Editor’s note: Here’s a collection of quotes harvested from the front pages of the Greenfield Recorder in 2023. This is the second of three installments.

May

“Everything that’s been accomplished in our town has been because of the people. We’ve never had a problem getting people behind projects to move the projects forward and I think that’s the strength of the town: it’s our people.” — Longtime Sunderland Selectboard member Tom Fydenkevez, reflecting on his 24 years of service.

“From time to time, I would think about how I felt like I was sort of robbed a year and a half to two good years of being mayor that I could have begun a lot of the projects I wanted to begin and be further along.” — Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner, reflecting on how the COVID-19 pandemic was a factor in her decision to seek a second term.

“Mr. Secretary, never in the history of your career, nor mine, will anybody ever come up to me and say, ‘You’re giving me too much money.’ … We do make a significant contribution, but you can’t tax the trees.” — State Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, during Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler’s visit to Pioneer Valley Regional School. Whipps noted that some funding formulas don’t take state-owned property, such as the Quabbin Reservoir, into account.

“I think it’s a great award because it’s not just a beauty contest, it’s coupled with more data-driven, scientific analysis of the building and how successful it is in actually being a net-zero building. It’s an important award because it is demanding technically, and it once again thinks of architecture as an art and a science.” — Charles Rose, founder of Charles Rose Architects, which designed the John W. Olver Transit Center in Greenfield. The building was awarded the American Institute of Architects’ 2023 Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten award, which is given to 10 projects around the U.S. that take the lead in “setting the standard in design and sustainability.”

“Why have we allowed this to go on this long? The families who have had their equity unconstitutionally confiscated from them should receive full restitution — including interest — from the cities and towns that robbed them.” — Greenfield resident Mitchell Speight, speaking in support of bill S.921 that would prohibit what critics have dubbed “home equity theft.”

“That first night we worked until … almost midnight, and then we celebrated with a bowl of cereal.” — Angie Facey, co-owner of Bree-Z-Knoll Farm in Leyden, reflecting on a celebration of a new $1.8 million milk processing plant for the Our Family Farms dairy cooperative.

“It’s like walking through the aftermath of a battle.” — Ian Modestow, co-owner of Hatfield’s Black Birch Vineyard, speaking on the May 18 hard frost that may have cost him 70% of his 18- to 20-acre crop this year.

June

“We have come a long way in 54 years. Pride parades are a celebratory gathering, but make no mistake, as we celebrate Pride on June 10 and throughout the month, we are protesting. … They seek to rob us of our joy and vibrancy, and they come with life-threatening consequences.” — Franklin County Pride board member Jake Krain, speaking during a ceremony raising the Pride flag on the Greenfield Common. Krain mentioned the more than 500 anti-transgender bills that have been filed nationwide.

“The students often start the school year thinking that they, as young people, have no capacity to create real change. The Civic Action Project process has given the students a sense of their ability to create change and to be civically engaged even before they reach voting age. Because the kids choose the topics and create the projects from the ground up, there tends to be a great deal of student engagement and overall enthusiasm.” — Frontier Regional School eighth-grade history teacher Jason Smith, speaking about the annual Civic Action Project that has inspired legislation on the state level.

“If you want a busy thriving downtown, then you’re going to have heavier traffic and that’s just part of the package. Everyone seems to indicate they want a busier, thriving downtown.” — Greenfield Zoning Board of Appeals member Mark Maloni, during a meeting in which the ZBA granted a special permit allowing redevelopment of the former Wilson’s Department Store.

“Nobody should be building another parking space in your downtown. They should be putting buildings on the parking lots to create vitality to your downtown that might produce enough demand to fill the rest of the parking.” — Jason Schrieber, senior principal at the consulting firm Stantec, sharing data from a parking study that found supply significantly outweighs demand in Greenfield, with roughly half of the nearly 3,000 spots in the downtown area being empty at all times.

“Every single day of the year, we still need to remember and appreciate the responsibility we all hold to learning our blind spots and eradicating discrimination and injustice in all forms.” — Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jessye Deane speaking at the second annual Juneteenth celebration in Greenfield.

“This is an amazing day, an awesome day — rad! I might be dating myself a little bit on that one.” — Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner during the grand opening of the Greenfield Skate Park.

“It’s not just a show at a venue. It’s an event that people enjoy coming back to and saying, ‘remember when,’ and ‘I saw you last year.’ That’s something that I love about what it can do for new artists and music lovers.” — Isabella DeHerdt, an Ashfield native and half of the indie folk duo High Tea, speaking to the significance of the Green River Festival.

