Planes need sponsors

Date: 9/21/2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — There is still time for a C-5 to land at your business.

Sandra Lapollo, executive director of the Council on Aging, told Reminder Publications that of the 20 fiberglass sculptures of C-5 Galaxy aircraft in the “Planes over Chicopee” fund-raising effort, five are still available for sponsorship.

Monies raised will go toward the $2 million donation pledged by the Friends of the Chicopee Senior Center to the construction of a new senior center.

Each of the planes is available for a sponsorship donation of $1,400 and each have been painted by area artists.

Sponsors get their names engraved on a plaque attached to the plane and take temporary possession of the sculpture for display.

Around the city one can see “In Your Honor” by Jennifer Dorgan at Chicopee Savings Bank on Center Street; “Frog” by Ann Beebe at Lymtech Scientific on Westover Road; and “What a Small World” by Betsy Koscher at the Chicopee Library on Front Street.

Lapollo said that sculptures for Chicopee Electric Light Department and Ondrick Natural Earth have been finished by their artists and will be delivered.

If interested in sponsoring a plane, businesses can call the president of the Friends group, Adel Tawrel, at 592-5637 for more information.

Former Mayor Richard Kos and City Treasurer Ernest Laflamme Jr. are the co-chairs leading the “Planes over Chicopee” effort. Kos said, “We thank the business community for the enthusiasm that they have given this initial effort as we proceed on the long road of fund-raising for the senior center.”

Kos said that next year the planes would be auctioned off to their permanent owners.