TONIGHT Scattered t-storms. Low of 67. Search for The Westfield News The WestfieldNews Search for The Westfield“THE GREANews T Westfield350.com The WestfieldNews BUSINESS OF LIFE Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIMEIS TISO THE BE ,ONLY TO DO , WEATHER CRITICTO DO WITHOUT WITHOU T, TONIGHT AND AMBITIONTO DEPAR.” T.” Partly Cloudy. SearchJOHN for STEINBECK The Westfield News LowWestfield350.com Westfield350.orgof 55. Thewww.thewestfieldnews.com WestfieldNews — JOHN, VISCOUNT 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 MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 75AMBITION Cents .” Partly Cloudy. JOHN STEINBECK Low of 55. www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL.Westfield 86 NO. 151 water relatedTUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 update 75 cents By AMY PORTER The contract has been signed for the perma- “The rain definitely has helped us, that’s for Correspondent nent structure at Wells 7 and 8. Cain said they sure,” Cain said. WESTFIELD – Department of Public Works hope to break ground this month. They are also However, there hasn’t been any discussion Assistant Director Francis Cain gave an update well into the design for the East Mountain around lifting the water restriction. “We need to Monday on water-related activities in Westfield. water tank. He said they are hoping to get it out have the water restriction operationally, not Cain said the Well 2 temporary filtration sys- to bid, and begin work at the end of the spring having the redundant wells we’re used to hav- tem should be online for the end of August. He 2019 and have it completed next summer. The ing,” he said. He said the restriction helps to said the filter is in place, but there is “a signifi- old tank will stay online, and they will build a ease the daily demands. cant amount of piping involved. We’ve made new tank right next to it, commission it, and “People are getting used to what they need to great strides with that,” he said. take the old one offline, he said. do in an altered manner, which helps us out. “We’re plugging along on what we need to Cain said the city is currently in the design There is only so much to go around, and every- do, especially to be able to make movement in phase for the Springfield Interconnect. He one’s drawing on it,” he added. a positive direction on Wells 7 and 8, and 1 and admitted they are three to four months behind, Cain said when the new water meters are in, 2,” Cain added. due to the delay in getting bond approval. “We it will be easier to monitor usage. A contractor Cain said the plan would be to take Well 1 had to focus a lot of effort on that,” he said, has been selected, East National Water Services offline when Well 2 is up and running, depend- adding, “Everyone has the right to have opin- out of Palmer. Letters have started going out to ing on the usage numbers. He said Well 2 is ions and concerns, I don’t fault anyone for residents, to make appointments to come in to typically the one the city would run due to its that.” houses and change the meter. It will take a year The Well 2 temporary filtration system location, which allows for greater ease of As far as the recent rainy weather, Cain said to change everybody, he said. is being installed near the intersection chemical delivery for corrosion control, and ph. they haven’t had any problems, besides some Cain said that it hasn’t been an easy task, to of Union St., Springdale Rd. and balance adjustment. He said it’s easier to get a street flooding. He said the rain has helped with Papermill Rd. in Westfield. (WNG file tanker in there. reduced demand of people watering outside. See Water Update, Page 3 photo) House numbering program now open to all residents By GREG FITZpaTRICK Director Cindy Sullivan is Correspondent already seeing the benefit to the SOUTHWICK – Initially cre- change in the program. ated by the Southwick Fire “We’ve had a lot of people Department and the Council on coming for signs who are not Aging for senior citizens in town, seniors, so I think that’s fantas- the House Numbering program is tic,” said Sullivan. now open to all Southwick resi- The reason behind having the dents. reflective signs is that the fire The House Numbering pro- department has discovered that gram that initially launched in they commonly find numbers December of 2017 is a free pro- missing on the mailboxes or gram for residents 60-years-old clustered together. If there is an or older to make homes in town emergency that