙ page 4

Eric Lesser

The Basketball Hall of Fame is one of many attractions affected by the pandemic.

❙ AGAWAM ADVERTISER NEWS ❙ May 7, 2020

Activity Page .... 13

Classifieds ....... 14

Crossword.......... 4

Public Notices .... 2

Opinion .............. 4

Our Town ............ 5

Sports ................ 9

Youth .................. 7

16 PAGES

IN THIS ISSUE

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The Agawam Adver-tiser News wants to know how you’re coping with the coronavirus closures and how they’ve changed all of our lives — no school, no work, social distancing and staying at home.

We can’t meet our neighbors in the school-yards, playing fields or workplaces of Agawam, but we can all share a few snapshots of what life’s like with the kids in the house and the home office working overtime. Take a minute to send in an update on how you’re doing, what fun enrich-ment activities the kids have been up to, or any-thing else that’s made the past two weeks a special time in your home. In-clude full names of the writer or photographer,

and anyone visible in each photo. We’ll print the best entries in next week’s newspaper, and in subsequent weeks as the state of emergency continues. The best way to contact us is at [email protected].

We would also be glad to publish Agawam chil-dren’s artwork, essays or photos created during the school closure. In-clude the creator’s full name, age, and school attended.

For all submissions, also include a telephone number and email ad-dress. We won’t publish this information, but may use it to verify identities or ask follow-up ques-tions.

Stay safe out there — and let us know how you’re doing!

Share your stories, photos of working, creating at home

NOTICEERRORS: Each advertiser is requested to check their advertisement the first time it appears. This paper will not be responsible for more than one corrected insertion, nor will be liable for any error in an advertisement to a greater extent than the cost of the space occupied by the item in the advertisement.

Totaling the turtles

Did you find Tur-ley the Turtle in last week’s edition of the Agawam Adver-tiser News? Turley appeared 12 times, counting the two ex-amples on page 2.

Curbside yard waste collections will resume in May, the Agawam De-partment of Public Works announced last week.

Yard waste collections were sus-pended during April because of the coronavirus state of emergency, but Republic Services will be able to re-sume collections for the first two weeks of May.

Agawam residents on the “A” week recycling schedule will have their yard waste collected on their recycling collection day next week, May 4-8. Households on the “B” schedule will have their yard waste collected on re-cycling day the next week, May 11-15.

Residents may also continue to drop off their yard waste at the Bon-

di’s Island landfill off Route 5 near the Agawam-West Springfield line. This does not apply to commercial vehi-cles. For more information, see www.agawam.ma.us/292/Leaf-Yard-Waste.

Bulk waste collections scheduled for May are canceled. Collections will resume on schedule in July. Those wishing to dispose of their bulk items (appliances, furniture, plumbing fix-tures, etc.) earlier may use the K&W Transfer Station in West Springfield; call 413-363-0090 for more informa-tion. For a list of items that are ac-cepted for bulk disposal, see www.agawam.ma.us/290/Bulk-Collection.

Residents are also asked to help speed the collection of household waste and recycling by making sure

that Republic Services trucks have clear access to trash and recycling carts. Carts should be placed at least 3 feet away from all other objects, in-cluding parked cars. Overflow bags must be on top of or next to the trash container. Carts should be placed on the curb by 7 a.m. on collection day.

All recycling should be contained in the town-provided cart; Republic Services is not collecting cardboard outside the cart at this time.

Personal protective equipment, in-cluding masks and disposable gloves, is not recyclable; it should be thrown in the trash. For a complete list of what is recyclable, visit www.recy-clesmart.org.

Yard waste collections resume this month

On May 19, 2020, a Special Elec-tion will be held to fill the vacant seat in the Massachusetts State Senate, which was vacated by Donald Huma-son, Jr. Humason was elected mayor of the City of Westfield and left the senate late last year. He represented the Second Hampden and Hampshire District.

An absentee ballot can be request-ed if you feel sick or are uncomfort-able going to a polling location. Ap-plications can be obtained via the Agawam Clerk’s website under “Elec-tion Information.”

Voters are reminded that they should wear face coverings pursuant to the Governor’s order made effective

on May 6. A face covering can include anything that covers your nose and mouth, including dust masks, scarves, and bandanas. Social distancing should be observed at all times by remaining six feet away from others when you arrive at polling locations. Voters should be aware and ready to be asked to “queue-up” to allow for social distancing. Hand sanitizer will be also available at all polling loca-tions. All poll staff will be providing with and wearing gloves and masks at all polling locations. Voters may wish to bring and can use their own black sharpie marker to fill out their ballot. But markers will be available for use.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8

p.m. and are at the following locations in Agawam:

Precinct 1 – Robinson Park School, 65 Begley Street

Precinct 2 – Clifford Granger School, 31 South Westfield Street

Precinct 3 – Agawam High School, 760 Cooper Street

Precinct 4 – Robert G. Doering School, 68 Main Street

Precinct 5 – Benjamin Phelps Schools, 689 Main Street

Precinct 6 – James Clark School, 65 Oxford Street

Precinct 7 – Agawam Junior High School, 1305 Springfield Street

Precinct 8 – James Clark School 65 Oxford Street

‘Remote’ balloting available for special election

The deadline for real estate and personal property tax payments has been extended to June 1.

Tax bills, which have already been mailed, were printed with the tradi-tional May 1 deadline, but will not be considered late until June 1. Even if town offices are still closed on June 1, the due date will be on that day.

Payments can be made by mail, using the envelopes enclosed with the bills. Payments can also be made via the Collector’s Office website at www.agawam.ma.us. Online payments can be made by check (e-check), credit card and debit card. The processing fee for a check is 25 cents. Credit cards and debit cards are subject to the fee schedule found on the website. These fees are charged by the payment pro-

cessing companies, not by the town of Agawam.

For those who cannot use either of those options, payments by check or money order can be placed in the drop box in front of Town Hall, 36 Main St., Agawam. The building itself is closed to the public. Anyone with questions or in need of assistance may call 413-786-0400.

The mayor had already agreed to waive penalties and interest on late payments until June 30, a policy that will remain in effect. At the time, he noted that the town government has its own employees and monthly ex-penses to pay, and encouraged those who can afford to pay their tax bills on time to do so.

Deadline for property tax payments extended to June

The Annual May Ban-quet for The Catholic Wom-en’s Club Of Agawam which was to be held at Storrow-town Tavern on Tuesday, May 19, has been canceled.

It has been re-scheduled to May 18, 2021 at Stor-rowtown. Members will be informed of plans for the 2020-2021 club year as in-formation is available.

Town licenses, permits aren’t expiring

License and permits issued by the town, including dog licenses and busi-ness licenses, will not expire during the coronavirus state of emergency, Mayor William Sapelli announced this week.

A recent state law specifies that any municipal permit or license that was current as of March 10 will stay in effect, without the need to process a renewal, as long as Massachusetts remains in a state of emergency.

Agawam’s town offices are closed to the public, and many staff mem-bers are working from home as a precaution against Covid-19. Town boards and commissions have been asked to hold meetings only when necessary.

Sapelli said his office will issue further instructions on license re-newals when the state of emergency concludes.

Catholic Women’s Club annual banquet canceled

May 7, 2020 ❙ AGAWAM ADVERTISER NEWS ❙

Town of Agawam36 Main Street

Agawam, Massachusetts 01001-1837COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

WILLIAM FRANCIS GALVIN,SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH

HAMPDEN SS.To either of the constables of the Town of Agawam.

GREETING:In the name of the Commonwealth, you are hereby required to notify and warn the inhabitants of said town who are qualified to vote in State Elections to vote at:

Precinct 1: Robinson School, 65 Begley StreetPrecinct 2: Clifford M. Granger School, 31 South Westfield StreetPrecinct 3: Agawam High School, 760 Cooper StreetPrecinct 4: Roberta G. Doering School, 68 Main StreetPrecinct 5: Benjamin J. Phelps School, 689 Main StreetPrecinct 6: James Clark School, 65 Oxford StreetPrecinct 7: Agawam Junior High School, 1305 Springfield StreetPrecinct 8: James Clark School, 65 Oxford Street

on TUESDAY, THE NINETEENTH DAY OF MAY, 2020, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for the following purpose:

To cast their votes in the Special State Election for the candidates of political parties for the following offices:

SENATOR IN GENERAL COURT SECOND HAMPDEN & HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT

Hereof fail not and make return of this warrant with your doings thereon at the time and place of said voting. Given under our hands this twenty first day of April, 2020.

Vincent GiosciaTown Clerk

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SPRINGFIELD — After careful con-sideration, the Spirit of Springfield, with the City of Springfield, has deter-mined it is in the best interest of the community to postpone Star Span-gled Springfield due to COVID-19. The event, sponsored by MassMutual, is being delayed from Saturday, July 4, to a date that has yet to be deter-mined.

“Someone said to me, ‘We need fireworks,’ said Judy Matt, Spirit of Springfield President. “I agree 100%, but we must first think of the wel-fare and wellbeing of our communi-ty. When the time is right, we will be ready.”

“It is the prudent and right de-cision,” said Springfield Mayor Do-menic J. Sarno. “Once we defeat this COVID-19 Coronavirus, and we will, with the Spirit of Springfield, cele-brate once again. Until then and out of an abundance of caution, we must continue to be proactive in starving this virus by following all of the local, state and federal public health guide-lines as we begin to plan to return to a sense of normalcy within phases.”

“MassMutual has been a proud sponsor of Springfield’s Indepen-dence Day Celebration since 2006. We will continue to support the Spirit of Springfield and the event when our

community is healthy and it is safe for us to gather,” said Dennis Duquette, Head of Community Responsibility, MassMutual, and President, Mass-Mutual Foundation. “Springfield needs a reason to celebrate.”

Star Spangled Springfield has been a celebration of the country’s independence and a July 4th tradition since 1991. It has featured musical entertainment, family-friendly activ-ities, and a world-class pyrotechnics display by Fireworks by Grucci. It has been sponsored by MassMutual since 2006, with additional support provid-ed by area businesses.

Springfield fireworks event postponed

Gov. Charlie Baker on April 27 signed legislation that authorizes notaries public to perform notary actions using videoconfer-encing during the Covid-19 public health emergency.

The legislation applies requirements for autho-rized notaries to use elec-tronic video conferencing for documents requiring notarization, including those related to a mortgage or other conveyance of title to real estate, will, nomina-tion of guardian or conser-vator, caregiver authoriza-

tion affidavit, trust, durable power of attorney or health care proxy.

