Foundation welcomes five new trustees

SPRINGFIELD — The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts has welcomed five new trustees: Tara Brewster, John Davis, Magdalena Gómez, Michelle Schutt and Payton Shubrick.

“We are thrilled and grateful that Tara, John, Magdalena, Michelle and Payton agreed to become Community Foundation trustees,” board of trustees Chair Paul Murphy said in a statement. “Their diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences are reflective of the communities we serve.”

■As vice president of business development and director of philanthropy at Greenfield Savings Bank, Brewster brings a wealth of expertise and a commitment to western Massachusetts. She is a Northampton native who graduated from Smith College.

■Davis serves as president of Historic Deerfield. He previously served as provost and undersecretary for museums, education and research at the Smithsonian Institution; executive director of the Terra Foundation for American Art Europe (Paris); and the Alice Pratt Brown professor of art at Smith College.

■Gómez is a Springfield-based playwright, performer and speaker. Gómez’s play, “Luisa Capetillo: A Beautiful Anarchy,” a portrayal of the life of Puerto Rican labor leader Capetillo, will be part of an upcoming collection of scholarly essays in The Routledge Companion to Latine Theatre and Performance.

■Schutt, president of Greenfield Community College, brings more than two decades of experience supporting students, staff and faculty in higher education. Driven by her commitment to the community college mission of providing affordable and accessible education, she is inspired by the transformative opportunities it offers to change the course of lives.

■Born and raised in Springfield, Shubrick is CEO and founder of the adult-use dispensary 6 Brick’s. A graduate of Springfield Central High School, College of the Holy Cross and Bay Path University, she looks to improve her community through economic development, leveraging the emerging cannabis industry.

Civil Air Patrol cadets test skills

CHICOPEE — Members of the Brig. Gen. Arthur J. Pierce Cadet Squadron of Civil Air Patrol competed in the state’s Color Guard competition at the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee on Oct. 7.

Cadet Staff Sgt. Jacob Kraiem of Chicopee, Cadet Staff Sgt. Katherine Stewart of Monson, Cadet Staff Sgt. Roman Powers-Moran of Easthampton and Cadet Airman 1st Class Chayton Lundin of West Warren represented the squadron in the competition. The cadets participated in nine challenges that tested their teamwork, leadership, knowledge, attention to detail and military drill precision.

This was the first time the competition had been held in four years. Although the team from the Brig. Gen. Arthur J. Pierce Cadet Squadron did not place first, the team is optimistic for next year.

“It was very challenging,” Lundin said in a statement. “We have a lot of lessons learned for next year.”

Senior member volunteer and 1st Lt. Amanda Menier said, “I am incredibly proud of our cadets who displayed their fortitude at the competition. We are a new team, and they showed tremendous heart. We’re going to build upon this experience to become serious competitors next year.”

Civil Air Patrol is the civilian, volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. One of its main missions is to encourage and foster civil aviation in community aerospace education programs. The Brig. Gen. Arthur J. Pierce Cadet Squadron meets every Monday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in Dickinson Hall at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Local foot care company expands with new nurses

HADLEY — Fourteen nurses from Greenfield-based FootCare by Nurses were pinned at the organization’s annual meeting, held at Happier Valley Comedy in Hadley on Sept. 20. The business, which had three employees when it was founded in 2016, has expanded to 42 today.

To be recognized, nurses must complete 24 continuing education credits that focus on lower limb care, 30 hours of hands-on precepting, additional company training and a course in the code of ethics. These nurses are now certified by the American Foot Care Nurses Association.

Footcare by Nurses is a Greenfield-based foot care company serving northern Connecticut and western Massachusetts from Lenox to Fitchburg. Nurses trained in evidence-based foot care methods developed by the company’s founder, Kate Clayton-Jones, visit patients in their homes and also at community foot care clinics.

