ATHOL — While Debbie Allain-Thomas had expected a brief visit from Athol’s state legislators and town manager during the recent grand opening her business, she was not aware she would be presented with resolutions honoring her for her commitment to the community.
State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, each presented Allain-Thomas with a resolution of commendation from their respective branch of the Legislature, while Town Manager Shaun Suhoski presented her with a similar resolution passed by Athol’s Selectboard. Past District Governor of the Lions Club, Jeanette McIntosh, also presented Allain-Thomas with a club decree thanking her for her work with the organization and on behalf of the annual River Rat Race.
While presenting Allain-Thomas with her Senate resolution, Sen. Comerford said, “I was thinking about this beautiful business and the work of opening it in the middle of a global pandemic; to bring something to the community of Athol that is useful, that is a community center, that brings opportunity to this region by opening a business and investing here. So, congratulations for opening a business in the middle of this really hard time.
“I’m glad you put a stake down,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to working with Rep. Whipps in support of your efforts and small businesses across the region.”
Else Where, located at 1485 Main St. in Athol’s Uptown neighborhood, provides UPS, FedEx, and US Postal drop offices, shipping services, photocopying and faxing, and printing services. While Else Where first opened its doors in June 2019, the demands of opening the businesses, followed by the disruption caused by the pandemic, led Allain-Thomas to keep putting off a grand opening event. Finally, partly at the urging of Pam Boudreau and other supporters, the grand opening was held on Oct. 20.
Before presenting the House resolution to Allain-Thomas, Rep. Whipps cited Boudreau, who works with Allain-Thomas and who emceed the event, for letting her know about Else Where and its services.
“You know,” said Whipps, “Pam is retired, and she was looking for something to do. The excitement I heard in her voice after she had come here and met Deb and wanted to pitch in and give Deb a little respite with the business — it was just amazing.”
Turning to Allain-Thomas, Whipps said, “During COVID, we were apart from each other, we were separated from our families. To have a service like this, where you could reach out to your family, you could send your Christmas gifts, if you needed something — because a lot of us weren’t going to the big stores — you could have it shipped here.
“As a business owner and as a woman business owner, and I see other women business owner here, Deb, I think that’s such an amazing thing to witness a woman being strong, providing a service, and contributing to the community in the way of commerce. So, I’m so excited to be here.”
“We’ve known each other for few years,” Suhoski began, “and where else would you go for packages and delivery services? Else Where. Where else?
“On behalf of the town, the North Quabbin Revolving Loan Fund, which does assist small business like Else Where. And the services you provide; I remember before the holidays, during the pandemic, I was sweating bullets. It’s great to have a place where we can ship goods. And for home businesses, people who are doing sales on eBay and other sites, you help them get their products out. So, ‘thank you’ from the town.”
Finally, McIntosh presented Allain-Thomas with a declaration stating, “The Athol Lions recognize Else Where as the official River Rat registration location.”
Following all of the presentations, Allain-Thomas told those gathered for the event, “Of course, I couldn’t be here without a lot of you. I encourage anyone who’s ever thinking of opening a business to seek out the kind of great support that I have — family and friends.
“Some days are definitely hard, but the fact that I can bounce out of bed in the morning, show up, and do what we do, and feel that we’ve done our best; what more can we say? If you do what you love, you’re more than willing to do it every day.”
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.