Rep. Boldyga is seen giving Brogan his proclamation for being a Purple Heart recipient. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
SOUTHWICK – Town officials gathered outside the First Congregational Church on College Highway Thursday afternoon to celebrate Southwick officially becoming a Purple Heart community.
In early April, Rep. Nick Boldyga and Sen. Don Humason worked with both the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives to pass a bill regarding Southwick having a Purple Heart trail in town.
The town’s Purple Heart Trail runs the length of College Hwy, Route 10/202, from Westfield to the Connecticut line. Two Purple Heart Trail signs will be located at both ends of College Hwy. and there is expected to be four Purple Heart Community signs that will scatter throughout town.
The bill, signed in April by Gov. Charlie Baker, was created since any state-owned roads or highways that have any official signage need to have a law passed in order to erect the signs. In most cases, the signage won’t cause a bill to be created unless for special circumstances and the topic of the Purple Heart was deemed an exception.
On Thursday, Select Board Chairman Joe Deedy, Clerk Russ Fox, and Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart met with Boldyga and Gene Theroux, the past commander of Westfield American Legion Post 124, to celebrate the Purple Heart Trail in Southwick.
After the officials viewed the new Purple Heart sign on College Hwy next to the First Congregational Church, Boldyga presented a proclamation to Eric Brogan, who was recognized as a Purple Heart recipient in January 2012.
On October 7, 2011, Brogan was on active duty in Afghanistan when he was in a command vehicle with three other soldiers when they drove onto a one hundred and twenty pound explosive. Although all four individuals did walk away from the incident, Brogan did suffer a brain injury. Brogan is now a full-time firefighter in the Southwick Fire Department.
Brogan was pleased to see the Purple Heart trail becoming official in Southwick.
Local and town officials came together on Thursday to recognize Southwick having a Purple Heart Trail. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
“It’s great that we got it here,” said Brogan. “It’s nice to see all the veterans get recognition.”
Boldyga was honored to give Brogan his proclamation of being a Purple Heart recipient.
“It’s phenomenal, he’s a first responder in town, we’re really happy that we could do this,” said Boldyga. “All on the heels of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, it feels really good to have it done.”
Select Board Chairman Joe Deedy saw Thursday as a great opportunity to recognize the Purple Heart signs and honor the veterans.
“It’s wonderful to walk right by it and see it and the folks that come out for the Memorial service see it, it’s great,” said Deedy.
On February 7, 2017, a request was made at a Select Board meeting to extend the Purple Heart Trail into Southwick. Theroux made the presentation to the Select Board about his plan to bring the trail to the community. Southwick has been a Purple Heart Community since 2015.
Two weeks later on February 21, 2017, a ceremony was held at the Southwick Town Hall in order to make an official proclamation for having the trail in town.
