A Beef about Bardwell Goes Nowhere

Today I'm up a little earlier than usual for a morning shift at the cafe. The light outside is golden, the air is chilled. I picked up the Gazette and found a story about a dog at work. This brings back memories of E-S Sports, where Frank Suher used to bring his lab Daisy into work every day. It made that Holyoke office more like a home.

In the Easthampton, MA town office, there is a boxer named Bardwell who has just gotten a reprieve. It seems that a union president named Trent Chapdelaine complained about the hound, who like his master Patricia Cotton, comes to work in town hall every day. The town officials dutifully checked their insurance regs, and found Bardwell was not breaking any laws by sleeping on the office floor.

The prez told the Gazette he filed the beef 'on behalf of the union,' and clammed up when pressed for details. Bardwell also got glowing testimony from Joe Pipczynski, who said just having the dog there lowers his blood pressure. Mayor Mike Tautznik said the board's investigation of the complaint was a waste of time.

The board did vote to put out a sign warning locals that they could encounter dogs inside the town building. Now it seems, everything is safe once again for Bardwell.