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Home My WebLink About1971-12-29-LBC-rpt.pdf mr tI g 12, &fott of flexitt$tott, J'l'aza[httsett9 w� 1114, 1001,10 BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE The enclosed progress report was adopted by vote of the Bicentennial Committee at its meeting of December 29, 1971 It covers the activ- ities of the committee from its first meeting of October 13 , 1971. through December 8, 1971 IAS r\ tj (tc ut of ` exin2#nn, i'I`azzuclpnsetts BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE PROGRESS REPORT ORGANIZATION--The present committee nucleus seems to he well balanced and is functioning smoothly with regular meetings scheduled for the second and fourth Wednesday evenings of each month in the Legion Room of Cary Hall and additional special meetings scheduled as required Although the size of the committee is adequate for now additional members will be requested for appointment as the committee's scope expands PRESENT SCOPE--To date the committee has limited its activities to collecting information and opening lines of communication and cooperation 1) Our first responsibility has been to give every interested organi- z=tion—and individual the opportunity to—con---tri-bute- d-ess--op nions,--a-nJ specific plans relative to 1975 To fulfill this responsibility formal individual invitations to meet with committee were issued to all military veteran, service and fraternal organizations in the Town The Centennial Legion of Historic Military Commands The Lexington Minutemen V F W , Rotary Lions Kiwanis, Jaycees Chamber of Commerce Elks, and Simon Robinson Lodge of Masons have had representatives meet with us At a recent meeting geared for interested private citizens 26 individuals (most of whom are Town Meeting members who came prepared with constructive questions comments and suggestions) met with the committee Youth, church, garden, art craft, and music groups as well as a representatives of Hanscom Field and Minuteman National Histo ical Park are scheduled in the coming weeks 2) Our second concurrent responsibility has been to open lines of communication and cooperation on national, state regional, and local levels To achieve this appropriate individual members of the committee have met personally with members of the staff of the American Revolution Bicentennial Committee the Massachusetts Revolutionary War Bicentennial Committee, Cary Memorial Library the Planning Board and the School Depart- ment Although the organization of a regional steering committee composed of representatives of the appropriate cities and town probably awaits the catalystic efforts of the Lexington Bicentennial Committee a cordial and strong working relationship has developed between the Lexington and Concord committees through the mutual efforts of the respective chairmen To lay the foundation for coordinated planning and cooperation a meeting of the heads of the Planning Board and Police, Fire Engineering and Public Works Departments has been conducted with selected members of the committee and the Town Manager participating IMPORTANT AREAS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST--Although the committee is not yet prepared to submit an outline of a program for 1975 there have already emerged several areas with strong citizen support 1) Patriots Day--needless to say the period of April 18-21 1975 will be crammed with parades, balls youth, athletic and cultural events, re- enactments religious services and ceremonies If the state law is not changed, Monday April 21 will be a legal holiday The Centennial Legion with 3500 members decided on Lexington as the site for its annual conven- tion in 1975 from about April 17-21 The extra costs during the 1975 Patriots Day weekend of hosting transportation VIP accomodations, traffic and crowd control public safety and property protection will be consider- PROGRESS REPORT - page 2 able and will require expenditures for professional assistance to properly anticipate 2) Permanent Memorials--at a meeting on December 13 , 1971, the Histori- cal Society Council voted that "The Lexington Historical Society recommends to the Bicentennial Committee of the Town of Lexington that a museum type building be constructed as a permanent memorial for the Bicentennial " If after proper study the committee acts favorably upnn this recommendation it will lead to the request for an article in the warrant for a future Town Meeting It has been reported that the Rotary Club is considering the construction of a replica of the "Old Meeting House" Possibly these two ppojects can be united into one In any case, the committee is considering the establishment of a qualified Foundation which can serve as a tax-free depository for citizen and corporate donations as a means of minimizing the need for town funds for a permanent memorial 3) Town Beautification--recommendations for improving the appearance of Massachusetts Avenue east of Waltham Street and other major access arteries of the town may well lead to formal proposals requesting funds in excess of those normally budgeted by the town. 4) Special "Days"--83 countries have registered with the American Revolution Bicentennial Committee for participation in the various Bicen- i* tennial celebrations Out of this will probably evolve special "days" in 10 which foreign delegations will be scheduled to pay homage to Lexington Prdposals for arranging special days of visitation by delegations from ' the 21 other U S towns and cities named Lexington in honor of our town are being considered. Such "days" if scheduled will entail appropriate hosting expenses 5) Musical (Drama--Considerable interest has been expressed in re- staging the musical drama "They Nobly Dar'd" which was originated for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the incorporation of the town. ,i; The necessary script revisions have already been made and this excellent musical drama awaits only the sponsorship of a dramatic group and the r financial underwriting which probably the committee will be required to a provide 6) Sound and Light Show--some interest has been expressin in develop- . ing an outdoor sound and light show depicting the historic events surround- ing April 19, 1775 Such a presentation would require rather substantial 11 underwriting ya. Pe SPAN OF SPEICAL EVENTS--It is anticipated that many important national i, and international dignitaries will be attracted to Boston for the celebra- tion of Bunker Hill Day in 1975 and that a good percentage of them will wish to visit Lexington concurrently Bunker Hill is of direct historic i significance to the town since the Lexington Minutemen engaged in that ";- battle Historic events therefore dictate that the special events in 1975 sr span fromiApril 18 through June 14 at the very least It is possible that certain components of the program will span the entire warm weather season, - . perhaps concluding on Columbus Day BUDGET REQUIREMENTS--The development of an overall program for 1975 requires additional time and effort before a reasonable itemization of an- ticipated costs can be made In the meantime the best basis for an overall estimate of costs is Concord's current $100,000 figure arrived at after years of planning dating back to 1966 In anticipation of programs involving total costs exceeding amounts ° likely to be comfortably digested in a single year by town such as Lexing- ton, and recognizing the difficulty in predicting the years in which certain expenses might actually be incurred, the state legislature provided as 1 n n I PROGRESS REPORT - page 3 Chapter 911 of the Acts of 1971 the authority for cities and town to 4'a.,•. appropriate money annually in anticipation of the celebration of the two *' hundredth anniversary of the American Revolution (Exhibit 1) The office of the Clerk of the Senate has issued the approved phraseology of the appropriate article for town meeting warrant (Exhibit 2) The, committee intends to request the enclosure of this article in the warrant for the next regular Town Meeting of Lexington and will arrive at the requested amount at its next special meeting scheduled for Defomber2?9_ ;. 1971 In its deliberations it will take into consideration the total anticipated principle and interest value of the Leroy S Brown Fund as of January 1, 1975 (which hes been tentively projected at $7,598 by Mr George Morey) The committee hos already initiated through normal channels its regular budget request in the amount of $750 to meet its anticipated operating costs for 1972 hf THE NEAR FUTURE--I't 3.Fanticipated that„;by, ahc Mai l5. the work fo the committee win op, i'om pri : kb y< y t9 detailed ;tAat programming By June 15 an outline of plan-'for 147 t` :Rcompleted I' .kiss AP ( :T Y4 } ,04 likg AA1A 9y .' ,a7 r�, �`4}-04 4,01 .rz;W_ �g SS 0 4t;yoj tib;.,: N . 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