Hello Everyone,
I hope you are doing well and staying warm! This upcoming Monday, Jan. 20th, the Commonwealth will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As we honor his memory this weekend, I hope you can take a moment to reflect on his dedication to building a better world for all of its citizens.
To kick off the week I was over at Easthampton High School to visit their brilliant “We The People” class. For those who might not be familiar, this class teaches students how to research and apply their knowledge to legal and constitutional issues. Over the past few years students who have participated in this challenging course have gone on to win both state and national championships. I always know when I visit this class, I better prepare the night before like I did for a law school exam.
I was thrilled to join community members in Agawam on Wednesday to celebrate the grand opening of a new Italian restaurant, The Saucy Mama. I loved being able to connect and learn more about the inspiring family behind this restaurant, who through hard work took their years of experience in the restaurant industry to grow their business from a food truck to their new grab-and-go kitchen. I can’t wait to make it back over for a bite to eat!
Later in the week Representative Pease and I got together over at Westfield Technical High School to record the most recent episode of my local cable TV show “Beacon Hill to the 413”. Together Representative Pease and I dived into all that you need to know about the legislative process and some of the issues we hope to tackle this session. Keep an eye out for an airing on your local community broadcast channel or head on over to my website to watch anytime.
Later this morning I will be over at the Westfield River School on Franklin Street to celebrate the opening of the new school with an official ribbon cutting! Our children deserve to be educated in school buildings and classrooms that are equipped with the resources that meet the needs of modern-day education. That is why I was so proud to work alongside the City of Westfield in engaging with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to ensure the City received state funding to support the construction of this new school building and saving local taxpayers millions of dollars. Community members are welcome to attend the ribbon cutting and take a tour of the new classrooms beginning at 11:00AM.
This week Team Velis hosted office hours in Holyoke. Next week we will be hosting office hours at the Easthampton Council on Aging from 10:30am to 11:30am on Tuesday January 21st. If you are unable to make office hours, I can always be reached by email, john.velis@masenate.gov, by phone, (413) 572-3920, and you can find me online at senatorjohnvelis.com.
Best,
John Velis