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Date: 5/13/2021
EAST LONGMEADOW – A longtime member of East Longmeadow’s town leadership, Don Anderson, is leaving the Town Council at the end of his term in June. For Anderson, the three decades he spent in municipal government are remembered fondly.
An elected official for 28 of the last 30 years, Anderson first served on the Planning Board for 23 years before briefly retiring from municipal service. When East Longmeadow changed its form of government to a town council in 2016, Anderson said, he decided to run for a seat on the new body. While he won the position and subsequent re-election in 2018, he had promised voters that he wasn’t planning to make the position a second career. His decision not to run for re-election at the end of his term this year fulfills that promise.
Anderson’s decision also fulfills a promise he made to his wife, the president of the Cruise Store travel business. As CEO, Anderson said, he will be helping to rebrand the business as travel picks up due to increased vaccination from COVID-19. Anderson will also continue his career as a real estate attorney.
“Ironically, there really isn’t too many attorneys that want to get involved in town government,” anymore, Anderson noted. When he began, he said, many of the elected officials were in the same profession.
After so long in town government, Anderson told Reminder Publishing, he is most proud that residents voted for him so many times.
“I’m very honored and humbled,” Anderson said. He reflected that he has seen the town change and grow from the 1980s when he joined the Planning Board to the present.
“You watch the growth of the town, but it’s still a town where people say ‘hi’ to you. There’s a sense of community in East Longmeadow. Being a part of that has been an honor.”