The legislation, which will remain in place until three business days after the March 10 state of emer-gency declaration is lifted, requires that the notary public and each principal be physically located with-in Massachusetts and com-municating by live video. It mandates that notaries to record and retain a copy of the videoconference and related documentation for a period of 10 years.

Notaries can act online during pandemic

Counseling hotline reaches milestone

On April 24, Mass2-1-1 and its Call2Talk emotion-al support and suicide pre-vention hotline reached over 50,000 calls regard-ing Covid-19. Mass2-1-1 is a program created and staffed by the United Ways of Massachusetts, and des-ignated by the Massachu-setts Emergency Manage-ment Agency as the official hotline for Covid-19.

“All of us at United Way and Mass2-1-1 are proud of our Mass2-1-1 and Call2Talk call takers for doing such an outstanding job over these last 50,000 Covid-19-related

calls from the citizens of the commonwealth. As time goes on, calls are becoming much more stressful and emotional, so stay strong, team!” said Paul Mina, exec-utive director of Mass2-1-1.

Any resident of Massa-chusetts with questions about Covid-19 or needs such as unemployment or food aid caused by the pan-demic can call 2-1-1 at any time, from any phone in Massachusetts, in over 150 languages.

For more information about the United Way of Pi-oneer Valley, visit uwpv.org.

By Dalton [email protected]

When medical workers leave work after fighting the Covid-19 outbreak, one group of volunteers is helping keep them from in-fecting their loved ones at home.

Working in conjunction with Baystate Health, the members of RVs for Health-care Heroes MA is helping healthcare workers self-iso-late by temporarily donat-ing recreational vehicles to be parked on the work-ers’ property and used as a kind of quarantine housing. Organizer Keith Clancy ex-plained how the initiative works.

“We’re reaching out and finding RVs to be donat-ed to employees who are exposed to Covid-19 on a daily basis. Their concern is what they’re bringing home to their families. This helps them safeguard their family members who are at a sig-nificant risk,” said Clancy.

At least three RVs have been donated to health-care workers in Agawam, according to town Health Director Kathleen Auer. The mayor recently enact-ed an order expediting the inspection and permitting process to allow RVs to be used as temporary hous-ing on Agawam residential lots.

Many of the individuals that the program assists live with children or elder-ly family members who are significantly vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Bay-state Health provides Clan-cy with a list of individuals who need the temporary housing, and the commu-nity group locates available RVs.

The process is entirely confidential, and only lim-ited personal information is required to participate.

Clancy acknowledged that it’s a lot to ask an RV owner to lend such a large piece of property to a stranger, particular-ly during a pandemic. He complimented the benefac-tors who have thus far con-tributed to the program.

“It’s amazing, the fact that these people are step-ping up and helping out, which we’re using as our tagline. They are entrusting these people with signifi-cant assets because it’s the right thing to do. Their gen-

erosity cannot be put into words. Our gratefulness can’t be put into words,” said Clancy.

Each RV will be profes-sionally sanitized before being returned to its owner. RVs for Healthcare Heroes MA also provides profes-sional help to set up the RV at the healthcare worker’s home.

“We have to consider many things; there’s a lot of moving pieces,” he said. “When you set up an RV in someone’s driveway, you have to get the clearances through the town and ex-emptions to any bylaws, and things of that nature. We also need to be sure that the septic is taken care of. We have entities that will come in and pump out the grey and black water twice a week.”

Individuals who are in-terested in lending an RV can find more information on the group’s website rvs-forhealthcareheroes.org. Those who don’t own an RV can still contribute in a variety of ways, such as installing propane, wiring electricity or completing plumbing.

Several business spon-sors have pitched into the endeavor, such as Xheight Studios, Osterman Pro-pane, Whitely Septic Ser-vice, Salem Cross Inn Restaurant and Tavern, and King Ward Coach Lines, which has offered a lot to house vehicles for those who can’t do so at home.

“Some of these loca-tions don’t have space for an RV,” said Clancy. “You can’t put a camper in the driveway; it’s just not go-ing to happen. King Ward Coach Lines has offered space within their secure facility with 24-hour video surveillance, lighting, elec-tricity, water and all that for potentially up to 30 RVs with the appropriate spac-ing to self-isolate.”

RVs for Healthcare He-roes MA specifically serves workers affiliated with Bay-state Health. A nationwide program called RVs 4 MDs coordinates a similar ser-vice for healthcare workers from any organization. For more information on this program, visit facebook.com/RVs4MDs. To sign up as an RV donor or as a med-ical professional needing an RV, fill out the contact form at bit.ly/aan908.

RVs needed to help health workers


CLUES ACROSS 1. Expression of sorrow or pity 5. Not bad11. NYC Mayor14. Essays15. Walk lightly18. Those who utilize19. Actress Judd21. One-time

community of nations

23. Norwegian river24. Unconscious states28. Make muddy29. Unit of volume30. Consciousnesses32. Envision33. When you aim to

get there35. Electronic data

processing36. Passports are some39. Snakelike fish41. Military flyers (abbr.)42. Popular computers44. Ecological stage46. Wings47. Used in combination49. Laid back52. Princess’s headgear56. Musical composition58. Famed Falls60. Reiterations62. Eras63. Track event

CLUES DOWN 1. Defensive nuclear

weapon (abbr.) 2. Instead 3. Gifts for the poor

4. A type of gin 5. Torments 6. One point south of

due east 7. Actor Pacino 8. Feline 9. Chinese dynasty10. Short cries for help12. Straits can

sometimes be this13. Further16. Variety shows17. Supernatural20. A university in

Connecticut22. Atomic #2725. Of I26. We all have one27. Religious guilds29. This can sting31. Sunscreen rating

34. Brew36. Religious leader37. Indigo bush38. Burn with a hot

liquid40. Jr.’s father43. Ray-finned fish

genus45. Morning48. Straight line passing

from side to side (abbr.)

50. S-shaped line51. Small bunch of hay53. Ripened54. Crater on Mars55. Humanities57. Of the ears58. To the __ degree59. Wood61. Cools your home

CROSSWORD SOLUTION ON PAGE 11

were looking forward to re-opening the Hall in mid-June, which had been closed starting Feb. 5 to complete a multi-million dollar renovation project. They were also looking forward to hosting some of the world’s greatest basketball personalities for the annual enshrinement ceremony, which was set to celebrate the late Kobe Bryant, who was killed with his daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash in January, and who was inducted into the Hall in his first year of eligibility.

“We get 60 percent of our visitation from Memorial Day to Labor Day,” Doleva said, noting the shutdown will have a “sig-nificant effect” on the Hall. “People have a thirst for sports and doing things that ar-en’t necessarily crowds.”

He said with the Hall of Fame, trade shows and other leisure activities closed or canceled for the immediate future, the impact has and will trickle into other busi-nesses. Without assistance, he estimates as much as 40 percent of local restaurants may not recover from the shutdown.

“This was a thriving sector,” Lesser said, noting the impact was sudden and imme-diate. “This was speeding along the highay and slamming on the brakes.”

‘Pent-Up Demand’Wydra said that some are projecting

the economic hit to the travel and tour-ism sector could be as high as nine to 11 times worse than that experienced in the aftermath of 9/11. In Western Mass., she said the busiest months are May, August and September. At least for now, scheduled events have already been canceled into Au-gust.

“We are anticipating pent-up demand,” Wydra said, expressing her hope that once businesses are allowed to re-open, spend-ing will resume.

GSCVB, Wydra said, is approaching the recovery in three phases: Inspire, Inquire and Explore. They are currently in the In-spire phase, where the organization is try-ing to get people to think about Western Mass and the varied attractions in Down-town Springfield as well the outdoor rec-reation opportunities up and down the Pi-oneer Valley. With May 3-9 being National Tourism Week, she said the organization has created postcards promoting the re-

gion and are in the process of developing a video. The marketing and promotional materials will promote Western Mass. in the New York and Boston markets, which compete with the Pioneer Valley for tour-ism dollars.

With the Inquire phase, she said they anticipate folks will begin to travel and spend their dollars close to home, and ulti-mately, get out and explore the region once more.

Doleva said one way folks can help the local economy is through booking events in the region, looking at the fall and next summer when life is likely to normalize. Wydra said individuals can try to help busi-nesses at the cash register, utilizing the limited services available, as “everyone has bills to pay.”

OpportunityLesser told Turley Publications that the

closures are designed to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, but all gov-ernment officials must work to ensure nec-essary aid reaches the people most in need.

“We need to avoid temporary closures from becoming permanent,” he said. “I know how urgent this is and we are doing everything we possibly can.”

Lesser said his focus has been on help-ing communities and businesses get the resources they need to get through. A chal-lenge, he noted, is that there are parallel crises – health and economic – and there is a need to address both at the state level. While there is a “deep and very severe re-cession,” he said he and his colleagues are working together to ensure communities and businesses receive the resources they need to rebuild on both fronts.

“We’re going to work together and we’re going to overcome,” Lesser said. “This is a moment of great test and consequence to our whole world.”

During the live stream session, Doleva said the shutdown poses an opportunity for the region and state to respond togeth-er and rebuild.

“I think this is an opportunity to show your colleagues and demonstrate to all the citizens of the State how important hospi-tality and tourism is because it has a lot of jobs, it drives a lot of tax revenue, “ he said. “This is a real time as we come out of this that we can elevate the respect of the hos-pitality and tourism industry.”

BUSINESS ❚ from page 1

By Gail GramarossaGuest columnist

During these extraordinary times, when family life is disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, schools, organizations, and com-munity activities are closed. While parents work to establish new routines at home and help their teens adapt, they may also be thinking about how to help their teens quit vaping or smoking.

Youth are spending more time in the house and may be more stressed than usu-al. Parents may especially want to encour-age quitting because of evidence coming out that vaping, like smoking, harms the ability of the lungs to fight infection.

Are you concerned that your teenagers may be vaping? What are signs to look for? How can you help? Here are suggestions from the Quaboag Hills Substance Use Alliance (www.qhsua.org) and the Tobac-co-Free Community Partnerships in Mas-sachusetts to help you deal with vaping, including resources for learning more.

Q: What is in e-cigarettes and vapes? I hear that it is just flavored water. What is so bad about them?

A: E-cigarettes produce an aerosol, commonly called vapor, which users inhale from the device and exhale. This aerosol may have harmful and potentially harmful substances. E-cigarettes use pre-filled pods or e-liquids/e-juices that are added to the device. E-liquids generally consist of pro-pylene glycol, glycerin, water, nicotine, and flavorings.

Q: What can I do to prevent my child or loved ones from vaping?

A: Simply talking with your child about these products can help protect them.

