HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-18-TCC-minMinutes
Town Celebrations Committee
September 18, 2013
Training Room, 201 Bedford Street
Members present
Suzie Barry, Chair;Dick Crogan, co -Vice Chair;Linda Dixon, Paul Jenkins, Julie Miller, Bill Mix, Henry
Murphy, Sandy Podgorski, Charlie Price.
Members not present
Bob Tracey, Co -Vice Chair; Mary Gillespie, Sondra Lucente, Barbara Manfredi, Wayne Miller, Dave
Taylor.
Business
• The chair declared that a quorum was present.
• A group photo was taken for inclusion in the FY14 annual Town report.
• The committee approved the minutes of September 4, 2013 with minor corrections.
• The October 2, 2013 meeting will be canceled.
• All members are invited to the memorial dedication at the Town Pool for Dinesh RajBhandary,
Lexington High School Class of 1982, who was killed in Operation Desert Storm
• All members who have received notification of required ethics training are urged to complete this
on -line course as soon as possible and submit a completion certificate to the Town Clerk.
Veterans Day 2013
Veteran's Breakfast
• Mailing of post cards: 250 post cards and 500 flyers have been printed. Suzie will prepare mailing
labels from the 2012 mailing list and Sandy will bring labels and cards to Town Hall to be run
through the town mailing machine.
• Distribution of flyers and ticket sales: Veterans Services Officer Ryan Lennon is in charge of printing
tickets and setting up the sales process with ticket vendors. We will wait until this process is
complete before distributing flyers or mailing post cards.
• Door prizes: Dick and Sandy presented an updated chart and reported on progress to date on
soliciting door prizes. Response has been quite positive.
• Speaker: Linda will invite one of the ROTC training officers who work with students at MIT,
Harvard, Tufts, Boston University and several other institutions to talk about the importance of
ROTC in today's military.
• Wayne and Bob will be asked to contact Joe Dooley, Chief of Volunteer Services at the Bedford
VA Hospital, to send a general invitation and distribute information about the breakfast.
Veteran's Day Parade and Ceremony
• Grand Marshal and Speaker: U.S. Army Colonel Robert McLaughlin, a Lexington native, has
accepted the Committee's invitation to serve as Parade Grand Marshal and to deliver the
Veterans' Day Address.
• Clergy: Rev Paul Shupe of Hancock Church will be the clergy representative. The Lexington
Interfaith Council has pre - selected the clergy for all three major observances for 2014.
• Promotional Article: Caitlyn Kelleher, editor of the Lexington Minuteman, is very receptive to the
concept of a series of profiles of Lexington veterans that will run in the Minutemanin late October.
New Member Recruitment
The Committee discussed their plan to hold a New Member Open House sometime in October as a way
to recruit additional members. Suzie distributed a spread sheet that summarized information on
potential candidates suggested by committee and a discussion followed.
Location and timing: Linda volunteered to host a pot luck supper at her home for this event. She
will contact the committee with several suggested dates and the most convenient date will be
selected.
• Program: The evening will have two main components, in addition to networking and socializing:
1) Members explaining the work of the committee, the many and varied jobs that need to be
done to accomplish a successful town celebration event, and why they are motivated to stay
involved; and 2) an open discussion about how the committee can be as effective and
successful as possible, both at meeting our stated goals and at accommodating the needs and
schedules of volunteer members.
• Invitations: All new member prospects will receive an invitation letter by email with request for
RSVP.
• Food and beverages: supplied by committee members.
Other Business
• Because the committee will be shorthanded for the Veterans' Day Parade due to retirements and
illness, two candidates from the new member list will be invited to attend the meeting of October
16 and hopefully will be given assignments for parade day. We particularly need volunteers to
help coordinate and oversee the wreath bearers.
Brookhaven at Lexington has a large contingent of veterans, many of them from the World War II
era. Linda has initiated contact with a member of the group to explore future possibilities for
collaboration, particularly in the area of programming.
The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Dixon, Co- Secretary