The poems featured here were part of a collection written by Southwick school students (circa 1970). They appear here as they did in print - unedited. Teachers by Kris Sanders Teachers, teachers. I hate teachers.  Just because they talk like preachers.   Some are boring and put you to sleep. Some make lectures that make you weep.  Some have  hair of  brown, black, and gold. Some are young,  middled-age   and  old. Some are skinny, thin, and fat.  And some are in between that. Teachers, teachers, I hate teachers,  Just because they're unmerciful creatures, And their faces have ugly features.  After  all  they make good preachers.    The Eagle by Charles Hamberg   I saw you, an eagle, flying in the air. You're a rare one with golden hair. You fly at night around my star, So I'll always know where you are. You are the eagle,  the one who's great . For even a condor can you  intimidate. You sure...

Southwick Electric Company (rough draft) The newly incorporated Southwick Electric Company appeared before the Massachusetts State Board of Gas and Electric Light Commission in Boston on June 28, 1915, to gain approval to issue 600 shares of capital stock valued at $6,000. Southwick Electric planned to use the money generated from its stock offering to build a power station near the Westfield/Southwick town line, run lines to the town center, and purchase equipment to supply street lighting and electricity to Southwick businesses.  The new company negotiated with the Westfield Light Company, from which it would get either electricity or power. The company's officers were:  Raymond M. Fletcher, president Frank B. Gladwin, treasurer William Fletcher, director Harry B. Putnam, director During a special town meeting in August, Southwick voters approved installing street lights and authorized selectmen to contract with the Southwick Electric Light Company to provide electricity for...

Evelino Bernardara worked at the Ford Motor Company plant in Detroit, Michigan. In 1931, Evelino asked Sindone Melotti's parents permission to marry their fifteen-year-old daughter. When her parents refused, the couple eloped. Unbeknownst to her parents, Evelino (29) and Sindone obtained a marriage license in Ohio on April 23. On their application, Sindone lied about her age. After marrying in Toldeo, the couple returned to Detriot to pick up Sindone's belongings. They then moved to Southwick, Massachusetts, to live with Evelino's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Augustino Bernardara. Back in Detroit, Sindone's parents reported her missing, and police there arrested three men on April 29 in connection with her disappearance. They continued their search for Evelino, who was wanted for kidnapping. Armed with a warrant, a Massachusetts state detective out of Springfield and a Massachusetts State Police officer from the Agawam barracks went to Evelino's parents' home on May 1,...

Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez worked on the Hathaway and Steane Tobacco Plantation in Southwick, Massachusetts. He lived in the company's barracks with the other tobacco workers of Farm C; the sleeping quarters were on the second floor of the bunkhouse.   On the evening of September 20, 1958, Rodriguez went to the Estes Club, a popular gathering place for Puerto Ricans, on the third floor of 50 Ferry Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. There, he saw his crush, nineteen-year-old Otilio Vaxeo, who, repulsed by him, brushed aside his advances as she did in previous run-ins with him.  Rodriguez left the club.  Luz Maria Reyes Escribano Otilio left the club at about 12:15 a.m. with her brother-in-law, thirty-seven-year-old Nazario Gutierre Mendoza. Outside, they ran into Rodriguez, who pushed Otilio before producing a .32 caliber revolver. As Otilio turned, Rodriguez fired a shot point-blank into her back. He reportedly fired a second shot that entered the bicep of h...

Barnett's Grave in Suffield In November 1930, John F. Barnett Jr. submitted plans and an application to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Works seeking permission to place fill in Congamond Lake to provide a bathing beach.   After receiving state approval, John spent three years developing Barnett's Beach before it opened at Congamond Lake on July 4, 1935. It featured a dine-and-dance pavilion, live entertainment, "fine sandy bathing, picnic grove, boat livery, and recreation fields."   The resort, located on the south end of Middle Pond, had valuable frontage along the new Suffield-Congamond State Highway. The main building was five stories tall, about 300 feet long, and 75 feet wide. The ends were 50 feet wide. On one end was the dance hall and dining; the other was living quarters and cottages. Barnett's Beach held a dance until midnight on August 10, 1935. Following the dance, the night watchman made his usual rounds before calling it a ni...

Some 300 people visited Balch's Beach on the north end of Middle Pond at Lake Congamond between June 17 and 18, 1929. The amusement center held its grand opening on July 1. (Balch's Beach stretched across Point Grove Road to North Pond.) Balch's Beach featured a concession stand, live entertainment, a dancing pavilion, row boats and canoes, fishing, and a speed boat that provided lake tours. It also had a picnic grove, a bathhouse, and a merry-go-round. Cottages, campsites, another bathhouse, and a ballroom were later added. (A powerful searchlight was installed atop the bathhouse in 1931. The light mimicked daylight and illuminated the water for night swimming.) The Balch's Beach Ballroom became the Ritz Ballroom in 1930.  The original owner, Benjamin Babb, held a $5,000 first mortgage. Clayton Balch was the director, presumably until William P. Marcoullier of Westfield operated it under a trust agreement circa 1930-1. (However, Thompsonville Bottling Works filed a $50...