Good morning!
The Frontier School Committee probably has enough college degrees to wallpaper the superintendent’s office, but smarts can’t beat common sense.
In June the committee voted 7-2 against relocating a plaque that memorializes Greg Belanger to a more visible location under a new scoreboard. Belanger graduated from Frontier in 1998 and was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on August 27, 2003. He is the only soldier from Deerfield to have been killed in action this century.
The news traveled fast and the headlines weren’t flattering. Frontier School Committee vote on fallen soldier’s memorial draws ire (Recorder); Despite pleas, Frontier board won’t move fallen soldier’s memorial (MassLive); Gold Star family pushes school board to reconsider (Western Mass. News); Army Sergeant Killed in Iraq Left off New Memorial Scoreboard, Sparking Community Outrage (military.com).
The committee met on Tuesday in the Frontier library and faced an overflow crowd that included veterans in garrison caps, former schoolmates and family friends. Others watched on Zoom including longtime track coach Bill Smith, a committee member who voted in favor of moving the memorial.
With most of the family seated in front including mother Kathy, sister Allison and brother Jeff, supporters came forward and for nearly an hour gave the committee an earful.
“We’re giving you a second chance,” said Frontier wrestling coach Brian Bagdon, a former teammate of Belanger’s.
“I came home, he didn’t,” said Rachael Otto, commander of VFW Post 3295 in South Deerfield.
Former Deerfield finance committee member Jeff Upton stepped forward to suggest grandfathering the plaque. “Who does that hurt? It doesn’t hurt anybody.”
Don Skroski agreed. Skroski was Frontier’s co-principal with the late Marti Barrett when Belanger was killed. He said he’d been honored to help organize a memorial ceremony for Belanger in the school auditorium.
“Tonight I don’t feel so honored,” he said. “I feel sad because we have to be here. The idea of grandfathering, this is the right thing to do and I humbly ask this committee to reconsider.”
Several committee members remained defiant. No hard feelings they said but this is about policy and procedure and moving the sign would set a precedent. “It’s going to happen again,” said a member who’d sat through the meeting with his arms crossed, staring at the table.
Jessica Corwin of Sunderland was particularly overwrought. “I would not support moving it. We are not moving it,” she said, her argument being it would undermine the recognition of the students who’d fundraised to pay for the new scoreboard.
Not a student or anyone applauded or defended Corwin’s position. In fact a few minutes later Mike Gilmore stood and insisted emphatically, “Greg lost his life in war. If you table this you’re doing a disservice to the students as well as us.”
The scene was reminiscent of Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom of Speech” painting from 1943 that depicts a working man voicing his opinion at a public meeting.
Everyone makes mistakes but only idiots persist in the error, said Cicero. Thankfully, longtime Deerfield resident and School Committee member Mary Ramon acknowledged as much. “We came to an agenda item we knew little about,” she said. “I sincerely apologize to Kathy and her family.”
Committee member Bob Halla of Whately motioned to move the existing plaque to the new scoreboard. Bill Smith seconded the motion and after some parliamentary rigmarole the committee agreed, but just barely. Six members voted yes but four voted no including committee chair Missy Novak, Diane Curtis, Allison Dean and Corwin.
Satisfied with the outcome, townsfolk stood and mingled while the committee finished its business. Then both sides went home hoping they never had to go through something like that again.
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Red Sox fans of a certain age remember shortstop Rico Petrocelli’s contributions to the ’67 Impossible Dream. The photo of him leaping in the air to celebrate catching Rich Rollins’ popup to clinch at least a tie for the pennant on the last day of the season captured the moment.
Petrocelli made the All Star team that season together with AL MVP Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Conigliaro, and Jim Lonborg, but his best year was 1969 when he hit 40 home runs, drove in 97 and led the majors in WAR with ten.
He played in a time before walk-up music when Wally the Green Monster was only a gleam in a marketing executive’s eye, when fans paid cash for paper tickets and twi-night doubleheaders were two-for-one treats.
“Times have surely changed,” he said in a recent email. “I can understand your disgust with what they’re doing with all the gyrations and wearing what must be a stench-filled Walley Head after home runs.
“Do I like all that stuff? Absolutely not. This generation [of players] hasn’t matured the way it should have. Can you imagine a hitter celebrate hitting a home run off Bob Gibson? He’d knock you down if you smiled going around the bases.
“In my opinion they want to protect today’s players because they’re getting paid so much money. No crashing into the catcher, taking out the second baseman or brushback pitches. It’s hard for us to watch because we grew up in an era when the game was played the right way.”
Indeed, the young-uns don’t know what they’re missing.
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Danny Devine said he probably cracks 250 eggs a day in Brad’s Place, one of the few remaining multi-generational businesses left from the days when you could go to Clark’s Sport Shop to buy a baseball glove and Barrett & Baker’s for the Sunday papers.
The spirit of Joe Bartlett hovers around the counter where Jack Baker was waiting for breakfast the other day, hard to miss with his wavy silver hair. Jack’s upset that the local newspaper — yes the Recorder— no longer does home delivery in Shelburne.
“Phil would’ve been 62 last month,” said Devine, referring to his trusted short order cook Phil Courtemanche. A devout Red Sox fan, Courtemanche did a weekly spot with WHAI’s Jay Fidanza called “Phil off the Grill.”
“He’d do it right here, step out back and shoot the breeze,” said Devine.
Speaking of radio, oldies fans will remember when WRSI’s studio was on Main Street and Buddy Rubbish hung a microphone out the window so listeners could make drive-up requests to hear Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Big Joe Turner.
It’s a new dawn, said Gracie Slick, and memories are our only equity of days past.
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SQUIBBERS: It took 15 years, but UMass football finally got its signature win. Now that the Minutemen have the right coach and staff, AD Ryan Bamford might need to make those bowl game reservations. Meanwhile, the clock’s ticking on Greg Schiano’s coaching career at Rutgers. … NMH will be dedicating it’s new skating rink “The Barn” on Oct. 24 while the board of trustees are in town. … For the record, John Dobrydnio had Leading Change in the Travers at 10-1. John’s not the type to pick ‘em after the fact. … Ross Tucker has the Patriots and Bills to finish tied for first in the AFC East with 11-6 records. “There’s no question that AJ Brown adds a big element,” said Tucker. … Little did we know that Cale Makar was on his way to becoming the highest paid player in NHL history after he left UMass— Makar recently re-upped with the Avs for eight years and $163.2 million. … RIP Tom Murphy a recovering alcoholic whose Daily Reprieve helped others around the world. … On Monday in South Deerfield, Larry Fader paused from walking his dogs to tell a Yogi Berra story. “Yogi was standing next to Reggie Jackson before an Old Timer’s Day game when they saw the names of all the Yankees who’d died on the scoreboard. Yogi looked at Reggie and said, ‘I hope my name’s never up there.’”
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@gmail.com.