Let them know that you care about them and that vaping is not safe. Be patient and ready to listen; there is no” perfect time” to talk. Your goal is to have a conversation, not to deliver a lecture. So avoid criticism and encourage an open dialogue. You can start by mentioning something that you heard about vaping. Tell them the facts: e-cigarettes contain nicotine; nicotine is a highly addictive substance. The smoke from vapes is an aerosol, not water vapor. The aerosol can contain harmful substanc-es. The resources below can help you learn more.

Q: How can I tell if my child or loved one is vaping?

A: Many types of e-cigarettes are made to resemble everyday items and come in fruity, minty and candy-like flavors. So, you may not recognize a vaping device or an e-liquid scent.

Here are subtle signs your child might be vaping:

• Unexplained sweet scent – If you no-tice a sweet scent that is unexplainable, it might be a flavored e-juice for a vaping device.

• Unfamiliar products – If you come across unusual looking items such as un-usual pens or USB drives or an unfamiliar battery or battery charging device, they could be associated with vaping.

The best way to know is to educate your-self about the products and to talk with your kids.

Q: How can I encourage youth and young adults to quit vaping?

A: There are currently two free programs available in Massachusetts to help youth and young adults quit vaping, smoking or using other tobacco products.

1. This is Quitting powered by truth is a texting program for young people who want to quit vaping. It is a free, confiden-tial 30-day program during which youth receive texts with information, tips and support. They receive daily text messag-es to help them prepare to quit and sup-portive texts from young people who have been through the program. To enroll in the program, youth text “VapeFreeMass” to 88709. Go to mass.gov/quitvaping to learn more.

2. My Life, My QuitTM is a specially designed program to help young people quit vaping or other tobacco products. My Life, My QuitTM provides five free and confidential coaching sessions by phone, live texting, or chat with specially-trained youth coach specialists. Youth can text “Start My Quit” to 855-891-9989 or call toll-free 1-855-891-9989 for real-time coaching. They can also visit mylifemyquit.com learn more.

Q: How can I help adults who are trying to quit vaping, smoking or using other tobacco products?

A: Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW to connect with the Massachusetts Smokers’ Helpline. The Helpline is a free and confidential ser-vice for Massachusetts residents who want help to end their nicotine and tobacco use. If you are looking to quit tobacco, you can now get help from a quit coach over the phone; or use online tools and resources; or a combination of these online features and telephone coaching. You can also enroll online using a computer or smartphone at KeepTryingMA.org.

Q: How can I learn more information and stay up-to-date?

A:

• Facts about vaping, tips for parents, and information for schools from the Mas-sachusetts Department of Public Health: https://www.getoutraged.org

• Basic facts for youth and a list of quit-ting resources for youth: https://www.mass.gov/vaping

• To contact the Tobacco-Free Commu-nity Partnership in your region of Massa-chusetts: http://makesmokinghistory.org/my-community/community-partnerships/

To learn more visit:• GetOutraged.org • Quaboag Hills Substance Use Alliance

https://qhsua.org/teen-prevention/• Or contact Melinda Calianos, Program

Coordinator, Hampshire Franklin Tobac-co-Free Community Partnership; [email protected]

Gail Gramarossa, MPH, CHES, wrote this article with resources from the Hamp-shire Franklin Tobacco-Free Community Partnership and can be reached at [email protected]. For more infor-mation about local efforts to prevent and reduce substance use, contact the Quabo-ag Hills Substance Use Alliance. Join them by going to their Facebook page, website at www.qhsua.org or send email to [email protected].

Editor’s note: Gail Gramarossa is a mem-ber of the Belchertown selectboard.

If you or a loved one needs help for sub-stance abuse, call the statewide information line at 1-800-327-5050 (TTY: 1-800-439-2370); the phoneline is open Monday-Friday 8am-10pm and on weekends from 9am-5pm. You can also visit the website: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/stop-addiction/.

Concerned about youth vaping while schools close?

Find us online: www.agawamadvertisernews.turley.com


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in 2019 it was a gold build-ing to honor our medical personnel.

For the new year, the tags will be red stop signs to re-mind everyone - especially children - to stop and think before they do anything with a dog. This goes specifi-cally and especially for dogs that people do not know and might happen to find. This is to try and prevent dog bites on all residents and children. Strong will be holding dog bite prevention classes by appointment.

“Any school, civic or-ganization, church group, business, family, and any-one really; can call my of-fice to set up a time with me to do a dog bite prevention class.” Strong said.

These classes can be held at any point in the year and officer Strong is glad to teach people strategies to avoid dog bites, it’s a com-mon occurrence and the simplest way to bring that down is to properly educate kids and adults.

“Most dog owners real-

ize that their dog licenses need to be renewed every year.” Strong said. “In the past the Advertiser has done the announcing [of dog license tags] and infor-mation will be given to dog owners upon application for the 2020 tag.”

The dog license runs from April 1 to March 31 ev-ery year, so April is the prime time to renew a dog license. Due to the coronavirus pan-demic, town licenses and permits have been extended and this includes dog tags. During this time there will be no late fees, but permits are still available online and are required in town.

“Residents should know

that if their dog is not wear-ing a current dog license and it is picked up roaming, it will be impounded, and a current license or identifi-cation will be needed to re-trieve the dog.” Strong said. “Owners should make ev-ery effort to obtain identifi-cation for their dog during this time. This should be part of their emergency plan for their pet.”

Strong encourages every pet owner and especially those who live alone; to make an emergency care plan for their pets, in case they be-come ill and cannot be home to take care of their pets.

People are still getting new dogs, and to date Of-

ficer Strong has already issued almost 800 dog li-censes. All dogs over the age of six months must be licensed, and when they are they receive a fun and educational dog tag of their own. Massachusetts dogs are required to be licensed within 30 days of obtaining a dog more than six months old or within 30 days of moving to Agawam. Res-idents should already be thinking about their dog li-

censes, and if they aren’t yet they should now. The licens-es have been extended, but pets still need the protec-tion of an up to date license.

While regular call vol-umes in the Animal Con-trol Department have not changed, they are receiving more calls from owners who are having financial is-sues in affording their pets. This, along with calls from pet owners about their vet-erinarian’s office closing or

offering limited services, has been increasing since the stay-at-home notice. The Animal Control Depart-ment is offering pet owners resources and references for financial issues, and are making referrals to veteri-narians who are open and providing services to make sure pets are receiving the care they need during this time. For more licensing in-formation check online at agawam.ma.us.

LICENSE ❚ from page 1

Schools & Youth


Although the rest of the Academic School year has been cancelled by Gov. Charlie Baker, schools are still engaged in online and remote learning. This remote learning was expected to end once the stay at home notice was lifted, so a few changes were made to continue the academic year through remote learning.

Agawam High School Principal Thom-as Schnepp explained teachers have been posting work for their students every two days. This is done so kids to have enough time to work on all their assignments.

Teachers are available for help and dis-cussion by time slots and appointments. Kids are encouraged to take advantage of these “office” hours. Though remote learn-ing was not the intended path for this year, the school staff is doing all they can to help students and continue a normal school year.

“We’re trying to give as many chances as possible during this time, it’s not a sit-uation anyone was prepared for.” Schnepp said. “We have set up a plan for remote learning and it’s going well. We’re also cur-rently waiting to hear from the state re-garding the MCAS.”

While the state testing is still being planned, the school has already installed an alternative grading system for remote learning. Students work is based on a ‘cred-it, no credit’ system; similar to a pass or fail system, however the students will receive feedback on their work and offered chanc-es to re-do work or do extra credit work.

Teachers can see that students are put-ting forth effort but they’re not producing or providing good work, then those stu-dents will be offered options to try again.

In addition to this, students who were struggling beforehand and students strug-gling during remote learning, will be of-fered extra credit options to help their grades and their learning during this time. As for students who might need summer help, the school staff is looking at different summer school options.

“We don’t really know how this is go-ing to be during the summer, whether we can meet in person or continue online.” Schnepp said. “For now, we’re looking at options and really focusing on helping the students with their online learning.”

The school is looking into summer pro-grams online for students who are greatly struggling. The School is also following procedures and standard that the State has

come out with, with hopes of returning to regular schooling in the Fall.

While remote learning is progressing, there are still more questions left to be an-swered, including what happens to person-al items left in the school.

Typically, students have to start clearing out their lockers within the last month of school, as they hand books back and get ready for summer. With the sudden depar-ture from school there remain some items in the building, the staff is trying to work out a plan for students and staff to clear out their belongings. It can be difficult because there are 1,100 or so students, and the so-cial distancing standards do not match the space between lockers. The school staff is working out a plan to help students and teachers maintain distancing while clear-ing out the school.

A similar plan will be made for when students are required to return tablets sup-plied by the school district. This return is still being planned and processed, mostly because the staff is unsure how the situ-ation will be when the school year is over. Schnepp is hoping to have a drop off station for students to hand in tablets at the school, by the end of classes in June. The last day for nineth through 11th grade will be June 19,

while seniors last day will be June 2. While it is exciting to end classes be-

fore the rest of the school, other senior excitements have been postponed due to COVID-19. Events like prom, the senior awards, and graduation had been post-poned in the hopes of being able to gather in groups during the summer.

“It’s really tricky with senior events be-cause we want to celebrate them and we’re looking to do that in the safest way possi-ble.” Schnepp said. “We’re finding ways to honor them in a safe way, and although it will take more time we don’t want to take a ‘sooner rather than later’ stance and cause health issues.”

While the staff is working on a way to plan prom and graduation, Schnepp ex-plained that a digital graduation will be the schools last resort.

Although this is an unprecedented situ-ation, the school staff is staying in contact and is making sure everyone is on the same page. The Superintendent and Principle Schnepp are staying in contact and work-ing together to help both staff and students during this time. If student or parents have any questions, they should contact their corresponding teachers and building prin-cipals for help.

Agawam High School staff prepares for extended closure

The Agawam Public Li-brary recently launched Quarantine Stories, a dig-ital archive to collect the stories of day-to-day life in Agawam during the Covid-19 shutdown.

The library invites all ages to submit their stories digitally. Stories can include what it’s like to work or ho-meschool during this time. What are you doing to cope with the isolation? How is your family keeping active? This is unprecedented time in the town’s history, and the library would like to preserve the stories for fu-ture generations. The sub-missions will likely become part of a future exhibit and be added to the library’s lo-

cal history collection. People up to age 17 are

encouraged to work with their parents to answer the questions found at www.agawamlibrary.org/chil-dren/digital-archive-for-kids-up-to-age-17.

