Daily News

EASTHAMPTON bankESB has promoted three of its officers to vice president. 

Meagan Barrett has been promoted to vice president, Human Resources. Barrett joined bankESB in 2008 as a human resources assistant. She was promoted to officer in 2016 and to assistant vice president in 2019. Barrett manages a team of six and has responsibility for human resources across the family of banks of Hometown Financial Group, including bankESB, bankHometown, and Abington Bank. Barrett earned the designation of Certified Employee Engagement Specialist and also maintains a Professional in Human Resources certification. She is currently pursuing designations as both senior professional in Human Resources and the Society for Human Resources Management senior certified professional, and also is a member of the HR Advisory Council for Employers Association of the NorthEast (EANE). Barrett is active in the community, volunteering for Easter Seals and as a youth sports coach. 

Cara Crochier has been promoted to vice president, Marketing. Crochier joined bankESB as a teller in 2008 and joined the Marketing department the following year. She was promoted to interactive marketing officer in 2015 and to assistant vice president in 2018. Crochier manages a team of four and has overall responsibility for campaign management, advertising agency relations, and all earned and owned media channels across the Hometown Financial Group family of banks. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political communication from Emerson College and the designation of Certified Financial Marketing Professional from the American Bankers Association Bank Marketing School at Emory University. Crochier is active in the community, serving as a board member and clerk for the Children’s Advocacy Center and as a committee member of the New England Financial Marketing Association. 

Stacey Tower has been promoted to vice president, Strategic Project Management. Tower joined bankESB in 2001 as a teller and has held various positions in both retail banking and operations prior to joining the information technology/projects team in 2008 as a project coordinator. She was promoted to bank officer in 2014 and currently manages a team of five project managers. Tower earned her bachelor’s degree in leadership and organizational studies from Bay Path University, completed the Graduate School of Banking’s program in technology management last year, and earned the designation Certified Associate in Project Management from the Project Management Institute. She is also a board member of the Lathrop Retirement Community and is a volunteer with the Cutchins Programs for Children and Families. 

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SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) will stage its next concert, ‘Dances of Spring,’ on May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Springfield Symphony Hall with guest conductor Mark Russell Smith. 

Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased on the Springfield Symphony Orchestra website, springfieldsymphony.org/event/dances-of-spring/, or by calling the SSO box office at (413) 733-2291. The box office is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets also include free parking. 

Mark Russell Smith will lead the orchestra in Michael Abels’ Liquify, which captures the shifting moods of a great river. Abels is a U.S. composer and producer best known for his scores for the Oscar-winning films Get Out and Us.  

The concert will also feature the dance music of great composers Aaron Copland and Gabriela Lena Frank, with Copland’s Saturday Night Waltz and Frank’s Coquetos, followed by Johannes Brahms’ famous Symphony #1. 

“The diversity of the composers we are featuring in our May 13 program will be something to witness — two living composers of non-traditional backgrounds, Abels and Frank, combined with the classic beauty of Copland and Brahms,” said SSO Interim Director Paul Lambert. “It will serve as a wonderful bookend to our 2022 spring concerts as we look forward to planning a new 2022-23 season.” 

Smith, who previously served as music director and conductor of the SSO from 1995-2000, is music director and conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. He has worked as director of New Music Projects for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Minnesota, and has also served as music director for the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. Smith Also served as guest conductor for the SSO’s first Spring concert on April 22. 

To learn more about the music that will be featured and to purchase tickets, visit the SSO’s website: www.springfieldsymphony.org/event/dances-of-spring/.  

Concert dates for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s 2022-23 season will be announced in the near future. 

Daily News

HOLYOKE — Gary Rome Hyundai will host a 25th Anniversary celebration event on May 13 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the dealership’s showroom located at 150 Whiting Farms Road in Holyoke. Media is invited to attend. 

