The ceremonial ribbon was cut at the Boys and Girls Club of Chicopee on Sunday for the new Angela Santiago basketball courts.
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The ceremonial ribbon was cut at the Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee on Sunday for the new Angela Santiago basketball courts.
Santiago was a police officer in Chicopee and served as Chicopee High School’s Police Resource Officer. She was also a veteran.
Santiago passed away in 2020 in a motorcycle accident. Her mother said she grew up playing at the courts that are now named after her. Then, later as a police officer she would play with the kids to teach them that police officers are good people and like to have fun too.
“We’ve struggled, and we get together as a family and get through it, but we’ve been working on this project for a while, doing fundraising and such and we thought, what a way to honor Angela than where she would play,” expressed Ann Marie Correa, Angela Santiago’s Mother. “We always say, when we stop talking about her is when she is truly gone so, by this is how we keep her here.”
Her mother remembers her as being a big kid, goofy and silly, always playing with the kids and creating a connection. After the ribbon was cut, basketballs were picked up to start utilizing the new courts.
She said seeing kids playing basketball on the courts named after her daughter was wonderful.
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