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Greater Westfield Chamber names ‘Of the Year’ award winners By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTFIELD — A tradition of recognizing businesses is at the heart of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce, and this fall, three more members will be added to the “Of the Year” award winners, according to Kate Phelon, executive director. Phelon recently announced that the 2017 Business of the Year has been awarded to ProAmpac, formerly Prolamina; the KEVS Foundation, Inc., will receive the 2017 Non-Profit of the Year, and the Perez family of East Mountain Country Club will receive the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. The Chamber’s annual meeting and awards banquet is planned Nov. 15 at the East Mountain Country Club and begins with a cocktail hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., followed by a program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The event sponsor is Baystate Noble Hospital. Phelon said there is a rigorous process to determine the winners each year which includes surveying the Chamber membership for nominations based on specific criteria. Nominations are submitted to the Chamber’s nominating committee and recommendations are made to its board of directors. Greg Tucker, chief executive officer, ProAmpac, said he was “elated” when he was notified of the Chamber’s decision. ProAmpac provides creative packaging solutions to the food packaging, health care and industrial/specialty markets. “All of ProAmpac is extremely proud of winning this award,” said Tucker. “To mark this achievement we are planning an internal celebration with the Westfield team in the coming weeks.”
For Tucker personally, the award signifies the “commitment” of employees to the company and the city. “Westfield is our home and we are honored to be recognized for the work we do for our customers and our community,” said Tucker. Tucker noted that since the company has been a fixture in the city for 45 years, employees have been instrumental supporting causes including Alzheimer’s, Juvenile Diabetes, and the American Cancer Society. Additionally, employees have supported local food drives and purchased holiday gifts for the Salvation Army. Board members and volunteers have also been active with the Red Cross, the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce and the YMCA of Greater Westfield. “Since 1999 we’ve given to more than 70 organizations totaling over
A sheet of plywood covers a hole in a brick wall of the Mill at Crane Pond building caused by a one car accident early Saturday morning August 19. (WNG file photo)
Teachers ready to plant seeds of knowledge By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTFIELD-Teachers across the city – from public to parochial schools – are energized and putting the finishing touches on their classrooms as the countdown to the first day of school is on. “We’re really looking forward to the kids coming back,” said Russell Elementary School principal Alison Hamilton, noting this will be the last year for students at this site as students will be incorporated into city schools for the 2018-2019 school year. “The Town of Russell has welcomed us but we know it is important for the community that the kids come to Westfield.”
Alison Hamilton, principal at the Russell Elementary School, is seen in the library.
Hamilton, who has served for 27 years in the Westfield schools and is now starting her fourth year in a principal role, oversees Kindergarten through Grade 5 and expects approximately 165 students this school year. “My teachers all work well together and we will continue to build on the cross-grade collaborations,” said Hamilton. The school, nestled among woodlands at the end of Highland Avenue in Russell, has offered unique opportunities for students the past two years – including having naturalist-in-residence Ted Watt from the Hitchcock Center See Teachers, Page 3
Southwick Fire defeats police in blood drive challenge By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – The Southwick Fire Department received their trophy at the department headquarters this week after earning a victory of the Southwick Police Department in their latest blood drive competition. The blood drive is based on the Annual Baystate Health blood donor challenge between the fire
$300,000,” said Tucker, adding “We plan on growing our commitment in the Westfield community over the next 20 years.” Tucker also singled out the employees at the Westfield plant for the company’s continued success. “Most employees in Westfield have been with the company for over 14 years,” said Tucker. “We have employed three generations of at least two families simultane-
ously and we are deeply proud of the longstanding relationships ProAmpac has built with the community. The commitment and dedication of our Westfield team is incredible.” “With their continued growth and commitment to Westfield, I couldn’t be happier for them,” said Phelon of ProAmpac’s recognition. See Awards, Page 2
Community Radio marks three years of broadcasting
Car crashes into building on Mill Street By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–Police reported that a vehicle struck a building on Mill Street during the early morning hours on Saturday. According to Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe, a vehicle struck the Mill at Crane Pond on Mill Street, and police were notified at about 12:36 a.m. Westfield Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene, and the Westfield Building Department was also later requested to the scene. There was one occupant in the vehicle, according to police, and no injuries were reported. According to McCabe, the vehicle, a 2009 Jeep Liberty, had reportedly gone through a guardrail, a fire hydrant, over a retaining wall and then struck the building. McCabe said that speed was a factor. According to the police log received for the incident, there was a citation issued, as well.
ProAmpac, formerly Prolamina, has been named 2017 Business of the Year by the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce.
and police that Baystate hosts. In an effort to try and get as many members of the department to donate blood, fire had 12 donors while police had seven. In total, there were 24 individuals who attempted to donate and only five were deferred. But, most importantly, according to Amy Benson, a recruiter for the blood donor program at Baystate Medical Center, over 40 lives were saved due to the
work from the first responders in Southwick. Back in January, the Westfield News reported on the last blood drive that the police and fire participated in, which involved them joining forces and competing against the rest of the department’s in town. For any questions or comments about the blood donor competition, contact Benson at 413-322-4125.
By KEN STOMSKI Contributor This month marks the third year of Westfield community radio on WSKB 89.5 FM. What started off as an experiment with only a few shows in June of 2014 has grown to programming every weekday morning between 6am and 10AM. Westfield community radio officially launched in August of 2014. It all started when Westfield State University and the City of Westfield joined forces to update the radio transmitter and tower of WSKB as a final step to the Ely Hall renovation, which made sense because the public access cable TV channel 15 studios were relocated to Ely a decade ago. The transmitter was upgraded and the antenna was raised. And then, nothing happened. Members of the Westfield State Foundation decided that with the improvements at the station, it would be an excellent opportunity to bring in members of the community to host programs that would spotlight local events and talent within the community. Doing that also brought the possibility of recruiting underwriters to help support the operations of the radio station. Although WSKB is a student run radio station at Westfield State
University, the community radio portion is not directly related to the radio club at the university. At first the students were worried that local people were going to take over, as WSKB was always a student-run radio station, but it was soon realized that the community radio side and the radio club side of the station complimented each other. In fact, Westfield State University students are involved with some of the programming on community radio. Former Westfield Mayor Dan Knapik, who was a driving force behind getting community radio started, but left in 2015, said “no one could imagine that our WSKB community radio experiment would result in a robust alternative to big radio and has been nimble enough to be a force on location to keep the audience connected to its city happenings.” Many of the hosts that were present at the beginning still have shows See Community Radio, Page 3
Southwick seeking proposals for cellular facility By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent SOUTHWICK—Interest from wireless carriers for an area of town has prompted town officials to request proposals for a possible cellular facility. According to Southwick’s Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart, the requests for proposal (RFP) are for land in the southeast portion of the town, along the Southwick-Agawam border. The decision to seek the bids was originally determined during a previous town meeting where Stinehart said that the select board was authorized to enter a lease with a wireless carrier. “We had an interest by some carriers to look at a certain geographical area See Proposals, Page 3
Brian Schneider, Tracy Cesan, and Tim O’Keefe of the Southwick Fire Department are seen with the winning trophy. (Photo courtesy of Southwick Fire Department)