Westfield native Major-General William Shepard crammed a lot of action into his 80 years of life…read more He fought in 22 battles and was one tough sonuvabitch.. He fought in King George's War and the French and Indian War, He fought in Quebec, and served in the Revolutionary War, he defended Springfield during Shay's Rebellion, he served in the War of 1812. Why was he tough sonuvabitch? During the Revolution, he was shot in the neck by a cannon ball. He gained consciousness while the doctors were digging the ball out of his neck. He asked for a drink of water, and told the doctors to bandage him up so he could return to the fight. Now that's what I call a tough guy! When his military service ended, he turned to public service and became a state representative, senator, and councilor. He was elected to congress three times, and later in life served in town politics and was his church's deacon for 24 years. Westfield honors one of its most impressive native sons with a 1919 bronze statue on a town green at the intersection of Elm, Court, and Broad Streets. Several inscription on the stone base read: MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM SHEPARD 1737-1817 REPRESENTATIVE IN THE GENERAL COURT STATE SENATOR GOVERNOR'S COUNCILLOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTOR MEMBER OF CONGRESS U.S. COMMISSIONER TO THE SIX NATIONS MODERATOR XII YEARS SELECTMAN OF WESTFIELD XXVII YEARS DEACON OF THE CHURCH CHARTER TRUSTEE OF WESTFIELD ACADEMY ............................. ERECTED BY THE DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL SHEPARD AND THE PEOPLE OF WESTFIELD 1919. ....................... CAPTAIN - FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 1754-1763 MEMBER OF COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE AND SAFETY CONTINENTAL LINE ENGAGED IN XXII BATTLES 1775-1783 COLONEL AND BRIGADIER GENERAL MAYOR - GENERAL MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA SUBDUING SHAY'S REBELLION When he passed away. Someone wrote "No taint of meanness or dishonesty ever attached itself to him. He was distinguished for his good character and his unbending integrity."

Wow- the second Pulaski monument I've seen today!!…read more This one is very similar to the one I saw less than six miles away in Northampton. The Pulaski Monument is also located in a Pulaski Park; just like its Northampton cousin. This Pulaski Park is located in the center of Easthampton, at the rotary where Northampton Street, Main Street, and Pleasant Streets all merge. But what distinguishes the Easthampton version of Pulaski Park from the Northampton version of Pulaski Park is the awesome Pulaski Gazebo. The top of the Kasimer Pulaski Monument has an engraving of the White Eagle of Poland over a crossed US flag and a flag of the Polish Coat of Arms. The inscription below reads: IN MEMORY OF GENERAL CASIMIR PULASKI REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO AND CHIEF OF THE AMERICAN CAVALRY, WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE FREEDOM OF OUR COUNTRY. OCT 11, 1779 AT SAVANNAH, GA ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS OF EASTHAMPTON. OCT 11, 1929

He was the first President born in the 20th century. he was one of the nation's youngest…read morepresidents. And for Americans of a certain generation, his death on November 22, 1963 was a shattering life event. The John F. Kennedy memorial plaza was funded by the parishioners of the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Holyoke and the memorial is located on front of the church. The memorial consists of a granite base and a bust of a youthful Kennedy. There are granite slabs flanking the memorial with quotes from his inaugural address and book "Profiles in Courage". Behind the memorial are granite blocks engraved with the names of recipients of the JFK award and the Grand Marshals of the St. Patrick's Day parade. The front of the base is inscribed: John Fitzgerald Kennedy 35th president of the United States May 29, 1917 Nov. 22, 1963 The back of the base has the presidential seal and the following inscription: John Fitzgerald Kennedy May 29, 1917 Nov. 22, 1963 The various inscriptions read: "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country" inaugural address 1961 "All this will not be finished in the first hundred days, nor will it be finished in the first thousand days, but let us begin." inaugural address 1961 "A man does what he must -- in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and damages and pressures, and that is the basis of all human morality" "Profiles in Courage" 1955 "... let us go forth to lead the land we love asking his blessing and his help, but knowing that here on earth god's work must truly be our own." Inaugural Address 1961

Not the biggest or most interesting memorial park I've been to, but a nice little park non the…read moreless. I drive by often and have stopped here a couple times and I'm actually really impressed with how well kept the memorial area is. I wouldn't say this location is something worth making a special trip, but do stop in if you're in the area.

Not only is this art, it's useful art! This cute statue is also a donation station to help feed the…read morehungry in Northampton. Definitely keep some cash on hand so you can donate when you inevitably walk by. If you want to donate to the hungry but don't have cash, you can buy an art ribbon book mark at Broadside Books up the street with plastic. Their proceeds also go to a food based cause.

When you stroll through the streets of Northampton there is no telling what you'll see. In our…read morecase, one of the first things that caught our eye was this adorable statue of a reclining frog. It was stretched out over a concrete vault that held a coin slot, silently soliciting donations from passers-by to feed the homeless. The coin slot is cut into a door to the vault. The side of the vault has a brochure holder with information on homeless services and how to make a donation. The vault also has two bronze plaques. The one on the front states: "Feed the Frog Feed the Hungry" "All donations made to the "Happy Frog" bank will go directly to feeding the hungry of our community because Northampton cares." A plaque on the side acknowledges the frog's sculptor: "In gratitude to Lu Stubbs, Sculptor -2008-" What a perfect combination of creativity, art, community service, and charity, Yes, Northampton does care.

