ANN CALLAHAN
Nothing better than fall in New England, a great time of year –
September brought the sad anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and again this year it was ironically a brilliant crystal clear day. I am sad to say it was the very first time I had attended the memorial ceremony held at the Sons of Erin in honor of Tara Shea Creamer, Brian Joseph Murphy and Daniel Patrick Trant. What a beautiful, meaningful gathering and what strong, faithful people their family members are – looking at them and the members of the Westfield Police and Fire Departments really brought home the terrible sacrifice and heroism of that day and brings tears to your eyes. It was nice that the focus of the ceremony was that of love, remembrance and community support – very inspirational and moving.
This past Wednesday the Westfield Business Improvement District held their annual meeting in the Lang Auditorium at the Westfield Athenaeum. Having been a board member for the past 3 years it was nice to hear some positive, proactive goals and missions going forward rather than existing in the survival mode we have been operating under virtually since the BID was formed and downtown construction began. We were sad that Executive Director Lisa McMahon left the BID earlier this year; she put her heart and soul into the downtown for several years and worked 24/7 to make it work. Lisa was honored with the Outstanding Leadership award at the meeting and we know will do well in her current and future endeavors. The new Executive Director, Maureen Belliveau, has been doing a wonderful job since taking over the reins and hit the ground running – she and Patti Conroy manage a great business support system in the downtown and work tirelessly with limited resources. I was proud to accept the 2012 Community Partnership Award on behalf of Falcone Retail Properties, LLP in recognition of “outstanding and generous service to our downtown community”. The new Rocky’s property and adjacent building have really improved the aesthetics of the downtown corridor as you approach Park Square on route 20 and I thank our tenants for their supreme patience! I am excited to see this progress continue around the corner up Elm Street as the city accomplishes its projects and the Gas Light District improvements get underway.
Westfield Day at the Big E was this past Thursday and Westfield did not disappoint. It was a beautiful day and the parade contingents were all impressive and did the city proud – great to see all the groups and kids with so much enthusiasm and local pride. I couldn’t attempt to name them all but was certainly impressed with the Westfield High School band, the cheerleaders and that awesome, fired up mass of youth football players – the red and black colors and high energy stick with you, great job to all and to those who manage them. The mayor’s office did an excellent job organizing Westfield Day, kudos!
The City Council continues to contemplate very difficult decisions in the coming days. I mentioned to someone that I looked forward to when things were “normal” when asked how everything was going with my relatively new Ward 3 council seat – in response I got an eyebrow lift and “do you think that will ever happen”? We can only work hard, do the research, vote our conscience and what we believe to be right for our constituents and for the city.
Ann Callahan
Ward 3 City Councilor
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of the Westfield News.