“Foot pain is not normal, and it can compromise an elderly person’s life,” Clayton-Jones, a registered nurse who founded the company in 2016 after completing her doctorate in foot care and related health issues, said in a statement. “Wounds resulting from diabetes or a shoe that doesn’t fit properly can progress until amputations are needed. Falls can be caused by ill-fitting shoes and lack of balance. Good foot care requires an examination of the way a person is walking, how a shoe is wearing and more.”

Veteran of victim witness advocacy tapped to lead unit for DA’s office

NORTHAMPTON — The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office has named Emily O’Neil as director of its Victim Witness Unit, replacing Jackie Gaw, who retired in September after 12 years in the position.

O’Neil comes to the office after a 28-year career in the Hampden County DA’s office, where she started as an intern, moving into court administration work and then victim witness advocacy. In her role there, she served as victim witness advocate in the district courts, the child abuse unit, for superior court cases and most recently as an advocate in the special victims unit.

O’Neil earned her undergraduate degree from American International College in criminal justice and psychology, and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Westfield State University.

She started in her new position on Sept. 11.

“We are pleased to welcome Emily to the office,” Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said in a statement. “She has a passion for supporting victims through difficult cases and court proceedings, and is excited to join our incredible victim witness staff.”

Sullivan also noted that Gaw was highly respected in the field of victim witness advocacy, serving the office with distinction since her appointment on Jan. 1, 2011, when he assumed office. In April, Gaw was honored with the 2023 Gerard D. Downing Advocate of the Year Award at the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association annual prosecutors conference.

Richie Davis plans book readings at area libraries

Retired Greenfield Recorder reporter and editor Richie Davis will read from his new book, “Flights of Fancy, Souls of Grace,” in a series of upcoming library events. The book is the final collection in his trilogy of feature stories.

■Wednesday, Oct. 18, 6 p.m. — Montague Center Library.

■Thursday, Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m. — Arms Library in Shelburne Falls.

■Tuesday, Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. — S. White Dickinson Memorial Library in Whately.

■Thursday, Nov. 2, 6 p.m. — Tyler Memorial Library in Charlemont.

■Tuesday, Nov. 28, 6:30 p.m. — Leverett Public Library.

■Thursday, Nov. 30, 6 p.m. — Dickinson Memorial Library in Northfield.

■Saturday, Dec. 2, 10:30 a.m. — Athol Public Library.

■Tuesday, Dec. 5, 6 p.m. — Forbes Library in Northampton.

Future readings are planned but not yet scheduled at the Greenfield Public Library and other area libraries.

Davis, who covered energy, the environment and a host of other regional and local issues at the Recorder from 1976 until his retirement in 2019, issued his two prior collections of Recorder feature stories, “Inner Landscapes” and “Good Will & Ice Cream,” in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Each book in the trilogy highlights what Davis calls “true tales from extraordinary lives” that convey the unique character of the region.

Jim Seltzer named Volunteer of the Year by statewide Providers’ Council

BOSTON — Jim Seltzer, a volunteer at ServiceNet’s Prospect Meadow Farm in Hatfield, was named Volunteer of the Year during the Providers’ Council’s Awards of Excellence ceremony on Oct. 2 in Boston. The Providers’ Council is the largest association of human service agencies in Massachusetts.

Seltzer has volunteered with Prospect Meadow Farm, a vocational training program for individuals living with disabilities, since 2014. It was Seltzer who proposed starting a log-grown shiitake mushroom site, which would allow farmhands to lift and handle the logs, use tools, track the progress of each log’s output, harvest the mushrooms, and distribute them to restaurants and markets. Prospect Meadow Farm’s mushroom operation has since grown to include more than 4,000 logs, making ServiceNet the largest producer of log-grown shiitake mushrooms in western Massachusetts.

In this past year, volunteering approximately 300 hours, Seltzer completed the largest greenhouse ever for the farm and assisted in expanding the mushroom-laying yard at the farm’s secondary location. In May, he co-facilitated a multi-day management retreat for Prospect Meadow Farm managers who were gearing up to open the new vocational and production center.