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TOWN CELEBRATIONS COMMITTEE
October 25, 1962
The Committee met at the Town Offices at 7 :45
p m. Present were Mrs Litchfield, Mrs Fox, Mrs
Bayle, Messrs Howard, Gilman, Poplawski, Barnes and
DiGiammarino Mr Gaughan was absent
The minutes of the October 4 and 11 meeting, in GENERAL
accordance with the meeting schedule, should be design- BUSINESS
ated as meetings of the U.N. Day Committee
The minutes were approved as amended.
Mr. Howard has received a letter from the Select-
men appointing Mrs. Bayle to fill an unexpired term on
the committee to April 1964
Dr. Howard Smith and Grant B Cole have been
confirmed as members of the 250th Subcommittee
Mr Poplawski suggested that Mrs Litchfield
make some mention in her correspondence that Lexington
will be celebrating our 250th Anniversary.
A letter was received from Donald Noyes, Presi-
dent of the Historical Society, regretting that he was
away and could not help with U N. Day, but will be at
our December 6 meeting
We have received a statment from the town audi-
tor At our next meeting decisions on our financial
situation will be made
Mr Howard gave an outline of the history of the ORIENTATION
committee, of which highlights were : that Patriots' OF NEW
Day was run by veterans groups, and the parade degen- MEMBERS
erated in both appeal and dignity; steps were taken to
form a by-law committee to run April 19; the committee
gained a reputation for work and performance; U.N. Day
and Thanksgiving were added to its duties
On the matter of protocol, Mr Howard made the
following statments : No single member of the committee
may commit the committee to a course of action Com-
mittee members must abide by the decision of the
majority Committee members must be careful of stat-
ments regarding policy or discussions of the committee
482
The Celebrations Committee has a sizeable work
load, and our operation requires the support and contribu- ,
tion of each member
The formation of the subcommittee was explained,
and the plans for the weekend celebration, April 19, 20
and 21, 1963
U.N DAY Mr Poplawski suggested that the Chamber of Com-
post mortem merce should distribute U.N. posters He felt that
the Elks were rebuffed in their efforts Mr Gilman
felt if the job was given to the C of C we might as well
throw it out the window as the Chamber is besieged with
requests Mr Howard. seconded this, with a description
of the pressures put on stores by salesmen, charity
drives, local organizations , etc Mr Gilman felt we
should continue to ask the cooperation of the Chamber
and get another organization to distribute material
Mr DiGiammarino suggested we rotate those stores asked
to display posters, and ask the Chamber before their
Christmas display meeting
It was decided next year to do everything pos-
sible to get the C of C to take a more active role in
improving the display of posters Mrs For suggested
that we should apply for materials at the World Affairs
Office much earlier than she did this year
Mr Poplawski inquired about inviting foreign
students to Lexineton Mrs Fox thought we might have
a U N. party since we are well aware of the difficulties
of a serious speaker Mrs Bayle mentioned the Inter-
national Ball, and concurred that we should think in
terms of a social function for U.N. Day.
Mr Howard talked to Mr Greeley at the Franklin
School, and found that he was responsible for the U N
Day celebration all over the country Evidently, he
used all means at his disposal to promote it, and it
was passed by Congress Mrs Fox will look this up and
report on it
A motion was made and passed to purchase a staff
and stand for the U.N. flan we have which was made for
the town by the Grange Mrs Fox was authorized to ask
if the Library will display the flag permanently
Mr Poplawski felt we should arrive at some
figure on the number of U.N. flags displayed on the
Green, and then stop
Mr Barnes mentioned we would need a plaque for
the Grange flag if the Library accepted it.
483
Mr DiGiammarino reported that Miss McIntyre
thinks that the announcing of the winners and award-
inp' of the prize at the High School assembly should
be done by the same person The Committee felt that
the Hirsh School can do what they choose to with the
assembly
Mr Howard explained how Mr Fiorentino of the
Elks purchased U.N. notebooks to distribute to all
students who wrote for the Essay Contest Approval
from the League and. the Rotary Club should have been
received before this was done Mrs Bayle will ex-
plain to Mrs Wilson and Dr Way how this happened
Mr Fox received permission to have enlarge-
ments made of the U.N. Day pictures and give them to
Franklin School.
Mr Gilman would like to see more people at the
tree-planting ceremonies, and this might be done
through the PTA. It should be the concern of the com-
mittee to encourage the school to take every action to
interest parents in the event
It was agreed that planning for U.N. Day should
begin in the spring
Mr DiGiammarino will be U.N. Day chairman in
1963 subject to the approval of the committee as it
will be next year
Members of the sub-committee joined us for their 250TH
monthly report
Mr Howard called on Dr Smith to make a re-
port to us as an individual, not as a committee mem-
ber
lir Lim_ tn reported that it had been suggested
to him that representatives of the South American
countries should be invited to Lexington as were the
Africans, and this would be a way to show our friend-
ship, etc He felt the old Minute-Man Freedom Com-
mittee could be re-activated, and carry the ball again
The idea seemed to receive general approval, but the
many ramifications of this proposal will be discussed
at our next meeting
Mr Parks gave committee members copies of the
250th committee organization He has met with the
musical drama group, gone over the budget in detail,
and gone into details on the memorial dinner plate
484
Mr Parks and Mr Howard met with the Selectmen
on the problem of financing the Anniversary, and will
meet with them again next week for further discussion.
Mr Howard felt that 3 things had been learned
at this meeting:
1 The insertion of a warrant for funds is possible
2 The problem of financing the Anniversary has been
made clear to the selectmen
3 The copy-write problem involved in the musical drama
has been reported to the Town Council
Mrs Pullen talked to the committee on the
musical drama, described its content, and said she
hoped to have it in its final form by December 11
Both committees discussed at length the problems
of financing all aspects of the Anniversary Dr
Smith suggested that the town might underwrite it as a
Lexington Fund, and this would be a good publicity
stunt too Mr Howard felt it would be better to have
organizations do this, but we might have to fall back
on this method if other avenues fail
After the members of the 250th subcommittee
withdrew, Mrs Pullen briefly explained her past re-
searth on all the Lexingtons in the United States It
is hoped that this will be used for the 250th celebra-
tion. It will make an excellent publicity story, and
representatives of the Lexingtons could be asked as
guests at no expense to us
After Mrs Pullen left, Mr Howard called for a
brief discussion on Dr Smith' s proposal on the South
Americans A motion was made and passed to accept it.
Patricia N Fox,
Recording Secretary,
Pro Tem