By E. Ashley Rooney with Photos by Peter Lund  |  As most of us know, the first shot of the American War for Independence was fired on the Lexington Green. Years later in 1971, 450 anti-war protesters occupied the historic Lexington Green and refused to leave. Early Sunday morning, they were all arrested, tried, convicted, and fined $5.00 each, and continued their march to Boston. No wonder Lexington figures in the history books.

One sunny April morning, I sat with a group of board members from the Lexington Veterans Association (LVA) and listened to battle-tested Pat Flynn, who served in World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam and received 7 Purple Hearts. He laughed as he said his friend told him, “You finally learned to duck!”  Most of the others in the room had served in the Armed Forces during Korea, the Cold War, and Viet Nam.

The sun didn’t seem to be so bright when Pat, an avid skier, told us what it was like as a 18-year-old to land in North Africa (when he had been promised a mountaineering unit) during World War II. From there, he went to southern France and then to Italy, where he helped to liberate Italy in the battle at Monte Cassino. “It was cold when I climbed those hills.  A man asked me what I wanted and I said coffee.  That was the first time I had coffee without cream and sugar.  We got hit badly, and I couldn’t walk. I came down on a mule and was shipped to a hospital.”

Sometimes I wonder if that patriotism still exists today. People sit through the Pledge of Allegiance. We don’t salute the flag as often. Few people turn out on the Lexington Green when our soldiers come home or for our Memorial Day salute.  Several years ago, Governor Romney greeted the 181st infantry regiment returning from New Orleans after the Katrina floods. Present only were the governor, his aides, a few parents, and the exhausted soldiers.

 

Pat Flynn, who has served as the town's Veteran's Agent, said, "We have over 1,000 vets in town. Sometimes they are in dire need of help."

Warren Winslow said ,"As a US history teacher, I joined this group because I am passionate about keeping these stories alive for present and future generations."

Phil Schaffer, a 45-year resident of Lexington, who had 6 months active duty in the Army in 1957 and served several more years in the National Guard, remarked, "Many people come to our meetings- not just veterans. We even get historians."

Bill Johansen said, "The library is a wonderful place for us to meet. And to hear these oral histories."

 

When my son (LHS 86) enlisted, at least two friends told me he was making a foolish mistake. I wasn’t wild about it either, but I was proud that he wanted to support his country. His foster brother followed him and learned how to live with structure. As LVA board member, Alan Glou, says, “The military experience gives structure.  It gives you a different perspective. You learn how to share responsibility and how to rely on others.”

Listening to Pat’s reminiscences, I realized how rare it is hear our service men and women discuss their stories. Yet those very stories of sacrifice are part of our history. Putting aside the question of whether the war was or is right or wrong, our military men and women and their families are making monumental sacrifices to ensure that our country remains free.  We owe a debt of gratitude to those who have paid the ultimate price for us as well as those who are fortunate enough to return.

Bill Johansen, chairman of the group, says, “The Air Force straightened my life out. It got me to college and gave me my career. Alan Glou added, “When you are in the service, you realize this country is a beautiful place.”

Lexington has a thriving Lexington Veterans Association, which meets monthly at the Cary Memorial Library and is open to the public. During our discussion, LVA board member Bill Stern said, “You can’t live in Lexington without strong patriotic feelings and a love for America. A few of us got interested about having a group to share our experiences.”

The group(lexingtonveteransassociation.com/) grew from informal meetings at the Senior Center where veterans discussed their experiences in World War II, Korea, the Cold War, and Viet Nam. As the group expanded, it needed a place to meet and began meeting at Cary Memorial Library on a monthly basis with speakers on a variety of topics. The meetings are taped, and DVDs are available at the library. Starbucks in Lexington Center generously provides coffee.

Recent  programs include “Afghanistan 2008-2009: A Deployment with the Currahees,” “Voyage to the Moon: Apollo, the Great Adventure,” “USMC Helicopter Operations in Vietnam, 1967-1968,” and  “World War I: The Final Year of Conflict and the Devastating Impact of the Great War on the European Civilization”

Another board member and retired Lexington US history and social studies teacher, Warren Winslow stated, “The group is important because the story needs to be kept alive. It provides an excellent opportunity to hear and learn from superb speakers who recount their stories of military topics and personal experiences.”