People ages 18 and over are encouraged to answer the questions found at www.aga-wamlibrary.org/events-ac-tivities/quarantine-stories.

Submissions may also be taken by email to [email protected]. Patrons may also email the library with any questions about this collection or any library services. The library building remains closed to the public, and the tele-phone system is unstaffed.

Library wants your stay-home stories Special interest programs

Although the Springfield National College Fair was cancelled, College Fair Guide has shared online the booklet that would have been available at the fair. This resource has a lot of great and helpful information. Visit www.collegefairguide.com/springfield-na-tional-college-fair.The NAVIGATE 2020 Virtual Conference and College Fair on May 4-6 will include three days of live-stream expert presentations for students and families and a concurrent virtual college fair with fully interactive booths. At virtual.gotocollegefairs.com, stu-dents can chat live with college admissions representatives, helping to find a fit. This event is free of charge to attendees, though advance registration is required. After May 6, recordings of presentations will remain posted at the event site until the Covid-19 crisis is over.

Scholarships extendedSeveral scholarships have extended their application deadlines during the current state of emergency. Students should contact their counselor or visit the websites below

for more information or an application.Society of Women Engineers — Hartford Professional Section Scholarship: $1,000 to a high school senior female student en-rolled in or accepted for enrollment in a bac-calaureate engineering or computer science degree program. Must be enrolled full-time for the 2020-21 academic year. More in-formation at hartford.swe.org/scholarships.html. Deadline extended to June 1.Holyoke Credit Union Scholarships: Three $500 scholarships. For high school seniors who will be enrolled in an undergraduate college degree program in 2020-21. The ap-plicant or parent/guardian must be a mem-ber in good standing with the Holyoke Credit Union. Applications in Naviance. Deadline extended to June 30.

Scholarship informationAgawam Athletic Hall of Fame Scholar-ship: $500 for one AHS senior who partici-pated in interscholastic athletics at Agawam High School and will attend a two-year, four-year, or certificate program at an accredited institution. Financial need, good citizenship, academic achievement and athletic achieve-

ment are all possible criteria for selection. Applications in Naviance. Due May 8.Agawam Education Association 25 Week Club Scholarship: For a student whose par-ent is a member of the 25 Week Club. Stu-dents must submit a 500-word essay that describes their personal, educational and career goals. Applications in Naviance. Due May 8.Agawam Education Association David Theodorowicz Scholarship: Applicants must be ranked in the top 20 percent of the senior class and plan to continue their ed-ucation at a four-year college or university. Due May 8.Agawam High School PTSO: Two $250 scholarships to students who will be enter-ing a college or technical/trade school in the fall. Applications in Naviance. Due May 8.Agawam Municipal Scholarship: Available to graduating high school seniors or any persons pursuing their education beyond secondary school. Financial need, charac-ter, scholastic record, and involvement in school and community will be considered. Due May 8.


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Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:My name is Pam Gogal, I’m

from Westfield, and I’m support-ing John Velis in the State Sen-ate special election on May 19. While John has been campaign-ing for the past few months, I’ve had many conversations with friends from the other ten cities and towns in the district. Many of them don’t know about John, six years ago neither did I, so here’s my John Velis story:

John Velis knocked on my door six years ago. He was run-ning for State Representative and he told me he was a Demo-crat. I nearly slammed the door on him, but he urged me to hear him out; so I did. He told me he had never run for office before; that he was an attorney (I al-most slammed the door again) and a veteran. His Uncle was the former Republican State Repre-sentative, and that all of these experiences - especially his time in the military, where he learned the ways of simply getting an or-der, getting the job done, and not caring who gets credit - had led him to a bipartisan approach. He told me that as State Repre-sentative, he would look at ev-ery vote through the lens of the people he represents and not any political party.

He seemed genuine, and I thanked him for knocking on my door and told him I would consider him; but that wasn’t

the first time I had heard that bipartisan spiel from someone running for office. Politicians had knocked on my door before, I’ve heard them talk on the news, all making the same claims: I can go down to Boston or Washing-ton and work across the aisle to get things done but I can’t re-member any of them following through on that. John promised he was different; and that he would win whether or not I vot-ed for him and then he’d prove it to me from April-November.

I still was unsure of his bi-partisanship before the April election, but I marveled at his approach to campaigning. He never uttered a bad word about his opponent or attempted to tear them down in any way. While I decided I needed to wait and see if he was truly biparti-san, he did make it clear that he was all about bringing people to-gether in order to get something done. Only time would tell if that approach would work in Boston.

John Velis didn’t win my vote on April 1, 2014, but he won the election anyway. With the fol-lowing votes he took in those few months, and his ability to bring people together to get things done - on both sides of the aisle - he won my vote on Novem-ber 4, 2014. I’ve supported him ever since, because he’s the only politician I know whose record backs up what he says. John Velis

represents his constituents first, always. He is a public servant, not a party servant.

He excels at making sure all of us out here in Western Mass have a voice that will be heard. His record over the past six years not only shows his bipartisan-ship, but also the ability to deliv-er results his constituents need. He is fearless and relentless and will always fight to make sure those in Western Mass get their fair share.

He has consistently secured resources for the people of Westfield such as funding for Baystate’s expansion, funding to help them fight the Opioid Epi-demic, and funding for improve-ments to our local facilities such as the Westfield senior center.

This comes from the relation-ships he’s built and cultivated over the past six years, and his ability to go against party poli-tics and go to bat for his people. In the current time we find our-selves in, we need representation that has the ability to deliver results that will help us recover. John Velis will give us that repre-sentation.

That’s why I urge you to vote for him on Tuesday, May 19, in the State Senate Special Elec-tion for the Second Hampden & Hampshire District.

Pamela GogalWestfield

Dear Editor:I was very supportive of the

unanimous City Council vote to give $165,000 from the CDBG funds to assist our town’s strug-gling small businesses. Not only are the small businesses in need of assistance but also low-in-come individuals, families and elderly are facing challenging times as well. They all need our help and support especially during these difficult times. I have received phone calls and emails, not only now but in past, from people in need of home re-pairs requesting CPA Affordable Housing Funds.

There is close to $1 million in CPA monies earmarked for Affordable Housing and it has been sitting there, unused for many years. I strongly believe that we should be able to uti-lize these funds to help our res-

idents. About two months ago, the City Council did not have a two-thirds majority vote which would have approved $650,000 of CPA Affordable Housing funds to go to a private developer who had requested it. I was opposed to this request and I am very pleased that this request was not approved. At this time, I strongly suggest that this money would be better used by Agawam’s low-income residents who are in desperate need as well as our fixed income elderly population. These monies could be used for their home repairs, rent pay-ment and other expenses. I know that the CPA law currently does not allow for this type of expen-diture. However I have asked our local State Representative Nich-olas Boldyga (R) and State Rep-resentative John Velis (D) from Westfield, to draft a bipartisan

piece of legislation that allows cities and towns to be able to use CPA Affordable Housing funds for purposes such as these. Both State Representatives thought it was a great idea. They were very supportive and have promised that they would work together on this issue. The next day they got together and they agreed to file this bi-partisan legislation. I have been informed by both of them that they are working with the state lawyers on the details. I would like to express my deep-est thanks and appreciation to our State Representative Nich-olas Boldyga and to Westfield State Representative John Velis for their willingness to work to-gether and act so quickly to try to change the CPA law.

George BitzasAgawam City Councilor

Velis wins my vote for Senate

CPA funds should be used to help residents

Can my husband get a spouse benefit from me?

By Russell GloorGuest columnist

Dear Rusty: I’m wondering if my husband can submit a “restrict-ed application for spousal ben-

efits only.” He is 76-years-old, has been receiving his benefit since 2005. His present benefit is $263.50. I am 74-years-old, receiving my benefit since 2007. My present benefit is $931. Am I to under-stand that he could be receiving half of my amount rather than his smaller amount? Signed: Inquiring Wife

Dear Inquiring Wife: Your husband isn’t eligible to file a “restricted applica-tion for spousal benefits only” because he is already collecting his own Social Security benefits and because he is past 70 years of age. But he should probably be receiving a spousal benefit from you because his benefit is so much lower than yours. From what you’ve written, you both claimed your Social Security benefits when you were 62 years of age. That means you both took a 25 percent cut in benefits from what you would have gotten at your full retirement age of 66.

Spousal benefits are based upon FRA benefit amounts, even if you claimed benefits earlier. So, since your FRA bene-fit amount would have been about $1,164 and your husband’s FRA benefit would have been about $330, by my calculations he should now be receiving a spousal benefit of about $516 instead of his ben-efit of $263.50. The computation for that is: Take half of your FRA benefit amount ($582) minus your husband’s FRA benefit amount ($330); the difference ($252) is added to his own current benefit ($264) to get $516 as his possible spousal benefit (note the actual numbers from Social Se-curity may vary somewhat). This probably means that when you claimed your bene-fit two years after your husband claimed his, your husband didn’t apply for his spousal benefit (and it wasn’t awarded automatically by Social Security).

I suggest your husband contact Social Security as soon as possible and make an appointment to apply for his spousal ben-efits. Since he has been entitled to that benefit for some time now, he can also request six months of retroactive spousal benefits which they will pay in a lump-sum and adjust his monthly benefit to what he is entitled to as your spouse. There is also a possibility that, when you filed, Social Security failed to notify your husband he was eligible for a spouse benefit, in which case he may be able to collect his spouse benefit back to the date he became eligi-ble. Your husband should contact Social Security directly at either 1-800-772-1213, or at your local office ( find it at www.ssa.gov/locator) to make an appointment to apply for his spousal benefit from you. And, usually, this application can be ac-complished over the phone.

Please note that all of the above as-sumes that your husband’s current bene-fit isn’t being reduced due to a non-cov-ered pension which causes the Windfall Elimination Provision to lower his benefit amount, and which would cause the Gov-ernment Pension Offset to severely alter, or even eliminate, his spousal benefit.

This article is intended for informa-tion purposes only and does not repre-sent legal or financial guidance. It pres-ents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Se-curity Association. NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmen-tal entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/social-security-advisory) or email us at [email protected].

Russell Gloor is a Social Security advi-sor for AMAC.


Opinion

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It was four years ago that I got asparagus crowns for Mother’s Day! When I think back I laugh on the inside thinking of

just how perfect a gift it was. Some women get jewelry and I get asparagus. Good thing my husband knows that I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Just yesterday we walked around the yard and remarked at the tiny spears popping up; it was honest-ly a very nice memory associated with a special day. In the event you are the lucky recipient of asparagus crowns this Sunday, or if you are simply in the market to install a bed of this vegetable, read on.

