SOUTHWICK — After interviewing three candidates to serve as the director of the town’s Council on Aging, the Select Board on July 15 selected longtime town employee Lisa Anderson.
“We wholeheartedly endorse Lisa,” said Paula LeBlanc, the chair of the COA, when asked by Select Board Chair Jason Perron if its council members wanted to weigh in on who they would prefer.
Reminder Publishing file photo
“I like her energy and enthusiasm and that’s a good thing working with a senior population,” council member Elaine Boucher said.
Anderson was competing for the position, which has been open since former director Cindy Sullivan resigned last December, against Jessica Tavares and Denise Bilodeau, who was Select Board member Diane Gale’s first choice.
Anderson, who is the wife of former Fire Chief Russell Anderson, began working for the town in 2000 and served as a firefighter-EMT until 2006, when her husband was named the fire chief in Granby, Massachusetts.
When Russell Anderson was appointed as Southwick’s fire chief in 2016, Lisa Anderson returned to the Fire Department, and later moved to a series of clerical positions at Town Hall. She also serves as the sexton, keeping with the day-to-day operation of the town’s cemeteries.
Her first experience working with the town’s seniors was during the COVID-19 pandemic after she learned that Sullivan needed help handing out bag lunches to seniors when the senior center was ordered closed by the state to avoid the spreading the virus.
“I did it for months,” she said, adding that former Chief Administrative Officer Karl Steinhart gave her the flexibility to help.
She was awarded the Herbert C. Pace Good Citizen Award in 2021 for her volunteer work at the Senior Center and her personal outreach to individuals who needed extra help.
At the Fire Department, she gained experience applying for grants — a key part of her new role — as well as working with older residents on fire safety and the Sand for Seniors program. She would deliver buckets of sand for seniors to spread on their sidewalks and porches to minimize slips that can lead to dangerous falls, a concern for all seniors. Additionally, for 10 years, she was a hospice caregiver.
For the next few weeks, Anderson will be splitting her time between her current position in the Select Board office and the senior center.
“My first goal is to listen. We have a great staff and I think my first job is to work with them and meet our senior population and assess their needs,” she said.
