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Picture This

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Chilling Out for a Causesp-icebucket-15

Chilling Out for a Cause Fort Street in Springfield played host on Aug. 29 to the Springfield Student Prince ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Event organizers raised $21,000 for the Massachusetts ALS Foundation and specifically to help people in the community who have been stricken with the disease. “When Governor Baker recently filed legislation making the first week in August each year the Ice Bucket Challenge Week, we took it as a special challenge to us here in Springfield, now, to help before the month of August ended. We did not want to wait until next year to begin this tradition,” said event organizer Bill Sampson. Event sponsors included BID Springfield, the Massachusetts Lottery, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Rondeau Ice, Snap Chef, the Springfield Thunderbirds, A.L. Cignoli Co., and the Student Prince and Fort. In addition, Rocky’s Ace Hardware donated 300 buckets.

Fort Street in Springfield played host on Aug. 29 to the Springfield Student Prince ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Event organizers raised $21,000 for the Massachusetts ALS Foundation and specifically to help people in the community who have been stricken with the disease. “When Governor Baker recently filed legislation making the first week in August each year the Ice Bucket Challenge Week, we took it as a special challenge to us here in Springfield, now, to help before the month of August ended. We did not want to wait until next year to begin this tradition,” said event organizer Bill Sampson. Event sponsors included BID Springfield, the Massachusetts Lottery, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Rondeau Ice, Snap Chef, the Springfield Thunderbirds, A.L. Cignoli Co., and the Student Prince and Fort. In addition, Rocky’s Ace Hardware donated 300 buckets.




Family Fun in Amherst

Local improv company Happier Valley Comedy has moved its interactive Happier FAMILY Comedy Show to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst. The move places the family-friendly comedy show in a prime location packed full of kid-centric creativity and imagination. The Happier FAMILY Comedy Show is held the third Saturday of every month.

Local improv company Happier Valley Comedy has moved its interactive Happier FAMILY Comedy Show to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst. The move places the family-friendly comedy show in a prime location packed full of kid-centric creativity and imagination. The Happier FAMILY Comedy Show is held the third Saturday of every month.




Banking on Growth

Florence Bank hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 14 at its new Hampden County Banking Center in West Springfield, the bank’s first office in Hampden County. All Florence Bank services will be offered through the new center, including deposits and loan products, mobile services to provide 24-hour access to accounts, mortgage-application services, debit-card issuance, commercial-loan capacity, and investment services. The center, which will also offer a drive-up ATM and night depository, will be staffed by eight employees. The bank occupies about 3,000 square feet of a new plaza, developed by the Colvest Group, at the intersection of Union Street and Memorial Avenue, where St. Ann Roman Catholic Church was once located.

Florence Bank hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 14 at its new Hampden County Banking Center in West Springfield, the bank’s first office in Hampden County. All Florence Bank services will be offered through the new center, including deposits and loan products, mobile services to provide 24-hour access to accounts, mortgage-application services, debit-card issuance, commercial-loan capacity, and investment services. The center, which will also offer a drive-up ATM and night depository, will be staffed by eight employees. The bank occupies about 3,000 square feet of a new plaza, developed by the Colvest Group, at the intersection of Union Street and Memorial Avenue, where St. Ann Roman Catholic Church was once located.




Staging Ground

 The Springfield College departments of Physical Therapy and Visual and Performing Arts recently hosted a cross-disciplinary collaboration that focused on effective communication skills that help build and maintain strong relationships between physical therapists and their patients and clients. Led by Department of Visual and Performing Arts Chair Martin Shell (pictured, right) and Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Salome Brooks, the one-day workshop helped more than 40 physical therapy students feel more comfortable in their settings by focusing on interpersonal rapport, non-verbal communication, and fundamental presence with others. Shell’s experiential methods, developed for acting classes from the traditions of theater technique, allow for fun and illuminating communication exercises for physical therapy students. “I’ve never had any doubt that the techniques we actors use for observation and training, in preparation to creatively express the complexities of human relationships in collaboration with others, are very useful in many areas of life and work,” he said.

The Springfield College departments of Physical Therapy and Visual and Performing Arts recently hosted a cross-disciplinary collaboration that focused on effective communication skills that help build and maintain strong relationships between physical therapists and their patients and clients. Led by Department of Visual and Performing Arts Chair Martin Shell (pictured, right) and Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Salome Brooks, the one-day workshop helped more than 40 physical therapy students feel more comfortable in their settings by focusing on interpersonal rapport, non-verbal communication, and fundamental presence with others. Shell’s experiential methods, developed for acting classes from the traditions of theater technique, allow for fun and illuminating communication exercises for physical therapy students. “I’ve never had any doubt that the techniques we actors use for observation and training, in preparation to creatively express the complexities of human relationships in collaboration with others, are very useful in many areas of life and work,” he said.