Bellingham goes green
Bellingham Police Association holds Annual St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon
BELLINGHAM – The Bellingham Police Association Thursday held its 9th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon for Senior Citizens, a popular St. Paddy’s Day tradition in town since 2010.
The event was coordinated by Bellingham Police Sergeant Edward Guzowski and a handful of other members of the Bellingham Police Association, including Sergeants Lee Rolls and Ken Lemarre, Detective Steve Daigle and Officers John Melanson, Mark Auld, Amy Kirby, Stephen Foss, and Steven Hole.
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 was 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.”
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 and the treasurer is David Ayotte. 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 Nancy Champney, assisted.
Also contributing was Noel Pincince and Frederick E. Dehmer.
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, Guzowski says, that’s been working for nine years.