At its annual dinner, the Bristol Historical Society recognized a member of the community for his contributions capturing an important element of Bristol history, awarded its annual scholarship, honored sits volunteer of the year and presented its community service award.
Former Mayor and BHS member Ellen Zoppo-Sassu presented the Recognition of Historical Contribution award to former educator and photographer Terry Marselle for his work documenting the multi-year process that ended with the rehabilitation of the former Memorial Boulevard School to the Bristol Arts and Innovation Magnet School.
“Behind the scenes, while all this was happening over eight years, one gentleman stood up and said we need to document this,” Zoppo-Sassu said. “We need to talk about what this building was and tape every step of this restoration so that future generations can understand what historic preservation means.”
Marselle’s photography, Zoppo-Sassu said, is not only critical to preserve the history of the school but also because it played a significant role in securing four historical preservation awards over the last six months.
A slideshow of Marselle’s photography was played during dinner.
Zoppo-Sassu also presented the Community Service Award to members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
“I want to take you take you back to three years ago, when everything went down,” Zoppo-Sassu said, in the dark days of March 2020, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“All of sudden there was a pivot and keeping the community healthy became a major issue,” she said. “CERT was a major part of making sure that everything that happened during those days, and as they started to unfold, that they happened, correctly.”
CERT volunteers were there during the distribution of tons of food to people whose lives were turned upside down by the pandemic. CERT was there to direct traffic and maintain civility while people waited in long lines to tested for COVID-19.
Clockwise from upper left, Colin Cavallari reads from his scholarship award winning essay, Terry Marcelle receives is recognized for his historical contribution and Don Zurrell is honored as BHS volunteer of the year. | D. Fortier
Zoppo-Sassu asked then city council members Scott Rosado and Mary Fortier to join her in honoring CERT. As council members at the time, Rosado and Fortier spent hours working alongside CERT loading food into cars in all sorts of weather, including snow and rain.
“It’s hard to remember all the things they did because they did so many things,” Fortier said, recalling the many hours involved with distribution of school lunches at one of five locations around the city.
“You see them at every event around town, every festival,” Rosado said. “This is why we have the proper safety protocols in place with this amazing volunteer team.”
He added that the CERT volunteers, with their dedication and time commitments, makes Bristol, Bristol.
Zoppo-Sassu concluded her statements with this quip: “One place you will not be seeing CERT is at the bank depositing their paychecks because, as we said, they are all volunteers.”
Last year’s Volunteers of the Year, Steve Cowdell and Lisa Doyle-Bell presented Don Zurrell with this year’s BHS Volunteer of the Year award.
“You cannot walk around this building without feeling this person’s impact,” said Doyle-Bell about Zurrell, who is the chair of the Building and Renovations Committee.
“I don’t know how many of you remember last year’s dinner,” she said, “but it was hot.”
“It’s not hot,” she said referring to the newly available air conditioning cooling the venue as she spoke. The crowd applauded.
Colin Cavallari received the Bristol Historical Society Scholarship, presented by Liz Phelan, chair of the BHS Scholarship Committee for his essay on New Departure, which he read aloud.
Cavallari will be attending St. Bonaventure University where he said he plans to study broadcast journalism.
This year’s dinner incorporated a new feature, Bristol Trivia, with questions pertaining to Bristol’s history.
Maya Bringe, in her opening remarks, as BHS president, made note of a new daily offering of the Bristol Historical Society, “In Retrospect: Bristol Day by Day,” which is delivered via email with one or more events for each day of 2023.
“Some events are city firsts and some are glimpses of common occurrences,” the introduction to the daily post informs its readers.
The annual dinner was held Wednesday, Aug. 9 at the BHS building on Center Street. The historical society is open to the public Wednesdays and Saturdays. For hours, visit the BHS Facebook page. Click here.
The next BHS event will be a potluck supper on Aug. 27, from 2 to 5 p.m. A full list of events is posted on its Facebook page.
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