Warren Winslow said when his father spoke about his tour of duty in the Aleutians, he met three people who had also served there plus a former high school friend.”  Bill Johansen commented, “The best thing in our world is a chance to learn about what is real and what’s going on in the world.  People want to tell their story in a nonpolitical way, and all are welcome to hear it.

Please join us for this Program, as all are welcome. Coffee is generously provided by Starbucks (Lexington Center, Scott LeBlanc, Manager). When you patronize this Starbucks coffee shop, please thank them for their long-time, continuing support of the Lexington Veterans’ Association. Also, special thanks to those attendees who bake or bring cookies/cake to our programs: this is greatly appreciated.

Bob Edwards

Alan Glou

Pat Flynn

Bill Johansen

Bill Kennedy

Matthew Pica

Charlie Schock

Phil Schaffer

Bill Stern

Tim Whitson

Warren Winslow

 

By Laurie Atwater  |  “It’s something that I have been thinking about for awhile,” Steve Bogart says as he sits comfortably in the office outside the celebrated “black box” classroom. Students gather in the other room for an afternoon meeting of the drama club as the anthem “we will rock you,” blasts from a boom box. Bogart gets up and quietly closes the door so we can talk.

Events converged in Bogart’s life this year that compelled him to stop and take stock. His dear friend suddenly received a dire diagnosis, teaching in Lexington hasn’t been as much fun as it used to be and as he approaches sixty, Bogart still has so many things he wants to accomplish.

So, Bogart has made the difficult decision to leave Lexington High School and the theater program he has guided to acclaim over the past 20 plus years. But he doesn’t leave easily.

“The big thing is my friend died last week,” he says quietly. “He retired at 61 and he planned to write a book about theater education and then he got sick.”

It was a wake-up call. “I’m 57 and I’m making a major leap of faith to do this,” he says. “I’m not done artistically at all and I feel that my ideas and my confidence, and my approach are so much clearer now.”

Finding His Passion

It’s an approach that has been developing since the early 80s.  He was a student teacher in art education, when he was asked to design a set for a summer musical theater production. “It was a paying job,” he laughs, “So I did it for the summer and I loved it.” Bogart worked with a friend of his and they both decided that they wanted to come back the next summer to work with the kids.

“But we both thought something was missing from the experience,” he says. “We didn’t want to do any musical; we wanted to write something original with the kids. But we had NO IDEA how to do it,” he says laughing.

Browsing in a bookstore in Harvard Square that winter, Bogart stumbled upon a book by Viola Spolin called, Improvisation for the Theater. “It was filled with all of these exercises that built on each other,” he says. For this art student it was a revelation. “It was all about improvising and creating stories…that’s what we wanted to do.”

Bogart took this method to the theater program the next summer. “It was HUGE” he says. For him it was a revelatory moment. “We ended up writing 10 short pieces with the kids with music.” One of the performances was attended by the head of a private school in Boston who offered Bogart a job teaching drama. “After a few years there, I thought ‘maybe I should go back to school and study theater!’” He lets out a huge laugh. Studying after doing was “really kind of wonderful,” he says. He found his passion at Emerson studying for a Master’s Degree in theater and he has never looked back. From there he began to refine his practice based on what he calls “the authentic voice.”

“I’ve never stopped believing, and it’s gotten even stronger over the years in terms of my teaching, that there is nothing more powerful than the authentic voice of kids. Giving them the chance, and helping them create material that comes from them—that’s why I have created this whole process of creating original material with kids.”

Creating Original Material

The “process” is a powerhouse program that evolves from a dynamic mix of collaboration, trust-building, idea generation and problem-solving. Through the process of crafting theater Bogart has also found a way to engage all the skills needed to create exceptional thinkers and problem solvers.

Jeff Leonard, newly appointed Coordinator of Performing Arts in Lexington, talks about Bogart with unmasked admiration. “I was teaching at LHS when Steve first arrived and several of my students were performing in his first show, Alice. They said it was ‘like nothing they had ever done,’ so I went to see it and I was blown away by the cast and by the art form,” he explains.

Leonard, who will be involved in choosing Bogart’s successor, is truly dedicated to seeing the legacy LHS theater program upheld. “What Steve has created is a process of learning that helps students develop the skills that enable you to create,” he says. Much like the advanced jazz that Leonard teaches at the high school, he feels that Bogart’s approach embodies the philosophy of Fine and Performing Arts at the high school. “He does not compromise when it comes to the art. He pushes the envelope and he has been embraced in Lexington.” Leonard laughs when he recalls Superintendent Phil Geiger’s standing ovation at the opening of Alice. “Phil Geiger came to every performance; there was such support.”