The evening will include entertainment, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts as well as valet parking service for all guests. Political strategist Anthony Cignoli, President of A.L. Cignoli Company, will emcee the event, and local politicians will present proclamations to Gary Rome, president of Gary Rome Hyundai. The dignitaries will include State Sen. John Velis, State Rep. Patricia Duffy, Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, Holyoke city councilors, and Robert O’Koniewski, Executive Vice President of the Mass. State Automobile Dealers Assoc., among others. Executives from Hyundai Motor America will also be in attendance and will be making two charitable donations on Gary Rome Hyundai’s behalf in honor of the dealership’s anniversary. Brandon Ramirez, director, and Michelle Karajelian, manager, of Hyundai’s Corporate Social Responsibility and External Relations division will present a $10,000 check to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and a $5,000 check to Holyoke Community College’s Thrive Food Pantry. Jillian Morgan, director of Philanthropy, and Cheyenne Burnham, Public Engagement manager, both of the Food Bank, will be in attendance to accept their check. From Holyoke Community College, Christina Royal, president, and Amanda Sbriscia, vice president of Institutional Advancement, will be present to accept their check. 

“I am beyond grateful that the community has driven with us for 25 years and I am thrilled to celebrate this milestone with everyone on May 13,” said Rome. “As the owner, I receive lots of recognition and many accolades for the dealership’s performance and achievements, but it’s truly the staff at Gary Rome Hyundai that deserves the recognition and accolades; the staff that shows up to work every day and goes above and beyond to make Gary Rome Hyundai the exemplary dealership that it has become over 25 years. I would not be celebrating this milestone without them, and without the support of the Western Mass community. I am most thankful.” 

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CHICOPEE — College of Our Lady of the Elms will stage its 91st Commencement exercises on May 14 at 10 a.m., with the procession starting at 9:30 a.m., at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield.  
More than 400 students — undergraduate, master’s, and doctor-of-nursing practice — will participate in the ceremony 
Francis Kirley, president and CEO of Nexion Health, will deliver the commencement address for the Class of 2022 and receive an honorary degree. As the founder and president and CEO of Nexion Health, Kirley leads more than 40 skilled nursing facilities in Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. He has more than 32 years of acute and long-term healthcare management experience and founded Nexion to be a strong clinically-driven healthcare organization. 
Honorary degrees will also be awarded to Karen Keating Ansara, founder and chair of the Network of Engaged International Donors, and Maureen Ann Kervick, SSJ, former administrator at Elms College, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the world. 
Ansara and her husband, Jim, make grants to end global poverty with a focus on Haiti. In late 2008, she launched New England International Donors, now the Network of Engaged International Donors, a nationwide network of more than 180 philanthropists, foundations, and impact investors learning and funding to address the world’s big problems. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Ansara co-founded the Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation, now the Haiti Development Institute, which strengthens Haitian-led organizations and connects funders to them. 

Sister Maureen taught at schools in the Springfield and Providence Dioceses before becoming administrator at Mont Marie Infirmary. She was director of student services and dean of students at Elms College, associate retreat director of Our Lady of Sorrows Monastery in West Springfield, and a nursing instructor at Springfield College. She also served as vice president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield from 1987 to 1993. Sr. Maureen was both administrator and executive director at St. Gabriel’s Youth House, Shelter Island Heights, NY, and the administrator of Seton Manor, an agency of Catholic Charities in Boston. She returned to Elms College as director of campus ministry. Currently, she is administrator of The National Marian Shrine and former site supervisor for the Passionist Volunteers. More details on Elms College’s Commencement activities can be found at:  commencement.elms.edu/ 

Daily News

WESTFIELD — Area residents are invited to pedal for a great cause and help raise donations for Cancer House of Hope. A ride is scheduled on the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail for June 11 (rain date is June 12). 

In addition to a small registration fee, ride participants are asked to raise donations from family, friends, and colleagues, with an individual fundraising goal of $100, and a family fundraising goal of $150.  

The ride encourages and welcomes riders of all ages and skill levels. Participants can bike five, 10, or 20 miles. Support stations will be available at all turn-around points and the start/finish location — the Stop & Shop at 57 Main St. in Westfield. To register, visit chd.org/chainofhope. For more information, call Margaret Toomey, (413) 733-1858.