Daily Hampshire Gazette from Northampton, Massachusetts • 15

l' -I A ffH Hfctil -m rV- 4-4 --s c-rA-r A fi v' 'rV A v-A-VvA 7 -v --A JANUARY 45 1992 '4 weekend gazette East hambton -v-- "s' weekend GAZETTE Easthampton 77 PAGE 15 l-Jyhc: --7 '75 -V 7flr claim to part of past date bade to the late 19th century when passenger trains and street cars ferried Easthampton people throughout the region Passenger trains stopped running through town soon after people began to purchase automobiles but the mills continued to rely on the freight trains Robert Dion a technical and environmental services supervisor at National Felt says boat cars once carried raw materials to the mill including starch and bales of fiber Dion says National Felt would have continued to use the tracks if Pioneer Valley Railroad had not discontinued the trains The railroad he said can carry more raw material more cheaply than the trucks that now serve as the company's primary mode of transportation Marc Levine general manager for Pioneer Valley Railroad says freight trains served the mills until activity at the companies sharply declined in the mi(M980s In addition to the slide in business he said trucks became the preferred mode of transportation for the mills railroad is only as strong as the business serving So if business is hurting railroads will be hurt the same said Levine For some of the residents living along the tracks the old railroad carries fond By JIM DANKO Staff Writer EASTHAMPTON The sign reads: for bidden Boston ft Maine Posted bear East and Perry streets it refers to the railroad tracks that run through Easthampton and intersect numerous main roads in town where more official signs warn drivers of railroad crossings And then there are the unofficial signs along the tracks themselves: Weeds and muck covering most of the rads now freckled with rust a dirt path cut by motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles that parallels parts of the route It was more than 4ft years ago on April 23 1987 4hat a track failure caused a locomotive hauling four rail cars to derail north of the Park Street bridge After the mishap Pioneer Valley Railroad of Westfield ended last remaining rail service William Carroll a local historian and self-proclaimed railroad enthusiast plans to photograph the aging tracks for a historical record He holds maps that chart out the original lines one built in the 1830s another a decade later Earlier this month Carroll walked a section of track near National Felt Co on Ferry Street Each spike is stamped with a number that indicates the year it was driven Some DUN LATHAM Felt Co building in Easthampton The tracks have not been used since 1987 Historian and railway enthusiast William Carroll shows where the old railroad tracks run behind the National toot when we were kids We would wave at them and they would wave recalled Eileen Adams 66 of Ferry Street Mabel Newton 75 remembers a time when trains were a part of the landscape was so long Newton said attempting to recall the last time she had seen one in Easthampton Newton has lived at 111 Ferry St all her life and says ways offer great advantages over automobiles They also are far more economical than trucks for transporting freight he said The challenge Carroll says would be in finding ways to make the track repairs affordable and the freight service profitable think railroads have a potential for a great said Carroll you need a little creative thought" freight trains once passed her house on a regular basis Now the abandoned tracks provide nothing more than a place to walk her dog could see obviously what a fantastic amount of work there is that needs to be if the rail line were to be restored said Carroll as he strolled the tracks pointing out the weak ties and uneven rails Levine says Pioneer Valley Railroad has no immediate lans for rail line and ruled out selling the property keep it embargoed until the future looks he said But Carroll says he thinks it already does He says he would like to see Pioneer Valley invest some money to renovate the tracks and bring them back to life for both freight and passenger use Environmental he says rail A Easthampton fighting drug abuse with education Stories OR 19 9 1 to wake up and find tire tracks across her lawn or through her garden Her neighbors on Northampton Street shared similar experiences But when a driver who later was charged with operating undo: the influence of alcohol drove over her lawn at 25 Northampton St in May narrowly missing some children residents decided they had had enough They petitioned the Board of Selectmen for a guardrail to protect their families and proper ties from traffic and they got it Joseph Pipczynski superintendent of public works said the town always knew that section of Northampton Street was dangerous but didn't have the money before to install a rail The new 240-foot rail running from the rotary to the Manhan River was installed by the town in July and already has proved its worth About a month ago a car crashed into it According to Jeffords part of the rail was crumpled showed exactly why we wanted Jeffords said do foel The damaged section of rail since has been replaced Breaking through the gender barrier When Candice Walczak joined NOTE: To help dose out the year Geiette reporter returned to some of the moat Interesting atoriea of 1991 In the communities the newspaper covers looking for developments worth noting By CHRIS YURKO Staff Writer EASTHAMPTON By the end of the 1991 school year 180 Easthampton students had completed the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program This was the first year the program was offered in Easthampton DARE as it is known places specially trained officers the classroom to teach children how to resist pressures to experiment with drugs Jose Romero DARE officer said he expects another 170 students at White Brook Middle School and Notre Dame Immaculate Conception School to complete the program by the end of this school year in June Although DARE is the most direct effort employed to combat substance abuse it the only one Another program called Peer Leadership also debuted in 1991 at White Brook The goal of that program is to counter the low selfesteem and isolation that often leads young people to use drugs A group of 29 students from White Brook spent one October the Easthampton Rotary Club last March she was understandably concerned about how she'd fit in After all she was the first woman to become a member of the 62-year-old previously allmale club At the time club President Gordon Pilgrim said a declining male membership led him to Walczak whom he described as a candidate committed to staying with Although she was at