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Villamaino to be toasted, roasted at fund-raiser

Date: 3/19/2012

March 19, 2012

By Katelyn Gendron

katelyn@thereminder.com

HAMPDEN — Selectman Vincent Villamaino isn't looking for any praise but he'll get it, at least some anyway, right after various friends and colleagues stick it to him at his Toast and Roast Fund-raiser on March 24.

Rick Rubin, past president and current member of the Hampden Lions Club, organized the event in Villamaino's honor after learning he'd been diagnosed with polychondritis, a debilitating and life-threatening disease that causes the deterioration of the body's cartilage. Per Villamaino's request, the funds raised at the event will be donated to the Hampden Lions Club and the Recreation Association.

"When I last saw Vinny his ears were very swollen and lopped over. Vinny is a very boisterous guy who is very friendly and always joking around and to see him like this was surprising. He was very subdued and not himself at all," Rubin recalled.

"He has a great heart and he will do anything for anybody and I just find him to be more sensitive that people think he is. He's the grizzly bear and the teddy bear," he said, nothing Villamaino's often animated and sometimes coarse attitudes during Selectmen meetings.

"Vinny does joke around with people and can be the abrasive type but we're going to get revenge on Vinny. It's also a time to joke around. This is something that could really lift his spirits," he added, noting that Villamaino questioned whether or not people would even attend the fund-raiser, which has already sold 100 tickets.

When asked what he thought of the Toast and Roast, Villamaino replied, "It's kind of embarrassing and I know that I'm sick but they [the Lions] really wanted to do this for me. It's a great organization to be a part of and for the people that belong to the club the glass is always half full."

He is the only member of the Hampden Lions Club to be named an honorary member for life.

Villamaino said that in spite of his deteriorating physical health, he would continue to serve on the Board of Selectmen and maintain employment at his paving company for the foreseeable future.

"Usually I'm working 16 hours a day but that, according to my doctor, has to end. It [the disease] does make me extremely tired and now I have problem with my hands and it's in my thumbs now but I'm going to stay as long as I possibly can. It's all going to depend on my health," he explained.

The Roast and Toast will take place at Elmcrest Country Club, 105 Summerville Road, East Longmeadow, on March 24. Cocktail hour will begin at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. and the Roast and Toast beginning at 8:15 p.m. Radio personality Brad Shepard will be the emcee of the event, which costs $40.

For more information or for tickets, contact Rubin at 250-8108 or rrubin1@hotmail.com.



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