TONIGHT Showers Likely. Low of 63. Search for The Westfield News The WestfieldNews Search for The “KWestfieldEEP NewsYOUR Westfield350.com The WestfieldNews DREAMS, FOR IN Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIME THEMIS THE LIESONLY JOY WEATHER CRITICDENIED WITHOUT TO MEN TONIGHT AMBITION.” GROWN WISE.” Partly Cloudy. SearchJOHN for STEINBECK The Westfield News LowWestfield350.com Westfield350.orgof 55. Thewww.thewestfieldnews.com WestfieldNews — EdGAR A. GUEST Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIME IS THE ONLY VOL.WEATHER 86 NO. 151 TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 75CRITIC cents WITHOUT VOL.TONIGHT 87 NO. 186 SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2018 75AMBITION Cents .” Partly Cloudy. JOHN STEINBECK Low of 55. www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL.School 86 NO. 151 districts awaitingTUESDAY, guidance JUNE 27, 2017 75 cents from state on alternative learning days By GREG FITZPATRICK tured learning day programs. It will be help- In May, the district voted in favor of Correspondent ful for you and district leadership to wait approving alternative learning days. Also SOUTHWICK – The Southwick-Tolland- until the updated guidance is posted before referred to as “blizzard bags,” alternative Granville Regional School District is wait- moving forward with internal discussions. learning days is a solution to when the dis- ing to hear a response from the Massachusetts We hope to post the updated guidance by trict is closed due to weather. This program Department of Elementary and Secondary the end of next month.” helps the school district meet the require- Education (DESE) regarding the alternative Expecting that DESE will inform her by ments of making sure elementary schools learning days, a program that’s optional for the end of August, Willard is unaware of students reach the required 900 hours of districts throughout the commonwealth. what the update will involve. learning, 990 hours for secondary schools, According to Superintendent Jen Willard, “We truly have no idea what they’re and a total 180 days. DESE sent out a letter in July to all districts (DESE) going to be saying,” said Willard. The school district has approved three in Massachusetts who have adopted alterna- Noting that the school district already has days throughout the school that would be tive learning days and reads as follows: a plan in place, they will adjust to the state’s used for alternative learning days, where “The department is actively in the process update. students will do their classwork at home. of updating guidance related to the develop- “We’ll just tweak it based on their guid- SUPERINTENDENT ment of locally approved alternative struc- ance,” said Willard. See Districts, Page 3 JEN WILLARD Shaker Farms Scam prevented to host amputee By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Correspondent golf tournament WESTFIELD – A proactive supermarket clerk saved a city man $1,500 to a scammer Thursday. By GREG FITZPATRICK City police report that a caller from a local supermarket Correspondent reported at 7:21 p.m. Thursday that a customer had pur- WESTFIELD- Shaker Farms Country chased “about $1500 in Google Play gift cards” and Club will be hosting the 1st Western appeared to be speaking by phone with a person who was Massachusetts Amputee Golf Open on giving the man instructions on how to transmit the funds to August 19. him. Registration Officer Bryan Turgeon responded to the call and reports begins at Noon, fol- that the man was dissuaded from completing the transaction lowed by a 1 p.m. and did not lose any money. shotgun start. It costs $90 to partici- pate, which covers the greens fees, golf cart, lunch, and a buffet dinner. However, for amputees, Brandon Towle, founder and director of Camp Words Unspoken. (Photo by it costs just $45 to take part in the tour- Amy Porter) nament. Nancy Kotowitz, of Shaker Farms Country Club, was approached months ago by several members of her family. Recent WHS grad living Having a cousin that has two children that are handicapped, Kotowitz’s family insisted that she start an event for out his dream to help others amputees. By AMY PORTER “We really want to make a big Correspondent splash,” said Kotowitz. WESTFIELD – Brandon Towle, a 2015 Westfield High School graduate is A Westfield resident and regular golf- on a mission to help other youths and teens who stutter. He is the founder and Huntington Highway Superintendent Charles “Chip” er at Shaker Farms, Sean Bienvenue is director of Camp Words Unspoken, which will launch next summer with a one Dazelle. (Photo by Amy Porter) looking forward to taking part in the week long (6 days, 5 nights) camp session in Goshen as the only camp in New tournament with his friends and other England for youths that stutter. participants. Towle’s inspiration came from a camp for stutterers that he attended