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Home My WebLink About2023-12-20-LEX250-minSemiquincentennial Commission (Lex250) December 20,2023 Meeting Minutes Pursuant to notice duly filed with the Town Clerk,the Semiquincentennial Commission (Lex250)convened in a hybrid meeting in the Parker Room at the Town Office Building and via Zoom video conference on Wednesday,December 20,2023 at 4:30 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 Doug Lucente,Select Board Member Jillian Tung,Music &Arts Representative,Clerk Noah Michelson,Community Representative Barry Cunha,Business Representative Mona Roy,Community Representative,Vice Chair Bebe Fallick,Tourism Committee Representative Cleve Coats,Community Representative Tom Colatosti,Community Representative Ashley Rooney,Community Representative Jane Hundley,LPS 6-8 Social Science Department Head Cerise Jalelian,Town Celebrations Committee Representative Present remotely: Steve Conners,Reenactment Community Representative Bridger McGraw,Community Representative Paul O’Shaughnessy,Historical Organization Representative John Rossi,Commission on Disability Liaison Absent: Julie O’Leary,Civic Representative ●The meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Ms.Barry ●Dr.Tung provided a summary of key events and works in progress (partial list) ○Marquee events ■One year countdown celebration 4/19/2024 ●Mr.Lucente would like to have a Countdown sign in front of the Town Office Building ●Dr.Tung is looking for a group to make the sign and has reached out to Matthew Siegel at LexArt,Munroe Center,Lexington Arts Council ●Ms.Rooney suggested reaching out to Minuteman High School graphic design department ●Ms.Fallick suggested contacting George Gamota ●Mr.Michelson suggested that Jerry Michelson may be helpful ●Ms.Jalelian and others suggested that this might be a good Eagle Scouts project ●Dr.Tung to follow up with suggestions ●Media event in the morning,afternoon tea,evening Bicentennial Band Concert ●Dr.Tung and Ms.Crocker will approach PTA groups about coordinating activity/display tables with schools ●Activities need to be inside because of weather concerns ●Ms.Barry to look into using Hancock Church for afternoon tea ■Parker ’s Prelude Kickoff 7/13/2024 ●Need a permit for the Battle Green ●Ms.Hundley suggested 11 am -2 pm as a time frame ●Music ○Joint concert between Lexington and Concord at 11 am ○Possible Lex Symphony Brass Quintet followed by Fife and Drum ○Possible performance and singalong led by Community Children’s Chorus ●Cake ●Food trucks ○Ms.Rooney and Ms.Fallick suggested contacting Dawn McKenna as she has coordinated this in the past ●Activities ○Face painting,balloon art,crafts ●Contingency plans for inclement weather ○Dr.Tung to look into reserving Cary Hall or LHS as a backup ■Patriots’Day 2025 (briefly noted) ■Closing/community celebration (briefly noted) ○Music and art ■Dr.Tung has been in communication with town’s arts groups-Lexington Bicentennial Band,Lexington Symphony,Lexington Pops Chorus, Munroe Center,LexArt,and others ■Dr.Cunha suggested reaching out to the Colonial Singers for their participation ■Lantern making event ●CAAL is interested in participating or leading ■Horse project ●Dr.Tung and Ms.Bogdan have been looking at potential sites and connecting with DPW ●Need SB approval for sites prior to purchasing ●Will possibly need HDC approval-Dr.Tung to check ■Interactive community art project ●Ms.Fallick had introduced acclaimed artist Tova Speter to Lex 250 members earlier this year ●Dr.Tung and Ms.Fallick feel that a project led by Ms.Speter would be a good fit for Lex 250 ●Mr.Colatosti and Dr.Tung met with Ms.Speter to explore the possibility of engaging her for a project ○Literary projects ■Mr.O’Shaughnessy is coordinating lecture series in town ■Community-wide essay/poetry/arts project ●Jane Hundley,Jillian Tung,Barry Cunha,Paul O’Shaughnessy from Lex 250;Marian Cohen from Lex Hist Soc ●Ms.Cohen and Dr.Tung met on 12/13;larger group to meet in January ●Need to clarify if Lex Hist Soc or Lex 250 project ■Judy Crocker (Lex Hist Soc and Lex 250 Events WG)and Dr Cunha are writing a history curriculum;Ms.Hundley and Dr.Cunha discussed the timing ○Walking Tour ■Dr.Cunha to coordinate ■Possibly engage Friends of the Bikeway,Bicycle Committee,TCC,Harry Forsdick,Tourism Committee,and others ■Tour of historic sites ■Could develop an app-Wei Ding is a Lexington resident with a great deal of experience in this area ■Could look into placing a blue line along tour path,similar to the Freedom Trail in Boston ○Scavenger hunt ■Ms.Rooney would like to coordinate a scavenger hunt for kids ■Dr.Tung suggested other themes such as focusing on Paul Revere;s ride, British/Redcoats theme ■Ms.Fallick noted that Leslie Masson is interested in a geocaching project; Dr.Tung will reach out to her ○Quilt Show ■Regional guilds are interested in a collaborative quilt show in celebration of the 250th ■Rob Munroe and Holly Cratsley from Concord are looking into possible use of Concord Academy for free or at a reduced rate ●Community meeting ○Tuesday,January 30,2024 at the community center ○Invitation team (Ms.Roy,Ms.hundley,Ms.Rooney)will send out invitations ○Breakout rooms for small group discussions ●Funding update ○The next town meeting article will contain a request for funding ○ARPA has to be fully allocated by December 31,2024 ●Mr.Michelson presented designs for name tags for commission members and enamel pins for dignitaries ○Committee members discussed possible designs ○A proposal made by Mr.Michelson to allocate up to $150 from Special Town Meeting funds for the purchase of name tags was seconded by Ms.Rooney and approved unanimously by the committee ●Debrief from America 250 meeting in Boston on 12/15/2023 ○Kickoff event ○Ms.Barry commented that it was a great opportunity for us to interact with key individuals ●Next Lex 250 meeting:January 10,2024 at 4:30 pm ●Next regional collaborative meeting:Thursday,2/28/2024 in Lincoln ●Meeting was adjourned at 6:20 pm Respectfully submitted, Jillian Tung