Editor’s note: Here’s a collection of quotes harvested from the front pages of the Greenfield Recorder in 2019. This is the second of two installments. The first ran in Friday’s edition.
■“I love people. This is what I’ve been waiting for. But I didn’t think there’d be this many.” — Sharon Girard, who was honored by a large parade of friends outside of her Montague home after she spent a year in quarantine after undergoing an experimental stem-cell transplant.
■“My only complaint is that this doesn’t go far enough. I want it to get to the point where undocumented immigrants can get their licenses and get auto insurance.” — Precinct 5 City Councilor Timothy Dolan following the council’s passage of a safe city ordinance on July 17.
■“I saw something in the ground, a shiny speck. When I picked it up, it was a ball of dirt. When I cleaned it off, I found the ring in perfect condition.” — Jim Thomas, owner of Thomas Farm and Dairy in Sunderland, on finding and returning a Greenfield High School ring lost by Caroline Abercrombie 45 years earlier.
■“It is my observation that elected officials, be it the mayor or City Council, are elected to do business of the city first, always. If there are other pressing issues councilors feel obligated to make a statement about, they should do so individually, but only after city business is done.” — Mayor William Martin on the lack of a quorum at special meeting held July 15 on the last day of the fiscal year to handle eight budget transfers.
■“We’ve always done different things. The only way you can survive 100 years is to change and adapt to whatever the markets are. As the world changes, you’ve got to change.” — Peter Melnik of Bar-Way Farm in Deerfield, which was started in 1919 by his great-grandfather.
■“We plan to be out here every day that there is activity.” — Gia Neswald, a Turners Falls resident who is a member of the Wendell State Forest Alliance, during a protest about logging at the Wendell State Forest in August.
■“I wish it had never happened, but I’m not sorry that it has brought so much love, compassion and understanding to the surface.” — Joe Dulude II, a drag queen and award-winning visual artist, on the two portraits of him hanging on the former First National Bank that were destroyed.
■“I am far more scared of the straight white guys out there with semi-automatic rifles willing to go into shopping malls, Walmarts and movie theaters and blowing us all to pieces. I am far more scared of some of the straight white guys who come here and talk to us and are rude or send extremely rude emails. (Emails that go) to the point of telling me I should go to a prison like they had in Germany and I will, once Trump becomes president. You scare me and some of my colleagues up here, but you know what? There’s not a single undocumented immigrant in this room that I have any fear of.” — City Council President Karen “Rudy” Renaud during discussion of a safe city ordinance in August.
■“We’ve got a great metal scene in New England, beautifully brutal.” — Miles Bryant, of New Hampshire, at the RPM Fest held in September.
■“We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused for anyone in the community.” — A statement from the Barnhardt Manufacturing Co. after acid leaked from a seam in a holding tank and killed tens of thousands of fish in the North River in Colrain.
■“I knocked on so many doors, and when I sent an email to the volunteers who have helped me, I realized I was emailing almost 50 people. I couldn’t have done it without them.” — Precinct 6 City Councilor Sheila Gilmour, who was running for mayor and came in a close second in the city’s preliminary election in September.
■ “Today, I am officially announcing that we are relaunching our campaign as a ‘write-in’ campaign. This is the last chance to make sure Greenfield gets what it needs.” — Brickett Allis, who lost his bid for mayor in the September preliminary election and decided to run as a write-in candidate for the Nov. 5 general election, which drew much criticism from supporters of the two candidates on the ballot.
■“Yankee Candle is the story that most people want to hear about — Yankee Candle is a household name now. But the thing that I keep hearing from people is, whether they knew him or were security at his company or workers, he made them feel like the most important person in the room.” — Michael J. “Mick” Kittredge III at a Sept. 16 memorial service for his father, Michael J. Kittredge II, held at Kringle Candle Co. in Bernardston.
■“Dairy farming is not easy. You put in a lot, but you don’t get back anywhere near as much, except satisfaction.” — David Duprey, of Sunbrite Farm in Bernardston.