Once asparagus is planted it will return, season after season for many years, per-haps 20 or more. Keep this in mind when choosing the location of your asparagus patch…you may have to live with your de-cision a long time. Some gardeners prefer to prepare a site separate from the vegeta-ble garden while others locate it within the main gardening space. Each has its pros and cons. With the later approach, the bed can be inspected during the entire growing season, not only when the plants are pro-ductive. If you take this approach keep in

mind that the ferny foliage gets quite tall by summer, so site it in the northern most row of the garden so that it won’t shade out other plants. By planting the as-paragus in a separate location you can also better cater to the plants’ unique needs.

In order to thrive, asparagus plants require full sun, fertile soil, a neutral pH, and a weed-free bed. If time allows prepare the site in the fall prior to spring planting by removing the sod from grassy areas and by making the necessary ad-justments to the soil with the addition of lime and balanced organic fertilizers. A soil test will determine accurate amounts for your site.

Once asparagus crowns have been pur-chased you shouldn’t wait too long to plant them or they will dry out. At first look, the roots look like fleshy white tentacles of an octopus radiating out from its head! If planting ASAP is unlikely store them in moist sphagnum moss until you are able to get them in the ground. New advice recom-

mends planting the crowns in trenches 8 to 10 inches deep. It is helpful to incorporate additional lime and bone meal thoroughly into the bottom of the plant-ing furrow. Set plants on small mounds of soil 12 to 18 inches apart in the row and cover with 2 inches of soil. As the spears poke through this first layer of soil and begin to fern out, gradually fill in the trench with a mixture of soil and finished compost. It

should take six weeks for the furrow to be completely filled in. Water regularly and topdress with fertilizer in August of the first year and every spring thereafter. A thick application of compost at this time will also enhance fertility, while liming an-nually will help keep the pH neutral.

New studies indicate that spears can be harvested for a week long period the year after planting. Simply cut with a sharp knife at the soil surface. The following year expand your harvest to four weeks; by year three a full harvest season of eight weeks is possible. After harvest let the foliage

grow, once winter killed it can be cut back and removed from the garden site in case it harbors insect eggs. Good hygiene and hand picking will reduce populations of the asparagus beetle and other culprits of the asparagus patch.

My husband lovingly broke his back helping me clear the sod and remove the stones, shall I say boulders, from the area destined to be the asparagus patch. Maybe by Sunday the spears will be tall enough to harvest, that would be neat, indeed. And what about this year’s gift? Well along the same theme I have a project up my sleeve. A new picket fence perhaps!

Here’s wishing everyone out there a Happy Mother’s Day!

Roberta McQuaid graduated from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts. For the last 28 years, she has held the position of staff hor-ticulturalist at Old Sturbridge Village. She enjoys growing food as well as flowers. Have a question for her? Email it to [email protected] with “Gardening Question” in the subject line.

IN THE GARDEN

Why I think of asparagus on Mother’s Day

Roberta McQuaid

Rainy weather and cooler than usual temperatures during these early May

2020 days are showing some ap-pearances of spring. Well, some-what. Yet, what brightens us up even more than our surrounding circumstances is the chance to celebrate unique and special days.

May’s early calendar dates give us exceptional reasons to recognize “National Teachers Day” on May 5, and “Nurses Day” on May 6. Then on May 8 there’s “Day Care Provider Day” and “Mil-itary Spouses Day.”

Also it’s surprising to learn from Holi-day Insights, that May 9 is, “Lost Sock Me-morial Day.” Strange as it seems, “Clean up Your Room Day” is on May 10 — the same day as “Mother’s Day.” Curiosity asks: “Is it a Mom’s mantra to clean up your room? If rooms were cleaned first, wouldn’t that help solve the lost sock issues?”

Since all socks on the home front are happily paired, and the clean-up-your-room pleas have happened nonstop since the 2020 COVID-19 incubation, with what breath was left, a family member asked, “What else do you want this year for Moth-er’s Day?”

Feeling that a response was the perfect time to show that “Grammar Doodles” was up to speed with knowing a few of the latest hot-topic terms, she replied.

“First, I’d like to ‘slow the spread’ when shopping by wearing an XL, wrap-around, Glad-Guard garbage bag.”

“That’ll be an interesting sight …”

“Second, I need to be wrapped tight so as to ‘flatten the curve.’”

“That’ll be a squeal deal.”“Could we find color-coordi-

nated boots, gloves, and a mask? I’ve got a straw hat.”

“I’ll have to go online …”“Lines? Talk about lines? All

stores have aisle lines of ‘social distance’ shoppers trying to fol-

low one-way arrows!”“Yup.”“I’ll be s-o-o grateful to be stay and play

outdoors; away from my personal pan-n-n-demic.”

“What? Wha-da-ya mean?”“I’m not complaining. I’m thankful for

food to cook. But, it seems like over these past six weeks of our staying in — that I’ve made and served gazillions of meals and desserts. I’ve seen stacked dishes. (Sigh) Peaked flatware. Skillets. Crockpot. Steam-er. Plus — pots and pans.”

“And?”While The Hub comfortably sat down to

use his iPhone to place an online order, the Mom snuggled beside him asking, “Do you think you could find me a book on-line too?”

“Sure!” “What’s the title?”“Novel Virus.”These recent months, weeks, days and

hours can befuddle and bewilder us. Find-ing glimpses of humor in everyday issues and circumstances can help us get over those thump bumps — especially during our early May daze.

COMMENTARY

Early May daze

Joan E.B. Coombs

Our Town

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Ted Cassell, president of Park Square Realty, recently an-nounced that Fabio DeSousa has joined Park Square Real-ty’s West Springfield office as a sales associate.

Barry Boccasile, director of growth and development for Park Square Realty, is excited to have DeSousa as part of the growing team. DeSousa will be specializing in residential list-ings and sale. He may be reached at 413-209-0396.

DeSousa graduated from Springfield’s Central High School and majored in sus-

tainability studies at Holyoke Community College. He re-sides in Agawam and is a for-mer restaurant owner.

He has strong customer ser-vice skills and has previous ex-perience working on commer-cial leases and family-owned investment property. Outside of real estate, DeSousa enjoys home improvement projects, cooking, hiking and camping.

Park Square Realty is a lo-cally owned residential real estate com-pany with 48 agents and offices in West-field and West Springfield, and can been reached online at parksquarerealty.com.

Fabio DeSousa joins Park Square Real Estate

Fabio DeSousa

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER


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LUNCH ❚ from page 1

developing this program,” Rob Clickstein, the Business Administrator for the Aga-wam Public Schools said. “When we first started talking about it, all the food service workers from the schools expressed inter-est in helping. We have rotating staff and back-up staff if we need them.”

There are usually six to 10 people pre-paring the meals for the assigned days, and the meals are made and packaged on site to be handed out. The staff hand out two meals for each kid, so that on Monday they receive a lunch for Monday and for Tues-day. The same goes for Wednesday, and on Friday parents receive three meals to last over the weekend. Though the program is only held three days a week, the school staff made sure students would have a full lunch

every day. Food staff from all six schools are participating in the program, there’s about five or so groups in rotation and each group is made up of six to 10 staff members from the Agawam schools.

“We had to figure out how to do it, and how to pass things out, so we held it ev-ery day to make sure it reached as many families as it could and so we could limit people for social distancing,” Clickstein said. “We’ve put up flyers at the pick-up site, updated the website, and used word of mouth to inform people of our three-day system.”

Within the hour that the lunch pro-gram is held, people line up outside to grab lunches. The program has been well received and appreciated, 70-80 meals are made and passed out within a day. There are also drinks provided when families pick up the lunches, they have a choice between

a juice, milk, or both. “People have been very supportive of the

program, and they’ve been very apprecia-tive as well.” Jennifer Bennett from Robin-son Park School said, “I think it’s great and awesome, because it’s really helping fami-lies and we can see that.” Although there is a rotating schedule of staff, there are ‘regu-lars’ - families - that use the lunch program and have become familiar with the staff. Bennett is the group leader and is at the program twice a week sometimes, she sees repeating families come in and knows how much help this program is providing.

The food staff starts making the meals at 9:30 a.m. on the assigned days, and the same staff hands out the meals to cut down on the amount of social exposure. After preparing all the meals, the staff brings them to the front of the school to easi-ly hand out. There are a few extra meals

kept in the kitchens in case they run out, and whatever is not passed out that day is stored for the following pick-up day. The staff are making sure that no food goes to waste, and no child is left unfed. The lunch program will continue through the end of the school year, and the assigned last day is June 18.

While Agawam typically does not hold a summer meal program, plans this summer are being considered.

If any family needs help with meals during the stay at home notice, they can visit the Agawam Junior High School at 11 a.m. to 12 noon every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to grab two to three meals for each child of their household. Parents can check the school website for any updates to meals, services, and academics.

Jennifer Bennett, Kerry LaFromboise, Jennifer Dellaripa, and Anna Grady jump into action to package up meals for those who come to the pick-up station. PHOTOS BY SHELBY MACRI

Kerry LaFromboise and Jennifer Dellaripa from Roberta Doering School help bring lunches to the pick-up section and get ready to hand them out.

Jennifer Bennett, Jennifer Dellaripa, Kerry LaFromboise and Anna Grady get ready to start the lunch pro-gram and hand out bagged meals to families.

Jennifer Dellaripa, Kerry LaFromboise, and Anna Grady help to pack up meals for families in need.

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER

BUSINESSTurley Publications is liberal with regard to

its business coverage polices, but we do have some standards folks need to understand. First, local businesses and merchants are just as much institutions in our towns as the library and schools. Without them, there are no towns.

We will feature coverage of local businesses that are new, have a major expansion, moving, closing, under new management or ownership, celebrating a milestone anniversary, or have been thrust into the news realm. Merchants can request that coverage through the editor, or for our existing advertising clients, through their ad representatives.

For more information on business coverage for the Agawam Advertiser News, please email [email protected].

For more information on business coverage for Agawam Advertiser News, please email [email protected]

COVID-19

SPORTSacebook.com/turleysports@turleysports www.turleysports.com

Following the closure of spring sports, many summer leagues are being forced to do the same

By Gregory A. [email protected]

REGION – In just a short peri-od of time, the landscape of even summer sports has now changed with a number of baseball leagues cancelling play and others post-poned indefinitely while the leagues wait out the “surge.”

But in the case of some very talented athletes, the 2020 base-ball season has been completely shuttered.

First, it was the postponement of Major League Baseball along with the complete cancellation of spring sports for the collegiate level. Now, two of the most prom-inent college leagues have can-celled their seasons for the sum-mer, citing the risks involved for the league as a whole.

