Whether it was securing immediate help for workers left jobless by the Malden Mills fire, persuading a local business mogul to offer health insurance to more employees, or championing the law that provides money for 1,800 meals delivered to local seniors, Sen. Edward Kennedy had an impact on the lives of countless Merrimack Valley residents.
"He will probably go down in history as one of the most effective senators our country has ever seen," said former Methuen Mayor Sharon Pollard, a friend of Kennedy who helped orchestrate his run for president in 1980.
People around the Merrimack Valley yesterday remembered Kennedy as a political icon who came to town, met with the people, and then returned to Washington and worked to make life better for his constituents.
Dennis DiZoglio, executive director of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, was the mayor of Methuen at the time of the Malden Mills fire in 1995. The blaze swept through the 29-acre complex, injuring 27 people and devastating the company, which employed close to 2,400 workers.
Kennedy showed up the next day and toured the site on the Lawrence/Methuen line.
"He met with all the workers, met with Mr. Feuerstein (company owner Aaron Feuerstein). It was great for signaling a sound of hope here. They were all about to lose their jobs, but he said he was going to go to Washington and he was going to see what he could do about the situation," DiZoglio said.
DiZoglio soon received a call —- he thinks it may have been the next day. Kennedy was on the line from Washington, where he had rounded up then-Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency, along with then-U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan and Sen. John Kerry.
"He said, 'Mayor, we're here to help you,'" DiZoglio recalled Kennedy saying.
DiZoglio said it would be great if the federal government could waive the two-week waiting period for unemployment benefits for the workers.
"Well, Mr. Secretary, what do you say?" Kennedy said to Reich on the other line.
"Yes," Reich replied.
Kennedy also secured aid to retrain displaced workers for jobs and military contracts for the company that provided work for throngs of local residents, DiZoglio said.
"In a crisis situation like that, he was front and center," DiZoglio said.
Joseph Bevilacqua, president of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce, said Kennedy was instrumental in the decision to designate Lawrence a renewal community, spurring economic development.
Lawrence was declared one of 40 renewal communities in the country," Bevilacqua said. "He got that done and that unlocked federal tax incentives that directed the hiring of local people. It really had an impact. It is one of the biggest catalysts for the redevelopment of the mills."
Beneficiaries of the tax incentives include companies as diverse as New Balance and Sal's Pizza, along with other businesses in the Riverwalk complex, owned by developer and pizza restaurateur Sal Lupoli.
Lupoli said he had met with Kennedy at least a dozen times over the years and still remembers an hourlong, one-on-one meeting in 2004 during which Lupoli talked of his vision for the old mills along the Merrimack River.
"Then I listened to him," Lupoli said. "He offered great inspiration and great advice."
Kennedy also urged Lupoli to offer health insurance coverage to employees working as little as 12 or 15 hours a week, though the law only requires coverage for workers putting in 32 hours a week.
"I listened to him and I said, 'He's right,'" Lupoli recalled. "There's the business side of it, and then there's the right side of it."
Dayna Brown, director of Community Programs at Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, said the Meals on Wheels Act, which Kennedy championed in 1972, allows Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley to serve more than 1,800 meals per day locally.
"That has clearly been a huge factor in helping us be able to keep elders at home for as long as possible," Brown said.
More recently, Kennedy helped pass the Serve America Act, which has resulted in Elder Services recruiting more than 200 volunteers to work on various topics with seniors, including money management and health benefits counseling, Brown said.
Methuen Senior Center Director Corinne LaCharite remembers Kennedy visiting her facility to talk about prescription drug costs in September 2000. Kennedy answered seniors' questions, shook their hands, and posed for photographs.
"He just has a presence about him that draws you to him. He stayed for about an hour and a half talking to people about health care," LaCharite recalled.
The senior senator was known for his advocacy of health care.
In 2003, when Lawrence General Hospital announced plans to renovate its emergency department, Kennedy came to the city to rally support from politicians, residents, business owners and employees.
Kelley Granahan of Lawrence General Hospital's public affairs office said Kennedy helped the hospital win nearly $1 million in grants toward the $20 million project.
"He was larger than life when he spoke," Granahan said. "Everyone sitting in the audience admired his perseverance and knowledge of helping people in need."
Kennedy's political might also benefited Greater Lawrence Community Action Council Inc.
"Ted was a very strong supporter of anti-poverty programs," said Executive Director Philip Laverriere.
Kennedy's true passion was Head Start, which is administered locally by Community Action. Maureen O'Neill Mulcahy, director of planning and program development, will never forget when Kennedy, in 1991, called Community Action asking to stop by and see the children in Head Start.
Kennedy sat in front of the class and recited "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," illustrating the tale with his hands.
"He was so warm and outgoing with the children," Mulcahy said. "He was concerned about them and their future and had very genuine feelings for them."
Mulcahy said Kennedy was Community Action's "go-to person."
"Anytime we were in danger of losing money, he would advocate for us," she said.
Charles "Chick" Lopiano, Community Action's assistant executive director, said Kennedy helped Community Action land $300,000 to build the Head Start program 10 years ago, in conjunction with the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence. The senator also was instrumental in obtaining $4 million for the Reading First program and helped the agency win a community service grant for the Community Service Center serving the Hispanic community.
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