Throughout the years Lexington’s program has developed a reputation for fearlessness—for seeking and embracing the avant-garde. Leonard says that Bogart has a gift for helping students “connect the learning with their own lives—the good, the bad, the funny and the sad. That’s what drama is and that’s what Steve does.”

The Steve Bogart Experience

One of Bogart’s biggest admirers is former student and Dresden Dolls vocalist Amanda Palmer. Last year she returned to Lexington to work with Bogart and LHS students on an original work that they titled The Needle That Sings in Her Heart.

Palmer who is known for her edgy cabaret style, risk-taking performances and intelligent lyrics says she was actually a bit of a loner in high school. We talked by phone a few days ago and it is clear that she remains emotionally connected to Lexington High School and the drama program. To this day she says Steve Bogart’s drama program was one of her biggest creative influences. “Teenagers are extremely self-conscious and really insecure, and they are used to a certain level of judgment from adults,” Palmer says. “Bogart was a miracle because he really listens and he built this platform for expressing what kids have to say—and that’s a sensitive platform to build because lots of what they have to say is really complicated.”

Within all that freedom Palmer explains, was a rigorous process that involved tapping into the creativity of each participant and engaging the entire group in the complicated and disciplined practice of developing a storyline and script. “I think one of the most artistically formative experiences I had as a teenager was creating these plays from scratch—the process of improvisation, how to shape a good idea and throw away a bad idea and how to listen to your collaborators.” She calls it “The Steve Bogart Experience.”

Bogart has evolved this process over the years and always begins with what he calls a “starting point.” The starting pint can be anything—a visual or a piece of music. One year he used the surrealist paintings of Joan Miró. “They [the students] created these wonderful improvisations trying to create movement and texture that did not exist in the natural world, but lived within the rules of the painting. It was so much fun.”

It all seems fun to Bogart and his enthusiasm is infectious. Jeff Leonard says that people think Bogart is serious and dark because the plays often have a serious theme, but “he is so open and up and funny.” Leonard has been his collaborator on musicals over the years. He has directed the pit orchestra on the larger productions and watched the rehearsal process as the production takes shape. “Steve doesn’t care about the perfection of the final project,” Leonard reflects. “He pushes for authenticity. He wants the actors to find their own voice—to create and to grow.”

Taking Ownership

During the development phase of the project, students create characters, themes and ideas on easel pads. The initial brainstorming sessions are free flowing; there is no right or wrong. From there small groups develop scenes, ideas are accepted and rejected and the script takes shape. “Everyone is buying into the process and working together,” Bogart says. He encourages the students to engage their emotions, to get in touch with their feelings and think out of the box. “The stuff that makes art interesting is the moment when a human being takes a risk,” Palmer says.

Bogart expresses such joy when he reflects on this phase of production. “The kids develop a sense of ownership of the material,” he explains. “You see this piece taking shape and you think, ‘we created this!’ I think it gives kids some faith in their own imaginations.”
Boosting that sense of confidence in their own voices is important. “The biggest thing that Steven Bogart did for me at high school was treating me as an artist,” Palmer comments. “He wasn’t patronizing; he didn’t treat me like a kid.”

The Everyday Joys of Teaching

Bogart loves this world he has created in Lexington and his dedication is perhaps most evident when he talks about his classes and the everyday joys of teaching.

“Things happen in class that nobody knows about. Just today,” he says excitedly, “a student who has been kind of detached all semester just exploded. Something shifted this past week and today he was on his feet and jumping and doing everything and leading…these things take time and suddenly you see the light go on. Those little moments are always wonderful…when someone does something that completely changes the air in the room—they went somewhere really difficult and they felt safe doing it in front of everyone.”

As he gets ready to leave Lexington and pursue opportunities elsewhere, Bogart is just where you’d expect him to be—out there on that tightrope, refusing to compromise his creative vision, taking a risk and pushing towards the next great thing. Whether it’s the teaching gig he’s lined up for the fall at Southern New Hampshire University, a possible project with Palmer’s husband, author Neil Gaiman or another collaboration with Palmer herself, you can bet he’ll throw himself in to it with all of the dedication and heart he’s given to Lexington students over the years.

