In the latest New York Times-CBS News poll, 45 percent of adult Republicans said they believe Obama was born in another country, and 22 percent said they don't know. One-third of Republicans said they believe the president is native born.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2011 file photo, Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. Itâs the weird issue that wonât go away, and itâs forcing GOP presidential contenders and other Republican leaders to pick sides: do they think President Obama was born outside the United States and is therefore disqualified to be president? Polls show that a remarkable two-thirds of all Republican voters either think Obama was born abroad or they arenât sure. With Donald Trump stirring the pot, other potential candidates are distancing themselves from his comments to varying degrees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's the conspiracy theory that won't go away. And it's forcing Republican officials and presidential contenders to pick sides: Do they think Barack Obama was born outside the United States and disqualified to be president?

As the Republican candidates tiptoe through the mine field, Democrats are watching. They hope the debate will fire up their liberal base and perhaps tie the eventual GOP nominee to fringe beliefs that swing voters will reject.

In recent days several prominent Republicans have distanced themselves, with varying degrees of emphasis, from the false claim that Obama was born in a foreign country. But with a new poll showing that two-thirds of adult Republicans either embrace the claim or are open to it, nearly all these GOP leaders are not calling for a broader effort to stamp out the allegations.

"It's a real challenge for the Republican Party and virtually every Republican candidate for president," contends Democratic pollster Geoff Garin. If it's not handled well, he said, all-important independent voters might see Republicans as extreme or irrelevant.

Many Americans consider claims of Obama's foreign birth to be preposterous, unworthy of serious debate. Yet the "birther" issue threatens to overshadow the early stages of the GOP effort to choose a presidential nominee for 2012. Real estate mogul Donald Trump has stirred the pot lately, repeatedly saying Obama should provide his original birth certificate.

From a political standpoint, it's impossible to dismiss the matter as conspiratorial fantasy, akin to, say, claims that the 1969 moon landing was staged. In the latest New York Times-CBS News poll, 45 percent of adult Republicans said they believe Obama was born in another country, and 22 percent said they don't know. One-third of Republicans said they believe the president is native born.

The same poll a year ago found considerably less suspicion among Republicans. A plurality of GOP adults then said Obama was U.S.-born, and 32 percent said they believed he was foreign-born.

In the latest poll, about half of all independents said Obama was born in the United States. The other independents were about evenly split between those saying he is foreign-born, and those saying they don't know.

Ten percent of Democrats said Obama was born overseas, and 9 percent were unsure.

Obama's birth certificate indicates he was born in Hawaii in 1961. Newspaper birth announcements at the time reported the birth, and news organizations' investigations have rebutted the birthers' claims. The Constitution says a president must be a "natural born citizen."

Trump's leap to the top tier of potential GOP presidential contenders in recent polls has frustrated party leaders who'd like the birthplace issue to go away.

The House's top Republicans —Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor — say they are satisfied that Obama was born in Hawaii. But they have declined to criticize those who state otherwise, and Boehner has said it's not his job to tell Americans what to think.

Trump, meanwhile, keeps fueling the fire. Even though many people doubt he will run for president, he has forced other Republicans to take stands.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania have been the most direct in rejecting the birthers' claims. "I believe the president was born in the United States," Romney told CNBC.

Santorum has no doubt that Obama was born in Hawaii, and he "believes this debate distracts us from the real issues," said his spokeswoman, Virginia Davis.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour accepts the president's word about his birthplace, his staff said.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told an Iowa audience, "I'm not one to question the authenticity of Barack Obama's birth certificate." He added a little jab: "When you look at his policies, I do question what planet he's from."

When ABC's George Stephanopoulos showed a copy of Obama's birth certificate to Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who was ambivalent at first, she said: "Well, then, that should settle it. ... I take the president at his word."

Former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave mixed signals in a recent Fox News appearance. She praised Trump for "paying for researchers" to dig into claims of Obama's foreign birth. But she added, "I think that he was born in Hawaii because there was a birth announcement put in the newspaper."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has dismissed claims that Obama is foreign-born, calling them a distraction. But on a February radio show, Huckabee referred to Obama "having grown up in Kenya," the birthplace of the president's father.

Obama grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. A spokesman said Huckabee's statement was simply a mistake.

Aides to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said voters have not asked him about the birthplace question and he has not discussed it.

The issue has spread to several states where Republican-controlled legislatures have introduced or passed bills requiring presidential candidates, and sometimes others, to prove their citizenship. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, recently vetoed such a bill, calling it "a bridge too far."

Democrats think the birthplace issue might fire up liberals, especially minorities, who in many cases have been dispirited by Obama's frequent compromises with conservatives to pass legislation. Blacks who embraced Obama's barrier-breaking election now see some Republicans claiming he has no constitutional right to be president.

The New York Times-CBS poll was worded in a way that might have subtly encouraged respondents to say Obama is foreign born. "Some people say Barack Obama was NOT born in the United States," the poll's callers said, but they did not offer counter arguments.

Moreover, some pollsters think respondents will seize a chance to call Obama a Muslim or non-citizen to convey something else: a dislike for him or his policies.

"Some people who strongly oppose a person or proposition will take virtually any opportunity to express that antipathy," writes Gary Langer, who polls for ABC News.

Garin, the Democratic pollster, doesn't buy it in this case. The birthers' claims are so prevalent, especially on conservative TV and radio shows, he said, that poll respondents are likely to say what they truly believe about a much-discussed topic.

"There are high- profile people, including Donald Trump and many others in the conservative media, who advocate and validate this point of view each and every day," Garin said. The big question about the birthplace issue, he said, "is the extent to which it drives a wedge within the Republican Party" and turns off independents in November 2012.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Geoffrey B. Findon

Geoffrey Brent Findon, 64, of Monson, passed away Wednesday. He was born in Wind Gap, Pa., and earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University, Class of 1968, and an MBA from the University of Maine. He later earned certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. He was employed as a human resource manager with the former Scott Paper Company (with whom he spent 28 years, 19 of them in Waterville, Maine), Kimberly-Clark Corporation and Fort James Corporation. He finished his career in 2003 at American Pad and Paper in Holyoke. Findon was involved in Boy Scouting in Maine and New York for many years as a Scoutmaster, Unit Commissioner and District Commissioner, and earned the Wood Badge. Three of his four sons attained the rank of Eagle Scout. A Registered Maine Guide, Findon enjoyed the outdoors, especially camping and fishing. He played an active role in the Massachusetts Miata Club, dedicating his free time to editing and distribution of the quarterly newsletter.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Benoit, Lorraine




• 
  Bertone-Gross, James R. F.
  