first responders easier for emergency personnel need to attend to, it can make it to respond to 911 calls quicker. difficult for them to know which The program revolves around residence is the correct one. having six inch by eighteen inch “They can have a really hard reflective signs placed on the time finding homes,” said mailboxes of senior citizen’s Sullivan. “Every second counts.” homes. Sullivan is hoping that she can Now opening up the program have as many residents as possi- to all residents, the signs will ble in Southwick sign up for a cost $25 for anyone under Southwick Fire Chief Russ Anderson and Council on Aging Director Cindy Sullivan are seen installing a new reflec- 60-years-old. Council on Aging See Numbering, Page 3 tive sign on a resident’s mailbox in December of 2017.(WNG File Photo) Review: ‘The Aliens’ at Chester Theatre Company Ales for Tails Pub Crawl: By MARK G. AUERBACH Correspondent Chester Theatre Company, the small summer theatre in the Berkshires foothills, has made great leaps forward, with Artistic Drinks for a Good Cause Director Daniel Elihu Kramer making bold programming choices and bringing in outstanding regional talent. Kramer closes the cur- By CAROLYN NOEL rent season with The Aliens, by Annie Baker, Amherst native, Intern, UMass ’19 Pulitzer Prize winner and MacArthur “genius” awardee. He’s also WESTFIELD- The fourth annual Ales for Tails fun- assembled a cast of three of the brightest lights in regional theatre, draising Pub Crawl will be taking place Saturday multi-faceted actor/director/musician James Barry; Joel Ripka, August 17 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m in downtown whose solo performance last season in Every Brilliant Thing was Westfield. Started by local resident Susie Howard, this beyond tour-de-force, and young actor Paul Pontrelli, who starred 21+ event is a night of drinks, unity, and fun for a wor- in last season’s I and You. thy cause. A ticket to attend is $30 and all proceeds are The Aliens is the story of two slackers, KJ, a college drop-out donated to the Westfield Regional Animal Shelter. and Jasper, an aspiring novelist, both friends since doing music Susie Howard is a Westfield native and graphic together. They’re biding their time as townies in a small New designer with a passion for animals. With two rescue England town, which could easily be Amherst or Northampton. dogs of her own, Howard has a love and devotion to They’re not on the road to success, and they spend their days help animals in need. In 2015 Howard decided to start dreaming and reminiscing in an alley behind a cafe, when they the Ales for Tails Pub Crawl in order to support Westfield’s animal shelter. See The Aliens, Page 5 “I kind of just wanted to start a fun thing that went to a good cause. I just wanted to help the shelter make sure they have everything they need to take care of the animals,” she said. Howard plans the annual pub crawl herself and does all the branding and designs for it. Those who pur- Susie Howard of Westfield is the creator and orga- chased a ticket for the pub crawl before August 9 will nizer of this event. (Photo by Carolyn Noel) receive a t-shirt designed by Howard, and those who Howard emphasizes that there are a variety of ages purchase one after will be able to get custom koozies that participate in the crawl, from a younger crowd to and coasters when they attend. an older one. The night brings about new friendships This year, the crawl will start at Skyline Trading and bonding, with everyone uniting for one common Company where people can order drinks and snacks. goal. Attendees will remain at each bar for about an hour “The enthusiasm is definitely my favorite part. A lot and then, as a group, the next bar will be traveled to. of time you’re in this group with people who don’t After Skyline will be the Maple Leaf, and to finish up, totally know each other, but you’re all here for the the City Hotel. Though the crawl officially starts at same reason and the same cause. You’re all passionate 6pm, people are encouraged to join in at any time that works for them. See Ales for Tails, Page 5 Joel Ripka, James Barry and Paul Pontrelli in The Aliens. (Photo by Elizabeth Solaka) PAGE 2 - MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM THE WESTFIELD NEWS Where is The Westfield News? Doug and Sally Cotton recently attended the summer conference of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) in Nashville TN and showcased their copy of The Westfield News.