This July he’s headed off to the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where he was accepted into a ten day intensive playwriting program. Then he has a painting exhibition scheduled in Virginia for the fall. For Bogart this is a bittersweet new beginning. He has been bolstered by the great outpouring of support from the community. “It’s hard to leave, but I want to write and create,” he says.

Palmer comments, “I’m sad for the kids who are going to miss out on the experience, but I’m over the moon that he’s going to pursue his art.”

The LHS Drama Program Received many Accolates under Bogart:

Awards were received for original pieces written by students with Bogart:

1991  “Dusted”  won the Bravo National Play competition

1993  “Lot 4b”  state finalist

1996  “Tryptic”  state finalist

1998  “Kindred”  winner  state drama competition

1999 “Blue Lips and Fingertips”  winner state competition

2000 “Myth” winner state competition

2001 “Winter’s Fruit”  alternate winner state competition

2002 028486443″  state finalist

2003 “Accidents of Light” state winner

2004 “The Toilet Operas” state winner

In 2004 Invited to represent Massachusetts in the American High School Theater Festival, Edinburgh Scotland.

Other memorable shows:

• Sir Gawain and The Green Night
• Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Hamlet
• The Tempest
• King Lear
• The Abduction and Transformation of Glowing All White Girl
• White Lies
• Faust
• With the Needle that Sings in Her Heart
• Lily’s Room

Musicals at LHS:

• Drood
• Anything Goes
• Carousel
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• Nine
• Hair
• West Side Story
• Animal Crackers
• Sweeney Todd
• Les Miserable
• Evita
• Into the Woods
• Rags
• My Favorite Year
• Cabaret
• City of Angels
• The Good Woman of Setzuan
• The Producers
• Seussical
• Assassins

By Heather Aveson  |  When is a building more than just a building? When the look, space and feel reflect not only the needs of its inhabitants but their values and sense of community as well. That is what the new Community Nursery School building at 2325 Massachusetts Ave is all about.

The structure made its public debut during the Yellow Balloon Fair on June 4th and received rave reviews. Nine year-old Sam Andrews spent a year in the ‘far room’ of the old CNC building. “I think it’s improved. It looks more modern. The other building was old and made out of wood. The other one was tiny.” Sam’s impressions are just what architect Mike Waters likes to hear. Mike is the parent of two CNC alumni, Christopher and Tobin who both attended the school in the mid-90s. He was apprehensive about how the design would be greeted by the school community. “I’m continually surprised by how much people like it. People took to the initial sketches right away.”

His trepidation came mainly from the unconventional materials chosen. The structure is built of pre-engineered steel, which was far less expensive than traditional wood construction. These materials actually work better with their goals than the residential looking wooden designs they had first considered.

“The kids did incredible drawings of what they wanted to see. The building needed to be more about the kids than the adults. It had more to do with kids having fun and making the shapes recognizable. With the steel you can see the component parts,” explains Mike.

Longtime Director Joanne Pressman studied the Reggio Emilia early childhood programs developed in Italy shortly after WWII. She brought much of what she learned to CNC, including an emphasis on learning environment. “Children deserve to be in a space that is engaging and inspiring. We called ourselves a community school but there was no place to celebrate community.”

Mike Waters shared her concerns agreeing that there was no public space and adding that the shotgun style of the old school meant having to go through one classroom to reach another. The new building solves both problems, and many others.

The school community knew their aging wooden structure was in need of more and bigger repairs. Mike Waters remembers when he first came to CNC as a parent, “I was invited nicely by Joanne to join the building committee. Somehow I was volunteered as a handy person. I became very familiar with the building.” Joanne Pressman had a way of nicely inviting members to join the committee. Jim Caouette, a parent of five knows. “I’ve been on the building committee since my first daughter, Andrea, started at CNC fifteen years ago. I’ve replaced boilers, fixed the driveway. I can’t say enough about the community of people. We pull together for our members.”

But the old structure’s maintenance demands were getting away from them. Current Director Liz O’Neil says, “Three years ago board members really focused on the big picture, we were looking at a leaking roof, etc. Parents had always helped, but we were beyond that now.” The board voted to rebuild in 2009 and began a capital campaign in January of 2010. Again the community pulled together, this time in support of a new school building. Liz adds, “more than fifty percent of people contacted responded. People gave whatever they could give. We received 2/3’s of what we needed within the first three months.”

Patriot Community Bank has provided the financing for the project. Says building committee member Trisha Kennealy, “We couldn’t have done it without them!”

