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Assistant Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW Known for her role in rehabilitating the historic Norcross house on Maple Street, and for developing affordable senior housing in town, resident Merle Safford has been honored by the East Longmeadow 4th of July Parade Committee as its Grand Marshal of the 2006 parade. With recent honors from the East Longmeadow Lions Club as their distinguished citizen of the year (2004) and her long history of giving back to the community this latest accolade is a testament to Safford's determination and dedication to improving her community. Parade Committee Chairman Carl Ohlin said Safford is not the first woman to be considered for this honor; however, she is the first to receive it. He added that she follows eight town residents who also were chosen because they helped (and continue to help) make life better for residents of East Longmeadow. Ohlin said Safford was nominated and chosen by a group of former grand marshals. Those who received this honor in the past were Marshall Hanson, Joe Scanlon, Richard Clark, the late Albert "Baba" Tranghese, Chandler Newell, Willie Ferrero, Jim Connor and Mike Boucher. Referred to as a "ball of fire," and a "tireless advocate," Safford has spent her retirement years working very hard on several projects. Safford said she began getting really involved in her town after her children were grown and off to college. "I thought to myself, things are pretty good for us ... things are sailing along so I thought it was payback time," she reflected. At that time, she said, many seniors in East Longmeadow were finding they could no longer afford to maintain their homes and remain living in town.. "I thought, what could I do?" she said. "I had the opportunity to attend a seminar on housing for the elderly ... it dawned on me that this was something to explore a little further." She added that it was not easy to get the Brownstone Gardens project moving. "There was a zoning fight ... and I thought it was innately unfair that we had inherited this wonderful town from these older people [and they could no longer afford to live here]." Upon retirement, and after 37 years of living and raising a family in East Longmeadow, Safford and her husband, Dean, moved to Cape Cod, where she also became involved in the community there. "I got involved in a garden club, and from that [I was involved in a] community project: restoring the historic garden at a library," Safford added. She also was deeply involved in rehabilitating and developing a non-profit art gallery there. "There was always a door for me to look through and I would say 'is this something to be involved in?'" she added. Safford said she lived for 19 years on the Cape before returning to East Longmeadow eight years ago "Of course I always had wanted to come back to East Longmeadow," she said. After being back in town for just a few years, and in the middle of working on a book covering 1,000 years of her family's genaeology, she became involved with what is now the Norcross Center. "They were going to demolish the house, and I was on the Historic Commission," she explained. "And since I had the experience of developing a non-profit for Brownstone Gardens ..." She saw another open door. As Grand Marshal, Ohlin explained Safford won't need to do any work on this project. She will be in the front of this year's 4th of July Parade you'll see her riding in a convertible. | ||||||
