The Fall River community gathered on August 29, 2022, for the rededication of the Cathy Assad Tot Lot on Massasoit Street. The park underwent extensive renovations, transforming it into a modern recreational space. Improvements included the installation of a new basketball court, a splash pad for children, and updated playground equipment. Funding for these enhancements was provided by the Division of Conservation Service under the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, as well as the city's Community Development Agency. The Mayor, who hosted the event, highlighted the collaborative efforts of various city departments and the community in bringing the project to fruition, encouraging residents to utilize the revitalized park. The ceremony served as a tribute to Kathy Assad, a respected figure in the community. Speakers remembered her as a dedicated teacher at Durfee High School and a proactive community leader who founded the Flint Neighborhood Association. Her daughter, Natalie Assad, expressed profound gratitude for the rededication, particularly noting the new accessible features for children. State Representative Carol Faiola and City Councilor Linda Pereira were among the officials present, with Faiola commending the Mayor's leadership in city improvements. Joey Da Silva, Chairman of the Park Board, acknowledged the crucial role of Mike Dion from Community Development in securing funding and mentioned future plans for other parks. Monsignor Root from Saint Anthony's concluded the formal remarks by offering a blessing for the park, the city, its inhabitants, and for Kathy Assad's enduring memory. Chief of Police Paul Gordon was also in attendance, underscoring the community-wide support for the park's revitalization.
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i want to thank everyone for coming today to the uh kathy assad taught lot on massasoit street dedication um we just left the damaris playground we had a great crowd down there and i think we have a bigger crowd here um this is another truly beautiful park that has done a complete 180 um working with the city and the community development agency and our park department and our dcm to make sure
0:24we can renovate this park to be something special for the neighbors the grant funding used in this park from the division of conservation service under the executive office of energy and environmental affairs as well as our community development agency we were able to make massive improvements here including a basketball court a splash pad for the kids and of course new playground equipment
0:47before i go any further i want to introduce a few people that are nice enough to join us today our state representative carol faiola our city councilor linda pereira she flew back down pleasant street with us um obviously we're very pleased to have monsignor root with us from saint anthony's desert one of my good friends who was on the school committee tom corey decided to come out
1:22kathy's daughter natalie assad is also here today right over there thanks natalie um and again it was our goal if i missed somebody let me know obviously we have joey da silva from the parks um nancy and chuck denme from dcm all people contributed to make this park what it is a better place for this for this neighborhood off of pleasant street um sarah labassia who who couldn't be here
1:49today also was actively involved in this remember that the master saw at kathy assad toddler is a neighborhood park it serves as open space for the nearby kids who have not got a lot of green space to play in they got a beautiful court now and i come up here every time i drive by there's kids out there playing in the splash pad which is great um i also want to introduce who joined
2:12us today was tess curran from the health department for the city of fall river and this is um this is a very special neighborhood park to me because i uh played a lot of basketball right over here on this court my uh one of my best friends growing up tommy halal his sister and his uh and sue is also here they all lived right across the street over there and we used
2:36to walk over and uh argue about who made a shot or who blocked who or where the file was but it went on for days but i i appreciate everybody coming out and so many people i i being one of them i worked with her for a number of years at durfee have very special memories of kathy assad whether they were her students doing during her many many years at durfee she was a neighborhood
2:59kid who took everyone under her wing or one of the many community leaders who inspired action by her hard work and organizing the flint neighborhood association she cared specifically about this neighborhood the flint neighborhood and all up and down it she was a very very active strong woman who's made a difference in the lives of so so many people up here and it's a fitting tribute that we renovated this park in
3:27her honor she took tremendous pride in this neighborhood and all the people who lived here so it is an honor that we're able to dedicate her legacy to this beautiful park for all of our youth to enjoy and i'm going to go off off script for just a second here um i'm going to let natalie talk in a minute but first i want to let joey da silva come up and say a few words about
3:55the park and what's going on here he's the chairman of the park board i just want to say that it was a tremendous uh collaboration with the park board mike dion from community development city council the administration dcm uh that there's many more things that we have planned in the near future for other parks and everything but i want to special thank mike dion because without his funding we
4:24can't none of this is kind of possible and and to tell you what went on up here mike and i would take a ride by and we were actually down to the nuances of deciding how these bricks should go we're there and we walked around the parks of the entire construction and we even took some feedback from some of the neighbors that were around here but the person with the most direct link
4:49to kathy assad is her daughter natalie she kept an eye on this park for a long time herself working with her mother and we'd love her to come up and say a few words tonight but it's not night it's during the day can everyone hear me how about now okay thank you everyone mr mayor um state representative city council community director um mr dion all the city officials thank you so much for coming out uh
5:25today in memory of my mom you know eight years ago everything was a little different she was here and um she was humbled uh by even her name being associated with a park so today for it to be rededicated with the newest um accessible features for children and to see a splash pad and then to see these wonderful children here and everyone in the audience our family and i know my mom is looking down
5:57thanking each of you for being here so please remember to be good to each other every day and to look out for your neighborhood so thank you so much but thank you all for coming what a tribute and monsignor root since you are here from kathy's church where she sang constantly i think it would be very appropriate for you to bless this park that all children do well here thank you mr mayor all
6:30right that's a great idea but we'll let carol talk then we'll let monsignor say something we don't want you to follow that people follow both of them thank you mayor first of all mayor we owe you a great uh round of applause for your leadership not only here today but for all of the improvements you're making every day to make our lives better thank you it's a great partnership we love bringing money
6:53down to the city because we know it is spent very well um my it is sort of my neighborhood too because right here in this house my husband's grandmother lived and nellie would look out on this oh somebody's shaking their head yes because there's so many people from the neighborhood my husband ken's grandmother nelly o'neil lived up there and would have her perch out the window and watch everything
7:16going on in the neighborhood and so i'd like to think on behalf of my husband that she's still keeping an eye on all these wonderful children in this neighborhood that are taking advantage of this incredible improvement natalie said to me i said i didn't know they were rededicating your mother in your mother's memory the park and she said well monday's your day off so i didn't want to bother you
7:37they call me father a father never has a day off when he has wonderful children that he has to look after and grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the whole bit um it's an honor to be here this morning let us pray glory to the father to the son and to the holy spirit one god forever and ever heavenly father we thank you for this beautiful day we thank you for this wonderful city
8:06of fall river for its inhabitants for its government both local and state for all that goes on in this neighborhood may the memory of kathy be eternal may her memory never die out but just grow as she loved let us love also this city everything about this community and let us be as one no matter what nationality no matter what faith we are we are all children of god and we give thanks now we bless
8:45this property the father and the son and the holy spirit the one god to whom is your glory now and forever amen thank you i also have to acknowledge another individual who's joined us here today the chief of police in the city of fall river paul gordon left the other park and shot up here to be with us and again please go around and visit the tables uh maybe we get a couple of kids to run
9:18around the splash pad this is a great spot to enjoy don't be afraid to come back and again thank you everybody for coming it's a great community effort to put on things like this and we appreciate your participation thank you very much