In September, teachers, parents and students, new and returning, will start the school year in this wonderfully kid friendly building. Jim Caouette is as excited as anyone, “The new building is tremendous, it’s exactly what we had in mind. Now we’ve got a building that fits our needs.”

Providing aid to our veterans is one of the key services that the Commonwealth performs. State wide, the caseload for Veterans Services has increased by 40% in the last three years. With the economic downturn, the increasing number of older veterans living on fixed incomes, as well as younger veterans coming home from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is clear that the need for Veterans Services is as important as ever. The Town of Lexington has seen a dramatic increase in the number of veterans seeking services and aide from the Veteran’s Service Officer (VSO). From serving five veterans in 2002, to now serving approximately 91 veterans, not only has the need for monetary assistance increased, so has the administrative demands for the VSO. The need for these veterans ranges from helping with their food and living expenses, to getting health benefits, to providing job training and counseling. The position of the VSO in Lexington is evolving from one that was done in a few hours each week, to one that requires on average 15 hours of work. For example, each Veteran who applies for assistance needs to go through the intake and assessment process to determine what types of funds they need. Some of these veterans are homebound, therefore requiring the VSO to make home visits. Given both the increase in veterans seeking benefits, and the increase in administrative duties, the current level of funding does not meet the demand. The question is where can we find this funding? It is obvious that additional funding is needed for almost every social service program run by the Commonwealth as well as essential services in each town. Unfortunately, we cannot make more money just appear. This then leads to the age-old problem of who of our needy residents need assistance more? Do we take money away from our public schools that are educating our Commonwealth’s future so that the brave men and women who defended our country can receive the services they so greatly deserve? Or would it be more preferable that the funds for our veterans are taken from the Adult Day Health Centers, which serve thousands of adults across the state who cannot care for themselves independently, yet are not at the stage of needing to be placed in a nursing home? Neither of these options is acceptable in my opinion, nor any option that would take money from one service program to give to another. It is our responsibility as a Commonwealth to help our neediest and most vulnerable residents. The problem the Commonwealth faces is a lack of revenue. Without generating increased revenue, we will continue to have to make the difficult decision of who needs our help more, those with mental disabilities or veterans, children in need of a safe learning environment, or elders who need living assistance? Instead of only looking at how we can cut funding, we must start looking at how we can generate more revenue. This includes continuing successful initiatives to bring new businesses to Massachusetts, as well as reviewing our tax structure to effectively pay for the services we need. There is currently a bill before the Senate to address this. Senate Bill 1416, An Act to Invest in Our Communities, would increase the income tax while at the same time increasing the personal deductions, holding down tax increases for middle and working class families. The net revenue increase could then be used to fund programs like Veterans’ Services, without having to take funding away from other critical programs. Sharing scarce and diminishing resources among our vulnerable residents does not reflect the kind of Commonwealth we wish to be. It’s time to have a real discussion about how we fund critical services in a fair and sustainable manner.

 

 

Senator Donnelly represents the

Fourth Middlesex District in the Massachusetts

State Senate. He currently

serves as Senate Chairman of the

Joint Committee on State Administration

and Regulatory Oversight. If you

would like to contact Senator Donnelly

or his staff, they can be reached at

their State House office by calling 617-

722-1432.

By Elena Murphy  |  Holly Stumpf’s Unique Teaching Style Helps Her Students Hear the Music All Around Them

On a recent afternoon, students are smiling widely as they start thumping on drums or shaking a rattle made of beads in Hollace Stumpf’s classroom at Harrington Elementary School.

So is their music teacher. “I’ve always enjoyed making music with others,” says Stumpf. “When I began teaching, I wanted kids to feel music is connected to their lives.”

Recently, her approach has won recognition. A music specialist at Harrington for a number of years, Stumpf was named a Distinguished Educator by Yale University School of Music, one of only 50 educators from around the country to receive the biennial award. Educators who win this award have integrated music with other curriculum and included a multicultural perspective.

Finding connections to other subjects students are learning, and bringing influences from around the world into the classroom is something Stumpf has always done. When she was just out of college, she read about the Orff Schulwerk, an institute founded by composer Karl Orff. The institute offered a program that was unlike anything she had heard about in her studies to become a music teacher and flutist.

