Western Mass Homes Lesley Lambert

Lesley's Life

Lesley Lambert On Moving Up

My baby's 5th grade graduationThere are so many occasions to move up: school events, sporting accolades, marriage, the END of a marriage, new job endeavors… Just like The Jeffersons, there are endless opportunities to move up in this world.

Today my eleven year old began her journey of moving up. Today she graduated from 5th Grade at Highland School in Westfield, MA and next year she will move up to South Middle School here in Westfield, MA.

Highland School was our second elementary school and second grade was her first year there. It was a rocky beginning to what would become a really wonderful experience. My daughter has learned and grown and experienced so much while within the doors of Highland Elementary. She has withstood the stresses of a new environment and persevered to enjoy the love of true friends and the gracious education from several teachers who have given their best love, guidance and support.

She has had so much fun. Fun in the classroom with teachers who find interesting ways to teach their lessons and truly love the craft of education. Fun with experiments, research and writing. Fun with field trips and overnight excursions. Fun with her friends both at and outside of school and these friendships will last.

As a parent I am truly grateful for the kind of attention my daughter was given in her elementary education. From the foundation up, Highland School brings the best to their students every day. The staff leadership of Mr. Kane and Mr. Manfredi have taken concern in my child’s personal welfare and her teachers have been attentive, caring and concerned.

I have written to them personally of my affection for their guidance in my daughter’s life, but I wanted to make a public symbol of my appreciation. My daughter and I have had a great experience and we thank each one of you who touched her life at Highland School.

You are the type of educators that a parent wants in their child’s life and it is with gratitude that I send you my best regards. I hope you enjoy this video I made in honor of the auspicious occasion!

Memorial Day Presentation at Highland School, Westfield, MA

Memorial Day Weekend is considered by many to be the un-official start to summer, but let’s not forget why we have this day.

They fell, but o’er their glorious grave
Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.
~Francis Marion Crawford

I attended my daughter’s Memorial Day presentation at her elementary
school yesterday and was impressed and moved to see the wide range of
Veterans who attended as special guests. There were gentlemen from the
Korean War right on through to an airman who has just returned from
Afghanistan. In the speeches that were given they wanted the children
to know that it warmed their hearts to see them grow up in the best
country in the world and to know that they had a part in keeping our
country free from tyranny.

As my 11 year old daughter’s voice rang out singing “The Star-Spangled
Banner” I hoped that the passion and emotion she and her classmates were feeling in the
song was resounding with every child, parent and teacher in that small
auditorium. So many families over the entire course of the United
States of America have given of themselves so that we may live in
freedom and enjoy our friends and family as summer begins.

Principal Kane offered a moving and powerful speech reminding young and old alike how blessed
we are to live in America and at what cost we keep our freedoms. Mrs. McMahon, the chorus director, and
Dr. Burns, band director, led the children in a wonderful performance.

Here is a video from the Memorial Day Presentation at Highland School in Westfield, MA :

With this blessing in your heart and a prayer of gratitude on your
lips, may you and your loved ones have a fabulous Memorial Day Weekend!

Lesley

Westfield River Brewing Company- Home of Black Squirrel Ale

Last weekend Morriss and I visited Westfield’s newest asset, Westfield River Brewing Company.

Located at 79 Mainline Drive in Westfield, MA, Westfield River Brewing Company offers tastings and tours on the first and third Friday and Saturday of each month. The brewery is casual and comfortable with several custom brews on tap to taste including their signature Black Squirrel Ale.

As a local business person, I love meeting other people who love to live and work in Western Massachusetts and I especially like this segment from their website:

Westfield River Brewing Company, located in Westfield, Mass., was officially founded by a group of long time Massachusetts’ residents in the spring of 2012. We have chosen to live, work, and raise our families here in this beautiful state. We have also built our brewery here so that we can share our passion for quality, fresh beer with the people we call our family, friends, and neighbors.

The owner, Sergio Bonavita, is a convivial guy who gave a very interesting and education tour of their small operation. He was kind enough to let me interview him…I hope after you watch our video you make your way to one of the many restaurants and package stores that are supporting this great new local business!

Home Ownership Truly Matters. Beyond Western Massachusetts: The National Association of REALTORS

home ownership matters in western maHome ownership is clearly something I feel passionately about. Not everyone has to own a home and not everyone SHOULD, but for those that are working toward the American Dream of Home Ownership…it matters.

This week is the mid-year panels for the National Association of REALTORS and there are a lot discussions happening. The week isn’t JUST about discussions, however, it is about action and pro-action, too. Tomorrow, May 17, 2012 is the REALTOR rallyl in Washington DC.

I can’t be in DC, but there is a virtual rally, too and I am a firm believer in the value of home ownership for more reasons than the fact I am a REALTOR.

My parents brought me up in a small town in Western MA, Southwick Massachusetts. They chose Southwick, MA for the proximity to Springfield, MA and Hartford, MA which resolved both familial and work obligations. Their first home was purchased when I was about a year old for $16,000. We lived there, on Sefton Drive in Southwick, until about 1979 when my parents built a new home. We move “all the way across town” to Mort Vining Road, Southwick, MA. What a change! We went from a neighborhood (even though a very suburban one) to the true country. Barely paved road; cows; sheep and horses along the road and no cable tv.

As my parents grew, so did their real estate portfolio. They bought investments to keep (like the house my mom still lives in) and others to flip. I learned about flipping properties about two decades before it became popular. I was a kid, a teenager, but I painted, weeded, carried, sanded and did whatever labor needed to be done to help our family with our American Dream. I worked alongside my mom as an assistant folding newsletters and licking (yeah we had to lick em) stamps from 1982-1988. In 1988 I took the real estate license course and became a REALTOR, myself.

After college I wanted to move out. My mom offered me discounted rent in her multi-family in exchange for management duties. I took over the building operations from soup to nuts and I can tell you that I went nuts in that soup, but I learned lessons that no college degree can teach. I always knew the value of a dollar and the feel of a hard day’s work (one of my first jobs was tobacco in Southwick) but this was different. This was an adult responsibility.

Post graduation in 1992, there were no jobs in my degree (English PR and Communications) and I went to work once again for my mom at her real estate office in Westfield, MA.

Next up was my own home ownership. I have since owned several properties, both personal and investment and I credit my parents for the wonderful education….it has paid dividends that my college education (while amazing) never could.

Why do I share this?

Because…I believe. I believe in home ownership. I believe in Western Massachusetts. I believe that you do, too.

The following video is a national interview of the National Association of REALTOR’S financial guru, Lawrence Yun. He echoes thoughts that I have daily:

Paraphrasing NAR :

Home buyers need to stay within their means when purchasing a home. YES

The lenders are overreacting to the point where even a well qualified buyer can’t get a mortgage. YES

The pendulum has swung to overly stringent requirements in lending. YES

Cash buyers are helping to move the economy, but are preventing 1st time buyers needing a mortgage from getting the affordable homes. YES

This is a bi-partisan AMERICAN issue. YES

Home ownership truly matters. YES

Watch the video to see and hear what Lawrence Yun has to say. Comment below to let me know what YOU have to say…you already know what I have to say.

Take a woodland walk in the Wildlife Refuge at Stanley Park, Westfield, MA

This weekend I had the rare few free hours and I decided to take a nice long walk at Stanley Park through the Wildlife Refuge. I have been using the trails there for years, both for mountain (trail) biking and walking. Stanley Park is an amazing place for the kids to play, for picnics, for sports and for visiting gorgeous manicured gardens, but it also is the host for these gorgeous and serene trails through the woods, through meadows and beside the river. Why not join me?