Brief thoughts on some of the events making news from around Franklin County and the North Quabbin area:
The annual awards dinner for the Franklin County Area Superintendents Association is always an occasion that brightens that time just after Thanksgiving since it puts a spotlight on some of the county’s best students. What always is interesting to see is that besides being at the top of their classes academically, they have such diverse interests. Congratulations to those tapped this year.
A tip of the hat should go out to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for making quick work of the emergency repairs to the Stillwater Bridge in Deerfield. Slated to take a couple of months at least, the state stepped in to make sure the work was given a priority. That work included having a dive team pour concrete underwater. The repairs were necessary after the bridge failed a state inspection in October, forcing Deerfield officials to close the bridge and leading to a rerouting of traffic on both sides of the bridge. This also required temporary mutual aid arrangements for handling emergencies along the Upper Road area of West Deerfield. As it turns out, only once did Greenfield have to be called to respond in the area. A more permanent solution for fixing the bridge is still a ways off — it’s slated for 2020 — but the reopening will ease plenty of stress.
In general, a designated parking spot is certainly a convenience. But one that just opened in Orange is much more than that; it recognizes the service and sacrifice that men and women have made for their country. A space in the downtown intersection parking lot is reserved for Purple Heart recipients, those wounded in combat. It may seem like a small gesture, but we think it sends an important message. Said Paul Anderson, a U.S. Navy veteran and owner of Trail Head Outfitters & General Store across the street, “It’s something that makes Orange stand out over other communities. We’re veteran-friendly. Find me another town that has a (parking) spot for a Purple Heart recipient.”
It’s still possible to see the impact of Tropical Storm Irene in the area, even though the damage took place more than five years ago. And it’s something communities continue to try to mitigate should another hurricane or storm descend on the area. To that end, it was good to learn that a federal grant worth $42,000 will be coming to Franklin County’s conservation district for erosion control projects along local rivers, including the Deerfield and Connecticut, as well as for emergency planning.
“The amount of damage that was caused by Irene … the Connecticut River, Mill River, Deerfield were really hard hit with some very severe and unexpected kinds of impacts,” state Rep. Stephen Kulik said. “Conservation districts are uniquely positioned to deal with those kinds of things and do the planning that’s important to alleviate these things in the future.”
Congratulations to Warren Facey of Leyden for being recognized with Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust’s Conservator of the Region Award. The trust’s executive director, Leigh Youngblood, said the award is given to an individual who “has protected their own land, but also gone to extraordinary efforts to protect land across the region.”
Facey started work on the Leyden Landscape Partnership Project from 2012 to 2014, resulting in the protection of 962 acres of his land and land owned by 12 of his neighbors as well as additional land in Colrain. A farmer, Facey, 73, understands the value of such land and the importance of conserving it, and was willing to put in the work necessary to see that it’s there for future generations.