The MMA works closely with our State Senators and Representatives at the State House in Boston, but it doesn’t begin there. Our legislators live in our communities and it is here that we, District IV people, have the most access to them. I as District IV Rep. and Brian Clark as District IV Mgr. have been asked to meet with various politicians over the years. Our mission is to put a local persons face on the already familiar MMA.

     On January 30^th Brian and I were asked to attend a fundraiser for Representative Angelo Puppolo. He is supportive of some of our bills like s2077 Helmet Standards, s920 No Discrimination and h3617 Off-road Maintenance. He said that he would consider bills h3473 Danny’s bill and h3491 Safety Fund.  We may not get support on every bill, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t work together on other ones.  By attending this event it shows that the MMA is stepping up and supporting Rep. Puppolo in his community. The fundraiser was a class act. It was held at the Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Center Court.  Governor Deval Patrick hosted the event. After a short speech by the Governor, the Representative was introduced to the guests. The speech by Rep. Puppolo was much more lengthy, as he thanked everyone in the room, most of them by name. The room was full of politicians both past and present. As they walked through the room they seemed to be swallowed up by the crowd. There were introductions, re-introductions and a lot of vigorous hand shaking. Everyone anxiously waiting for their turn to congratulate, or reminisce or just to say “Hello”.

    Besides meeting the Governor and  Rep. Puppolo, we were able to spend time with Senator Gale Candaras and her Chief of Staff, Aaron Saunders. Aaron will be running for Ludlow Town Selectman and has asked for MMA support on the local level.  I remember Todd Smola was Town Selectman in Palmer, went on to help Rep. Reed Hillman as an aid and now holds that same office. State Rep. Todd Smola is a good friend to the MMA. A young man with a promising future. Brian was able to corner State Senator Stephen Buoniconti. The Senator knows the MMA from all the e-mails sent to him by our Legislative Director Paul Cote. Our attire was probably dated as we were the only ones there wearing black leather sportcoats. When we introduced ourselves to the Senator, his first remark was  “That explains the leather. You’re the motorcycle guys.” I answered “ Yeah, we like it that way.”

     State Rep. Rose Mary Sandlin was there as well as past Rep. Paul Carron. The new Mayor of Springfield Domenic Sarno was in attendance, and I was able to meet my new Mayor of Agawam, Mayor Susan Dawson. Having a small problem with the Safety Sign program last year, I asked her if she could support a motorcycle Safety Sign project of ours this spring. To my surprise, she asked me if I knew her background. I told her that I knew very little about her personal life. She explained to me that she and her boyfriend were involved in a motorcycle accident. She was seriously injured and her boyfriend was killed. “Absolutely I support motorcycle safety and awareness!”

     Although the Mayor had a bad experience on a motorcycle, she confided in me that she still occasionally gets the urge to get back on a bike. The excitement of ‘living on the edge’ may be the draw. Sometimes we don’t have to try to explain it!