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Home My WebLink About2023-04-04-LEX250-minSemiquincentennial Commission (Lex250) April 4,2023 Meeting Minutes Pursuant to notice duly filed with the Town Clerk,the Semiquincentennial Commission (Lex250)convened in a hybrid meeting in person in the Hudson Room of Cary Memorial Building and via Zoom video conference on Tuesday,April 4 at 4:41 pm by Ms.Barry as allowed by legislation (S.2475)extending the suspension of certain provisions of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. Present in person: Suzie Barry,Select Board Member,Chair Jillian Tung,Music &Arts Representative,Clerk Barry Cunha,Business Representative Jane Hundley,LPS 6-8 Social Science Coordinator Julie O’Leary,Civic Representative Attending remotely: Mona Roy,Community Representative,Vice Chair Cerise Jalelian,Town Celebrations Committee Representative Steve Conners,Reenactment Community Representative Bebe Fallick,Tourism Committee Representative Paul O’Shaughnessy,Historical Organization Representative John Rossi,Commission on Disability Liaison ●The meeting was called to order at 4:41 pm by Ms.Barry ●Mr.Conners presented “2025 Patriots’Day Proposal Requests” ○Goal is to recreate events as closely as possible to exact 250th anniversary ○The proposal included a few changes to the Patriots’Day schedule of events: ■Paul Revere’s ride would be moved from 11:30 pm on Friday to 9:30 pm ■The Battle of Lexington would take place on Saturday,April 19 ■Other events would take place as they have typically in past years and as outlined in the proposal ○Transportation needs ■Will be larger than are typically required ■Re-enactors as well as visitors will have to be served ■Cost of transportation has risen ■Total bill for buses may be $12K ○Lodging for out of town re-enactors ■Looking for solutions to lodge re-enactors and their families ■Lodging would ideally be indoors ■Would need provisions for food and beverages ■Preferred option is LHS ○Ms.Barry:Public safety services are more difficult to staff on Monday of Patriots’Day weekend ○Options for lodging and scheduling were discussed by the group ○Concord is planning to have all of their events on Saturday ○The timing of the battles was reviewed ○The possibility of visits from dignitaries and how plans might need to be modified were discussed ○Ms.Barry emphasized the need to include participatory events on Saturday ○Possibility of Tower Park battle moving to a different day was raised ●Highlights from the regional Lexington/Concord/Lincoln meeting that occurred on March 24 with state representatives were discussed ●Discovery Day 2023 ○A motion to reserve a booth and participate in Discovery Day 2023 was made by Ms.Barry,seconded by Ms.Tung,and approved by roll call vote ●Next community-wide meeting,currently scheduled for May 10,was postponed until fall when we have more information about scheduling ●State and federal updates:Ms.Barry ○No large windfall ○Leaders are looking for other sources ○State commission has new co-chairs and will meet in May ●Publicity:Ms.Roy ○New Facebook page ○Plan for weekly postings ○Photo of suggestion boxes has been posted ○Twitter:we still have a Twitter account ○Website is updated ○Instagram will be forthcoming ○Steve Conners asked whether we should talk about 2025 as a PSA at current re-enactment as part of the regularly-scheduled dialogue ●Community engagement:Ms.Tung ○Events under consideration include: ■Porchfest,possibly in collaboration with the Arts Council ●Afternoon of music in which bands perform on people’s front porches,lawns,or backyards ●Would need to hire a coordinator ●Will discuss with Arts Council ■Community kick-off event/musical festival ●Bands,food trucks,outdoor location ●Would need to hire an event coordinator ■“Light Up Lexington”,Ms.O’Leary ●Trees in Lexington center could be decorated with red,white and blue lights between Patriots Day weekend and July 4th, 2025 ●Ms.O’Leary to discuss with Lexington Retailers Association ■“Decorate your front porch” ●Lexington residents could decorate the fronts of their doors or yards with red white and blue ●Trademark update ○Ms.Barry to connect with Town Counsel ○Ms.Roy:Logo needs a ™symbol ●Monument update ○Ms.Fallick is meeting with a planner from MAPC ●Vacancy on the committee ○Ms.Barry proposed an accelerated schedule to fill the vacancy and will follow up with Jill Hai ●Approval of minutes was deferred ●Next meeting:Wednesday April 26 at 4:30 pm ●A motion to adjourn was made by Mr.Cunha,seconded by Ms.Barry,and approved by roll call vote Respectfully submitted, Jillian Tung