The event, hosted by the Springfield Kiwanis Club, was paid for in part with grants from the Springfield-based law firm of Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley, and the Kiwanis Foundation of New England.

Kiwanians from the Springfield and Westfield clubs were joined by members of the Easthampton-Southampton, Northampton, and Southern Berkshire Kiwanis Clubs, the Longmeadow High School Key Club, and the American International College Kiwanis Circle K Club.

Westfield President Amanda Waterfield, Immediate Past President George Delisle, Secretary Geana Delisle, and Past Presidents John Lanoue and Adam Wright took part. District Governor Karl Uzcatagui from the Fairfield, CT, Kiwanis Club was also among the volunteers at the event, which was held at the Springfield Lodge of Elks.

The Westfield Kiwanis Club kicked off our 105^th year of service to the Greater Westfield community Friday night with our annual officer installation and awards night.

The ceremonies were held at Tekoa Country Club in Westfield.

The club recognized members for reaching membership milestones, and honored the 2025-2026 Kiwanian of the Year and the first-ever winner of the Rev. Joseph Soltysiak Leadership Award.

Outgoing club president George Delisle served as master of ceremonies. Westfield Kiwanians were joined by members from the Springfield, Northampton, Easthampton, and Southern Berkshire Kiwanis Clubs, as well as from the Kiwanis Club of Greater Enfield, CT, and the Kiwanis Club of Likasi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Incoming President and outgoing Division 15 Lieutenant Governor Amanda Waterfield was recognized with the New England and Bermuda District of Kiwanis Legion of Merit for reaching 10 years with the club. Members Jerome Pitoniak and Heather Witalisz received their 15-year pins.

Past President B. Bradley Cassin received Kiwanis International’s Legion of Honor membership for 25 years with the club, and Past President Kenneth Magarian received his 45-year Legion of Honor pin.

Member Daniele Sturmer was honored with the Kiwanis Ruby K award for recruiting more than five new members into the club.

Dr. Sylvia Abar was honored by the club with the first-ever Joseph Soltysiak Leadership Award. The award is named for past club president “Father Joe” Soltysiak, who died last year. Dr. Abar, a retired educator, was recognized for her years of work as the club’s service leadership chair, and for spearheading the Westfield Kiwanis Good Citizen Awards program.

Incoming President Amanda was honored as Kiwanian of the Year for her work for the club, her service as Div. 15 lieutenant governor, and the efforts she put in as the district’s First Lady in 2025-2026. Before being installed as the new club president, Amanda passed the divisional lieutenant governor’s home club banner to new Lieutenant Governor David Tully.

Lt. Gov. David discharged the 2025-2026 board from its duties before installing the new officers and board. Installed were President Amanda Waterfield, Immediate Past President George Delisle, President-elect Stephen Dondley, Secretary Geana Delisle, Treasurer Anne Benoit, and directors Cathleen Bastible, John Lanoue, Daniele Sturmer, Drew Renfro, Chris DiSanto, and Adam Wright.

Plan now to be with us as the Westfield Kiwanis Club kicks off our 105th year of service at our annual Installation Night on Friday, Sept. 25, at Tekoa Country Club.

We will celebrate the past year’s achievements, honor the Donald Blair Kiwanian of the Year and the Rev. Joseph Soltysiak Leadership Award winners, install our new officers and board members, and enjoy an evening of good food, fun, and fellowship.

The $60 per person admission includes a buffet dinner of garden salad, garlic breadsticks, roast beef with mushroom demi glaze, stuffed chicken breast with bread stuffing and white wine cream sauce, oven-roasted red bliss potatoes, herb roasted mixed vegetables, coffee and dessert.

RSVP by Sept. 18 to secretary@westfieldkiwanis.com, or purchase tickets here: https://bit.ly/4gvv5cp

You may not know what service clubs do, or how being a member can be a very worthwhile experience.

We’d like to tell you all about it.

The Westfield Kiwanis Club will hold an open house membership interest event on Thursday, September 17 at Emma’s Everyday Gourmet, 45 Washington St., Westfield. Enjoy some pizza on us, meet our members, and hear all about the work Kiwanis has done for our Greater Westfield community since our founding in 1922.

There’s no obligation, but we hope that once you find out what our club is all about, you’ll decide that you would like to be part of our Kiwanis family and share in our work.

