Inauguration Day

Confused people holding signs seen from a bus traveling down Main Street in Northampton.

A sign of a different nature at the other end of Main.

Monday was a big day around the Valley as far as inauguration ceremonies were concerned. This Dann Vazquez photo shows Tuesday's front page coverage of the Northampton ceremony.

The new Northampton City Council was praised for its diversity, but it is diverse in only the most shallow sense, that of race, sex and ethnicity. As for the far more significant barometer of diversity of ideas, they are as bland and uniform in their views as a Communist commune committee. In any case, I skipped the Hamp affair in favor of the one in Springfield, which required first catching the bus to Holyoke.

Soon I arrived in the teeming metropolis of the city where I was born.

On my way to Symphony Hall, I passed the Miles Morgan statue. Morgan was an ancestor of J. Wesley Miller.

I arrived a little late, and so was forced to sit almost in the back row.

After the swearings-in, there was a nicely catered reception upstairs in the Mahogany Room. Here is the guest of honor in the glare of the TV camera lights.

There was a big crowd, peppered throughout with political office holders, both past and present. Here State Rep. Jose Tosados greets fellow Rep. Bud Williams, Councilor Malo Brown and others.

Conspicuous in his absence was Congressman Richard Neal. That's surprising because Neal is facing a tough challenge this year from Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, so you would think he would want to be at this event which was attended by many of his core supporters.

Interestingly, Sarno said in his inaugural address that he intends to run for re-election in 2023. However, it may be that the Neal/Morse battle could have a major impact on Sarno's career. In the event of an upset where Morse defeats Neal, some suspect that Sarno would then enter the congressional arena in 2022 in hopes of making Morse a one term wonder.

When the mayoral reception was over, we went down the street to the casino for lunch. Here's a view of the courtyard from the second floor.

We had burgers and fries at Bill's Diner. It was pretty good and costs only nine bucks.

Here's an inaugural blast from the past.