Chick Delano 1945-2015
The shortlist of dynamic characters who helped forge the idyllic Amherst we revere today just got a little shorter with the sudden, unexpected passing of (Harry Arthur) Chick Delano -- a true entrepreneur, back before most people knew the meaning of the word.
Delano's, founded 1977, was a downtown fixture for 30 years, or the Amherst version of Cheers (at least in the early hours of the day).
I only went there once I'm almost ashamed to say, but it was one of the most memorable days of my life after my South Amherst apartment pretty much burned to the ground on a Friday-the-13th, November, 1987.
My wife and I needed to chill, and Delano's quaint laid back atmosphere and ice cold draft beer was exactly what we needed most.
A dozen years later (1999) Chick and I went head-to-head on the infamous 'Smoking Ban in Bars War', to this day the most arduous political battle I have ever fought.
Unlike a certain Select Board member who aligned himself with the renegade bar owners I respected that Chick was fighting for the rights of his clientele to smoke and not just out of self interest, as he had by then given up the habit.
Three years later we served together on the Amherst July 4th Parade Committee, restarted in the tragic wake of 9/11 after a 30 year hiatus. Kevin Joy formed the committee in mid-April of 2002, giving us little time before the BIG event.
Chick and I headed up fundraising, and in only ten weeks raised a little over $7,000. He had a natural charm that people from all walks of life could easily trust.
Yesterday afternoon at the Lord Jeffery Inn in downtown Amherst over 250 family and friends -- some of them former competitors -- gathered in the Dickinson Room to pay their final respects to a man everyone knew as "Chick."
Fighting back tears family members spoke briefly, reminding us all of the indelible power of love. And the ceremony concluded, aptly enough, with Ol' Blues Eyes belting out "My Way."
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!
Chick was a big contributor for many years to the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Senior Center. I'm sure he performed other good deeds without fanfare as well. He is missed.
ReplyDeleteChick was indeed an indelible part of the downtown, a fixture for years. A good man, sad to see him go.
ReplyDeleteSorry to see anyone pass, especially a higher class memeber of the community, one who contributed through business in stead of just selfishly punching the clock like so many do.
ReplyDeleteEntrepreneurship is weak in western mass, statistically (not an opinion, a fact). 1977 was not before folks knew what an entrepreneur was, it was after the beloved government had already started regulating and propagandizing against it in favor of everyone being a weak employee. Think trade with China despite wages, countless town permits (even to provide housing to the poor), general hate of business owners, etc.
The loss of an entrepreneur, one who contributes so much to the community, is significant, especially today. We can only hope that there may be a young person willing to fight all the pointless modern fights to have the right to be en entrepreneur so that society can benefit. RIP to a real community leader. Glad this man grew up in a different time with more business rights or he would not have had the ability to have such a great influence.
There should not be so many local regulations preventing people from accomplishing what he did.