Over the past twenty-five years the Observer has covered many stories about local people, events and businesses. We thought it might be interesting each month to highlight some of the front-page news to remind us what was happening in town. The following are some of the headline stories from our February issues over the past 25 years.
There were several issues that highlighted Martin Luther King Day as well as town budget planning and our Valentine couples (more about that later). Highland Park Market opened (2001), Suffield Veterinary Hospital was renovated (2002), West Suffield firehouse was considered inadequate (2002) the Police Commission discussed the renewal of Chief Leahy’s contract (2003), the Hilltop Farm sale was in progress (2003), public input was taken regarding the Town Center plans (2004), the Observer held a forum on Selectman vs Town Manager models (2004), and the Lewis Farm sanctuary was highlighted (2005) as was affordable housing needs (2006). First Selectman Scott Lingenfelter wrote about the State of the Town (2007), the KnowBio group presented a case against a biodiesel plan (2008), the Building Committee settles on a library plan (2008), the dedicated plowmen who got us through a 22.5 inch snow storm were thanked (2011), the Town remembered Sandy Hook (2013), the Board of Selectmen discussed the possible fate of Bridge Street School (2014), a kickoff ceremony was held for the construction of an accessible wing to the library (2015), Hilltop Farm Historic District celebrated their 10th anniversary (2016), there is a revote to determine the WPCA winner after the election ended in a tie (2020), and the highway garage proposal proceeded. (2020).
The Observer often highlighted people as well on the front page. Some people reported on over the past 25 years included new Board of Education chairman Dan McKinnon (2001), new Planning and Zoning chair Scott Guilmartin (2002), dedicated Observer reporter Lester Smith (2003), clean energy innovator Bill Smith (2005), veteran Joe Szynaka (2006), and we remembered Jane Fuller (2007). Stephanie Yuan explored Tanzania (2008), Megan Sweeney headed for the Olympics (2010), Bob Warren retired as Observer chairman (2012), nail salon owner Sue Seo became an American citizen (2013), Joe Blake is honored as CAS Assistant Principal of the Year (2014), Mel Chafetz became interim Superintendent of Schools replacing Karen Baldwin (2015), Ed Basil replaced Mel Chafetz on the Board of Selectmen (2015), the Observer remembered Bob Warren (2017), Emily Sweeney headed for the Olympics (2018), Paula Gallo demonstrated her beautiful work at Pentimento’s flower shop (2019) and 2008 SHS graduate Jordan Mazur became the San Francisco 49ers’ team dietitian. Our many interesting Valentine couples over the years included Eleanor and Jack Roddy (2009), Paul and Ione Gillen (2011), Shelia and Frank Beneski (2012), Pat and Dean Cosma (2013), Lin and Scott Seabury (2014), Tom and Anita Wardell (2016), Jackie and Ron Birmingham (2018), Carol and Harrison Griffin (2019), Margaret and Jack Bucior (2020) and Sandy and Jack Mather (2021).
We hope to provide a look into the past years, month by month, as we remember some of the front-page highlights.