• 
  Bisenari, Eunice A. (McKee)
  




• Carlson, Debara A. (Hallsworth)
  




• 
  Cieslak, Lillian L. (Borecki)
  



• 
  Dion, Claude L.




• 
  Findon, Geoffrey Brent
  



• 
  Fleury, M. Carol
  




• Gosselin, Lynne E. (Sylvester)
  




• 
  Hennessey, Helen C. (Browdy)
  



• 
  Hwalek, Ronald T. "Ron"




• 
  Johnson, Robbie J.
  



• 
  Paro, Raymond E.
  




• Strolis, Josephine (Fritz)
  




• 
  Taylor, Elizabeth A. "Betsi" (Sheehan)
  



• 
  Toennies, Bernadette M.




• 
  Van Handle, Kathryne (Hart)
  

Noble Hospital has made a reduction in forces that will affect 25 full-time employees.

Republican file photo

WESTFIELD – Noble Hospital will make a reduction in forces affecting 25 full-time employees whose jobs will either be eliminated or reduced to part-time status, Ronald Bryant, the facility’s president and chief executive officer has announced

About 18 positions will be eliminated with a couple being cut because of resignations and retirements, Ronald P. Bryant, the hospital’s president and chief executive officer said Friday. The remaining employees will have their hours cut back, according to him.

Employees were given the news Wednesday. Bryant said changes took place immediately except for those involving unionized workers, who must be given two weeks notice by contract.

Bryant said the cutbacks were needed to adapt to a changing health care environment that involves insurance companies demanding higher quality, while reimbursements from them and the government are declining.

“Like any community hospital, we are struggling,” he said. “Certainly, you would not make a reduction in forces unless you had to.”

As for the hospital’s long-term prospects, Bryant said. “We are always trying to be more efficient.

The 97-bed hospital has about 600 full- and part-time employees.

In February, the hospital announced it will stop funding its employees’ pension fund effective April 15 and transfer financial responsibility to the federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp.

In a letter to employees, hospital President Robert P. Perry wrote that the action is common in health care and other industries as traditional pension plans become unaffordable and unsustainable.

In January of 2009, the hospital announced it was laying off nine of its approximately 600 employees to address cost and reimbursement issues.

This winter, 163 employees were laid off at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield as the Sisters of Providence Health System, which operates the hospital, struggled to close a projected $14 million budget deficit.

In keeping with the statewide trend, Mercy finished with 1825 employees last year, down more than 150 from 2009.

At Northampton’s Cooley Dickinson Hospital, 30 full-time equivalent positions were eliminated in May in the face of a projected $4 million deficit for 2010; that figure came on top of 100 jobs lost in previous two years.

"I can't get over it," said Anthony Cymes, 84, who said he had come to the church his whole life. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

File photo | The RepublicanSacred Heart of Jesus Church in Easthampton.

EASTHAMPTON – While Christians worldwide gathered Friday to commemorate the sacrifice of their savior, more than 100 people came together in Easthampton to mourn the loss of their church.

The congregation of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, which the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield closed last year, held a Good Friday prayer service outside the 101-year-old parish. Some cried and others stood solemnly as the Rev. James Sipitkowski led them in traditional Catholic prayers in Polish and English.

Last year, the diocese announced it would consolidate three Easthampton churches, Sacred Heart, Immaculate Conception and Notre Dame de Bon Conseil, into one, Our Lady of the Valley Parish on Adams Street. The Diocesan Pastoral Planning Committee had recommended the consolidation as a way to address a shortage of priests and congregants.

“I can’t get over it,” said Anthony Cymes, 84, who said he had come to the church his whole life. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Cymes said he rides his bicycle every morning from his home on Holyoke Street and says a prayer in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary outside. He stopped going to church when Sacred Heart closed, but watches Mass on television, he said.

His parents helped found the church, he said, and he felt their spirits every time he sat through a service. He said the church was more than a building in the same way that his house is really his home.

“All my sacraments were here,” said Cymes. “It’s hard for me to break away.”

“We are here because there is probably a lingering dismay,” Sipitkowski said during the service. “We mourn for the loss of our Lord Jesus and we mourn for the loss of Sacred Heart Church, too.”

Sipitkowski stood at the foot of the front steps, which were covered in elaborate bouquets, a few feet away from the statue of the Virgin, which had been similarly decorated by the parishioners.

He declined to be interviewed after the service.

Florence Droy said the church had played an integral role in her life and the upbringing of her children, all three of whom had their christenings, first communions and confirmations there.

“I was married in this church in 1954,” said Droy. “We were the most vibrant church around here. There was always something going on.”

Droy said the service left her “elated” and she was pleased with the turnout.

Several congregants said they were unsatisfied with or unaware of the diocese’s reasons for closing the church. The diocesan office was closed Friday, and no one from the diocese could not be reached for comment.

“I’m mad at (Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell),” said Stella Polonis, 92, who attended Friday’s service with her son and her great-grandchildren. Like Cymes, she had been a member of Sacred Heart her whole life and stopped going to church last year, she said.

“Our mothers would turn over in their graves,” Polonis said.

But whether or not they have a building, they still have a church.

“Our bonds are inseparable,” Sipitkowski told the congregation. “I journey with you in spirit no matter which way or which direction you’re going.”

The group would like to base its cultural center on one that was opened in Maine.

File photo / The RepublicanEdna M. Proulx, center, looks at a picture of her mother, with her daughters, Jeanne P. Hebert, left and Marie P. Meder, all of Chicopee, In front of Assumption Church in Chicopee. The church closing inspired the sisters to begin a group to preserve the French heritage.

CHICOPEE – A small group recently formed to create more awareness and about the French Culture and heritage in the Pioneer Valley.

The French Heritage Center Committee is eventually hoping to open a French cultural center. Ideally it would like to locate it near the Irish and Polish centers which are near Elms College in Chicopee, said Marie Proulx Meder, who is one of the founders of the group.