July

“I find myself, once again, sitting here and thinking, how much money are we wasting? How much money are we throwing away because people aren’t instructed to do their jobs or are not knowledgeable in how to do their jobs? It’s a shame that taxpayers have to put up with this. … It’s not a well-run ship; it’s not a well-run process. I’m not placing blame on anybody, I’m just saying this is a tragedy that money gets wasted like this.” — At-Large City Councilor Christine Forgey, reacting to news that Greenfield is out $60,000 after over-extending an agreement that offers new development projects a discount on real estate taxes.

“I cringe every time I stamp an envelope that says ‘South Deerfield.’ The more and more we give to South Deerfield, the more I get concerned. … We work in Whately, we live in Whately and I’m proud to live in Whately.” — Treasurer/Collector and former Town Clerk Amy Schrader, speaking during a forum about Whately potentially transitioning to having only one ZIP code.

“The old farmers have a saying. A dry summer will scare you to death, a wet summer will starve you to death.” — Apex Orchards owner Tim Smith, during an interview after some of the worst flooding since Hurricane Irene battered Franklin County and left farmers assessing the damage that was inflicted on their properties.

“You have supper and just get ready to sit down and it never fails: the tone goes off and your wife is ready to hit you over the head with the frying pan. It’s really difficult.” — Leyden Fire Chief Nikolas Adamski, speaking to the demands of the field as he looked to rebuild the Fire Department with more volunteers.

“Libraries are more than just a place where we can access books; they’re the great equalizer in our communities. [They provide] respite for our most vulnerable, and a place you can have lifelong learning, from our youngest residents to folks who want to age in place with dignity and respect.” — Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, speaking at the opening of the new Greenfield Public Library.

“I’ve really had it with Republic Services,” Montague Selectboard Chair Rich Kuklewicz regarding trash collection services in town. “I’ve had it with the excuses and the storytelling. The proof is in the pudding, and I haven’t seen very good pudding lately.”

“It just feels like ... being with him a little bit. I enjoy knowing the fact that I’m wearing his shoes, and I’m not a spiritual person or a religious person but ... maybe he’s watching me go up the hill. It’s just a feeling of togetherness with him, I guess. We hiked so much for so many years, so many places [that there’s] a little feeling he’s still hiking with me, even though he’s not.” — Donald Harty, who wears the brown Hi-Tec hiking boots that were worn by his father, Tom Harty, to go on hikes. The elder Harty was killed in an Oct. 5, 2016, home invasion in Orange that left his second wife, 77-year-old Joanna Fisher, critically wounded. Fisher died from her injuries the following month.

“When people drive through here, they look around and don’t see much. When I look around, I have a ‘Field of Dreams’ experience. We are trying to bring this place back one project at a time.” — Wendell Historical Society President Edward Hines, upon the society’s acquiring the former depot store and post office with plans to turn it into a museum.

“They meant and still mean the world to us. Time cannot change that. My sister didn’t get to see her nieces be born, she didn’t get to meet the most amazing sister-in-law in the world. My nephew didn’t get to experience kindergarten. He would be graduating, possibly with a partner he is excited to start his adult life with. You can’t put a measurement to the pain that hits when you see places that you’ve been together, as you reach milestones that were once dreamed of doing together. No amount of time takes away that pain.” — Bethany Waryasz, sister of Brandy Waryasz, who, along with her unborn son, was killed by Dennis M. Bateman in Deerfield in 2005. The state’s Supreme Judicial Court upheld Bateman’s 2007 conviction.

“The personality you heard on the radio was the same personality he conveyed to us, even if he was in pain. He never took a sick day. He was like the Energizer Bunny.” — Paul Drumheller, son of longtime radio DJ Phil Drumheller, who died on July 14 at the age of 85.

“It came down hard and fast. You could swim in [Route] 116.” — Helen Baker, owner of Baker’s Country Store in Conway, following devastating rainstorms.

August

“I’d like to go to [MassDOT] with flowers and chocolates on bended knee because every other alternative is fiscally savage.” — Selectboard Chair Philip Kantor, speaking to hope that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation could assist with road repairs following damage from July rainstorms.

“This is the moment — either pull all the resources and all the people together and make the changes that we need to change, or we miss our chance.” — Natural Roots founder David Fisher, regarding the need to prepare farmers for a changing climate.

“I guess the overarching feeling is that ‘joy’ is too strong a word, but there’s relief that it’s done.” — Stacey Hamel, Oxford resident and mother of Bryan Hamel who is suspected to have jumped from the French King Bridge in 2018, on the long-awaited completion of safety barriers on the bridge.

“Sometimes the government programs are like a puzzle and they don’t all fit together and we’re not helping farmers as much as we need to.” — Congressman Jim McGovern during his 13th annual farm tour.