Stumpf says Orff saw similarities between learning music and learning a language. In his view, students need opportunities to listen, imitate, and experiment as they develop mastery. Unlike schools that only taught musical technique, Stumpf took percussion and movement classes along with ensemble and music theory. Students connected music to dance, art, and everyday life. Stumpf says, “In a broader sense, Karl Orff was teaching how culture is in a lot of places.” It was only in the West, she says, that music was increasingly being separated from other activities, such as dance.

This experience changed everything about how Stumpf saw music education, and after two more years of studying and playing the flute professionally in Europe, she returned to the United States and embarked on a career that has brought influences as diverse as African drumming and the study of bird songs together.

“I realized I wanted to teach through music, not just teach music” in terms of technique, says Stumpf. To achieve that, she says she’s integrated music with almost anything in the curriculum, and has enjoyed collaborating with teachers over the years. When one class studied birds, she asked each child to choose an instrument that sounds like the bird they had researched, and replicate the bird’s song. She also blends in music theory, such as pointing out woodpeckers’ style of rapidly tapping their beaks sounds “staccato,” while smooth, more melodious songs are “legato.”

Students in her class also look at painting or sculpture to learn about music. The polygons in an Edward Hopper painting, she says, can be connected to different time signatures, with four-sided figures representing four beats and triangles representing three beats for a measure of music.

As Stumpf sees it, “If kids are doing things, they’ll remember a lot better.” So she has younger students compose music based on shapes: circular drums, a triangle, and rectangular wood blocks. She also has them recognize the high and low notes they can produce with their voices, so when she explains “pitch,” they already know the concept.

But she doesn’t stop with teaching musical technique. “When you want kids to be creative and experimental, think about expressing emotion,” she says. To do this, she uses “small frameworks,” such as asking children to “improvise a rhythm” with only two notes, before adding more notes or other guidelines.

The biggest challenge is “kids get stuck in their own heads that they ‘have to do it right.’” With just two notes to work with, they can create a pattern, and know they have achieved a goal, “and I can honestly tell them they’ve been successful,” says Stumpf.

To show how music figures in daily life around the world, Stumpf often invites guest artists to perform. After a trip to Senegal, Stumpf arranged for an African drum and dance performance followed by a workshop for students. This year, she had Hawaiian dancers perform in traditional dress, so students saw “authentic movement and instruments.”

Stumpf says that once a teacher decides to bring in multicultural influences, “it affects everything you do.” She’s been to Africa twice, most recently to Ghana, and as a result, enjoys African drumming herself. But her diverse interests also include English country dance from 600 years ago, and she has even taken up the cello to play in a chamber music quartet.

“If students see ‘different’ and make a connection or remember experiencing something different in my classroom, and recall that they liked it,” that’s part of “making the world a better place,” says Stumpf. “Different can be interesting.”       

 

By Heather Aveson  |  The Hayden Recreation Centre Renovates For Families and the Future

 

 “It’s at Hayden”, “I’m headed over to Hayden”, “Take a right at Hayden”, these are all phrases that any Lexingtonian knows refer to the Josiah Willard Hayden Recreation Centre on Lincoln Street. Hayden is such an integral part of life in Lexington that we may not think much about it until earth movers, construction signs and fences draw our attention.

Originally built in 1958 the building is undergoing its first major renovation since 1990. The changes will not only help the center further J. W. Hayden’s wishes for the organization, but mechanical upgrades will bring the building well into the 21st century.

THE MAN BEHIND THE NAME

Josiah Willard Hayden came from a background rich in local history. His Great Great Grandfather was Samuel Hayden, a colonel in the Revolutionary Army and Lexington Minuteman. His “Great Grandfather six times over”, as John Chase describes him at the building dedication in 1958, was Simon Willard, who founded the Town of Concord.

Hayden grew up in Boston as part of a wealthy merchant family. He was the younger brother of Charles Hayden. Charles amassed a great fortune during this lifetime and dedicated himself to philanthropy. Although best known locally for funding The Hayden Planetarium in Cambridge, he was a major donor to The Boys Clubs of America and other groups.

Brothers Charles and Josiah enjoyed the advantages of a privileged youth spent enjoying the outdoors and sporting activities. Gayla Beu recounts Josiah’s desire to share those benefits with other children in a 1962 Hayden newsletter. ‘Mr. Hayden, a rich man’s son, had had a very happy childhood, with many advantages. He wanted many children to enjoy the sort of things he had, including the opportunity to learn games and sports” 

When Josiah and his wife moved back to the family’s hometown of Lexington in 1904 he was surprised, and disappointed, to find that there were no gymnasiums in town, not even in the schools. William Greeley, a contemporary of Hayden, remembered the situation this way. “The attic room in the Hancock School provided a cramped and dangerous makeshift for smaller children to play their games in, and was responsible for a broken nose or an injured arm at intervals. The children of High School age longed for a gymnasium of some kind, but with little hope of having one.” Josiah Hayden, William Greeley and Henry Putnam set off to remedy the situation.

