I should begin my column this week with a big “Oops!” Last Saturday, in my column “Our Community Calendar,” I listed off a bunch of events happening around Westfield. The first one on the list was a Westfield Veterans Council Flag Day ceremony in Parker Park last Sunday at 1 p.m.
Only trouble is, there was no Flag Day ceremony planned. I must have mistakenly assumed that one was scheduled for that day because there is almost always a ceremony on that day. But I found out later that the members of the Marine Corps League Westfield River Valley Detachment, which typically runs the event, were away at a conference on that day and couldn’t do it.
So, I show up at Parker Memorial Park after church with my parents and my wife and son. Senator Mike Knapik shows up. And Mayor Dan Knapik shows up with his wife and sons. We wait. Nobody else comes. What did we do? We held our own Flag Day ceremony, said the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, had a big chuckle, then left to go to our next appointments.
The good news is a bunch of people showed up on Thursday, June 14, the actual Flag Day, and we had an outstanding showing of support for our flag and our country. There were over 60 people of all ages, many who came this year for the first time, including some veterans, students, and scouts.
The weather couldn’t have been nicer. The Southside park between the two Great River bridges was lined with folks waving their American flags. We were well received and the rush hour commuters responded with lots of waves and honks of their horns.
I had the great privilege of attending a Flag Day ceremony earlier in the day at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home along with Lt. Governor Tim Murray, Representative Nick Boldyga, Walter Zarichak of Westfield, who serves on the Board of Trustees and is President of their Friends group, Superintendent Paul Barabani, Helene Florio from Senator Mike Knapik’s office, and others.
The Soldiers’ Home dedicated 2 new flagpoles in honor of local veterans Eileen Martin O’Connor and Earl Schuyler Lynes. Now, when you are driving past the home on Cherry Street in Holyoke, or approaching the Home as you drive Southbound on Interstate 91, you will see a huge American flag flying from a new flag pole at the top of the hill where the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is located.
The House of Representatives met in full formal session on Wednesday this week primarily to take up a fast-moving piece of legislation that was part of a Transportation Reform bill, House 4011, providing emergency one-time funding for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, the T.
After hours of debate, the House voted to pass the bill by a vote of 130 to 25. I voted NAY. I was definitely against the bill.
Despite a pittance of a sweetener intended to get non-urban legislators to buy into this bail out bill that would have provided some money for regional transit authorities across the state, like our own Pioneer Valley Transit Authority here in the valley, I just didn’t feel I could justify spending nearly $50 million on the T.
Few, if any, of my constituents in Western Mass are served by the Commuter Rail, bus system, subway system, or commuter boats. While the T has some legitimate problems and concerns, it has also been an inefficient and mismanaged transit system.
Throwing good money after bad, especially when that good money comes from a trust fund paid into by Massachusetts residents all across the state, just doesn’t make fiscal sense to me. The T’s financing problem is expected to come back before the Legislature next year, next session.
On Friday morning I taped a new cable show at the Amelia Park Children’s Museum. Stay tuned for that program to air in the next week or so.
I would like to congratulate the Episcopal Church of the Atonement on their 149th Strawberry Festival Dinner held Thursday evening at a new location, the new gymnasium at the Westfield Boys and Girls Club. This year the proceeds benefit Greater Westfield Free Health Services clinic. Thank you to all the many volunteers who worked so hard to make this event a huge and delicious success. Well done!
Sunday is Father’s Day. This year it will be special for me. Since my wife and I became parents to a beautiful baby boy last August, this will be my first Father’s Day as a father.
I cannot describe how much different and how much better my life is since I became a dad. It is truly amazing to me. I asked my friends who were dads before me how come they didn’t tell me how I would feel once Quinn was born. They all rightly replied, “No words can describe it. You’ll just know it once it happens.”
To my dad, and all dads, Happy Father’s Day!
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of the Westfield News.
Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Maura Cassin may be reached at their Westfield District Office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, (413) 568-1366.
Representative Don Humason may be reached at his Boston office, State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803.
Email address: Donald.Humason@MAHouse.gov
