Representatives of three local veterans group received donations from Bruce Marshall, far right, at his final cruise night at Hampton Ponds Plaza. From left are Ludlow Veterans Agent Eric Segundo, Steve Jones of Warrior’s Art Room and Tiffany Jones and Arlyn Wyman from Friends of the Springfield Vet Center.
Reminder Publishing photo by Mike Lydick
WESTFIELD — As the son of a veteran, Bruce Marshall supports missions of local veteran organizations, especially those that help veterans in need. That’s why he wrapped up the 2024 season of his “Cruisin’ with Bruce Marshall” car show at Hampton Ponds Plaza by presenting three local veterans groups with a donation.
The Sgt. Joseph Desforges VFW Turkeys for Veterans program, Friends of the Springfield Vet Center and the Warrior’s Art Room each received a portion of the $2,500 raised by 50-50 raffles at this summer’s weekly car shows on Sept. 17.
Marshall said the cruise nights have been making donations to Turkeys for Veterans for several years, the Warrior’s Art Room for the past five years, and the Friends of the Springfield Vet Center for the past two years.
“In spite of the heat and rain during July — and thanks to the generosity of the car owners and those who came to look at the cars — the amount of money raised for the donations increased from last year,” Marshall said.
Ludlow Veterans Agent Eric Segundo said the donation to the Ludlow VFW’s Turkeys for Veterans was very generous.
“The money will go to our program that provides turkeys to our veterans and is now going on its fifth year,” he said.
Segundo said the turkeys are provided to veterans who register in advance, while supplies last.
“This year, we expect to provide close to 350 turkeys along with a bag of Thanksgiving food items. We also work with Western Massachusetts veterans service officers to register veterans in their communities,” he said.
Arlyn Wyman, president of the Friends of the Springfield Vet Center, said the group is grateful to Marshall for putting on the cruise nights and helping to raise money for veterans.
“Any amount of money — one dollar or $100 — will help our organization help veterans and their families with such things as paying an electric bill or providing money for gas,” he said.
The Friends is a nonprofit organization that is independent from the Department of Veterans Affairs Springfield Vet Center program. Its purpose is to coordinate and fund social, recreational, educational, health and wellness programs for the Vet Center and for the veterans it serves.
Steve Jones, director and founder of the Easthampton-based Warrior’s Art Room, said the monetary support from those at the car show will help the organization continue to work with veterans and their families in healing through creating.
“We greatly appreciate all who gave their support and we are grateful for the donation,” he said.
Jones said the money will help with the day-to-day operations of the organization, including rent and art supplies, as well as hosting gallery events for artists who are veterans: “A gallery exhibit is expensive to put on, and canvas and other supplies are pretty pricey, too. The money will go toward expenses like those and helping us focus on our mission.”
This was the seventh season for the car show in Westfield that usually drew about 75 to 100 classic cars every Tuesday night between mid-May and mid-September. The show is run by Marshall, a local DJ for more than 30 years, who organizes several weekly and specialty car shows in the area each season. He started hosting car cruise nights as an extension of the “Classic Hits” format of the Ware-based radio station where he’s part of the ownership team, WARE 97.7 FM and 1250 AM.
To help cover some of the Westfield show’s expenses, such as prizes, Marshall has several local sponsors. For the 2024 season, they included Firtion Adams Funeral Home, Gary Rome Hyundai, Genden Auto Parts, Northside Creamery, Westfield Gas & Electric, Whip City Fiber, Springfield to Boston Education Foundation and Stonewall Insurance.
