t-that pynchon award...

[Burns, Erik]

Ad Club chooses Pynchon winners
Business
LORI STABILE
STAFF
529 Words
22 March 2003
Springfield Union-News
ALL
A07
English
Copyright (c) 2003. Springfield Union-News All Rights Reserved. Used by
Factiva with Permission.

ART: PHOTO

SPRINGFIELD - Fed up with drugs and violence in his neighborhood,
Teofilo Alvarado did something about it.

He organized marches against gangs and criminals. He formed the Lower
Liberty Heights Action Team and created Springfield's first Crime Watch
community.

Alvarado, 64, was honored yesterday along with two other individuals,
Carol W. Kinsley of Springfield and R. Lyman Wood of Hampden.

They are this year's recipients of the William Pynchon Award, given
annually by the Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts to one or more
individuals who have contributed to the community.

Alvarado moved to Springfield 22 years ago. He was born in Puerto
Rico and lived in New York City. He left New York because he thought
Springfield would be a better place to live. Instead, he found some of
the same problems.

His contributions to the community include sprucing up the neglected
Emily Bill Park. Semi-retired as a machine operator from Facemate Corp.
in Chicopee, Alvarado and his wife, Maximina, have four children. He
attends Blessed Sacrament Church.

"Teo lives for his neighbors and his neighborhood. He believes that
everyone deserves dignity and peace and so transforms what he and his
family touch," said Sister Jane Morrissey, a past Pynchon winner who
nominated Alvarado for the award.

Kinsley, 65, said she has always been committed to community service,
ever since her childhood growing up in Grove City, a small town in
western Pennsylvania. She moved to Springfield in 1963.

"I have looked up the people who have been given this award," Kinsley
said. "Being recognized for your service to the community, that's a high
value in my life."

Kinsley helped bring students from disadvantaged neighborhoods to
Longmeadow schools. She has helped create programs for Springfield
public schools, such as Springfield School Volunteers and community
service learning. She founded the Community Service Learning Center in
1990.

In 1994, she was appointed by former President Clinton to the board
of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Today, she is still involved with that organization. She serves on the
Greater Springfield Mentoring Partnership Leadership Council and is a
founding member of the Community Music School of Springfield.

Wood, who could not attend yesterday's ceremony, moved to the Pioneer
Valley in 1983. Now retired, he and his wife, Merrie, have three
children. He has served as a trustee, member of the executive committee,
chairman of the economic development and investment committees for the
Springfield Library & Museums Association; director of the Business
Friends for the Arts; and trustee and member of the executive committee
of Springfield College. He is chairman of the Society of Everett Barney
in Forest Park and is also involved with the Springfield YMCA,
Springfield Symphony, United Way and Baystate Health System.

Winners of the Pynchon award, named for Springfield's founder, will
be honored May 21 at Chez Josef in Agawam.

Lori Stabile can be reached at lstabile at union-news.com

CUTLINE: Carol W. Kinsey and Teofilo Alvarado, as well as R. Lyman
Wood, above right, are the three winners of Pynchon Awards for 2003.

(PHOTO 2) R. Lyman Wood