Tornado Anniversary in Brimfield, MA

When the first tornado struck, bursting over the hills like an out-of-control buzz saw and destroying everything in its path last June 1, Brett Minney grabbed his beloved cat and jumped in the closet. Moments later, his mobile home vaulted into the dark sky.

Across town, Lester Twarowski huddled in the basement with strangers and friends who prayed to God while the twister careened over the hills and flattened his tree-shaded campground.

But at the spiritual and physical center of town, the First Congregational Church remained free of the tornadoes’ wrath, its massive columns and white spire a relic of times gone by. The church has stood watch over this still-rural town of 3,000 since before Brimfield was incorporated in 1731.

It took the tornadoes, which shaved a half-mile-wide path of mayhem, to remind folks what the town’s original meetinghouse still means to Brimfield.

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