Good morning and welcome to Bobby’s World. This week, I’d like to share some good news about our local youth football players. Later today, the East Longmeadow High School will host the Suburban Amateur Football League’s Superbowl games that includes a pee-wee matchup between Frontier and South Hadley at 11 a.m. Following, there will be two local junior teams competing at noon, Frontier and the Franklin County Bulldogs. These three teams have very good talent and all have picked up big wins to get to the championship tournament. If you have any time today, head to East Longmeadow to root for our local teams. At least one of these teams will bring home a Superbowl trophy later today. Good luck to all who are competing.
I also want to take time to reflect on our veterans, as Veterans Day will be recognized on Monday. These women and men put their lives on the line for all of us and deserve to be recognized. Whenever I read that local parades in our community have a low turnout, it truly saddens me because I know that it doesn’t reflect how people feel. Franklin County cares about its veterans, as evidenced by the many events and activities that happen regularly such as a weekly luncheon every Thursday afternoon at the Greenfield Elks Lodge. This is one example of many — we have a lot of organizations that give back to our veterans, which really touches my heart. So, with Veterans Day happening on Monday, please get out and say “thank you” to these men and women who are willing to sacrifice their lives so we can live in peace.
Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, Nov. 28, and because of the generosity of our community, we will feed nearly 1,300 people this year through my annual Thanksgiving fundraiser. We’ve added new agencies, which touches my heart. When I started this program four years ago, we fed 250 people and I was excited. To see how much this program has expanded brings tears of joy to my eyes and reminds me of the caring attitude held by our community members.
To that end, we will cover all expenses for the local Salvation Army’s Sunday-before-Thanksgiving dinner, which will take place this year Nov. 24 at 5 p.m. in the basement of the Greenfield Alliance Church on Chapman Street in Greenfield. The money will also pay for Greenfield’s annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which will be held on Thanksgiving Day beginning at noon at the Living Waters Assembly of God on Davis Street.
Finally, we will be handing out ingredients for meals to about 100 families to cook in their own homes. Each family will receive the following: a 20-pound turkey, potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, stuffing mix, gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls and apple pie. All of this is made possible through the generosity of our community — to all who donated, thank you.
As a local personality for radio stations WHAI 98.3, Bear Country 95.3, WHMP 99.3 and Bobby C’s DJ Service for the past 36 years, Bobby C. Campbell has been connected to the community for a very long time. If you have an event that needs promotion or an idea for a future column, e-mail him at bobbyleslie25@gmail.com.