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Date: 7/27/2022
HOLYOKE – Community leaders and residents gathered at Holyoke Heritage State Park July 22 to say farewell to a staple of the community.
The Fernandez Family Restaurant closed its doors for the last time on July 22 after a 34-year run in downtown Holyoke. The farewell sendoff saw friends of the family, Mayor Joshua Garcia and City Council President Todd McGee speak about the value of having the family-owned restaurant in the community for over three decades.
“It wasn’t just a restaurant really. Fernandez is a community. It’s love. They just embodied Holyoke and the spirit of Holyoke, the whole working class, and the community but most importantly they brought this community love,” said Maria Salgado-Cartagena, host of the sendoff and an advocate for the Holyoke community.
Garcia, a lifelong resident of Holyoke, spoke and gave thanks to the family and their legacy and added it was a very bittersweet day for the city. Garcia credited the restaurant for being a proud Puerto Rican establishment that introduced their culture to so many others in Holyoke.
“It’s such a real honor and privilege to stand up here and wish you all farewell. I really wish we didn’t have to be here,” Garcia said.
Garcia then read a proclamation from the city saying, “Now therefore it resolved that the Holyoke community will dearly miss the Fernandez Family restaurant and wishes good health, long life and much joy to the Fernandez Family.”
McGee came to speak and had a surprise for those in attendance as he shared he had just filed an order to rename High Street, where the restaurant has been located, to Fernandez way in honor of family’s history in Holyoke. The order will be taken up at the next City Council meeting in August.
State Rep. Patricia Duffy was in attendance and thanked the Fernandez family for being such a strong part of the Holyoke community. She added that colleagues on Beacon Hill were all familiar with the Holyoke establishment and were sad to hear of its closing.
While being part of the Puerto Rican history and fabric of the city, the restaurant also has been an active supporter of local nonprofits and sports teams.
“Throughout these uncertain times you have proven to us, the loyalty you have for us, and for this we are eternally thankful and grateful,” said the Fernandez Family when they announced they would be closing via the restaurant’s Facebook page.