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Date: 10/3/2023
EAST LONGMEADOW — The Rotary Club is once again hosting Celebrate East Longmeadow, a community event to “honor and celebrate local businesses and government,” said Teresa Bendzinski, president of the East Longmeadow Rotary Club.
Celebrate East Longmeadow has been hosted by the Rotary Club each year since 2012, except during the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the fair takes place Oct. 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Center Field at the rotary.
Several town departments take part in the event, including the Police and Fire departments. The Cultural Council is hosting an art fair, there will be local crafters, artists, and sports teams, as well as food trucks, breweries and activities for children.
Celebrate East Longmeadow is only one of several community occasions organized by the Rotary Club. “We do quite a few events,” Bendzinski said. The Rotary Club organizes the Fourth of July carnival, summer concert series and fireworks. She said the club will have to find a temporary location for the concerts and fireworks while construction is underway on the proposed new high school but said the town has always been helpful. During the holidays this year, the club is partnering with the East Village Tavern to host a Thanksgiving food drive and Toys for Tots drive.
The events are usually successful, drawing in crowds of residents and people from the surrounding area. Bendzinski thinks she knows why people consistently attend the various Rotary Club events.
“It’s a combination of the town taking joy in events” and the Rotary Club “asking what the town needs,” Bendzinski said. Ideas have occasionally been less successful than the Rotary Club hoped, and in those cases, she said they have changed tactics. The most important aspect is the feeling of belonging people receive from the fairs, concerts and celebrations.
The events are designed to “make sure every member of the community feels welcome,” Bendzinski said. “There’s something for everyone. We want to engage the community in a family way. We’re here for them,” to “make them feel like our town is special.”