The Cape Cod Baseball League and the New England Collegiate Baseball League have cancelled their 2020 campaigns, which were set to start in June. The cancella-tion leaves no opportunities for teams to play at all in the 2020 season. The summer leagues, like college season were often an ad-ditional place for star athletes to get exposure, play against some of the best competition in the coun-try, and receive additional looks for scouts from the major leagues.

The cancellation of baseball has also filtered down to the high

Summer leagues now coming into question

The Pioneer Valley Summer Soccer League is still hoping to have its regular season, though it may be delayed. FILE PHOTOS

American Legion baseball is also in danger of being cancelled this summer.

College baseball will not be played in the area as the NECBL cancelled its season. The Valley Blue Sox are based in Holyoke.

Recreational leagues like the Valley Wheel Baseball League and the Quabbin Valley League are all on hold waiting to see if Mas-sachusetts “re-opens.”SUMMER ❙ page 11

REGION – Tri Track Open Modified Series officials an-nounced on Saturday, in collabo-ration with Claremont Speedway, that the event originally sched-uled for May 24 will not happen as scheduled. New Hampshire

Governor Chris Sununu released new guidance for the state on Friday that will not allow gather-ings to occur for the race event. The Tri Track Open Modified Se-ries continues to keep the safety of our race teams, drivers, staff

and fans in mind with decisions. We will provide additional guid-ance around the 2020 schedule once it is available. Our intention is to hit the track for action this season.”

AUTO RACING

Claremont Speedway event cancelled

By Gregory A. [email protected]

The Turley Publications sports department is looking to honor the senior athletes who have had their spring seasons cancelled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the next several weeks, the sports section will have sto-ries and photos about the various spring sports teams that were never even able to have a practice, and eventually saw their full sea-son cancelled.

We will be talking with spring coaches and athletic directors, but would also love to hear from

senior players about their feelings about the spring season being cancelled.

We hope to also publish ac-tion photos of seniors from previ-ous seasons, though parents and coaches are encouraged to send photos of seniors they would like to see published in the upcoming editions of the paper.

All submissions can be made to Sports Editor Gregory A. Sci-belli at [email protected]. In the subject line, please identify the school and sport you are writing in about. Senior athletes are also encouraged to write in to talk about the season that wasn’t.

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

Senior athletes to behonored in coming weeksThe Valley Blue Sox play their

home games in HolyokeNORTH ADAMS – The New

England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) has announced that its board of directors, com-prised of executives from its 13 member teams and officers, have voted to cancel the 2020 summer collegiate baseball season.

This decision was reached af-ter a careful and thoughtful re-view of the guidance from federal, state and local officials, the lead-ership of our host communities, and recommendations from the CDC and medical community. The

conclusion was that canceling the 2020 season was necessary for the health, safety and well-being of our players, coaches, umpires, volunteers, fans and host families.

We understand that this de-cision will result in hardship and disappointment to our stu-dent-athletes who have already lost their college spring baseball season. For this reason, it breaks our hearts and runs counter to our competitive instincts and spirit. However, our first priority and obligation must always be the health and well-being of our play-ers and our community. We prom-ise to use this time out, and all of

our resources, to make our 2021 season something truly special for our players, coaches and fans.

We are part of the communi-ties that host our member teams. We encourage our teams, as orga-nizations, individually and work-ing with their volunteers, to sup-port community first responders and their local business sponsors, many of whom are restaurants that are going through difficult fi-nancial times. To show our appre-ciation to our host communities and supporters, we will dedicate Opening Day 2021 in each of our

COLLEGIATE BASEBALL

NECBL cancels 2020 season

BASEBALL ❙ page 11

$12.50Each

Digital PhotosTURLEY PUBLICATIONS, INC.

Purchase a photo that recently ran in one of our publications. Go to

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Bunny follows bears as moms organize town-wide hunts

By Michael [email protected]

ust a week after Agawam families piled into their cars to hunt for bears, this Saturday they’ll be

searching for a bunny.A group of Agawam moms

led by Sherry Balzano is or-ganizing the Bunny Hop, a social distancing-friendly scavenger hunt, on April 11. Homes around town have been decorating their front doors and windows to attract the bunny — organizers ar-en’t calling it the “Easter bun-ny,” because the activity isn’t just for children of any spe-cific faith — and will take to the streets, in their own sep-arate cars, to look for clues on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The first 200 families to find the bunny will receive an Easter egg with a special

prize inside.Just like the similar teddy

bear hunt that took place last Thursday, the Bunny Hop al-lows parents and children to get out of the house and con-nect with their community

GETTING OUT

Hop to it!

Sherry Balzano works on an Eas-ter decoration on the front door of her home, which will be one of the “clue” sites in the Bunny Hop scav-enger hunt on Saturday.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL BALLWAY

JBUNNY ❙ page 8

Sherry Balzano stands with her children Billy, 17, and Maddie, 11, at their home on Roosevelt Avenue in Feeding Hills, as they get ready for this weekend’s Bunny Hop.

CORONAVIRUS

Businessrelief loanprogramhits snag


City councilors last week ap-proved a $250,000 business loan fund for coronavirus relief, and the town is taking applications, but the state says it’s illegal and that will cause a delay.

Mayor William Sapelli said on Wednesday morning that he’s been able to find an alternative funding source, but it will take time, and it may not be the full $250,000.

“We are going to have some monies, but it’s not going to be the money we were hoping for, and it’s not going to be ready to-morrow,” Sapelli said.

The loan program voted April 2 would allow Agawam business-es to apply for no-interest loans of up to $10,000 in order to stay afloat, and continue paying their

LOAN ❙ page 3


It seems like newspapers, tele-vision and social media have been full of talk about Covid-19 forev-er — but how many people really know the coronavirus at a cellular level, and how it’s both like and unlike other infections and dis-eases?

At least one man in Agawam does, and if Rich Joseph has his way, a lot more will learn.

Joseph, a science teacher at Agawam High School from 1970 to 2002, recently shared an hour-long lesson online discussing the biology of diseases and vi-

SCIENCE OF DISEASE

Biology teacher shares inside look at virus

Former Agawam High School teacher Rich Joseph, right, with his daughter Ashlie Gionfriddo, who encouraged him to share an online lesson on the biology of diseases like the coronavirus. SUBMITTED PHOTOSCIENCE ❙ page 12


Still not sure what to do with the kids at home all day? Ask the experts.

Scavenger hunts, family reading time and establishing a household routine are just some of the suggestions from Agawam teachers on how to keep young children learning and occupied while the schools are closed and the family is cooped up staying safe from the coronavirus.

“While thinking about fun ac-tivities to do, I found myself going back to the fun but easy games I

used to play when I was young-er,” said Sarah Domina, a grade 1 teacher at Phelps School. “I find that these days, I forget about the fun and easy games.”

Easy games might include creating a word search with or for a family member, playing “I spy” with descriptive words for the person guessing, playing cha-rades, playing cards or a board game, or bingo.

Teachers at Phelps and at Rob-inson Park School suggested that parents take their kids on a simple scavenger hunt — such as a car

TEACHER TIPS

Simple games, tasks advisedto keep children busy learning

TEACHER ❙ page 12

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SPRINGFIELD – Today, the Springfield Thunderbirds Foundation announced the start of its “From the Heart” cam-paign, which will feed essential workers at non-profits, medical facilities, and public safety organizations over the coming ten weeks. The campaign kicked off today with monetary donations of $500 to both the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and Holyoke Medical Center. Holyoke Medical Center will use the funds to purchase food for its medical staff.

“We are excited to announce our ‘From the Heart’ campaign and we are honored to support our first two recipients. Food in-security during this time is a serious issue and the Food Bank of Western Massachu-setts is leading the charge to combat this across the region. Holyoke Medical Center has also stepped up in a big way for the residents of Holyoke and has gone the ex-tra mile in treating our Vets in the Holyoke Soldier’s Home. We are truly grateful for all these two organizations are doing for our community,” said Nathan Costa, President of the Springfield Thunderbirds.

The announcement of the “From the Heart” campaign comes on the heels of successful food deliveries to Mercy and Baystate Medical Centers in mid-April. Stephen Cincotta, a member of the Thun-derbird’s local ownership group, saw the impact these donations had on frontline medical staff and reached out to the T-Birds Foundation with a generous donation to extend the program to other organizations in western Massachusetts.

“When I saw the reaction of the doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff to the food deliveries and their pictures with Boomer, I knew we could be doing more to spread

a little joy and good will to others on the front lines of this pandemic. I am proud to support the work of the T-Bird’s Foun-dation and grateful to the men and wom-en who are working every day to keep us same from harm,” said Cincotta, President and CEO of Clinical Research Management Group (CRMG).

With the campaign’s launch, the T-Bird’s Foundation will deliver food to a new orga-nization each week for the next ten weeks to thank front-line workers making an im-pact in the community. The Foundation broadened the reach of its program to rec-ognize the many diverse fields that are con-tributing the fight against COVID-19.

“During this time of great need in our region, we are extremely grateful to the support we have received across the com-munity to help our neighbors at risk of hunger,” said Jillian Morgan, Corporate Relations Officer for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. “The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts remains commit-ted to feeding all of our neighbors in need and is taking proactive steps to protect those who rely on our services. Your sup-port keeps meals on the table during these challenging times.”

Meals will be sourced from many of the T-Birds corporate partners, including the 99 Restaurant & Pub, Buffalo Wild Wings, The-odore’s Booze, Blues & BBQ, Krazy Jake’s, Frigo’s Foods, Texas Roadhouse, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dunkin’ Do-nuts and Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant.

Individuals interested in supporting the campaign can contribute to the Thun-derbirds’ Foundation directly: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/chari-ty/3391100.

Thunderbirds Foundation announces fundraising drive

REGION – The Valley Wheel Over-30 Baseball League is seeking new players for the upcoming 2020 season. The league is seeking players ages 28 and up. Players turning 28 this year are eligible. However, only players 30 and older can pitch. The league plays 15 regular season games with games being held mostly on Sundays with a couple of weekday games thrown in the mix as well as a special Mother’s Day Satur-day game in early May. However, due to the current circumstances, the league sched-ule has been pushed back. The league still

plans to play its season once bans on gath-erings are lifted. The league is built on com-radery, fair play, and having a good time with friends. If interested in trying out, go to www.valleywheelbaseball.com. The rules of the league and new player forms can be found on the site. For further infor-mation, you can contact the league’s com-missioner, Jim Nason at [email protected] or call him at (413) 433-4308. Tryouts will be take place as soon as conditions are allowed, but new player applications are still being accepted.

