1967-Annual Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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I TOWN CELEBRATIONS COMMITTEE meeting and the selectmen rather than in their piecemeal distribution among several boards, committees, commissions and departments. It is hoped that "simplyfying the complicated snarl of semi - independent and unrelated administrative officers, boards and commissions in the town and definitely locating responsibility for town activities will assist the voters in all of their contacts with the town. "* We hope to ensure that the government remains responsive, accountable, easily accessible and clearly visible to the voter. *Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers, The Manager Plan in Massachusetts Towns Town Celebrations Committee The committee had a reasonably quiet year. The selectmen gave us no celebrations to handle other than those we have been regularly committed to. The activities associated with those celebrations are summarized below. Patriots Day The miserable weather (cold, snowy, and wet) that greeted us on the morning of April 19th convinced us that we should cancel the morning parade. Consequently, neither the morn- ing parade nor the customary Battle Green ceremonies took place. The Lion's Club presented their White Tricorn Hat award to Mr. Donald E. Nickerson during special ceremonies later in the day. The weather did not, however, interfere with the memorial services conducted jointly by the Lexington Minutemen and the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Lions Club Road Race, nor the arrival of Revere and Dawes at the Battle Green. By 2 :00 P.M. the weather had improved, but only slightly. The temperature had climbed to the high forties, and the snow had changed to occasional drizzle. The afternoon parade, considerably reduced from its usual size, left East Lexington on schedule. Mr. William P. Brenchick, Jr., the Chief Marshal, was preceeded by the Spirit of '76, under the direction of Mr. Douglas Maxner, and the motorcade of the town's guests for the day. Winners of the Chamber of Commerce trophies for the best floats were the Lexington Jaycees in the civic division, and the Battle Green Chapter, Order of DeMolay in the youth division. We are indebted to our friends and neighbors at Hanscom Field. They provided the blankets which our guests used on the reviewing stand to help ward off the raw weather. Memorial Day Members of the Town's Veterans' organizations and of the Lexington Minutemen boarded buses at 9:00 A.M. for the trip to Westview Cemetery. After brief memorial ser- vices, they returned to Munroe School for the annual parade. Raymond E. Lewis, Past Com- mander of Stanley Hill Post No. 38, American Legion, served as Chief Marshal of the parade, which left Munroe School at 10:00 A.M. The parade stopped at Munroe Cemetery for cere monies which included the reading of General Logan's Order of the Day for the first Memorial Day by Mr. Rufus McQuillan, placing wreaths by the Gold Star Mothers, and a recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by Alan Van Egmond, a senior at Lexington High School. After the customary stops at Cary Hall, the "Old Burying Ground," and the memorial monument on the Battle Green, the parade assembled around the flag pole for the main ob- 15