Hi everyone, and congratulations!!! Our success is your success! The voters of Agawam have spoken. By a vote of 60% no to 40% yes they have rejected the ballot questions that would have paved the way for the Tennis Road Development. A 20% margin of victory is huge for a municipal ballot question, especially one that has been this hotly debated. The magnitude of this victory cannot be overstated. A group of completely volunteer citizens on a shoestring budget beat a multi-million dollar developer and his team of 'experts'. This rarely happens, as recently, several towns have lost similar type elections by very large margins. He easily outspent us 10 to 1 in this election. Even more telling, the voters re-elected the entire current town council, supporting the people that chose to protect the town from outside developers who want to control our zoning. We owe the council a big thanks for publicly taking a stand against outside control of our zoning. So what happens now?  If you read today's Springfield Republican, you saw that  the developers will look at other options on how the development can be pursued. We feel the message is clear. If you want to build a retail development in Agawam, it will be on our terms, not a developers terms. Either way, we will continue to monitor the situation, and take appropriate action when necessary. We will start tonight by attending the Town council meeting, where the councilors will look at the zoning amendment that the Planning Board wrote for retail shopping centers. We would like to thank the voters of Agawam for listening to the facts presented, and making a wise choice. We would also like to thank the many small business owners of Agawam that supported us when many said that they didn't care. They showed true courage in speaking out on a controversial issue. Most of all, we would like to thank the many people who volunteered their time and talents over the past year. No matter how small the task you did, it was important. Our group is like a puzzle. The large pieces are easy to put in place, but filling in the smaller details is the difficult part. That's where all of you came in. Without any of one of you, the picture is not complete. When I moved here in 1994, I knew Agawam was a special place. Over the past year, I came to realize just how special and caring the people were. Thanks so much to all of you. You are deserving of this victory. Sincerely, The CARD Committee Karl Merriam