The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2023-02-07-TCC-minTown Celebrations Committee – Patriots’ Day 2023 Stakeholder Meeting February 7, 2023 A meeting of the Town Celebrations Committee and invitees, including stakeholders identified for the Patriots’ Day celebrations April 15‐17, 2023, was called to order at 2:00pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 in the Select Board Meeting Room of the Town Office Building, Hybrid participation was offered as well via the Zoom meeting platform. Ms. Sampath and Mr. Bassett (Co‐Chairs) were present as were the persons listed below: Participants: Name Dept / Org Phone E‐Mail Steve Cole LMM/TCC (781) 995‐9477 williamdiamond1775@gmail.c om Derek Sencabaugh Lex Fire Chief (781) 858‐9618 dsencabaugh@lexingtonma.go v Shawn Newell Asst. Dir Facilities (781) 274‐8902 snewell@lexingtonma.gov Cathy Severance Town Manager Office (781) 698‐4540 cseverance@lexingtonma.gov Sean Dugan Town Manager Office (781) 698‐4540 sdugan@lexingtonma.gov Geetha Padaki Town Celebrations Committee Chair (781) 354‐3454 geesampath@yahoo.com Glen Bassett Town Celebrations Committee Chair (508) 314‐2912 BassettLex@aol.com Doug Lucente Select Board/Lions Club (781) 424‐4007 doug.lucente@gmail.com Ashley Rooney Town Celebrations Committee (781) 640‐0788 earooney27@gmail.com Linda Dixon Town Celebrations Committee (617) 680‐4932 lindadixon70@verizon.net Barry Cunha LMM (781) 254‐0048 madoc630@gmail.com James Lee LMM (781) 812‐5568 jamesjlee3@gmail.com Timothy Flaherty Lexington Fire Dept (781) 698‐4702 tflaherty@lexingtonma.gov Lorain Marquis TCC (781) 589‐9516 ljmarquis18@gmail.com Sandy Podgorski TCC (781) 862‐0386 sandravpodgorski@gmail.com Suzie Barry Select Board (781) 760‐4560 suziebarrylex@gmail.com Paul O'Shaughnessy British Regiment/Lex 250/Lexington Historical Society via Zoom Chris Barry Lex Police Department via Zoom David Bresnihan Lex Police Department via Zoom Jillian Tung Lex 250 via Zoom Kevin Collins LMM/TCC via Zoom Kathy Santos Lexington Town Webmaster via Zoom Sarah McDonough Pgm Coordinator, Lexington Historic Society via Zoom Sandyha Iyer Lex Office of Economic Development via Zoom Terry Samaras LexMedia via Zoom Florence DelSanto LexMedia via Zoom David Grabel TCC via Zoom Kim Katzenback Select Board Office via Zoom Stacey Prizio Select Board Office, Battle Green Permits via Zoom Mary Hutton TCC via Zoom Marc Valenti Dept of Facilities via Zoom Cerise Jalelian TCC via Zoom Chris Filadoro Superintendent, Lex DPW via Zoom Yifang Gong TCC via Zoom AGENDA 1. Calendar Of Events Sandy Podgorski (TCC) presented the draft Calendar Of Events and asked that any feedback/changes should be sent to Sandy Podgorski on or before March 10, 2023. Meriam Street spelling and Patriots’ Day (with the apostrophe after the “s”) should be corrected in the Calendar Of Events (Action: S. Podgorski to correct in draft COE) Rain date is April 22, 2023 – Suzie Barry and Kim Katzenback suggested that TCC and Lexington Minute Men (LMM) clarify which events the rain date covers; Permission letter packet from LMM is being reviewed by the Select Board that has the details that will be voted on at the next Select Board. (Action: S. Podgorski to verify through Select Board that the rain date is clarified and approved) 2. Logistical Topics Kevin Collins (TCC) covered the following topics: Vendors/Permits, Hawkers, Food, Crowd Control and Toilets.  Cathy Severance confirmed that the Town Manager’s Office handles vendor permits; two vendor applications have come in; More will come in at the last minute.  Stationary Hawkers are permitted.  Usually the same vendors participate year after year.  Doug Lucente shared the feedback he received about the lack of variety/food. Food vendors must be sponsored by non‐profit organizations.  If TCC wants to publicize to non‐profit organizations seeking sponsorship for additional food vendors, TCC should contact the Town Manager’s Office.  