in the “I figured it would be a good oppor- Midwest when he was 17 and 18 years old. He was then invited back for two Searle Road bridge tunity to go out and have some fun with years as a recreation staff member. “It was the first time I was ever in a group them,” said Bienvenue. of kids who stutter. Throughout my years in Westfield, I only knew one other In November of 2015, Bienvenue got student who stuttered,” he said. According to Towle, one in 1,000 people stutter. project delayed his sweatshirt caught in a meat grinding By AMY PORTER machine which ensnared his right arm See Helping Others, Page 7 Correspondent had to be rushed to the hospital. It was HUNTINGTON – Highway Superintendent Charles determined that his right hand would “Chip” Dazelle appeared before the Board of Selectmen on have to be amputated. Wednesday, to update them about the Searle Road Bridge At the beginning of dealing with life project, and to finalize the hiring of an administrative assis- as an amputee, it was tough for tant for the department. Bienvenue since he’s right-hand domi- Dazelle said the Searle Road bridge received a $300,000 nant. Since then, Bienvenue has only Small Bridges grant from MassDOT last year. He said at the embraced the struggle. time, the $300,000 amount was thought to be enough to repair “It was a fun challenge, I like the and paint the bridge deck, after a preliminary review by Gil challenge of trying to relearn every- Engineer and MassDOT inspectors. thing,” said Bienvenue. Dazelle said the bids came in higher than anticipated at Attempting golf for the first time this $298,000, which did not leave enough funds to pay for the summer, Bienvenue believes it’s impor- engineering study and inspector, and he asked for an addi- tant for amputees to stay active and do tional $50,000 from MassDOT. what makes you happy. Also, after further study by the engineer, Dazelle was told “You can’t let it define who you are,” that for an additional $25,000, they could replace the whole said Bienvenue. “You can go out and do super structure of the bridge, including the deck and beams. something about it.” The new plan will also require another $25,000 for the engi- neer, which upped his request to $100,000 to MassDOT. All of the proceeds from the amputee Dazelle said the grant allowed up to $500,000 per bridge, open will be given to the Eastern and this would bring the total cost to $400,000 for the Searle Amputee Golf Association and the Road bridge. He said he has been on the phone with Boston Shriner’s Hospital for Children. and Lenox, and is hopeful; just waiting to hear. Kotowitz is also seeking sponsors for Kev’s Foundation Tournament Selectman Darlene McVeigh asked Dazelle what the the event. The types of sponsors include town’s liability is if they don’t get the $100,000. Dazelle said event, title, gold, silver, bronze, and Teddy Bear (purple) advances the puck against Bentley (white). See they already have a contract to replace the beams and the hole sponsor. The deadline to register additional 8th Annual Kev’s Foundation Tournament Day 1 photos Page paint, but they would still owe the engineer $25,000, which is for the event is Sunday August 12 and 8. (Photo by Bill Deren) less than the 25% change order allowed in the contract. interested parties can register by visit- Dazelle said he is still hoping to get the bridge project, ing the Shaker Farms website. which was scheduled to begin August 1, done this summer. • Janitorial Services: Daily, weekly or bi-weekly. GOT DIRT? Maintain a clean, healthy and productive workspace. GREAT WHITE Commercial, Janitorial & • Carpet Cleaning: Our brand new (2018) CLEANING COMPANY state-of-the-art truck mounted cleaning systems “Attacking Dirt” Residential Cleaning Services are the most advanced. We have 25 years of industry experience that (413) 568-2566 • Window Cleaning: We used heated pure-water is driven by a passion for excellence and cleaning technology for spotless windows with-out Facebook.com/attackingdirt proactive customer service. the use of chemicals. GreatWhiteCleaning.com PAGE 2 - SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2018 WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM THE WESTFIELD NEWS Go for the Gold at Stanley Park! Rotary to stage 4th Food Fest Stanley Park, 400 Western Avenue, Westfield, is excited to announce that efforts are underway in WESTFIELD — The Rotary Club of Westfield will welcome all to the 4th annual Westfield planning the 11th annual fundraiser, Go for the Gold at Stanley Park. This year’s fundraiser will sup- Food Fest August 24 and 25 on Elm Street in the heart of downtown Westfield. Elm Street port the repair and restoration of Stanley Park’s recreation and athletic areas including the Tennis will be closed to vehicular traffic from School to Franklin streets and will serve as center stage Courts, the Basketball Courts, and the Athletic Fields.