“In the Springfield area there is a Puerto Rican cultural center, a Greek cultural center, an Italian cultural center, a Jewish cultural center and a Polish cultural center,” she said. “The next move will be to have a French heritage center.”

The group formed less than a year ago and has about eight members but is hoping to expand. While it is based in Chicopee, members are from all of Western Massachusetts, said Jeanne Proulx Hebert, Meder’s sister and one of the founding members.

“The whole thing got started with the closing of a number of French churches,” Meder said. “It was a wake-up call for us.”

About a year ago the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield closed 19 parishes in Western Massachusetts. Among those were three churches in Chicopee with French roots, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. George and St. Mary of Assumption, which was Meder and Hebert’s church.

A lot of the French heritage was celebrated through the churchs. For example Assumption School always taught French language classes and Nativity Church held an annual French night, Hebert said.

French immigrants made their mark in the area and their contributions are worth remembering. About 800,000 people of French heritage live in Massachusetts and in Chicopee, 40 percent of the city’s population French in 1920, Meder said.

But the group in not focused on Chicopee. One of their first members was Richard J. DesLauriers, a dentist from Longmeadow, had been appointed by Gov. W. Mitt Romney to the American and Canadian French Cultural Exchange Commission. Members were heartbroken when he died in November, Meder said.

“He was such a passionate man about his French heritage. He belonged to a number of French organizations and he was a tremendous help to us,” Meder said.

One of the group’s missions has been to do research and recently several members traveled to Lewiston, Maine to see the Franco American Heritage Center, which was opened in a former church.

Along with a museum, the center also has an auditorium and brings in many performances. Meder said the committee would like to model their cultural center on that.

Now the committee is planning a kick-off event to be held 2 p.m., June 12, at the Holyoke Country Club off Route 5. Called Reveil, or to wake up in French, the event will include French Canadian fiddle music, refreshments and there will be a French cultural display.

The group can be contacted by email at frenchconnection104@gmail.com.

The center will be an academic research facility that uses clusters of supercomputers powered by the city hydroelectric dam.

The Republican photo by John SuchockiThe former Mastex facility on Bigalow Street in Holyoke, along the first-level canal, are slated for demolition to make way for the high performance computing center.

HOLYOKE – The Planning Board will begin reviewing the building plan for the $168 million high performance computing center at a public hearing Tuesday.

“We’re excited to get to reach this stage of the project,” said Jeffrey Brancato, associate vice president for economic development with the University of Massachusetts, a partner in the project.

The hearing is at 6:30 p.m. at Holyoke Heritage State Park Visitors’ Center on Appleton Street.

The center will be an academic researcher using clusters of supercomputers that could examine areas from climate change and the humanities to space object identification, biomedicine and engineering, officials said.

The project is being counted on as a job and revenue magnet by attracting new businesses that want to be near such a unique operation, officials said.

The center is being built here because of the available energy at the hydroelectric dam and canals owned and operated by the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department.

Originally, the plan was to use the canal water also to cool the computers, but instead another cooling method will be used, Brancato said.

The Planning Board will study a proposed site plan of 90,300 square feet set for the former Mastex Industries on Bigelow Street beside the first-level canal. The site is between Cabot and Appleton streets.

Demolition is scheduled to begin shortly on two of the Mastex buildings.

The new facility will be two stories high running along the canal, with architecture that refers to the past and future, Brancato said.

Bricks and precast concrete will be similar to the masonry on nearby mill buildings. But the building also will have more glass at the entrance, “a very contemporary style of architecture to convey a break with the past and a path to a future of new technologies and new opportunities,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to starting activities on the site and demonstrating tangible progress toward making the facility a reality,” Brancato said.

Joining UMass as partners in the project are Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Northeastern University, EMC Corp., of Hopkinton, an information storage, back-up and recovery firm, and Cisco Systems Inc., a California-based internet network equipment maker.

Basic public information of the president's birth is available in the Hawaii vital records office.

Associated PressIn this April 20, 2011 photo, a State of Hawaii government binder holding the 1960-1964 birth listing is seen at the State Department of Health in Honolulu. Lost in the renewed scrutiny into President Obama's birth records is the fact that anyone can walk into a Hawaii vital records office, wait in line behind couples getting marriage licenses and open a baby-blue government binder containing basic information about his birth. Highlighted in yellow on page 1,218 of the thick binder is the computer-generated listing for a boy named Barack Hussein Obama II born in Hawaii, surrounded by the alphabetized last names of all other children born in-state between 1960 and 1964. This is the only government birth information, called "index data," available to the public. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

By MARK NIESSE

HONOLULU — Lost in the renewed scrutiny into President Barack Obama's birth records is the fact that anyone can walk into a Hawaii vital records office, wait in line behind couples getting marriage licenses and open a baby-blue government binder containing basic information about his birth.

Highlighted in yellow on page 1,218 of the thick binder is the computer-generated listing for a boy named Barack Hussein Obama II born in Hawaii, surrounded by the alphabetized last names of all other children born in-state between 1960 and 1964. This is the only government birth information, called "index data," available to the public.

So far this month, only The Associated Press and one other person had looked at the binder, according to a sign-in sheet viewed Wednesday in the state Department of Health building. The sheet showed about 25 names of people who have seen the document since March 2010, when the sign-in sheet begins.

Those documents complement newspaper birth announcements published soon after Obama's Aug. 4, 1961 birth and a "certification of live birth" released by the Obama campaign three years ago, the only type of birth certificate the state issues.

So-called "birthers" claim there's no proof Obama was born in the United States, and he is therefore ineligible to be president. Many of the skeptics suggest he was actually born in Kenya, his father's home country, or Indonesia where he spent a few years of his childhood.

Possible Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly stoked the birther fires recently, and last month called on Obama to "show his birth certificate." Trump said he has investigators in Hawaii searching for more information.

"Nobody has come in and said they're investigating for Donald Trump," said Department of Health spokeswoman Janice Okubo, who acknowledged they could've come in without identifying themselves as representing Trump.

What the would-be sleuths won't find is Obama's "long-form birth certificate," a confidential one-page document containing his original birth records kept on file in the first floor of the Department of Health.

Those original birth records typically include additional birth details, such as the hospital and delivering doctor, said Dr. Chiyome Fukino, the state's former health director who twice looked at and publicly confirmed Obama's original long-form birth records.