Steve Cole suggested adding additional vendors near the start of the Parade.  Kathy Santos stated that she can add the vendors to the parking/parade route map on the websites if provided the location information. 3. Accessibility Steve Cole (TCC) covered the following topics: Re‐enactment, AM/PM Parades, and Parking.  Police/DPW will handle crowd control as usual.  DPW needs addresses/drop off locations for Port a Potties (Action: Kevin Collins)  Visitors Center restroom will be made available for people with special needs/wheel chair access (Action: Kevin Collins to confirm with the Visitors Center)  Barry Cunha mentioned that the ropes used for crowd control were a tripping hazard for horses and asked the DPW/Police to take a look at this for this year.  The British army will not be able to assemble near the police station due to construction and it was suggested to assemble behind the Town Offices building or along the access road between the Town Offices building and the U.S. Post Office.  Parker’s Revenge was confirmed for Saturday, April 15 @9AM.  Lion’s Club (Doug Lucente) will coordinate the USS Lexington memorial recognition event. 4. Road Closings The Lexington Police (Chris Barry, David Bresnihan) covered the following topics: Road Closings, Signage and No Parking Areas.  The Shriners were positioned in 2022 to start the afternoon Parade near the intersection from Massachusetts Ave leading to Wilson Farm. Significant confusion and disorganization to the beginning of the afternoon Parade in this area resulted. (Action: Steve Cole/Sondra Lucente to coordinate with Shriners with feedback on where to assemble so there are no surprises or disorganization before the afternoon Parade) 5. Communications Glen Bassett addressed Communications methods planned for April 17.  TCC and other Stakeholders will use cell phones to communicate on Patriots’ Day instead of Radios/Walkie Talkies.  PA system for the Ceremonies is to be checked and fixed as it malfunctioned in previous year events. (Action: Chris Filadoro DPW) 6. Media Ashely Rooney covered media topics and miscellany.  LexMedia will send a catalog of pictures to Ashley for promotion.  LexMedia will cover the event and plan to bring truck and park at Cary Library.  LexMedia plans to do live interviews during the afternoon Parade.  East Lexington Fire station will be available for staging and distributing the sponsor banners.  Suzie Barry requested 24 additional VIP packages (passes for multiple events) for out‐of‐ town State guests. It is ok to have a combination of VIP/bleachers. (Action: Cerise Jalelian TCC)  Steve Cole, TCC, will coordinate with Chris Filadoro, DPW, on plans for staking that marks each Parade unit’s starting location along Massachusetts Ave. (Action: Steve Cole)  Kevin Collins will coordinate the drop off of Golf Carts with DPW; location for Golf Carts will be near Buckman Tavern/Bike Pathway. 7. Looking ahead to 2024 and 2025 Lexington 250 Celebration Suzie Barry led a discussion about planning for Patriots’ Day 2024 and the Lexington 250 Celebration planned for 2025.  Celebrations will start in Fall 2024 and go on until July 2026.  Patriots’ Day 2025 will be during Easter Weekend.  The Lex 250 Committee is considering requesting to move the Reenactment to Saturday; Other events are on Monday; Discussions are underway to see if other events should be moved to Saturday (no decision has been made).  $1M has been requested from the State for 2025 to cover Infrastructure and Security for multiple towns (Lexington, Concord, Arlington, Bedford, etc.). Michelle Cicollo is handling this.  The Lexington 250 committee is meeting regularly; If anyone is interesting in helping, please contact them (Suzie Barry). ADJOURN VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, by roll call, the Town Celebrations Committee voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 3:55pm. A true record; Attest: Geetha Sampath/Glen Bassett Co‐Chairpersons