■“It was my version of wanting to be an astronaut when I grow up.” — Jason Silverman, of Conway, who wanted to be a farmer since he was a young child even though his family didn’t own a farm. Now, he is a hay farmer.
■“Almost exactly three years ago today, my mother and stepfather were murdered during a home invasion. A violent crime in a small community affects not just family members, but everybody who lives there.” — Kate Koonz, of Orange, speaking at the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which held a hearing in October about two bills that would allow a parole hearing to those convicted of first-degree murder after serving 25 years in prison.
■“We will fill this world with love.” — The 40 people attending a workshop in October, which explored anti-Semitism and oppression, at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew chanted over and over.
■“Brickett and Sheila gave me a run for my money. They both ran good campaigns and I hope we can work together in the future.” — Roxann Wedegartner on the night she defeated Brickett Allis, a write-in candidate, and Sheila Gilmour in a race for Greenfield mayor.
■“I was like, ‘It has to happen!’” — Molly Cantor, owner of Molly Cantor Pottery, about her reaction that the Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association would not be holding Moonlight Magic, the night after Thanksgiving. Cantor organized a meeting that drew 23 local business owners who worked to pull off the annual event.
■“We’re distraught.” — Ella Potee, a three-season student athlete at Pioneer Valley Regional School who co-organized a protest over the dismissal of physical education teacher Gina Johnson as athletic director.
■ “I guess what I would say is if he was my uncle or my great-uncle or whatever, I’d be proud to have the thing displayed in my house.” — Ronald Weeks, about a framed memorial he found in a “free” section of a tag sale. Weeks wanted to find the family of the memorialized soldier, Marine Pfc. William “Billy” Rose, who served in the Korean War.
■“There was a lot of excitement, a lot of little faces pressed against the windows. It’s not every day you get to see a bear.” — Melodie Goodwin, principal of Newton School, after a mother bear and three cubs made an appearance.
■“We have 1,500 boards. We’re gonna break them all.” — David Johnson, head instructor at the Greenfield Tae Kwon Do Center, which held a “break-athon” fundraiser for Warm the Children in November.
■“It’s difficult to be in retail in the world today. There are a lot of challenges.” — Kevin J. O’Neil, president of Wilson’s Department Store, during an interview Nov. 25 on why the downtown mainstay was closing after 137 years.
■“It’s the march for a million meals, so I wanted to dress like a million bucks.” — Christopher “Monte” Belmonte, who wore a shiny gold suit as he led the 10th annual Monte’s March to raise money for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
■“It wasn’t unexpected. I’m glad they hung on this long in this retail climate, but I’d love to see a mixed-use here.” — Caitlin von Schmidt, the former Greenfield Business Association coordinator who was shopping on the first day of Wilson’s Department Store’s closing sale.
■ “My mission, the nonprofit’s mission, is to make Christmas magical — one child at a time.” — David Shea, who began True Christmas.
■“I can’t underscore enough the importance that each person is counted. Each person counted represents more money and resources in Massachusetts.” — State Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland, at a census 2020 informational event at the Senior Center in Shelburne Falls.
■“We knew that Ken would want us to carry on. He was always worried about not disappointing the kids. He would have been very upset with us if we didn’t do it.” — Shelly Hatch, of Orange, on the death of Kenneth A. Reynolds Sr., known as “Santa Ken” for his appearance at Orange’s “Breakfast with Santa.” Reynolds died Dec. 12 but organizers felt the event needed to continue.
■“I’m in pretty good company.” — Robert “Robbie” Cohn at a Franklin County Chamber of Commerce breakfast where he was honored as the 2019 Greenfield Recorder Citizen of the Year.
■“We were overwhelmed by how many police showed up. We didn’t expect that. It was heartwarming.” — Diana Clifford Owens on how 10 police departments and State Police held a parade and brought gifts for Jaiden “J.J.” Clifford, 4, whose mother was slain in Athol in November.
■“It’s really hard to talk about. It’s still very raw. I think it always will be.” — Matthew Burns, of Deerfield, the father of Meaghan Burns, the U.S. Navy corpsman from Deerfield who was shot and killed May 4, during an interview in December.