first reluctant to be the one to break the gender barrier (she waited a year after receiving the initial invitation) Walczak 31 seems glad the did She says the 32 men in the group have been very receptive enjoyed said Walczak who is the business manager for the school district been meeting people I normally have contact with through the When she joined Walczak said (me of her goals for the club would be to recruit more women members but so far she is still the only one been making some she said in 1992 be my New Rotary Dirty has stopped calls The expression took on a whole new meaning last March when someone impersonating a doctor made numerous obscene telephone calls to area women The caller always a man would identify himself as a physician and then ask probing pep sonal questions to the women who answered In a typical scenario the caller said he was conducting a survey for the US Centers for Disease Control In another he said he had laborato- Ztest results for a ughter and needed more background information Some'women were momentarily duped by the caller responding to his queries before hanging up At the time Easthampton police who received frequent complaints throughout the month theorized that the calls were the work of one man possibly a local resident Police said he seemed to have access to personal information such as names and occupations of family members of the women he called Apparently the harassing individual is no longer practicing Easthampton Police Officer Stephen Cialek says the complaints stopped a long time ago The deviant was never nabbed a One voice that made a difference Local gadfly Tony Velasquez rarely misses a selectmen's meeting After watching one broadcast on cable television late last December he became so angry he called for the resignations of two selectmen he felt had insulted Easthampton's Hispanic population At that meeting Selectmen Raymond Gosselin and Amelia Rancourt remarked that the welfare system was badly abused by Puerto Rican immigrants In the weeks that followed when Rancourt and Gosselin refused to recant Velasquez 54 a self-employed printer who was born in Puerto Rico and has lived in Easthampton for 23 years demanded they step down He also charged the rest of the board with inaction for failing to promptly condemn such statements Gosselin and Rancourt who had no plans to seek re-election anyway did not step down and were replaced after the April elections by current Selectmen Angelo Yacuzzo and Thomas Kowal One year later Velasquez who continues to watch meetings on cable TV each week ays he thinks the board learned from that experience and is now more knowledgeable and handles controversy more professionally attack the iasues as they come Velasquez said doing a super job I have no weekend at a camp in Westfield developing problem-solving and communication skills They also brought back plans designed to get more students involved in school activities and raise the level of respect between different grades Such activities as a dance a roller skating party and a lunch swap already have taken place and more are planned for the spring just one more piece that fits into the big said Karen Bucala health coordinator of Easthampton schools New guardrail doing its job Until last July it was not uncommon for Debbie Jeffords Westhampton EMTs ready for the calls Unfinished meals are all part of the job according to Miller time of the hilltown EBIT becomes crucial he said Of the 35 emergency calls they received in the past year Miller said the majority were from elderly people who were experiencing cardiac symptoms or breathing problems A successful fund-raising drive 1989 enabled the EMTs to buy defibrillator a device used to stimulate the heart electronically Fortunately Miller laid they have only had to use it twice During the past year one or both of the EMTs have been available to respond to all but three of the calls received said Miller Laughing he said an unwritten rule that if you need an ambulance you have to wait until in The town also has several firefighters who are qualified is so-called First Responders to deal with emergency medical situations in the event that both EMTs are unavailable he added Miller said that as with the emergency on Christmas Dsy he frequently is called in the middle of something The pager has summoned him in the middle of the night in the middle of church and once in the middle of a haircut While people who call for assistance are often apologetic for the Inconveqjence they think they have caused him he said he stresses to residents that they should not hesitate to call at any hour on any (by if they need assistance for a medical emergency While the elderly woman they helped Christmas Day later was treated and released from The Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton similar symptoms in different circumstances can be life-threatening laid Miller Almost two years ago in order to educate Hilltown residents in life-saving techniques Miller Douchkoff and registered nurse Karen Kalmakto all certified CPR Instructors began teaching monthly classes In cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver used in the event of choking Since starting the daises which consist of two three-hour sessions and are taught at the Center School Bflller estimated that dote to 200 people both residents and out-of-towners have been certified as CPR administrators The first class offered this year will take place on Jan 27 and 29 A recertification course a yearly requirement for CPR administrators r- is scheduled for Jan 21-A $10 fee ls charged) i-f 5 -A'-' '-t' 1 By PHOEBE MITCHELL Staff Writer WESTHAMPTON Robert Miller get to finish Christmas dinner this year A squawk from pager and the crackling voice of an ambulance-dispatcher cut his meal short Seconds after listening to the call for medical assistance for an elderly woman who was experiencing cardiac irregularities Miller one of the two emergency medical technicians was out the door-Five minutes later Miller and follow EMT Leroy Douchkoff had arrived at the residence of a Northwest Road family where they checked the vital signs jj-j reassuring ived from transport her to the hospital Unfinished meals are all part of the job according to Miller who said speed is essential if an EBIT to to provide effective crisis Intervention in a medical emergency WhOe an ambulance dispatched from Southampton can take at least 20 minutes Miller said Westhampton EMTs can reach most town residences- in not much more than eight' when seconds mean the difference be-tween life and death the quick response f- 'T i 1 -1 -r v- -j'a 1 -V 'y' HOMES FOR SALE in Real Estate CLASSIFIEDS Check it out! -It i' 'ii ir.