Treasures of Cambridge # 36 Treasures of Cambridge # 36

Mark Spiezo pictured in front of the vault in the former Bean Head’s Coffee House, has lived in Cambridge all of his 37 years, "I was born here, grew up here, went to school here, now I am married and am raising a family here."

Mark just loves this place, "A lot of my school friends ventured out, many came back, but I just stayed, it is a great place to be, you are close to everything, it is just a great, safe, hometown community." Mark takes the community aspect of his life here seriously as a full time member of the Cambridge Valley Rescue Squad for almost twenty years now. Mark loves the great group of people who serve the area, and sees it is a way to help people who are in need. "I try to be involved in as much as I can in the community, because there is such a wonderful, diverse group of people that you can learn so much from, and it is fun. I enjoy being with people and taking care of people and I strike a real good balance here."

Mark has a few props that he brought with him, first his sweater that was handmade by his grandmother, Janet Bennett, who still makes Cambridge her home. She too is a life-long resident of Cambridge, and Mark tells me about a knitting club she ran in town. He remembers back to when he was a child and would go to her house and learn all sorts of interesting things while everyone knitted. "One of the gifts that we all got when we became adults, was one of her sweaters. I have had this one for almost twenty years now, and it still looks as good as the day I got it."

Besides the stethoscope, which represents his passion for the Rescue Squad, Mark has a fishing pole showing one of his favorite pastimes which is to fish the many lakes, streams and ponds of the area.

Mark would like to be remembered, "as somebody who cared about the community, more than anything else; (be) good to the family, good to the community, and just did everything I could to maintain the character that the people who came before us were able to maintain."

Mark is a candidate this year for mayor of the Village of Cambridge on the Woodpecker ticket. We wish him well on his campaign, and recommend if you live in town, to give him a call and get to know him. Whatever the outcome of the election, you can be assured that Mark will be working hard to help continue to make Cambridge the wonderful place that we all know and love.