View full sizeAssociated PressIn this April 20, 2011 photo, microfilm reveals the Aug. 14, 1961 birth announcement in the Honolulu Star Bulletin that a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama on Aug. 4, 1961, at the Hawaii State Library in Honolulu. Lost in the renewed scrutiny into President Obama's birth records is the fact that anyone can walk into a Hawaii vital records office, wait in line behind couples getting marriage licenses and open a baby-blue government binder containing basic information about his birth. Highlighted in yellow on page 1,218 of the thick binder is the computer-generated listing for a boy named Barack Hussein Obama II born in Hawaii, surrounded by the alphabetized last names of all other children born in-state between 1960 and 1964. This is the only government birth information, called "index data," available to the public. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

But those documents are state government property that can't be released to anyone, even the president himself, said Joshua Wisch, special assistant to the state attorney general. Obama would be able to inspect his birth records if he visited the Health Department in person, but original records of live birth are never released, he said.

Fukino, who served as the state's health director until late last year under former Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, said in an interview with The Associated Press she's convinced the long-form document is authentic. She issued public statements in 2008 and 2009 saying she had seen the original records.

"It is absolutely clear to me that he was born here in Hawaii," Fukino told the AP. "It should not be an issue, and I think people need to focus on the other bad things going on in our country and in our state and figure out what we're going to do about those things."

Before Obama's campaign released his certification of live birth in 2008, he or someone with a tangible interest had to make a written request and pay a $10 fee to receive it, Okubo said. Wisch also said Obama obtained a copy of his own certification of live birth and publicly released it.

State privacy laws prevent a certification of live birth from being released to anyone except those with a tangible interest, such as the person named by the birth record or a close family member.

The document is generated by computer, based on original birth records on file with the state, Fukino said.

New Health Director Loretta Fuddy, a Democratic appointee, declined to comment.

Last week, Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would have required presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before their names could appear on the state's ballot — which was widely viewed as targeting Obama — calling it a "bridge too far."

But the birther conspiracy theory refuses to go away. The latest New York Times-CBS News poll found that 45 percent of adult Republicans said they believe Obama was born in another country, and 22 percent said they don't know. Only one-third of Republicans said they believe the president is native born. The same poll a year ago found that a plurality of Republicans believed the president was born in the U.S.

Obama said in an interview with ABC News this month that Republicans sowing doubts about whether he's American-born may gain politically in the short term by playing to their constituencies, but will have trouble when the general election rolls around.

"Just want to be clear — I was born in Hawaii," the president said at a fundraiser in his hometown of Chicago.

Newspaper birth announcements appeared in both The Honolulu Advertiser and The Honolulu Star-Bulletin in the weeks after he was born.

The Aug. 13, 1961 announcement in the Advertiser appears on page B-6 of the Sunday edition, next to classified ads for carpentry work and house repair.

It says, "Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, 6085 Kalanianaole Hwy., son, Aug. 4." The address belonged to the parents of Ann Dunham, Obama's mother.

A similar announcement appeared the following day on page 24 of the Star-Bulletin.

Cisco Systems is one of the original partners in the $168 million computing center planned for downtown.

Associated Press

HOLYOKE – Worldwide internet equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. remains committed as a partner in the planned $168 million high performance computing center here despite recent problems, officials said.

Cisco has prompted concerns among business analysts since November. Its stock value fell and profit margins slumped as the company underwent a refocus and shut down the video camera line it bought two years earlier.

Richard M. Power, Cisco spokesman for New England, declined to discuss issues regarding the company in detail in an email Wednesday but wrote that Cisco’s dedication to the computing center is unchanged.

“Cisco is fully committed to the Green High Performance Computing Center initiative in Holyoke. We are very excited about the project’s recent and upcoming milestones and we look forward to continued collaboration with all of the project’s partners to ensure its ultimate success,” Power wrote.

State and city officials said they have seen nothing to signal that Cisco’s participation in the computing center might change, despite the company’s recent problems.

“It’s not going to have any kind of impact on their employees in Boston and it’s not going to have an impact on their involvement in this project. It’s not going to have an impact, as far as I know,” said Jeffrey Brancato, associate vice president for economic development with the University of Massachusetts.

Cisco representatives have been involved right along in the frequent conference-call and in-person meetings on the computing center, said Kathleen G. Anderson, director of the city Office of Planning and Development.

“We have had no indication that there have been any changes,” Anderson said.

The California-based Cisco sells telecommunications equipment and routers for directing internet traffic.

Cisco has been part of the partnership since Gov. Deval L. Patrick announced in June 2009 that the center would be built here.

The computing center will occupy the former Mastex Industries facility on Bigelow Street downtown overlooking the first level canal. Demolition on the site is scheduled to begin within weeks, officials said.

The research hub will consist of computers doing research in hours and days that used to take weeks and months into areas as varied as climate change, causes of illnesses and the arts.

The center is being built here because of the available energy at the hydroelectric dam and canals owned and operated by the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department.

Cisco’s stock has fallen 35 per cent over the past 12 months as the company undergoes a shake-up to refocus on its most important markets, The Financial Times reported April 6.

The Financial Times reported Feb. 10 Cisco profit margins had slumped and appeared to confirm analysts’ concerns that the company was expanding into too many new products, particularly in the consumer market.

This month, Cisco announced it was closing the Flip video camera division it bought for $590 million in 2009. The business was considered a drag on profits, The New York Times reported April 12.

The New York Times quoted an analyst who said the Flip camera line probably recorded about $400 million in annual revenue compared with about $40 billion for Cisco over all.

Joining Cisco as partners in developing the computing center are the University of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Boston University, Northeastern University, and EMC Corp., of Hopkinton, an information storage, back-up and recovery firm.

“We try to achieve the best water quality possible for all the residents of Chicopee,” said department superintendent Alan Starzyk. “It’s really nice to be recognized.”

View full sizeRepublican file photo

CHICOPEE – The Chicopee Water Department has earned praise from the state for its adherence to drinking water regulations.

In a letter to the department, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Drinking Water Program praised the fact that Chicopee’s water has been in compliance with “ever-evolving” federal and state regulations “for many years.”

The Chicopee Water Department earned one of the top scores in the Consecutive Community System category of the MassDEP’s 2011 Public Water Systems Annual Awards Program, the letter said.

