Selectmen appoint Mannix to Finance Committee
Date: 12/17/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comWILBRAHAM — At its Dec. 10 meeting, the Board of Selectmen elected to appoint Michael Mannix to the Finance Committee after interviewing him and two other candidates — James Mapplethorpe and John Guzzo — the week before.
Mannix previously served as alderman in Holyoke, including a period of time when the city was preparing for a Proposition 2 1/2 override, as well as on the Board of Directors at the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke for 24 years where he dealt with the state and federal government when developing budgets.
The three selectmen agreed that one aspect of Mannix's experience put him above the others.
"The tiebreaker I went to is we're a fair ways into putting together a budget. One of the candidates had some municipal budgeting experience previously and that's the way I ended up making my decision — the short learning curve this time around [and the fact that] he was a former alderman in Holyoke," Selectman James Thompson said.
All three selectmen also praised the three candidates for showing interest in public service and implored those who were not chosen to continue their interest.
"We had three outstanding candidates. It makes our job easy in some respects because we're not going to make a mistake, but it makes our job more difficult in some respects because we have two candidates who we can't appoint," he said. "To those two candidates, I would say please say involved. There will be other opportunities to serve."
Selectman Robert Russell echoed those sentiments, adding that he hoped the trend of qualified residents applying for committee positions would continue to be a growing trend.
"It pains me to think of the number of times when we were on other committees that haven't been able to get a whole slate of people to work and now we have great candidates and we can't use them all," he said.
*** The 250th Anniversary Committee told the Board of Selectmen that things are coming together regarding the First Night celebration.
"More than 20 of us have been working very hard since 2010 and we think we have a wonderful program here," Patti Diotolevi, co-chair of the committee, said. "We've got something for everyone little children, teenagers and the folks."
The day's worth of programming will take place at sites throughout the center of town on Main Street, which will be blocked off between the Wilbraham United Church and Springfield Street, Diotolevi explained.
"We have different events scheduled at different times for different artists and entertainers," she said.
With that portion of Main Street closed to traffic, Diotolevi said that Peter Pan Bus Lines offered to donate two buses that would shuttle event goers from the parking area at Minnechaug Regional High School to the event area and back.
The festivities will also include fireworks, though from where they will be fired off has yet to be determined, Co-Chair Kevin Moriarty said.
"We have a problem with the state fire marshal, but we're working it through," he said. "The plan is to [have] them on the field at the Academy on Mountain Road, but the fire marshal has some concerns and we're trying to address those. The other option we have is firing them off from an area on Faculty Street."
Committee member Chuck Higgins added that if those two sites fail, Fountain Park would be the third option. Diotolevi said that if Fountain Park had to be used, the fireworks would still be visible from Main Street.
While First Night is the first event on the docket, several others are expected to follow, including art exhibits, a taste of Wilbraham event, time capsule opening celebration and a golf tournament in May, and an anniversary gala as well as a parade and picnic in June.
As the committee continues to plan future events, they are also in need of more funding and therefore are continuing to sell a host of commemorative items ranging from calendars with photos of the town taken by local photographers, Christmas tree ornaments, cookbooks and T-shirts.
*** The board also opened contents the town had given
Reminder Publications for its time capsule, which was opened at the company's 50th anniversary celebration on Nov. 7.
Among the contents was the 1996 Annual Report, a street map of the town of Wilbraham, a flier for the Nov. 9, 1997 Veterans' Day celebration, a 1997 Peach Festival program, a 1997 resident guide, a town flag from 1997, and newspaper clippings about the Minnechaug Regional High School girls' basketball team, who won the state championship in 1997, a pamphlet with information regarding computer services at the Wilbraham Public Library, and a program from Wilbraham & Monson Academy.
Town Archivist Timothy Symington, who opened the package, said that the items would be kept in the clerk's office if the public would like to view them.
