It’s been 60 years since the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) bunker, originally known as the Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency, was built.

The cold-war era bunker was part of a larger plan devised by President John Kennedy to ensure government continuity in the event of a nuclear attack. Now it supports a dedicated team of emergency management officials who serve the cCommonwealth in times of great hardship--like the Boston Marathon Bombing or severe weather events.

Those officials tell us that honoring their hardworking team was really what this birthday celebration was all about. Both Fay Stewart and Katy Bellemare were presented with governor citations in honor of their 40+ years of dedicated service at MEMA.