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Assistant Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW If you don't know Mike Boucher, you probably don't know all that he does for the town of East Longmeadow each year. That's because he's a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. He makes sure everything is running smoothly and doesn't ask for anything in return. An active member of the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce, Boucher has been named the Grand Marshal of the annual East Longmeadow Fourth of July Parade. You know that bandshell the Rotary loans to the town for parades or to the Jaycees for the annual carnival, and uses for its own concert series each summer? Boucher helped build it. He also personally moves it from location to location as it is needed. This year, as Grand Marshal, he will have to get up early, bring the bandshell to the center of the rotary, get back to the staging area to get ready to participate in the parade and, once the parade is over, rush back and move the bandshell so the rotary can open to traffic again. "I'm just doing what needs to be done," he said. "What I do for my town I do because I want to give back." And the East Longmeadow Fourth of July Parade Committee, chaired by Carl Ohlin, recognized that about Boucher when they chose him as this year's Grand Marshal. Boucher was supposed to find out about this honor at last month's Town Meeting. However, due to the crackling sound system used in the high school's gymnasium where he was seated for the Meeting, he said he could not understand why Ohlin mentioned his name and why people were looking for him. "He must be out moving the bandshell," Boucher said he heard Ohlin say when they were unable to locate him. He said it wasn't until the next day when he talked to Parade Committee member Mike Gordon that he knew what was going on. He was given a plaque (the one he was supposed to get at Town Meeting) at his next Rotary meeting, he said. Boucher is co-owner, with his brother, Peter, of EJB Associates, which runs Custom Auto Body and Norse RV on Maple Street. He said he was born in East Longmeadow and has lived in town all his life. In talking about the parade, he mentioned the Parade Committee and all the volunteers who help get the event off the ground each year. "The planning for next year's parade begins right when this one ends," he said. "It's a monumental undertaking." And he said that's what makes a town or city a good place to live. "I live here, but it's more than that," he said. "I'm interested in what happens so it is a good place to live." |