“We try to achieve the best water quality possible for all the residents of Chicopee,” said department superintendent Alan Starzyk. “It’s really nice to be recognized.”

“We’re always striving to achieve all the regulations and, of course, that’s what we gear our business toward,” Starzyk said. “Our goal is to provide the highest quality drinking water.”

“That’s usually a pretty daunting task,” he said.

Although the letter from MassDEP is addressed to Starzyk, he said he credits the work of all the department’s employees for the award.

Green Meadow School in Hampden won an award in the Non-Community System category. Hampden Housing Authority and the West Stockbridge Water Department won in the Small Community category.

Holyoke Water Works, the Orange Water Department and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority won in the Large Community category.

MassDEP will formally announce this year’s winners during National Water Week, the first week in May. An awards ceremony will be held May 5 at the Devens Common Center in Devens, Mass.

Developer Palmer Renewable Energy has warned Springfield that it faces a potential multi-million dollar lawsuit if the permit is revoked.

The Republican file photo | Dave RobackProtesters for and against a proposed biomass plant in Springfield stand in front of Duggan Middle School before a state public hearing on the project.

SPRINGFIELD – The City Council has scheduled a hearing in May to consider amending or revoking a special permit for a proposed wood-burning plant in East Springfield, but faces the threat of a multi-million dollar lawsuit from the developer.

The hearing is scheduled May 17 at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall, as requested by council President Jose F. Tosado and Councilor Melvin A. Edwards.

Lawyers for Palmer Renewable Energy LLC, which is proposing the $150 million, 35-megawatt biomass plant, stated in a recent letter to City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula that revocation of the 2008 permit “would be unjustified, unlawful, and give rise to significant damages if it forestalls or delays the project.”

Specifically, the company’s lawyers said that Palmer Renewable Energy has already invested $5.4 million in project development costs and is currently eligible for $46.5 million in federal tax grants that will expire Dec. 31.

If the City Council or the city’s Public Health Council take action that wrongfully or illegally threatens the company’s investment and the tax grant, it will expose the city “to at least $52 million in damages” the letter states.

If the council were to take revocation action, it would have to make “factual findings” supporting its decision, Pikula said. He declined comment on the threatened legal action.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has extended a public comment period on the proposed plant after hearing a deluge of comments from supporters and opponents at a hearing earlier this month. The comment period, initially scheduled to end April 9, is now extended until April 29 on the biomass project, before the state considers plan approval.

A grassroots group, Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield, is among project opponents urging the council to revoke the 2008 special permit. The group claims the plant would worsen air pollution and harm public health.

The company says the plant would have state-of-the-art technology, would pose no hazard to health, would generate jobs and produce clean, renewable energy.

Richard K. Sullivan Jr., the new secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, recently ruled that he will not order any further review of the project by his office. Stop Toxic Incineration had sought a more comprehensive review, after Sullivan’s predecessor, Ian Bowles, twice ruled there was not a need for a full environmental impact report.

Sullivan said the ongoing review by the state Department of Environmental Protection adequately protects environmental concerns.

The city’s Public Health Council, meanwhile, is seeking advice from two state agencies whether the local board has “site assignment” powers over the proposed biomass plant. The local board cited a state law that allows a health board to rule on the site of any trade that “may result in a nuisance or be harmful to the inhabitants, injurious to their estates, dangerous to the public health, or may be attended by noisome and injurious odors.”

The city, through its health commissioner, Helen R. Caulton-Harris, asked for guidance from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Public Health.

Caulton-Harris, in her letter, said the proposed project is in an area that “includes sensitive populations that suffer disproportionate health impacts.”

Palmer Renewable Energy, in a letter of response filed with the state, said that the state, not the city, has the power to determine if the project poses “a nuisance, or danger to the public health.” The state is considering plan approval for the project.

The Public Health Council cites a law that was first enacted in 1692, more suitable for nuisances caused by “piggeries and stockyards,” Palmer Renewable Energy states in its letter. The state statute, (Chap. 111, Sec. 143) has never been used by city officials to intervene in any other project in Springfield, according to lawyers for the company.

The Chicopee City Council, meanwhile, passed a resolution on Tuesday by unanimous vote, opposing the proposed biomass plant in Springfield.

The resolution asks the state and Springfield officials to “do whatever is in their power to protect the health and well-being of surrounding communities.”

Staff writer Jeanette DeForge contributed to this report

Chicopee City Council Biomass Resolution

The New York City Board of Elections says the possible Republican presidential candidate voted in the 1989 primary for mayor, then didn't vote in another primary for 21 years.

Associated PressFILE - Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

NEW YORK — Donald Trump says he's considering running in the primary for the Republican presidential nomination, but the real estate mogul didn't vote in primary elections for more than two decades, according to the New York City Board of Elections.

The possible GOP candidate voted in a primary election in the 1989 New York City mayor's race — when Rudy Giuliani beat businessman Ronald Lauder — then didn't vote in a primary for 21 years, board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez said Saturday. The report on Trump's voting record initially appeared on TV station NY1 a day earlier.

Records also show Trump skipped the 2002 general election, when Republican incumbent Gov. George Pataki defeated Democrat H. Carl McCall, Vazquez said. But Trump told the station he's voted in every general election.

"You're going to pay a big price because you're wrong," he told the station. "I have records that I voted and so does the Board of Elections ... I signed in at every election."

His lawyer, Michael Cohen, defended Trump's voting practices Saturday.

"For one of the greatest international businessmen who travels all over the country and the world, his voting record is very, very good," Cohen said.

Cohen said Trump could not be reached for comment Saturday. The lawyer also said he could not confirm which party Trump belonged to in previous years.

Besides real estate, Trump has been a reality TV star and he once flirted with the idea of running for president as a third-party candidate.

Recently, he said he's weighing a 2012 presidential bid and will make an announcement in June.

Trump created media waves by aligning himself with the so-called "birthers" by questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. He also has said the U.S. should be entitled to Iraqi oil and he praised the tea party.

Amherst students held between 30 and 40 fund-raisers to raise the money to build a school.

The Republian | Don TreegerAmherst Regional High School senior Ryan Diplock, the student leader of the Schools for Africa club, talks with Dean Cycon, CEO of Dean's Beans, after Cycon gave the club a check for $1,800 to reach their goal of $20,000. Members of the club are gathered in the backround.