Valley Wheel Over-30 Baseball League looking for new players

REGION – The Quabbin Valley Over-30 Baseball League is seeking new players for 2020 season. The league has six teams, sev-eral with open roster spots. Last year, the league voted to allow players age 28 and 29 to be able to join the league, though play-ers under 30 are not eligible to pitch. The cost of the league this season is $192. For returning and new players, sign-ups have been placed on hold until a determina-tion has been made on the season going forward. The league is hopefully to begin

play sometime in June or July. The season is 15 regular season games plus at least one playoff game. A modified schedule is being worked on by league officials. Games are nine innings and metal (BBCOR -3) or wood bats are allowed. Fields locations are throughout Western Mass. For more infor-mation on the league, or if you are interest-ed in registering, go to https://www.quabb-invalleybaseball.org/. The league is also in Facebook.

Sign-ups on hold for Quabbin Valley Over-30 Baseball League

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school and youth levels as well.With parks and recreation activi-

ties shut down, baseball and softball is shut down at the youth level. Spring sports were cancelled last week at the high school level, and even rec-reational softball leagues have been completely shut down. There are still some leagues that are hopeful.

Like high school athletic directors, many recreational leagues have begun making shortened schedules or mod-ified schedules that would accommo-date play once fields are opened up.

However, as the surge remains present in Massachusetts, it is hard

to forecast when play in many leagues will open up.

The Pioneer Valley Summer Soccer League is open to holding a modified schedule if needed, but it is also still holding out hope to holding its regular season as scheduled. The season typi-cally starts in the third week of June.

Depending on how the re-opening plan is phased, there is still a possibil-ity of that, or a better possibility of the season going deeper into the summer.

One league that teenagers were hopeful would not be cancelled is American Legion baseball. However, that may be the case after the chair-man of District 3 recommended the season be cancelled. Most area teams, such as Agawam, Belchertown, Wil-

braham, Aldenville, and Monson play in District 3. There are also several Junior Legion teams in the area, with Holyoke set to rejoin the ranks.

The American Legion had can-celled its regional and national tour-naments, but there was hope its reg-ular season would take place in areas that were deemed safe from major coronavirus outbreaks. The national tournament was set to take place late in the summer in North Carolina.

The stay-at-home advisory along with the non-essential business clo-sure remains in effect through May 18. It is not known if the order will be lift-ed, but a re-opening plan is supposed to be submitted by a committee on that date.

SUMMER ❚ from page 9

venues to thank, honor and support community organi-zations and first responders who serve on the front lines of combating COVID-19.

The New England Col-legiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New En-gland states. Partially fund-ed by Major League Base-ball, the NECBL started play in 1994 and enjoyed

its 25th-year anniversary season last summer. The New England League has sent over 150 alumni to the Major Leagues and has had nearly 100 alumni drafted in each of the last 10 Major League Baseball Drafts.

The Valley Blue Sox are the main local team to Western Massachusetts in the NECBL. The Blue Sox have won two league cham-pionship in 2017 and 2018, and were in the semifinal round in 2019.

BASEBALL ❚ from page 9

Public NoticesCommonwealth of

MassachusettsThe Trial Court

Probate and Family CourtHampden Division

50 State StreetSpringfield, MA 01103

(413)748-8600Docket No. HD20P0702EA

Estate of: Greg Alan Barnhart

Also Known As: Greg A. Barnhart

Date of Death: June 14, 2019

INFORMAL PROBATE PUBLICATION NOTICE

To all persons interested in the above captioned estate, by Petition of Petitioner Cheryl A. Barnhart of Agawam, MA.

Cheryl A. Barnhart of Agawam, MA has been informally appointed as the Personal Representative of the estate to serve without surety on the bond.

The estate is being ad min

istered under informal procedure by the Personal Representative under the Massachusetts Uniform Pro bate Code without supervision by the Court. In ventory and accounts are not re quired to be filed with the Court, but interested parties are entitled to notice regarding the administration from the Personal Represen tative and can petition the Court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of ad ministration. In terested parties are entitled to petition the Court to institute formal pro ceedings and to obtain or ders terminating or restricting the powers of Personal Representatives appointed under informal procedure. A copy of the Petition and Will, if any, can be obtained from the Peti tioner.5/07/2020

LEGAL NOTICEPUBLIC HEARING

AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL

The Agawam City Council will conduct a remote public hearing on Monday, May 18, 2020, at 7:00 p.m., in accordance with the Governor’s Order dated March 12, 2020 on the Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Year 2021 to Fiscal Year 2025 as submitted to the City Council by the Mayor on April 9, 2020. The remote hearing will be live streamed on the Town of Agawam cable access channel.

The Capital Improvement Program is a prioritized plan of proposed capital improvements over the next five fiscal years. A capital improvement is a project or undertaking which provides for the planning, design, construction, reconstruction, renovation or replacement of a public build

ing or facility; an addition to a public building or facility; the purchase of land, buildings or facilities for a public purpose; or a long range development study.

TR202035 which is the Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Year 2021 to Fiscal Year 2025 is available for public inspection on the Town of Agawam website (www.agawam.ma.us) or by emailing the office of the City Clerk for an electronic copy at [email protected]

BY ORDER OF:Christopher C. Johnson

PresidentAgawam City Council

5/07, 5/14/2020

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The Trial CourtProbate and Family Court

Hampden Division50 State Street

Springfield, MA 01103

(413)748-8600Docket No. HD20P0701 EA

Estate of: Kathleen Marie Hitas

Also Known As: Kathleen M. Hitas

Date of Death: February 5, 2019

INFORMAL PROBATE PUBLICATION NOTICE

To all persons interested in the above captioned estate, by Petition of Petitioner Peter A. Hitas of Agawam MA, a Will has been admitted to informal probate.

Pe t e r A . H i t a s o f Agawam MA has been informally appointed as the Personal Representative of the estate to serve without surety on the bond.

The estate is being ad ministered under informal procedure by the Personal Representative under the Massachusetts Uniform Pro bate Code without supervision by the Court. In ventory and

accounts are not re quired to be filed with the Court, but interested parties are entitled to notice regarding the administration from the Personal Represen tative and can petition the Court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of ad ministration. In terested parties are entitled to petition the Court to institute formal pro ceedings and to obtain or ders terminating or restrict ing the powers of Personal Representatives appointed under informal procedure. A copy of the Petition and Will, if any, can be obtained from the Peti tioner.5/07/2020

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By Elise [email protected]

Many women and children in Hamp-den County have been challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distanc-ing measures, from figuring out where to get resources like food and diapers to nav-igating substance abuse and violence at home or finding ways to access reproduc-tive healthcare.

The Hampden County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls has been holding meetings and conducting polls through social media to find out what those issues are and how commissioners can advocate for and connect those who are struggling to organizations that can help.

“I fear we won’t really know what wom-en and girls deeply needed during this time until after, because women are really busy tending to the basic needs of their families today,” said Dawn DiStefano, commissioner and executive vice president at Square One in Springfield, a private nonprofit that pro-vides early education, care and family sup-port services. “They aren’t going to sound the alarm for themselves while they’re in the midst of this pandemic taking care of their families. I think as a community, it’s up to us to apply that hypervigilance to the work and the effort we put into connecting with women during this time.”

Kids and young adults are also feeling the stress of the pandemic, often more than their parents realize. But children are also resilient, according to commissioners, and many want to help, including local Girl Scout troops who’ve been donating cookies and making window signs for seniors, said commissioner Pattie Hallberg, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massa-chusetts.

Girl ScoutsKids aren’t immune to the worry and

change they see around them, from com-pleting classes and schoolwork online to

seeing scary news on the TV while having their parents home all the time. But Hall-berg said she’s also seen many who want to get involved and contribute in any way they can.

“There’s a heightened sense of concern,” Hallberg said. “But what we’re finding at the Girl Scouts is so many of these girls are trying to figure out, ‘What can I do to help? What can I do as a person?’ They’re mak-ing masks, they’re delivering cookies to the fire department or the police department. They’re doing what they can to find some little way to make a difference. That makes them feel so much better.”

In Monson, for instance, Troop64811 made signs for a nursing home in Hamp-den to put in their windows to brighten their day.

Hallberg has heard from many girls that they want to go back to school and that they miss the camaraderie of seeing their classmates and teachers. But they’re still finding ways to stay occupied and virtually connected to the outside world.

“There are so many cool things that they can do on the internet,” Hallberg said. “They can go to the opera, they can go to Broadway, they can take a virtual tour of our national parks, they can go to a science museum. In Girl Scouting, they’re earning badges and patches online, and it’s so fun to watch them earning badges and doing things that they might not have ever done before.”

Hallberg has also been encouraging families to get outside for fresh air and fun activities like scavenger hunts.

Square OneDiStefano said she and others on the

commission have been working to build “a strong mental health safety net” in the community, in order to help everyone stay afloat.

“When we come up for a breath of air, those being willing to take a big gulp of air better be willing to dive back down and bring others to the surface,” DiStefano said. “I think a lot of women will be stuck in the

weeds underwater. I think that’s where the commission can do its best work – we can rally around and find our allies in people to go out to check in on others.”

Ensuring a strong mental health safety net also means going back and ensuring people’s basic needs are being met. While commissioners like DiStefano and Hallberg aren’t in the business of being interven-tionists, they can listen and do legislative advocacy on their behalf and direct folks to organizations that can help.

“It’s Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – if people don’t have food, if people don’t have a safe dwelling to be in or don’t have access to employment and education, you can’t the start to address things like mental and behavioral health,” she said.

DiStefano said she’s most worried about folks struggling with their mental health and who may not be feeling as resilient. Square One’s home visiting program, for instance, works with mothers who are in their first year of recovery from substance abuse, have children under the age of five and are working toward reunification with their children or have already been reuni-fied.

“The isolation when they’re in recovery, the pressure for most of them – they’re sin-gle mothers, so they’re home alone with their children,” DiStefano said. “That’s been the most challenging population for our staff at Square One. I worry about those women; I worry about those children. This is not a good situation for them.”

The pandemic has been destabilizing for many, but it’s not all doomsday, she added.

“I think there’s a place to celebrate the resiliency of women,” DiStefano said. “We’re an amazing part of this world and I think our gender lends itself to some out-standing characteristics. But none of us have ever been through this before... and I don’t think any of us are okay, some of us are just less okay than others.”

Planned Parenthood of Western Massachusetts

Shanique Spalding, a political organiz-

er with the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, said that because of travel restrictions, limited court and clinic hours and legislative meetings, wom-en have been having a tougher time access-ing reproductive care.

