Chicopee Mourns Coach Killed, Honors Him at City Meetings

CHICOPEE --

TOWN -- City Council members on Oct. 20 approved a $2,100 appropriation to the Department of Public Works Park special account to cover school event salary costs, citing an "influx of games" after both Chicopee high school athletic fields were taken out of service while new tracks were installed around them, Superintendent of Park and Recreation Ben Strepka said. He said the closures pushed "something like 20 games in 24 days" onto the Zott Park schedule, draining the overtime budget set aside for high school games. The council also voted to accept a $1 million Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for the Zott Park Memorial Project, which Planner Lee Pouliot and Strepka said will include a new splash pad, restrooms, a reconstructed park entrance and improvements to the picnic grove and basketball courts.

YOUTH LEAGUES -- School Committee member Ray Nazario told parents at the Oct. 21 meeting that basketball sign-ups are open through the city's Park and Recreation Department, the Knights of Columbus on Memorial Drive, the Chicopee Tigers Sports Club and Galaxy Youth Sports. Both the School Committee on Oct. 21 and the City Council on Oct. 20 opened with a moment of silence for Ricky Arroyo, described by Nazario as a coach and volunteer with Galaxy Sports who was killed; he said he would not get into specifics. At the council meeting, Councilor Avery, whose son plays football at Zott Park, thanked the Park and Recreation Department for its "flexibility" in keeping the season going during the field closures.

COMMUNITY -- Chicopee's Spooktacular, called the city's free Halloween trick-or-treat event by Vice Chair Jason Dow, moved this year from Zott Park to the newly renovated Sarah Jane Park and was scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. with more than 80 vendors. The City Council accepted Halloween candy donations supporting the event, including $2,342.24 worth from Jay Polep Distribution and $311.63 from Walmart.

Compiled from team and league reports, reader submissions, and local coverage.