What an incredibly challenging time our world has been living through and continue to do so with such limitations on our abilities to safely gather together, be it for work or for play. We should unanimously recognize the current Brindle Administration for keeping the town functioning within the mandated guidelines of pandemic recovery. This is not a simple task given the dynamics and diversity of the constituency.

What is of equal import is the fact that in April of 2018 Councilwoman Dawn Mackey had the wisdom and foresight to invite this Foundation to be part of the first AddamsFest. In her own words, “The purpose is a weekend of community-based events that will nod towards the fact Mr. Addams was a Westfield resident. It is not intended to be a profit-making event.” Ultimately, it was to be an event that drew the town together in celebration of a favorite son who never turned his back on his hometown while maintaining his amazing life in New York City. It quickly developed into the month-long event that it is today.

By bringing this Foundation into the heart of the town, the Brindle Administration has enabled us to think beyond AddamsFest. It was with the proposed sale of the Rialto Theatre that our journey together was solidified by embracing a much larger focus to create a center for the arts in Westfield – not a sports center, not a condominium development, but a much-needed space for writers and artists and musicians and performance artists to create and perform. There is no such place in Westfield that encompasses all the arts, yet the town is full of creative residents.

Thanks to the continued leadership of Mayor Brindle, Councilwoman Dawn Mackey and the entirety of the Mayor’s Council, the Town of Westfield is in a state of constant improvement. It is with this effort to create a hub for the community that this Foundation feels it paramount to keep the current administration in office so that, if for no other reason, we may complete the raising of funds and refurbishing of the Rialto for the obvious betterment of Westfield at large.

This letter may be perceived solely as a politically-based instrument at a time when re-election looms, when, in reality, it is a thank you letter to the Town of Westfield for giving this Foundation a much broader purpose in the transformation of the Rialto landmark for all people to enjoy. It will ultimately put Westfield on the cultural map.