Dean Cycon, owner of Dean’s Bean Organic Coffee Co. in Orange, grins with a tin tie around his nose. The beanery is donating tin ties to people making homemade medical masks to help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dean Cycon, owner of Dean’s Bean Organic Coffee Co. in Orange, grins with a tin tie around his nose. The beanery is donating tin ties to people making homemade medical masks to help during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: COURTESY DEAN'S BEANS ORGANIC COFFEE CO. FACEBOOK PAGE

Here are brief thoughts on recent happenings in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.

Too valuable to lose

It’s called “institutional knowledge” and it means the accumulation of facts, hands-on experience and familiarity with equipment that long-time employees build up over the course of a lifetime. It’s invaluable and it’s what any public or private entity loses when people retire at age 65.

In the case of a fire department, institutional knowledge includes state and local rules and regulations, use and maintenance of equipment and gear and — most importantly — safest ways to fight a fire. Not to mention the friendly faces they bring to the department.

That’s why the Northfield Selectboard, in its wisdom, approved creating a new Fire Department auxiliary officer position allowing volunteer firefighters to continue helping their department in a limited capacity. The position honors the Massachusetts General Law’s mandatory retirement age of 65 for firefighters and first responders, while offering long-term members ways in which they can continue serving, safely.

After creating the position, the Selectboard appointed Kevin Connolly, Fredd Fuller, David Quinn Jr. and John Ware as Fire Department auxiliary officers. Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III said they still hold key functions to allow the department to operate smoothly. “They want to continue and we support that.” They are, truly, too valuable to lose.

Listen to us

Not in the sense of “Do as we say,” but listen to local news as reported in the Greenfield Recorder on Valley Eye Radio, a Springfield-based radio station for the visually impaired that piggybacks on the airwaves using a special radio set. Volunteers read the news from a variety of local newspapers. Now, due to a recent expansion of services, the Recorder can be heard at noon and 10 p.m. six days a week. “With the breaking coronavirus news, we could not wait to begin this long-planned expansion of our local programming to our listeners,” said Harold Anderson, the program’s director. If you know anyone who could use this service, the number to call for more information is 413-747-7337.

Mask-making heroes

With medical masks in short supply, home sewers are using newly available patterns to whip up masks at home. Most of the supplies might be at hand for the crafty: cotton fabrics, quarter-inch-wide elastic, bias tape. But one item that makes for a better mask, is harder to come by in quantity, and that’s those tin ties used to seal bags of coffee. They’re exactly right to mold the top of the mask around the nose so it stays put.

Happily, Dean Cycon of Orange, owner of Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee, stepped up to contribute from the company’s supply, up to 2,000 of them. Katherine Parcell, a manager at Dean’s Beans, said donating tin ties is the roastery’s way of pitching in during a global health scare. Kudos to all who are using their new-found spare time to make this valuable commodity.