The Quarrymen was the original name of John Lennon's band before it became the Beatles…read more A quarryman is someone who works in a stone quarry. Here in Center Hill Park, you will find a bronze statue of a Quarryman; honoring East Longmeadow's 19th century heritage as a quarrying center for red sandstone. Back in the day, there were over 50 working stone quarries in the area It's quite a statue; a serious looking guy with a floppy hat and floppy mustache is wearing bib overalls and holding a massive sledge hammer. He's standing on a big slab of red sandstone. There are more blocks of sandstone all around him. A plaque near the statue reads: THE QUARRYMAN Saluting the industry of our Founding Fathers here in the East Village who quarried red and brown sandstone from over fifty quarries during the 1800's. Their work remains enshrined in noted buildings across the land. This sculpture by Gregory Stone is a gift to the Town of East Longmeadow on the Celebration of its Centennial by L. James and Janet K. McKnight Dedicated July 3, 1994

The Ware-Hardwick Covered Bridge is also known as the Gilbertville Covered Bridge because of its…read morelocation - specifically, it spans the Ware River at the village of Gilbertville, which lies within the town of Hardwick. The bridge connects the towns of Ware and Hardwick, but its immediate setting in Gilbertville gives rise to the alternate name. This dual naming reflects both geographic and historical context. Gilbertville was a 19th-century industrial village founded by the George H. Gilbert Company, and the bridge served as a vital link between the mills and surrounding communities. Built in 1886, it stands as one of only four wooden covered bridges in the state still located on their original sites. It is a single-span Town lattice truss, a design patented in 1820 by Ithiel Town. This system uses a dense web of diagonally crisscrossed planks, creating a strong yet economical structure without relying on arches. The bridge is about 137 feet long and 25 feet wide, with vertical board siding and a gabled metal roof. Notably, the siding leaves a strip open along the sides to allow natural light inside. The mills and tenements that once defined the village of Gilbertville were largely destroyed in a flood during the 1930s, but the bridge endured. In 1986, underwent major restoration in 1986-87, and was closed again in 2002 due to structural concerns including insect damage. After a $1.9 million rehabilitation, it reopened in 2010 with no weight limit. I wasn't sure if there was a place on the other side to make a U-turn, even though it has a high height limit so I opted not to drive the Sprinter through. I walked across to appreciate the bridge from inside and both sides of the span. It's a beautiful bridge. [Review 1123 of 2025 - 1268 in Massachusetts - 24676 overall]

This was the 9th covered bridge I visited in the course of 1 day. By the time I got here, all I…read morethought was that I didn't like the red on the front. I guess after 9 covered bridges you start getting petty. It's located off Route 32. Which is not a Scenic Road. And it really isn't visible from Route 32. But Waze happily gets you there. This is a bucket list bridge.

The 41st Annual Emily Dickinson Poetry walk lead us to West Cemetery. The stroll starts at the…read moreDickinson's residence with a few stops on the walk through the town to the cemetery. It is held on/near the anniversary of her death so West being the last stop is very fitting. As you enter the cemetery there is a beautiful mural encompassing pieces of Amherst but especially Emily. At the cemetery, a gentlemen performed a song her wrote, they read a poem and everyone help up a glass to cheers Emily on her anniversary. Everyone then left a daisy (supplied by her house- her favorite flower) to be left in remembrance of the poet long passed. This event was put on by her house museum right down the street. it was a well organized event and just pretty nifty. They did give a brief little history of the cemetery as well- it dates back to having a segregated African American section.

Watch your GPS approaching this cemetery, because the entrance is quickly there and gone. I'm not…read moresure if there's parking anywhere in back, but no one seemed to mind my brazen approach of driving the paths at random trying to find the resting place of one Emily Dickinson. (Fellow Yelpers, thank you for the pictures of the wrought iron bars, those helped a lot!) Many fans have left tokens for Emily and her sister, and the graves do seem to be accessible from the back as well. The other graves are beautiful as well, in a graveyard way, and worth admiring.

For my 400th review (and probably final "milestone review" in Boston), I'm going home…read more From about the age of 2 until I went to college, and then brief periods thereafter between college and grad school, and grad school and job, I lived here. Longmeadow is the very definition of suburbia: small, quaint town with a few schools, stores, and other random thingies that make it another part of suburban America. Yet it's much more New England suburbia than anything else, and suburbia that's been in massive flux. It's a town where until the late 80s/early 90s, national chains were nonexistant, but now have basically eaten all of the small stores save for a few regionals (Big Y and Friendly's, though the latter could also be called national) or small niche stores. The Movie Shops became a Subway after Blockbuster gouged it. Ryan Drug was eaten by CVS, which then later ate Bliss Pharmacy across the street (whose space was then eaten by Big Y), and Starbucks, well, Starbucks didn't really eat anything. But the Community Market became a bank. That wasn't cool. They had good cookies :(. Socially, it's not too exciting. There are no bars except for the Hu Ke Lau's bar, and really, that's not much of a bar (the bars are across the border in Enfield, CT). In terms of events, other than stuff related to the high school, not much is usually going on (though the small confines (9 sq mi) probably make it tough to have multiple regular events. The town itself seems to be doing okay, though facing the same difficulties that other places are. It's quite well off, something that can get a little grating if you're the middle class kid from an upper class town. The schools and facilities are excellent, and every Memorial Day Weekend, there's a festival on the Green in the middle of town, holding onto Colonial tradition while also moving into the 21st Century. My overall Longmeadow experience is not nearly as bad as I initially remembered it. I hated high school, though I think everyone hated high school. Generally, it's that "nice place you can raise kids in" sort of place that TV shows and sappy songs talk about, save for the fact I outgrew it. There isn't as much here as one would hope, and it's disconnected a bit from the world outside: yes there's a highway, but Springfield, despite being next door, feels like another world away. Overall, Longmeadow is a large part of my life. I had good days and I had bad days, but it made me just as much as any other experience made me. The town did facilitate my way in life through the public school system, though they did also find a way to forget to send me my absentee ballot in '06. Just as Boston is currently a part of me, and Chapel Hill will be, Longmeadow was and still is. :)