After 32 Years of Serving Granby's Children, Heminway Retires

Several times during his retirement gathering on Monday evening, outgoing Board of Education Chairman Cal Heminway insisted that “it’s not about me, it’s about we.”

Heminway, who is not seeking another term after serving 32 years on the school board, credited fellow board members, administrators, teachers, district employees, parents, students and town residents for making the Granby school district what it is today.

“It’s their accomplishment, not mine,” he insisted.

But while it may be true that it has been a team effort, it’s also equally true that it’s impossible to imagine the progress the district has made both in programming and in facilities without Heminway’s guidance.

Consider some of what has been accomplished during Heminway’s tenure on the school board:

• a new Granby Memorial Middle School was constructed;

• three elementary schools and the high school have doubled in size;

Heminway also was a member of the Capital Region Education Council, serving as its chair at one point, and on the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, serving as its president.

And so various dignitaries and state and local officials took turns to recognize and thank Heminway for his three-plus decades of service, shaping the future of educating children not just in Granby but in the state of Connecticut.

State Sen. John Kissel (R-7th District) said that Heminway “epitomizes selfless public service.”

Kissel said that he recalls the numerous trips Heminway made to the state Capitol with a group of Granby kids, and Heminway would be “beaming.”

“He was with his kids,” Kissel said. “He did it happily. … This was the fruit of their labor. This town and this school system is awesome. I see you as an extraordinary role model for myself and so many others.”

Former Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gwen Van Dorp sent humorous props to note, among other things, Heminway’s heart of gold (a plastic yellow heart); his sometimes prickly personality (a cactus); and his vision for the future (a pair of goofy glasses).

First Selectman John Adams and Town Manager William Smith presented Heminway with a framed list of the things that were accomplished while he was on the school board.

Former First Selectman and current state Rep. Bill Simanski (R-62nd District) thanked Heminway as a father (Simanski had children who went to Granby public schools), as a town official and as a homeowner for helping preserve property values.

School board Vice Chairman Edward Ohannessian noted that in 1981, when Heminway joined the board, MTV just launched, gas was $1.25 a gallon, IBM released its first PC and Muhammad Ali retired.

“To say that we are blessed is an understatement,” Ohannessian said of Heminway’s tenure.

There were generous tributes and gifts bestowed on Heminway as well.

Rebecca Brewer, president of the Granby Education Foundation, said that the Cal Heminway Tribute Fund has been started, with $10,000 already contributed to it. The fund will support the grant program meeting the mission of engaging students in the community and in public service.

The meeting room in the central office where the retirement gathering was held was named after Heminway, with a photo of the outgoing school board chairman positioned right under the clock.

Superintendent of Schools Alan Addley unveiled a painting of all five school buildings in Granby by Sally Melrose for Heminway.

Addley said that he admired Heminway’s loyalty. Heminway, Addley said, supported him unconditionally, putting up with his “flaws and mistakes.”

“Thank you for your counsel and support,” said Addley, noting that Heminway 16 years ago gave him an opportunity to work in Granby. “Thank you for making my dreams come true.”

Addley presented Heminway with the book “The Giving Tree.” Addley also recognized Heminway’s wife, Sue, who supported Cal through thousands of meetings throughout the years.

When it was time for Heminway to talk, he noted that his tenure on the school board almost never happened. At the time, he was commuting from Granby to White Plains every day, a distance that was too far for the Republican Town Committee to consider for him for a position on the board.

He got a call two weeks after the rejection asking him if he was interested in running for an unexpired term.

He recalled the genesis of the capital program priority advisory committee in his living room, which led to nearly 30 years of cooperation between the boards of finance, selectmen and education.

“We had one budget for the town, and we did not stab each other in the back,” Heminway said.

He noted that the Education Foundation, something that is “near and dear” to his heart, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for things like the ecology building at the high school.

He then ended with the phrase he opened with to a reporter who spoke earlier to him.

“It’s not about me; it’s about we.”