AMHERST – They sold hot cocoa, sent out letters and even staged a spoof of Miss America with boys vying for a coveted trophy, and now two years later, Amherst Regional High School students have raised $20,000 to pay for a primary school to be built in Cameroon.

The idea for the project came from Ryan Diplock, who as sophomore class president thought that building a school would be a good class project.

“It was kind of crazy,” said Diplock, now a senior. Once he realized “it wasn’t going to materialize” he shifted focus. He founded the Schools For Africa Club to accomplish his mission.

The 18-year-old said he was inspired by reading Greg Mortenson, the author of “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace, One School At A Time.”

“Education is the main thing you can do to help developing communities,” Diplock said. “You can’t just give people money. That’s where it (the idea) came from for me personally.”

Charles Reiff of Pelham worked with Diplock to lead the project. Living where they do “we have quite a few privileges that could be put to good use.” he said “building a school is the first step to economic change.”

Once the club was founded, they began looking around for an agency to work with and that’s when they found Building Schools for Africa based in the Isle of Wight.

Diplock said they first considered UNICEF, but 10 percent of what they would raise would have gone to administration.

According to the Building Schools for Africa website, “every penny which is donated to Building Schools for Africa goes directly to SHUMAS and is spent on the identified project.” SHUMAS or Strategic Humanitarian Services, is the agency’s partner in Cameroon.

With the Amherst donation, 31 schools have now been funded, according to the website.

The primary school, like the others, will offer three classrooms. Diplock said the roof washed away in a school that was there now and the headmaster got hit on the head. The new school will be built to withstand the rainy season and is expected to last about 40 years, he said.

“We have been thrilled with the HUGE effort that has been made by the children at Amherst High School,” Marianne Johnson, chairwoman of the agency, wrote in an email. “They really have worked wonders,” she wrote. “Although Building Schools for Africa has enjoyed a great deal of support from school children in both UK and USA, not many aim to raise the whole amount needed to rebuild an entire school. Amherst High has really excelled...”

The club started with about eight members but it grew to 47. “Once we started having a kind of success (fund-raising) people started to jump on board,” Diplock said.

They needed the help.

He guesses the club put on between 30 and 40 fund-raisers, including the man pageant. “It was so fun,” he said of the Miss America spoof. Seventeen competed - they had to walk, demonstrate talent and answer a question. He said one competitor put two eggs in his mouth and lifted weights. Some sang.

The prize was a six-foot trophy that they used to showcase the event to generate interest. They raised $2,000 from that event alone. The final $1,800 came in earlier this month from Dean Cycon of Dean’s Beans. Cycon helped in other ways such as supplying pots for the hot cocoa fund-raisers, Diplock said.

Diplock wants to study business and is debating where to go to school - Babson College in Wellesley, Bentley University in Waltham or the University of Connecticut. “I learned a lot about motivation, what it takes to get a fund-raiser (going.)”

Reiff is leaning toward Syracuse University to study communications. He learned about “consistency, staying with a project seeing it through.”

Their work hasn't ended. Diplock and Reiff and others plan to visit the school in December.

Reiff said they are continuing to raise money to buy school supplies. A new club leadership committee will be in charge of continuing fund-raising to build another school. The idea is for the work “to be there for generations.”

Principal Mark Jackson said “the group demonstrated an amazing level of persistence.” In an e-mail he wrote, “at ARHS, this is not atypical. Students here have very strong political convictions. And there are no shortage of examples of them working to turn their convictions into concrete actions.”

Obituaries from The Republican.

Cordelia Josephine Young

Cordelia Josephine Young, 99, of Springfield, passed away on Tuesday. Born in Springfield, Young was a graduate of Central High School and attended Bay Path College and New York University. She became a member of the St. John's Congregational Church under Reverend Dr. William N. Deberry, and remained a member throughout her life. She was a member of the PSI Group, the Pastor's Aide and served as a deaconess of the church. Young was employed at Internal Revenue in New York. She was also employed at Agway, formerly known as Farmer's Exchange in West Springfield, for 26 years, retiring in 1976.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Bertolino, Concetta D.




• 
  Bilodeau, Madaline
  



• 
  Bisenari, Eunice A. (McKee)
  




• Deblois, Anita (Bolduc)
  




• 
  Haryasz, Alfred J.
  



• 
  Robbins, Gerald W.




• 
  Russell, Shirley B. (Fleurent)
  



• 
  Stark, Antoinette M. (Gamari)
  




• Taylor, Elizabeth A. "Betsi" (Sheehan)
  




• 
  Wallace, Edward M.
  



• 
  Young, Cordelia Josephine

The Sustainability Festival is timed to coincide with Friday's Earth Day Observance and the first Amherst Farmer's Market day of the season, said Stephanie C. Ciccarello, energy task force coordinator for the town of Amherst and an organizer of the event.

AMHERST – Joan M. Freele picked the perfect day to sell rain barrels.

Freele, owner and founder of New England Rain Barrel in Peabody, was one of the hardy vendors who stuck it out through the rain Saturday at the second-annual Amherst Sustainability Festival on the Town Common.

“Eventually, people will have to water their gardens,” she said. “And it’s better to do that with collected rainwater.”

Freeley also sells solar- powered pumps for use with the recycled plastic rain barrels and plastic composting containers.

The Sustainability Festival is timed to coincide with Friday’s Earth Day Observance and the first Amherst Farmer’s Market day of the season, said Stephanie C. Ciccarello, energy task force coordinator for the town of Amherst and an organizer of the event.

The goal is to educate people about environmental matters and teach them how they can take action in their own lives, Ciccarello said. Farmer’s market vendors were on hand with plants and food. There were also booths selling energy-efficient windows and crafts made from natural or recycled materials. Visitors could learn about area bicycling trails.

The festival also had a scavenger hunt where people were encouraged to go to local businesses and learn what those businesses do to recycle or reduce waste, like providing used cooking oil to someone who burns it in a car or buying solar energy credits, said Susan M. Waite, the town recycling coordinator.

“The businesses do these things at no small expense,” Waite said. This gives them a chance to showcase those efforts.”

Despite the thick blanket of clouds, some people at the festival arranged for Greenfield Solar Store owner John R. Ward come out to their homes and see if they can start harvesting their own energy from the sun. The store at 2 Fiske Ave. in Greenfield, sells everything from flashlights that recharge themselves off a solar panel and wooden clothes-drying racks to a $10,000 solar-hot water setup that can cost as little as $4,900 through the use of state and federal tax breaks.

