Local seniors enjoy St. Patrick’s Day luncheon, sponsored by Bellingham Police Association
BELLINGHAM – Eight years ago, Bellingham Police Sgt. Edward Guzowski and a handful of other members of the Bellingham Police Association were sitting around the station trying to come up with ideas on how the association could better serve the community.
“One of the requirements in the association’s constitution is community service and we wanted to do more in that area,” said Guzowski. “So, we started looking around and discovered that a lot of the other service organizations centered their annual community service events around holidays, including Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving. We got stuck with St. Patrick’s Day and I’m glad we did.”
And so are the town’s senior citizens who have been coming to the Bellingham Police Association’s annual St Patrick’s Day Luncheon for Senior Citizens since 2010. A popular St. Paddy’s Day tradition in Bellingham, the annual luncheon was held Wednesday where more than 300 seniors turned out at the Coachmen’s Lodge to feast on a free traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner with all
the trimmings.
The luncheon is free and open to any Bellingham resident 60 years or older. Reservations fill up early and the event is typically sold out weeks in advance, which was the case again this year.
“It’s been tremendously popular,” said Guzowski, who has been coordinating the luncheon every year with team of officers. “At this point, we’ve got it down to a science.”
Helping out this year were Sergeants Lee Rolls and Ken Lemarre, Detective Steve Daigle and Officers John Melanson, Mark Auld, Amy Kirby, Scott Dion, Stephen Foss, Steven Houle, Chris Padula and Anthony Bavosi and dispatchers Raymond Harding, Jason Acord and Charlie McLaughlin.
The BPA is the union of police officers and sergeants in the town of Bellingham. It supports several charitable organizations and sports teams. Each year officers deliver holiday dinners to Bellingham families in need, and generously support the Bellingham Women of Today’s Santa’s Elves program. The President of the Bellingham Police Association is Officer Rich Nummela.
The St. Patrick’s Day luncheon has become an annual event and it helps to maintain and enhance relationships with the town’s senior citizens, Guzowski says.
The BPA has a partnership with Bill and Dimitri Nicholas, owners of the Coachmen’s Lodge, which cooks the dinners at cost. The dinners are prepared by Coachmen’s executive chef Giafranco Campanella and served by members of the association and volunteers, who also hand out door prizes and other gifts.
Sygma Boston and Reinhart Agar donated the corned beef and vegetables.
Guest hosts and volunteers handling the raffle prizes and decorations were Joanne A. Guzowski, and Monique Bergeron with the Bellingham Housing Authority, and Dori Acord, and Heidi Melanson.
Bellingham Senior Center staff and volunteers, including Director Carolyn Roycroft, Assistant Director Lisa Mottola and Council on the Aging Chairwoman Rita M. Tetrault, assisted.
Entertainment was provided by the Bellingham Community Concert Chorus under the direction of Linda Trudeau.
According to Guzowski, the partnership for the luncheon started with former Coachmen’s Lodge owners Norman and Michele Decelles - who sold the restaurant in 2014 after 45 years in business – and continues today with new owners Bill and Dimitri Nicholas.
“The Coachmen’s Lodge has been very good to us. The BPA would like to also express its appreciation to longtime owners Norman and Michelle Decelles for all their support in past years,” he said.
It’s a partnership, he says, that’s been working for seven years.
“They’ve got a huge kitchen and they cook the food for us at cost,” said Guzowski. “It costs us $4 a plate, but that same plate would cost us double, maybe triple anywhere else. It’s been a really good arrangement and I we hope to continue it for many more years to come.” Follow Joseph Fitzgerald on twitter @jofitz7