BELCHERTOWN — Gathering in the cafeteria at Belchertown High School for a buffet dinner, more than 100 residents of all ages spent a portion of their Monday evening showing support for the idea that the community should remain a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds.
With a growing number of incidents of intimidation and harassment prompting Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey to recently set up a hotline for people to report these crimes, members of the Belchertown Community Aid Network put together the One People Potluck to celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s fight against prejudice and racism.
“We were thinking we haven’t heard about anything untoward happening in Belchertown, but had heard about things in other neighboring towns,” said Gail Gramarossa, a member of the Belchertown CAN! “We picked Martin Luther King Day because he’s all about working together and respecting all differences.”
“I’m excited that it’s a community event supporting love,” said Linda Bentley, explaining her decision to attend with her husband and three young children, and to meet more people in the town they have called home for the past 18 months.
Lynette Knapp, who was joined at the event by her children Andrew and Maggie, said she supports the mission of Belchertown CAN!, and believes the potluck can serve to maintain civility in the community.
“We’re lucky in Belchertown, and hopefully we’ll continue to be lucky,” Knapp said.
Also in attendance was Select Board Chairman William Barnett, who joined King in the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and who was present when National Guard mobilized to allow protesters to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Planning for the potluck began after Thanksgiving by the organization that has primarily focused on food drives. “We were seeing in both the region and at the national level a rise in hate crimes a lot of people are concerned about,” Gramarossa said.
As people entered the cafeteria, they were asked to sign a large banner that read, in part, “I pledge to stand up to all forms of hate, bigotry and bullying.”
Belchertown CAN! member Cliff McCarthy said Belchertown should never become a place people feel comfortable expressing hateful words or actions.
“The idea is to make a personal commitment to be aware of the issue of bigotry and hate in our society, and they don’t want to be part of it,” McCarthy said.
In addition to the food, with potluck offerings ranging from sweet plantain lasagna and corn chili with beans to apple noodle kugel and chicken enchiladas, and the companionship, each table featured a card describing a recent incident of hate and prejudice.
As people finished their meals, brief presentations were made by Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, Belchertown Police Chief Christopher Pronovost and Bart Hollander, regional chief for the attorney general’s western Massachusetts division.
Sullivan said parents can impart lessons of civil rights and voting rights and the need for income equality to their children.
“Setting a good example for our kids is something we all have to do,” Sullivan said.
The potluck, he added, is a good way to bridge divides.
“It’s so important for communities to get together to share with each other, not only our differences, but our commonality,” Sullivan said.
Pronovost promised fair and impartial responses to any incidents reported to his department.
“We want to provide safety and quality of life for everyone in town,” Pronovost said.
Hollander said people should stand up and speak for justice for everyone and against bigotry, misogyny and discrimination, calling for “upstanders, not bystanders.”
“This is not a time for hunkering down,” Hollander said. “That’s exactly the wrong image to convey to someone.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
