To the Editor:

This is a story of a festival with a happy beginning and, unfortunately, an unhappy ending.

In early 1981, a small group of private citizens got together and envisioned a celebration where the many ethnic backgrounds of the area could be celebrated and from that a festival originally known as "LaFesta" was born. Initially it was a 17-day event held in the month of June at various locations to celebrate the Italian, Polish, French, Irish, Scotch, Lebanese and Jewish heritages. It was a very ambitious undertaking and some of the events needed a more spacious location other than a church hall so the festival was consolidated and moved to Noel Field in the location of the former football/track field.

With the move the festival was renamed "Junefest" and became the "June place to be." Volunteers worked for hours throughout the year in the planning of the events such as a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, junior Olympic games from which the LaFesta Baseball Exchange was born and which continues to this day.

In addition, the planning included a craft fair, rides for the young and food, ethnic foods of all varieties. An auction was also held for several years raising over $150,000, the proceeds of which were donated to the four area high schools for their requested projects.

Last but not least, entertainment. With this expansion there came a need for more electrical power at the field and the committee, at their own expense and with the assistance of the students from the McCann electrical program, installed over $35,000 in electrical power underground which may still be there to this day. This power allowed us to bring in entertainers such as Jeff Carson, The Gaylords, Holly Dunn, Stephaney Bentley, Grammy winner Cathy Mattea, a Beatles Tribute show and a Patsy Cline Tribute to name a few.

In 1995, the local newspaper had a letter to the editor from a young lady wondering why no one had fireworks in the area. With that request, Junefest began the annual fireworks display.

Our popularity continued to grow bringing thousands of visitors each year. In one year alone, we had festivalgoers representing 46 states and five countries passing through our gates. It was truly "the June place to be." With this increased popularity we found ourselves having to jump through more and more hoops with the mayor for the use of the field. One year, he shut down the carnival rides just as the festival was about to begin. A quick trip to City Hall was needed late at night to secure a "Mayor's License" to continue with the rides.

The straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, came in 2000, when a walking track was constructed right where the festival had been held for years. We were instructed not to drive over the track when setting up and had to submit a document to the city for placement of the entertainment tents. The Recreation Commission approved our layout and we proceeded to erect the tents as planned.

The tent vendor no sooner finished erecting the tents when we were summoned to the mayor's office and told to get the vendor back to move the tents because the Mayor didn’t like the direction they were in. With only hours before the gates would be opened and only after some heated conversation were we able to proceed without the need to change the tent location.

The following year as June rolled around, we found a playground had been placed in the center of the walking track, exactly where our electrical power was located. End of festival, end of story!

To this day many people continue to ask me "what ever happened to LaFesta's Junefest." Well now you know!

This is why my vote for mayor on Tuesday, Nov. 3, will be for Dick Alcombright, His door is always open, his mind is never closed.

Anthony T. Abuisi Jr.
North Adams

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