LONGMEADOW – Residents of Longmeadow will have a chance to meet and greet their new town manager, Lyn Simmons, at two receptions that the town has arranged at the Greenwood Center’s “Over 60” room on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 1 p.m.

Simmons became town manager on Nov. 12, after former town manager Stephen Crane took a town manager position in Concord.

Simmons said she has long been familiar with Longmeadow since she attended Bay Path College before it became a university.

“After college, I worked for a law firm,” she said. “I quickly realized that was not the area I wanted to work in.”

Beginning in 2004, Simmons was the chief of staff to the mayor of Northampton. She decided to stay in municipal government and furthered her education to do so.

“I really like local government because it’s so connected to the people that you can hear an issue and make changes that directly affect people,” Simmons told Reminder Publishing.

Simmons expects to tackle challenges as she digs into the position.

“Most immediate is learning town government as opposed to city government,” having come from Northampton, Simmons said. From there, she said, it will just be a matter of learning about the various projects that Longmeadow has in the works.

That said, Simmons said her more than 15 years of experience has given her “a broad set of skills,” and she is looking forward to bringing that to the town.