HOW THE PLANS ALMOST FELL THROUGH – LITERALLY

The three formed the Lexington Gymnasium Foundation in 1906 and started looking for an appropriate location to hold classes. They settled on the second floor of what was then known as Historic Hall and which is now the Masonic Temple at the fork of Bedford and Hancock Streets. Again, Mr. Greeley recalls those early days in a paper titled ‘The Lexington Gymnasium Association.’ “Classes were soon enrolled and ready to begin. We found an able teacher named Vickers, living in Arlington. He took the girls’ classes while I took the boys, two evenings each week.” Things went well for a year until “…security of the floor construction began to be questioned and a careful inspection showed that it would not be safe to continue with the gym classes. It was a sad blow.” The year long experiment ended with an exhibition by the children at Town Hall to which the whole town was invited.

THE NEST EGG

The group turned their attention to outdoor athletics. Probably a wise move as solid ground was less likely to give way to active children than an aging wooden structure. A ‘baseball nine’ was fielded, games were well attended and a small fund was being accumulated. According to Greeley, as Treasurer, J.W. Hayden decided to take custody of these funds and build a nest egg for the construction of a proper gym. Research later showed that the initial “nest egg” was a $2 deposit in the Lexington Trust Company.

Baseball games were not the only fundraisers in support of the Gymnasium Fund. Hayden took the effort from playing field to Pageantry. He sponsored both the original 1915 “Pageant of Lexington” and the even more grand150th anniversary Pageant in 1925. The pageants were extravagant affairs full of lighting effects and melodrama. The widely published article ‘Lest we Forget’ describes the 1915 pageant this way. “The English arrive, and possess Lexington: over the hill comes a catafalque borne by angels carrying a doll, and the program says it represents the birth of Lexington.” The 1925 pageant took the event to a whole new level. Ms. Beu describes it as “similar to that of 1915, but said to be “far ahead” of it. World-famous dancer, Ruth St. Denis, portrayed the figure of Freedom in an unforgettable role.”

From his efforts in the field of pageantry J.W. Hayden was able to deposit $4,154.14 into the Lexington Gymnasium Fund. By 1938, the fund had grown to $10,000, still far short of what he’d need to realize his dream.

A NEW CHAPTER SETS THE STAGE FOR THE JOSIAH WILLARD HAYDEN RECREATION CENTRE

In 1937 Charles Hayden passed away a bachelor and left his vast fortune and philanthropic foundation in the hands of his only brother J.W. Hayden. Josiah administered the foundation with a steady hand and an eye to the interests in athletics and recreation that he and his brother shared. Shortly after Charles’ death The Articles of Organization were drawn up for The Josiah Willard Hayden Recreation Centre, Inc. with Josiah as President and Treasurer. The document set forth the following purposes.

“To assist and found, equip, build, and maintain buildings and gymnasia…for mental and physical recreation, and whole educational entertainment and physical training of youth of both sexes in said town of Lexington…

To establish a place of meeting of the youth of Lexington for their moral, mental and social improvement and development and in general to do all things which may promote directly or indirectly their intellectual, social and physical welfare.

To assist and advance any and all religious, educational, charitable and benevolent activities for the moral, mental and physical well being, upliftment and development of the youth of both sexes of the Town of Lexington.

To aid deserving boys and girls of the Town of Lexington and assist them in attending education institutions in this country and abroad”

A clear vision of Josiah’s desires had now been set forth. But it would be another 20 years before the vision became a reality. It wasn’t until his death in 1955, from injuries received in a devastating car accident on Concord Turnpike here in Lexington, that money from the estate become available to fund the organization and construct the center of educational and recreational training for the youth of Lexington that Hayden envisioned.

On January 24, 1958, fifty-two years after the Lexington Gymnasium Association was originally formed, The Josiah Willard Hayden Recreation Centre buildings were dedicated. John Chase, the centre’s first President charged the residents with these words. “…from now on it behooves the officers and Directors of the Centre, the members of the staff and, most important of all, the people of the Town of Lexington to breath life, high purpose and dedication into this frame of opportunity which Mr. Hayden has provided.”

