-- Judy Matt

The field of golfers is almost full. We have some new foursomes and lots of returning ones. Charlie Arment Trucking is sponsoring the Mayor’s Cup, a “friendly” putting competition between Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Agawam Mayor Christopher Johnson, Chicopee Mayor John Vieau, West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt, and Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe which kicks off the June 7th tournament at 9:30am.

Lunch on the Franconia Golf Course will be compliments of American Medical Response, and dinner is on the Springfield Business Improvement District with a $25 gift card to one of Downtown Springfield’s finest restaurants, plus a $10 gift card from UNO Pizzeria & Grill, and a $5 Dunkin gift card. There will be a sleeve of balls from Eastman-Indian Orchard, a Bright Nights at Forest Park car admission tickets, and a Spirit of Springfield cooler bag.

There is still time to register and sponsor online, and donate a great raffle prize by contacting Nicole.

Plans are underway to make it a Star Spangled Springfield on Thursday, July 4th with great entertainment, activities, and of course, fireworks sponsored by MassMutual.

The evening will start at 6pm with face painting, balloon art, and glitter tattoos for the kids. At 7pm, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno will greet guests in Riverfront Park’s Festival Field, and introduce Hipptown lead by Floyd Patterson II. They will be bringing rhythm, blues, and pop sounds from yesterday and today to the party.

At 9:30pm, it will be eyes on the sky as fireworks explode over the Memorial Bridge and dance to the soundtrack played on Mix 93.1 FM.

Food and beverages will be offered by Elegant Affairs, Batch Ice Cream, and Anna’s Fried Dough.

Main Street was filled with area residents hungry for fun, festivities, and flapjacks at the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast, sponsored by MGM Springfield, on Saturday, May 18th. John Doleva, President of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, was full of glory and pride as he served as the Honorary Chair. He conducted the Sci-Tech High School Band. He was serenaded by the St. Michael’s Academy Chorus, thanked volunteers, greeted guests, and even flipped some pancakes.

There was a lot of great entertainment, a myriad of exhibitors, lots of activities with TD Bank at one end and Monson Savings Bank at the other. WMAS’s Kellogg Krew presided over the speaking program adding their unique sense of humor. Days before the breakfast, they also reached out to rivals in Battle Creek, Michigan, to challenge Mayor Mark Behnke for the World’s Largest Breakfast title.

In case you missed it, or in case you want to relive it, Focus Springfield put together a video that captured the essence of the 2024 World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast. If you were there, wanted to be there, or want to learn more about the event, be sure to watch their video.

The menu showed pancakes, bacon, coffee, juice, and milk. How it got to Main Street for the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast takes hundreds. It all began when Mercy Medical Center printed 67,000 tickets and fliers that American Medical Response (AMR) delivered to area schools.

The Hampden County Sheriff’s Department was the first to get cooking with a goal to cook 1,000 pounds of Smithfield Bacon in two days. At Mercy Medical Center, they rolled up their sleeves to mix 500 galloons of pancake batter. Gleason Johndrow Landscaping then loaded it on to a refrigerator truck from Quality Beverage along with 206 pounds of Cabot Creamery Co-Operative Butter. H. P. Hood rolled on to Main Street at 4am with hundreds of gallons of milk, juice, and cream for the coffee that the Sheraton Springfield brewed. MGM Springfield warmed up the bacon, and it was all served by volunteers on paper products donated by Baystate Health and Mansfield Paper.

When it is all over, the Springfield Business Improvement District, with an assist from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department and the Springfield Department of Public Works, got it all cleaned up.

She has led and inspired the Spirit of Springfield since its inception. She has received many awards and accolades, an Honorary Doctorate from Bay Path University, and just this month Judy Matt has been named a “Heroine” by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Judy was nominated by State Representative Carlos Gonzalez.

She is recognized for making “outstanding contributions to their organizations and their communities.” Judy joins the Class of 2024 Commonwealth Heroines that is comprised of more than 125 women from across the state.

The award ceremony will be held on Friday, June 14th at the Massachusetts State House.

Sunday, December 8th

2pm

Symphony Hall