The ROE Act, which is sitting in the State House Joint Judiciary Committee, is a bill that aims to expand abortion access in Massachusetts after 24 weeks only in the case of fatal fetal anomalies. Currently, a mother who receives a diagnosis of a fatal fetal anomaly after 24 weeks has to travel to Colorado or New Mexico to receive care. But because of the pandemic, traveling that far out of state is nearly impossible now.

The bill could be reported out of com-mittee with a positive or negative recom-mendation in mid-May, Spalding said. But because of cancellations and physical dis-tancing, she hasn’t been able to do the di-rect advocacy work around the bill.

Another issue facing young women is around the judicial bypass process, which allows minors to appear in court before a judge, who makes a determination on al-lowing abortion services if the minor is unable to get parental consent. But many courts are now operating on limited hours.

Minors may also have to deal with fig-uring out how to get to a clinic in the first place if they’re unable to share where they’re going with their families or partners at home or if they’re essential workers.

“During COVID, there are still young people who have to access abortion ser-vices, and there are still people getting fatal fetal diagnoses,” Spalding said.

Health centers that provide abortions are also operating on limited hours. In Hampden County, the only two facilities that provide abortions are Planned Parent-hood in Springfield and Baystate Medical Center, Spalding said.

“We’re advocating for folks to pay atten-tion to the fact that abortion services are also being impacted and are still essential care for a lot of individuals for a number of reasons,” Spalding said.

Pandemic poses unique challenges for women, children

By Elise [email protected]

Jeremy F. has been clean from drugs and alcohol for 38 years. In that time, he’s seen other newcomers go from hitting rock bot-tom to living healthy and sober.

Jeremy now serves as the New England Regional Web Chair for Narcotics Anony-mous, and said he understands the impor-tance of staying connected and spreading the message of organizations like NA to people who need it. Since the coronavirus outbreak, the 73-year-old also has been working tirelessly with local groups, en-abling them to get online.

“I believe without meetings, addicts will die,” Jeremy said. “Especially newcomers. I feel a very keen responsibility to make sure they get the information. And that meant getting them all the Zoom information on-line for them.”

While he isn’t worried about his own recovery being in jeopardy, he’s seen how physical distancing and social isolation has affected others. Just last week, he received an email through NA’s website from a man who said he was hitting rock bottom with cocaine and really needed help. Jeremy sent a note back with information for a Zoom meeting happening that night.

The meetings have also given him an opportunity to connect with old friends. Jeremy currently lives in Carver, near Plym-outh in Eastern Massachusetts. He used to live in Maine; thanks to Zoom, he’s able to log on and participate in meetings with his Maine NA community and see more famil-iar faces.

Of the 50 NA groups in Western Mas-sachusetts, 13 have migrated online, while the other 37 haven’t been meeting, he said. Zoom information and a schedule can be found through the NA New England Region website at nerna.org.

“The way something like NA works is a person who learns how to be clean can eas-

ily tell anyone else their experience,” Jeremy said. “They don’t have to be a psychologist, they don’t have to be eloquent, they just have to talk about of their own experience. And if we don’t get together to talk about, to share our experience and give other peo-ple guidance and comfort and support, it’s just not going to work.”

Many local Alcoholics Anonymous groups have also been meeting virtually through Zoom. The Area 31 Intergroup, which covers all of Western Massachusetts, has a full schedule and Zoom meeting IDs at area31aa.org. They’re offered daily, with a variety of formats including speak-er meetings, discussion groups and liter-ature-focused groups who read and share from texts like the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12 Steps and Tradi-tions.

Groups like AA and NA follow a tradi-tional 12-step process to recovery.

Other options for people struggling with addictive behaviors and substance misuse disorders include SMART Recovery, which stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training and follows a science-based ap-proach emphasizing self-empowerment and self-reliance, according to the organi-zation’s website. SMART also offers meet-ings daily through Zoom.

There are also recovery groups based in Buddhist principles, including Recov-ery Dharma and Refuge Recovery. These groups, along with SMART Recovery, ad-dress addictions ranging from substances like drugs and alcohol to behavioral addic-tions like co-dependency, eating disorders and sexual maladaptive behaviors, whereas NA and AA groups focus on addictions to particular substances.

One challenge Jeremy and other groups have faced is adequately reaching new-comers, especially those who don’t have access to the Internet.

“It used to be with in-person meetings, people would come in, they’d get greeted

Narcotics recovery groups take their 12 steps to ‘Net

WASHINGTON, D.C.– FEMA an-nounced approval of 30 states and the District of Columbia for its Crisis Counsel-ing Assistance and Training program. The program helps fund state-provided crisis counseling services to residents struggling with stress and anxiety as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

FEMA previously funded crisis counsel-ing in six states:

• $464,000 to Massachusetts• $1.6 million to California• $371,000 to Michigan• $882,000 to New Jersey• $1.3 million to New York• $2.1 million to WashingtonPresident Donald Trump delegated au-

thority to FEMA Administrator Pete Gay-nor to approve requests for the program in order to speed assistance to those in need.

FEMA’s Crisis Counseling program helps people and communities to recover from the effects of natural or man-made disasters through short-term interventions that provide emotional support, crisis

counseling, and connection to familial and community support systems.

Due to the COVID-19 nationwide emer-gency and the need to protect the safety and health of all Americans, crisis coun-seling services will be delivered by phone, internet and social media.

Help is also available to all residents of the United States through the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and Human Services’ Sub-stance Abuse and Mental Health Services’ Disaster Distress Helpline by calling 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746. Spanish speakers call 1-800-985-5990 and press “2” or text Hablanos to 66746 from all 50 states.

If calling from Puerto Rico, text Habla-nos to 1-787-339-2663. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, use your preferred relay service to call the Disaster Distress Help-line at 1-800-985-5990 or TTY 1-800-846-8517. This toll-free, multilingual, and con-fidential crisis support service is available to all residents in the United States and its territories.

and in NA it was common to hug, sort of like shaking hands in normal society,” Jere-my said. “Of course, that’s very welcoming to feel like you’re hugged and wanted, and people can see each other, they can pick up the emotional tone in the room. At the end of the meeting, people mill around, people will spot newcomers and go over and talk to them, and maybe offer a phone number or talk about going out for coffee and ice cream. Newcomers really get a chance to be drawn into the fellowship.

“When I was new, I felt a sense of being

loved. I felt a sense of being really wanted. It’s incredibly attractive. It made me way to stay. We can do something through on-line meetings, but we can’t really duplicate that.”

Jeremy said recently, he’s been attend-ing more meetings than ever. While he hasn’t seen anyone identify as a newcomer in those half-dozen meetings, he said he’s glad for the mutual support and ability to connect with others in recovery during this difficult time.

Massachusetts one of 30 states to receive crisis counseling funding


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Agawam Advertiser News

With a stay-at-home advisory in effect during the coronavirus emergency, Mas-sachusetts residents are spending a lot of time in their gardens and yards. How many people know what to do if they find a baby bird, a nest of newborn bunnies, or another young animal in their yard this spring?

The arrival of spring means the arrival of young wildlife. Every year, the lives of young creatures are disturbed by people who take young animals from the wild in a well-intentioned attempt to “save” them, but this often does more harm than good. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife recently reminded residents that young wildlife belong in the wild and should be left alone.

Finding a young animal alone does not mean it’s been abandoned or needs to be rescued. Adult animals are often nearby and visit their young only occasionally, to avoid detection from predators.

Nearly all wild birds and mammals are protected by law; they may not legally be taken from the wild or kept as pets. Most people quickly find that they can’t properly

care for young wildlife, and many animals soon die in the hands of people trying to help. Young wildlife removed from the wild are also denied important natural learning experiences which help them survive on their own. Even if these animals are even-tually released back into the wild, their chances of survival are reduced. Often, the care given to young wildlife results in the animal forming an attachment to humans, and it may return to places where people live, only to be attacked by domestic an-imals or hit by cars. With little fear of hu-mans, once-tamed wildlife may become nuisances or injure people.

• If a baby bird is found: While baby birds may look helpless, they do not need assistance unless there are clear signs of injury, like a broken wing. If a hatchling or nestling (a young bird without feathers) is found outside the nest, try to return it to its nest or create an artificial nest. The parents will not reject it if it is touched. If a fledg-ling (a young, fully feathered bird) is found outside the nest, leave it alone. While it is spending some time hopping around on

the ground learning how to fly, the parents are usually nearby still taking care of it. If a fledgling is found near a road or exposed to danger, it can be moved to a safer, sheltered location nearby. Young birds naturally have a low survival rate, which keeps popula-tions in balance with available resources.

• If a fawn is found: Young deer are born in late May and early June. Even if a fawn is seen alone for several days, leave it alone. The animal may be motionless and seem vulnerable, but this is the normal behavior for a fawn and the mother (doe) is probably feeding or bedded nearby. Fawns are safest when left alone, because their camouflag-ing color helps them remain undetected. Does visit their fawns to nurse very infre-quently, a behavior that helps fawns avoid detection by predators. If sympathetic peo-ple repeatedly visit a fawn, it can prolong separation from the doe and delay needed feeding. Fawns cannot be cared for by wild-life rehabilitators; if a fawn is visibly injured or found with its dead mother, call Mass-Wildlife at 508-389-6300.

• If bunnies or other young mammals are found: Generally, young mammals are

visited by their mother only a few times a day, to avoid attracting predators to the young. For example, a nest of bunnies will only be visited by the adult female twice per day, to nurse the young. The young are generally safe when left alone, because their color patterns and lack of scent help them remain undetected. In most cases, it’s best to leave young animals alone.

• Keep pets leashed. Keeping pets in-doors or restrained helps wildlife, as pets often like to chase and hunt songbirds and other mammals. This also helps the pets avoid health and safety dangers posed by wild animals, other pets, or automobiles.

• Contact a wildlife rehabilitator for ad-vice. In almost all cases, it’s best to leave wildlife alone and let nature take its course. In the rare case of a young animal with a dead parent, or there are visible signs of injury, contact a licensed wildlife rehabili-tator for assistance. An injured wild animal may be assisted, but a person must deliver the animal immediately to a licensed re-habilitator. MassWildlife licenses wildlife rehabilitators who are qualified to care for most injured or truly orphaned wildlife.

Take care, keep wild animals wild

If you find a fawn, MassWildlife recommends leaving it alone, even if it is seen alone for a few days. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

A baby bird on its own probably doesn’t need assistance, unless it has a broken wing.

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