The motto of Kiwanis is “Serving the Children of the World.” That’s what we do. It’s our goal to make our community a better place for all, every day. Plan to be with us Sept. 17 as we explain how. Learn about us, our long history of service, and how being a member of Kiwanis can enrich your life.

The Kiwanis Club of Westfield wishes our beloved past president Dale Mae Dickson a very happy 80th birthday today.

Dale became a member in 1999, became club vice-president the following year, and then took on the job of club president in 2001 when her predecessor unexpectedly resigned. She has been a friend and mentor to all who followed her in the role.

Well-known in the Westfield business community, Dale enjoyed a long and distinguished career as superintendent of the city’s iconic Pine Hill Cemetery, retiring several years ago.

Happy birthday, Dale!

Food insecurity is a major problem in Western Massachusetts. A study conducted for the Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham a few weeks ago warned that food insecurity is increasing across the state, and especially in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.

Our club is committed to assuring that our friends and neighbors have access to health, quality food sources like the Westfield Food Pantry.

Every third grade student in Westfield’s schools is getting a lesson on bicycle safety and a new bike helmet from the Westfield Kiwanis Club.

Past club president Brad Cassin, himself an avid cyclist, is presenting a program on bicycle safety to third graders at every Westfield public and parochial elementary school in May and June. As part of the program, each student is fitted with a new high-quality bike helmet by Kiwanis volunteers. The helmets are provided by the Kiwanis Club with the assistance of New Horizons Bikes and the Friends of the Columbia Greenway.

Cassin teaches the students how to do a pre-ride safety check, how to avoid common riding safety mistakes, proper use of reflectors and lights, how to signal turns, the importance of wearing a helmet, and more.

The children are also informed about a new Westfield Police Department safety initiative. This summer, city police officers will stop children seen riding their bikes, scooters, or skateboards while wearing proper helmets to reward them with a coupon for a free ice cream cone. The coupons can be redeemed at Mrs. C’s Soft Serve, Mr. Whippy’s Golf Acres, or Northside Creamery. The program is funded by Westfield Gas & Electric/Whip City Fiber.

Outstanding student leaders from the Westfield Kiwanis Club’s sponsored high school Key Clubs were honored recently at a ceremony during a weekly Kiwanis Club meeting.

Kiwanis’s Key Club International is the world’s oldest and largest student-led high school service organization, with more than 200,000 members and around 5,000 clubs worldwide. Key Club was founded in Sacramento, California, in 1925.

The Westfield Kiwanis Club sponsors Kiwanis Key Club chapters at Westfield High School, Westfield Technical Academy, St. Mary’s High School and West Springfield High School.

The Key Club Distinguished Service awards are presented to a Key Club member in the Senior class who, in the opinion of the club’s faculty advisor, has shown outstanding leadership and compiled an excellent record of service. This year’s award winners are:

• Andy Liu, Westfield High School, selected by advisor Thomas O’Neill.

• Brady Dominik, St. Mary’s High School, selected by advisor Matthew Collins.

• Laylah Debian, West Springfield High School, selected by advisor Anita-Ann Moore.

Each student was presented with a certificate of appreciation from the club and a $500 cash award.

Forrest McSweeney, director of The Uplift Project and a member of the Northampton Kiwanis Club, told Westfield Kiwanis members Thursday about his agency’s work building self-sufficiency in a remote Guyanan village.

McSweeney told members about his experiences hiking with his family in the small country on the northern coast of South America. He explained that the poverty and difficult conditions he saw in rural villages made him want to do something to help. His answer was The Uplift Project, which is designed to help Guyanas help themselves by providing financing for local farmers, businesses, and entrepreneurs.

He told club members about a woman in a remote village who supported herself in part by baking bread for sale. Her tiny propane-fired oven would only permit her to bake two loaves of bread at one time, he learned. Through donations, The Uplift Project was able to buy her a new, large oven that can handle six loaves of bread at a time, greatly increasing her earning capacity.

Others have been helped with donations of farm tools, produce processing machinery, and other equipment, a sewing machine, and more.

McSweeney said a current important project involves the purchase and installation of 500 gallon rainwater retention tanks and roof gutter systems to facilitate the collection and storage of rainwater, which is the only source of potable water for many villagers. To help raise funds for purchase and installation of these tanks, which cost approximately $500 US each, McSweeney is planning a 100 mile solo trek in June through the Guyana rainforest. He is asking supporters to make a per-mile pledge, all of which will go to the water tank program. Pledges can be made at https://upliftproject.org/project-walk-for-clean-water/