Electricity-generating home solar setups that cost from $7,839 for a 2-kilowatts system to $14,307 for a 5.3-kilowatt system after the tax credits are applied.

Ward said business is good.

“People are becoming more aware that there has to be a change in energy policy for this country,” he said. “The people who are talking to me have come around from just being angry at the high fuel prices and now they want to do something about it.”

Rain is expected to continue today, according to the National Weather Service. But temperatures will warm to a high near 65. 

GREENFIELD – Winter weather caused a number of small fender-bender car crashes Saturday morning according to state police posted in those areas.

No one was injured.

Rain is expected to continue today, according to the National Weather Service. But temperatures will warm to a high near 65. 

Lt. David A. Wells, president of Firefighters Local 648, aid a meeting that had been set for Saturday was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. Sarno is meeting one-by-one with city unions and the firefighters’ turn is set for Friday, April 29.

SPRINGFIELD – The leadership of the city’s firefighter union plans to meet Monday to formulate a counterproposal to Mayor Domenic J. Sarno’s call for wage freeze and furloughs to offset a projected $5.4 million budget deficit beginning July 1.

Lt. David A. Wells, president of Firefighters Local 648, said a meeting that had been set for Saturday was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. Sarno is meeting one-by-one with city unions and the firefighters’ turn is set for Friday, April 29.

Bourque served as the council’s vice president for four years and has been on all of the council’s subcommittees

West Springfield Town Council President Kathleen Bourque will be seeking a sixth term on the council in November’s election.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Town Council President Kathleen Bourque has announced her intention to seek a sixth term on the council in November’s election.

“I’m extremely committed to the town of West Springfield. I think I have proven that,” Bourque, 56, said this week.

In a press release, Bourque said it is a challenge as a municipal leader to balance reducing spending but maintaining services in times with less state aid, smaller local revenues and residents struggling to stay in their homes.

“Over the past 11 years, I have worked hard to continue to offer the maximum services to our residents while maintaining fiscal responsibility,” she stated. “As a homeowner, a former member of the Board of Assessors and a real estate broker, I believe I have brought to the council a true understanding of the relationship between property values, the town budget and the effect on property taxes. We must continue to investigate ways to increase revenues without overburdening the taxpayers of our town.”

Bourque served as the council’s vice president for four years and has been on all of the council’s subcommittees. She has chaired the Budget and the Human Resource subcommittees and the Traffic Safety Committee.

“Our residents who watch or attend our meetings see the council deal with the major issues such as the budget, the tax shift, a new high school and the possibility of a new library,” she stated.

Helping people makes the job satisfying and is why she continues to serve, Bourque said.

A real estate broker and a member of the Pioneer Valley Association of Realtors, Bourque is past president of the West Springfield Chamber of Commerce. She served as the chair of the chamber’s scholarship committee from 1998 to 2009.

A graduate of St. Thomas School and West Springfield High School, she holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University oof Massachusetts at Amherst.

Shirley Hebert has been making Easter baskets for the young guests at the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield for nine years now.

The Republican / Dave MolnarShirley Hebert, of Hampden, passes out some of the 19 Easter baskets she made to children at the Ronald McDonald House. Here, she is giving a basket to Joanna Bujosa of the Dominiican Republic. This was her 9th year makin baskets.

HAMPDEN – When Shirley Hebert makes Easter baskets, she thinks big. No skimping for her. “Overflowing” is how she describes them.

She used to make them for her own four children. Now she makes them for the children at Ronald McDonald House in Springfield.

Ronald McDonald House is a home-like charitable institution where kids undergoing serious medical treatment can stay with their families at little or no cost.

Hebert has been making Easter baskets for the young guests there for nine years now. This year she made 19 baskets.

“She does a phenomenal job,” said Jennifer Putnam, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House.

Hebert also cooks dinner once a month at the McDonald House – shepherd’s pie, meat loaf, grilled hamburgers in summer. “She’s a terrific cook,” said her daughter, Tracey.

She gets help from an army of friends who have been volunteering with her from the beginning. They call themselves “Sociable Singles.”

They have cooked for as many as 48 people at the McDonald House.

The baskets, however, are Hebert’s project. “I do it all myself – my own time, my own money,” she said.

Hebert, 74, grew up in Springfield, where she celebrated her Easters at St. Michael’s Cathedral, and moved to Hampden with her late husband, Emile L. Hebert, 45 years ago. She has happy memories of Easter – colored eggs, straw hats, white gloves, patent leather shoes.

She telephones the McDonald House around Easter time to find out the ages of the children and how many are boys, how many girls.

She shops all year for crayons, jump ropes, toothbrushes, tic-tac-toe games, sunglasses, little toy bunnies, paint sets, anything that strikes her fancy.

Not much candy, though. “With the children being ill, you don’t know if their diet will let them have it,” she said.

She buys identical baskets, fills them with appropriate gifts, wraps them in plastic bags “with bunnies and chickies on them,” and adds ribbons – blue for boys, pink for girls, sometimes white or yellow. It takes her a week to put the baskets together.

The kids who get them range in age from newborns to teen-agers. Some come from far away– Trinidad, Puerto Rico. Some don’t speak English. Some, said Hebert, don’t have hands.

The families are very grateful, she said – “the most thankful people you could ever meet.”

For her part, Hebert is thankful that she can make them feel at home during a stressful time.

“She has always been this way,” said Tracey. “She completely derives pleasure from doing for others.”

Recall questions on the May 16 town election ballot are aimed at removing Kenneth Elstein and Selectmen James A. Barry and George D. Archible from office.

The RepublicanKenneth Elstein

BELCHERTOWN – Faced with one of three recall drives, Selectman Kenneth E. Elstein is campaigning to keep his seat by stressing experience in budget and economic development matters and strides made in bringing grant money to town.

“It takes time to get the kind of experience you need to figure out the very difficult budgets we have for this year and next year,” Elstein said. “Now we have that experience.”

Recall questions on the May 16 town election ballot are aimed at removing Elstein and Selectmen James A. Barry and George D. Archible from office.

