JANUARY 8, 2026 | FREE
IN THIS
EDITION LONGMEADOW
Longmeadow’s oldest resident is all smiles through 103 On Jan. 5, Ivan Kobzar was recognized with a cake and a card by Longmeadow Council on Aging Director James Leyden and COA Vice Chair Sandra MacFadyen.
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EAST LONGMEADOW
The Nest ends holidays with successful stocking charity event For three weeks from November through mid December, The Nest, a boutique gift store at 60 Shaker Road, collected items for their first stocking charity event.
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HAMPDEN
Hampden Selectboard begins to weigh options for future The Hampden Selectboard began discussing what to do with the old town offices after moving into the former Thornton W. Burgess Middle School at its Jan. 5 meeting.
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Hoopsters visit seniors, donate to pantry By Peter Tuohy
ptuohy@thereminder.com
EAST LONGMEADOW — Players and coaches from the East Longmeadow High School basketball spread some holiday cheer at the Pleasant View Senior Center on Dec. 29. The team spent their fifth year at the senior center playing cornhole, along with a donation of 13 bags to their food pantry. “The Pleasant View Senior Center is so grateful to the East Longmeadow High boys basketball team for their generous donation to our food pantry, and for the time they spent with our members playing cornhole on Monday,” Council on Aging Director Emily Constantino said. “Their visit brought great energy to the center, and brought a smile to all our members’ faces. Their coach, Gary DeStephano, has instilled the importance of giving back to their community into these boys, and it showed during their visit at Pleasant View. We are all so grateful to have hosted the team for a visit that brought forth the opportunity for laughter, conversation and genuine connection.” The tradition began when head coach Brendan Abad and DeStephano decided they wanted to use their team and platform to help ease certain financial costs among seniors in the community. Nonperishable food items are collected during home games and each player participates in bringing a bag of food. DeStephano said it’s their way of giving back to the community and tackling the issue of food insecurity. “It’s such a great cause,” DeStephano said. “Five years later, we continue to do it because we know it’s important.”
The ELHS basketball team at Pleasant View Senior Center. Photo credit: Gary DeStephano
He said because the need is so high for food, they want to ensure people don’t struggle with putting food on the table as prices rise. He added it teaches the players on the team that “wherever you are in life, it’s great to give back to your community.” “The kids really enjoy the visit, interacting with them, talking with them,” DeStephano said. “We’re very proud of our kids for embracing this. They look forward to it. We
will continue to do it because it helps the community out, helps the seniors out, so why not continue?” DeStephano said that the yearly visits have changed and molded the team’s culture. He said that their intentions with the team were to see it as a family and use the platform to build a sense of togetherness. “As a basketball program we believe that leadership extends beyond competition and
performance,” Abad said. “Our players visiting the senior center, along with donating canned goods and non-perishable items, reflects our commitment to serving others and honoring the community that supports us. These experiences help our athletes understand that true leadership is demonstrated through respect, service and meaningful connections off the court.” See BASKETBALL on page 2
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