LIFE, PURPOSE AND DEDICATION

It’s hard to imagine a centre with more life than Hayden. Generations of Lexingtonians have learned to swim, played basketball, gathered and grown at Hayden. Don Mahoney is the current Director, “When I got here in the ‘80’s I got a lot of parents that came in and said, ‘I came here as a kid’, now I have grandparents saying the same thing”.

Some things have changed since those early days. The centre was originally two completely separate buildings, one for boys and one for girls, and the offerings were different as well. Dave Eagle is a member of the Board and the Building Committee, “Back in the ‘50’s it was always separate. Sewing and arts and crafts for the girls and woodworking for the boys.” Don Mahoney adds, “On the girls side it was called arts and crafts on the boys side it was pottery.” Josiah Hayden had never mentioned anything about wanting separate facilities, but his brother Charles had been a big supporter of The Boys Club, which was always separate from The Girls Club. It was a common configuration for the times. Tom Brincklow practically grew up at Hayden. Tom is a Lexington Native who now teaches Phys Ed in the LABBB program. “When I used to go as a kid there was a boys side and girls side. Joe Burns was in charge of the boys side. I look back at it now and I laugh, but that’s just the way it was. I don’t think that would go over now.”

The first major renovation in 1990 ended the separation by joining the two buildings with a cut-through. This coincided with the welcoming of adults to the facility. The Centre developed schedules that allowed adults to use the pool and gyms in the morning and later in the evening, reserving prime time in the afternoons and early evenings for the kids. Making more use of the facility fit perfectly into Josiah’s vision. He stated in his will that it was his “hope that the buildings maintained by the Recreation Centre shall be kept open at all reasonable times and made so attractive that the youth of Lexington will make constant use of its facilities and of the privileges which it affords.” And the numbers show that Hayden Rec Centre is doing just that. “On a good day we’ll have a 1,000 visitors between the rink and this facility. We have more than 3,800 members and they’re all from Lexington. We can keep the membership costs low because the endowment offsets the operating costs so everyone can enjoy it,” says Don Mahoney

UPGRADES, UPDATES AND FAMILY FRIENDLY

Looking at an aging infrastructure and increased usage by youth, adults and families led the Board to consider some major building upgrades. Improvements had been made along the way mostly to improve energy efficiency and conservation. Dave Eagle points out that all seventy-seven windows have been replaced for greater heat savings and all the lighting has been upgraded to be more efficient as well. When the board realized how much water was being used at the centre, they dug a well that provides water to irrigate the field and make ice for the rink.

But now it was time for a major facelift. About two years ago the three building committee members, Don Mahoney, Dave Eagle and Bill Kennedy began meeting to discuss their options. “We got input from the staff and some of the kids. At first it was no holds barred,” says Don Mahoney. But, those old partners time and money had their say too. Don continues, “then it became, what do you need? And what would you love? One of the essential things is that we have to be ready to go at full speed when September comes.”

Everyone agreed adding a family changing room and upgrading the boys and girls locker rooms were a major priority. Then there were the aging mechanics and utilities serving the building as well new ADA regulations to be considered. A renovation of the second floor was also in the running. Then sticker shock set in.

As a private foundation, all the funds for building, upkeep and operation come from the endowment left by Josiah Hayden. The board votes on any allocation, and this was going to be a big one. They decided to cut costs by saving the second floor renovation for a later time. Ready to move ahead, the Centre’s endowment was caught in the economic downturn and construction was delayed for a year until their financial situation improved. Now it’s full speed ahead throughout the summer with a completion date of September 12, 2011.

The main lobby has been turned into temporary changing rooms while the boys and girls locker rooms have been taken down to the concrete walls and floors and will be replaced with brand new facilities and a family changing room will be added for those with young children.

 

 

By Heather Aveson  | 

Its the early 1950s. Its Saturday night. You’re looking for something to do with your sweetheart, a group of friends, or your sweetheart and a group of friends. You might head over to the movie theater to catch On the Waterfront or High Noon, but you may be just as likely to gather up the group and head to a local bowling alley. And you’d have plenty of choices. In the 1950s there were lanes in just about every town Waltham, Woburn, Burlington, Winchester, Cambridge, Somerville, and yes, even Lexington.