In each case there is a two-step process. If the majority vote to recall a selectman, then there will be a contest elsewhere on the ballot for who gets to finish the remainder of the selectman’s term in office.

The votes in those contests for the remainder of the term would not be counted if the majority votes negatively on the recall question.

The incumbent selectmen are eligible to run in the contest for the remainder of the term if the recall vote goes against them, and Elstein, Barry and Archible have all qualified for the ballot for the remainders of their own terms.

Matthew Jackson is also running for the remainder of Elstein’s term, which would be for one year after May 16.

Elstein said keeping him in office along with Barry and Archible would help with the economic development proposals at the former Belchertown State School and Cold Spring Golf Course.

“The thing I fear is that if the people of Belchertown vote for instability, it might scare away these serious outside investors,” Elstein said. “They need confidence that they know who they are dealing with.”

Elstein said that in his two years on the Board of Selectmen, he has shown vision and helped bring in grant money for energy efficiency upgrades and other projects.

The recall drives were organized by people who objected to Elstein, Archible and Barry voting initially against offering a contract renewal to Police Chief Francis R. Fox Jr.

Archible and Elstein subsequently voted to reconsider the original vote and took part in a vote to offer Fox a new contract, which he and the selectmen have since signed.

The three selectmen were criticized for not listening to the will of the people, but Elstein said he and his colleagues have listed telephone numbers and town government email addresses and do listen to and respond to residents’ comments.

Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr.: "In the beginning, all we saw was flames and smoke. But we asked for the Lord's help and we have received it."

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayThe Macedonia Church of God in Christ on Tinkham Road in Springfield nears completions. Construction continues after the original church was hit by an arson fire the night Barack Obama was elected president.

SPRINGFIELD – The first volunteers flew in from Chicago last summer, followed by groups from Santa Barbara, Ca., and Los Angeles.

Months later, the volunteers were still coming – paying their own expenses, even bringing their own tools to help the Macedonia Church of God in Christ rewrite its recent history.

On Sunday nights, they prayed at the black congregation’s old King Street chapel; on Monday, they picked up hammers, drills and saws to help rebuild the new church, the one torched by arsonists on Nov. 5, 2008, as a protest of Barack Obama’s election.

The visiting carpenters brought more than free labor to the sprawling, $2.5 million project, which is 90 percent complete and set to open this summer.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayBishop Bryant Robinson Jr., sits inside the santuary of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ.

They brought renewed hope. As one group after another finished week-long shifts at the Tinkham Road construction site, Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr. marveled at how one bad act could foster so many good ones.

“It’s remarkable,” the pastor said. “In the beginning, all we saw was flames and smoke. But we asked for the Lord’s help and we have received it.”

From high school students to retirees in their 80s, more than 100 volunteers have toiled at the site since last summer. Some – including members of the Millbury Federated Church – had worked on church rebuilding projects in Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.

With the Macedonia church arson, the Millbury volunteers found work much closer to home.

Set several hours after Obama’s election, the gasoline-fed blaze ripped through the 18,000-foot structure, leaving a charred skeleton, rubble and ash. The fire was so intense, the acrid smell lingered for 14 months until the cement floor was torn up and replaced.

Given its timing, the church fire drew international attention, and the investigation and eventual arrests were closely monitored by White House.

Two white defendants pleaded guilty last year, and a jury convicted the third, Michael F. Jacques, of Springfield – in U.S. District Court two weeks ago.

The three men spent election night drinking beer and smoking marijuana at a home near the church construction site, witnesses testified; around 2 a.m., they walked to the church with gasoline cans, climbed through a window, and set the fire, prosecutors said.

During a visit to the church-in-progress Friday, Gov. Deval L. Patrick praised federal prosecutors for winning the conviction, and commended the parish for their faith and resilience.

The governor’s appearance came one day short of the fourth anniversary of church’s first groundbreaking. While the criminal cases commanded public attention, the rebuilding unfolded in phases – with the help of Patrick, new financing was secured in early 2010, and construction began again a few months later.

By then, the small congregation had been embraced by other churches in Greater Springfield and around the country. Indeed, the crime strengthened ties between local churches, creating a “multi-cultural, multi-denominational coalition,” Robinson said.

Within days of the fire, Robinson got a call from the National Coalition for Burned Churches, an Atlanta-based charity that provides free labor, expertise and moral support to congregations suddenly without churches.

“When you see your church burned down, it’s like a family member dying – that’s where the coalition comes in,” said president Rev. Terrance G. Mackey Sr., whose church in Greeleyville, N.C., was torched by two Ku Klux Klan members in 1996.

Not long after construction began again on Tinkham Road, volunteers from the coalition began arriving.

Catholic volunteers from Chicago showed up first, followed by two groups from California, including a 33-member contingent from a church and synagogue in Santa Barbara.

The volunteers paid for their own plane tickets, rental cars, meals and motels rooms; to save money, some stayed with local parishioners, and others unrolled sleeping bags in the basement of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Forest Park.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayThere two photos show signatures and messages left by some of the volunteer workers who have helped rebuild the Macedonia Church of God in Christ.

The Republican | Mark M. MurraySome of the volunteer workers at the Macedonia Church of God in Christ signed their names and left messages.

In exchange, they were guaranteed gratitude, lunch, and five days of work beneath the August sun.

To Sheldon O. Haase, of Glendale Ca., the opportunity was too good to pass up.

“Part of the Methodist belief is to do good, and this was one way we could help somebody who had a great loss,” Haase, 71, recalled last week. “It’s what we do.”

A building contractor and parishioner of Glendale First United Methodist Church, Haase helped supervise his seven-member group.

“We had two skilled people; and (five) people with willing hands. Willing hands are the most important,” he said.

The weather cooperated, too.

“We expected hot and sunny, and we got cool and sunny,” Haase said. “We were blessed.”

The overall quality of the volunteer’s work has been very good, said principal contractor James A. Tarrant, whose Chicopee-based Construction Management of New England has spent four years building and rebuilding the church.

“I’d give them a B-plus,” said Tarrant, who specializes in church projects and has experience with volunteers.

“For attitude, I’d give them an A.”

Last month, two dozen Harvard University students gave up their spring break to paint the chapel, prayers rooms, banquet hall and the bishop’s office.

In a crawlspace above the ceiling, they signed their names and left a wish for the future.

“God bless this house of worship,” one student wrote.