Sept. 16 — the first Monday of the Big E’s 2024 season — was warm and sunny. It was perfect fair weather for the 67,034 people who attended. That number was four times higher than the Salute to West Springfield in 2023, when only 16,549 people attended because of rainy weather, setting a record low attendance.
HOLYOKE — Through a proclamation made inside the mayor’s office on Sept. 16, Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia recognized September as Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
CHICOPEE — On Sept. 17, Mayor John Vieau presented Thea Cosgrove, Karielys Rivera, Madisyn Vazquez and Paige Bordeau with certificates of achievement after being chosen to represent Team USA at the International Dance Organization World Championship.
HOLYOKE — Continuing the buildup to the 2025 Green Season in the city, the St. Patrick’s Committee of Holyoke has announced the 56th Citizenship Award winner is Fr. Robert Gentile, Jr. during a ceremony on Sept. 10.
It started with a conversation between commission members. Elizabeth Bone and Dawna Jenne, both members of the Longmeadow Recycling Commission, were speaking one day when Jenne told Bone about her work with Springfield Public Schools’ Tools 4 Teaching, a nonprofit that organizes the donation of gently used school supplies to Springfield teachers.