Flashback 2022: Part II

7. “Holyoke PEO celebrates 100 years of service, sisterhood” (June 1)

For 100 years, Holyoke’s Philanthropic Educational Organization Sisterhood, commonly called P.E.O., has served as a women’s organization dedicated to the promotion of general improvement within the community. Their chapter, BM, celebrated this centennial May 26 at First Christian Church with tears and laughs. Chapter Vice President Kimberlee Bennett, who chaired the event, had planned it for two years as a tribute to every P.E.O. member since the group’s 1922 founding.

Fifty people gathered under the theme, “Our Centennial Daisy Garden,” named after P.E.O.’s flower. “‘Much of the spirit of P.E.O. seems to be symbolized by the hardiness of the daisy,’” quoted Chapter President Sandy Triplette from the  Marguerite Memories book. Originally, the book had been published in 2003 to celebrate P.E.O.’s 100th anniversary in Colorado State.

In the anniversary’s promotion, Bennett had hoped to receive 100 cards, representing each year of the organization. Instead, they received nearly double the amount – 197 – which the group used to decorate their west wall. Each and every sister in the organization were featured on a front-to-back scrapbook page prepared by Bennett, in addition to five more scrapbooks covering the organization’s full history.

Included in the event were the chapter’s 50-year members Vera Beal, Judy Schliep, Judy Beavers, Pam Vieselmeyer, Karen Trumper, Susie Cox and Susanne Drescher. Colorado Chapter State President Kendy Cusick-Rindone also made an appearance, along with Treasurer Patty Fry and Secretary Kathy Pirie, and more representatives from Julesburg and Haxtun.

Since its founding, the BM Chapter has seen 177 members registered; its current enrollment sits at 42.

8.  $1 million / Can we make it happen? (Aug. 3)

Upon a piece of land in southeast Holyoke where the deer roam stands a sign that states: “Future Home of the Holyoke Community Childcare.” The Holyoke Community Childcare Initiative board has plans for this spot, plans to create a $3.35 million, 11,500 square-foot child care facility. To that end, they hosted a tour of the area on July 25 for interested community members.

Trisha Herman, the organization’s program director, said the Childcare Initiative had raised $1.6 million. They reapplied for a Department of Local Affairs Energy Impact Grant, worth $750,000, in September. At the time, they needed $1 million in pledges for a better shot at the grant.

Toward that end, Childcare Initiative hosted a tour of the area for interested community members, starting with a light meal at First Baptist Church.

“We need you to say, ‘This is a project worth pursuing,’” Herman said. “We still need to finish this marathon, and we need $1 million to get this done.”

In a 2018 survey that included 112 responders, 96% of Holyoke community members said they would support a childcare facility in the city and financially invest in one.

Previous efforts toward the facility include a capital campaign in October 2019 that raised $400,000 before it was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, and a $500,000 boost via donation by Shawn O’Neal.

The Childcare Initiative hopes to break ground on the facility by 2023.

9. “Holyoke community joins in celebration of longtime mayor’s life” (Oct. 19)

Nearly 250 people gathered at Holyoke Fire Station the morning of Monday, Oct. 17 to honor the memory of the city’s late mayor, Orville Tonsing, known for his support of both the city fire station and airport. Those in attendance shared some of Orville’s usual phrases, including “pick ‘er up!” and “If you’re going to do it, get ‘er done.”

His granddaughter Anna Beth Love remembered him as her “drinking buddy” and “favorite grandfather in the world.” His close friend Penny Dockins remembered him as “gruff, but gentle”; and not one to say, “I love you,” but one who showed it with his actions.

Since 1966, Orville had worked in a myriad of local, district and state firefighting positions; these included president of the Colorado State Firefighters of America, and secretary and treasurer for the Holyoke Rural Fire Board going on four decades.

Celebrant Jared Davis, in his opening remarks, said “nearly anyone” who knew Orville understood “there was no more appropriate place” to remember him than at the Fire Station. Through the late mayor’s help, the City of Holyoke gained an engine, full gear for the Fire Prevention District and a new rescue vehicle. In addition, the town of Amherst gained a water tender.

“The family knows that every ounce of work that was lovingly put in to today’s service,” Davis said, “was gladly done, without a second thought, for this incredible man.”

Both Orville and his late wife, Roberta, served as mayors of the city until their passing. Orville succumbed to an illness Oct. 10 after 12 years in office. Roberta served in the position from 2006-7, when she died of breast cancer.

“Orville and Roberta both held the Fire Department with a lot of pride and accountability,” said Bob Heldenbrand, a volunteer firefighter who spoke at the celebration. “And Roberta was especially tough. You had to prove to her why you needed that.”

In the year following Roberta’s death, Orville found a new relationship with Dockins, a bartender at the Holyoke Veterans Club. She noticed his health begin to decline in March, but he nonetheless insisted on traveling with her to Mexico to attend her daughter’s wedding. Because he liked a dress she wore there, Dockins wore the same one “to honor him” at the celebration.

Before the ceremony’s end, the fire station would be renamed for Orville.

10. “‘I’m in it for the people’ / Michael Hassell takes on critical access role as Melissa Memorial CEO” (Dec. 7)

Rising to the top of the final three candidates for Melissa Memorial Hospital CEO, Michael Hassell began work in Holyoke on Oct. 18 with a focus on “the people.”

“I want them to be happy they chose us for their care,” he said.

His journey began 1,800 miles outside of town, in Orlando, Florida, where he and Walt Disney World happened to share the same birthday: 1971. “[Growing] up with Mickey Mouse,” Hassell joined the Orlando Police Department out of high school and began “rolling up to homicide scenes at 3 o’clock in the morning.” He left the department to open an electrical contracting business, but found hustle of salesmanship and bookkeeping unsuitable.

One day in 2006, a neighbor of Hassell’s collapsed several streets away and he witnessed emergency medical technicians who arrived to help the man.

“I thought, ‘I always wanted to do that. Why didn’t I do that?’” Hassell said. “The next thing you know, I’m back in school.”

Upon graduating, he began work as a critical care paramedic in January 2009, then moved to “street” paramedic by September 2010. Often looking for new roles, he took on new management, consulting and administrative positions over the next 10 years in three Florida healthcare organizations. At one point, in April 2020, he fought the coronavirus pandemic in South Florida as deputy incident commander at a point of liaison between the state, and county health departments and facilities.

“The whole time,” he said, “a good friend and mentor was texting me almost every day: ‘Hey, when are you coming to Troy? When are you coming to Troy?’”

Hassell joined Troy Regional Medical Center, a rural hospital in Troy, Alabama, by September 2020. He took on an administrative role in the new setting, but said, “My boss’ plans for exiting that organization weren’t the same as my time date for wanting to move up.”

This situation led him to look toward the CEO position in Holyoke.

“There are just so many good, intrinsic things here,” he said of the hospital. “I think a lot of the building blocks are already here for things that can make us great.”

In an after-hours tour, he conversed with personnel; and showed off equipment used in physical therapy, mammograms, radiology and lab work.

“If Marriott had a hospital room, it would probably look like this,” he said, examining one of 15 inpatient rooms. “Even the floors look good.”

Moving forward, he emphasized diabetes outreach, the hospital’s “dedicated doctors” and personnel, its recognition by the Colorado Rural Health Center as one of the top three critical access hospitals, and its “cutting edge” services.

Using the Melissa Memorial’s remote patient monitoring system – the only one of its type in a rural Colorado clinic – the hospital managed reduce emergency room visits by 94 percent.

“That’s not even cutting edge,” Hassell specified. “That’s tip-of-the-spear modern healthcare.”