HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-04-MMC-min
Monuments & Memorials Committee, Lexington, MA
Minutes of Meeting
April 4, 2024
By Zoom Teleconference
Members Present: Linda Dixon, Chair; Avram Baskin, Glen Bassett, George Gamota,
prospective member Nicholas Wong.
Members not present: Bebe Fallick, Leslie Masson, prospective member Liz Huttner.
Guests: Dave Pinsonneault, Director, DPW; New prospective member Mirela Vaso; Bill Poole
and Regina Sutton, volunteer workers.
Business
Chair Linda opened the meeting at 4:03 and declared that a quorum was present. She introduced
new prospective member Mirela Vaso, who has applied for appointment to the committee, and
guests Bill Poole and Regina Sutton, who have volunteered to take on monument writing
assignments.
The minutes of the meeting of March 4, 2024 were approved on a roll call vote.
Plan for Completing Work on the Database
Linda presented the spreadsheet describing the status of the approximately 180
monuments so far identified. A few are complete with photograph and approved
descriptive text. Most, however, need finished text.
Nick Wong reviewed preliminary assignments to committee members. Everyone will
start with approximately 5 monuments each.
Nick has included all available data on each entry. It’s the responsibility of the writer to
1) verify the current information, since some of it may have been generated by ChatGPT,
which is not guaranteed accurate; 2) do additional research to add vital missing
information; and 3) write up the description.
Linda recommends a word count between 200 and 250 words.
Because of extensive experience with the WWI and WWII commemorations, George will
oversee the writeups of memorialized service members of these wars. Veterans Services
Director Karen Tyler has volunteered to work with George.
Linda noted that Bill Poole is a historian who has done years of research and writing on
Lexington’s monuments through his association with the Lexington Historical Society
and the Lexington Minute Men. He is a great resource, and we are fortunate to have his
participation.
Reorganizing the Database
By next meeting, Linda and Bill plan to do a complete revamping of the database to
simplify, declutter, and reorganize the data entries and make it much more user friendly.
Feedback on Committee Logo
At Linda’s request, Jonas Miller, Director of Communications, submitted a proposed logo
for the Monuments and Memorials Committee.
After discussion, the committee agreed to accept the logo design and to thank Jonas for
his efforts.
Hiring a Consultant to Develop Maintenance & Repair Plan
As DPW Director Dave Pinsonneault was present, the committee took this opportunity to
discuss his plan to hire a consultant in FY26 to study town monuments and develop a
long-term maintenance and repair plan.
Discussion items included: Importance of every future monument, regardless of size or
cost, contributing to a universal monument repair fund; inclusion of grave memorials in
B&G budget; the process for extracting funds from the future Monument Repair Fund;
and whether the M&M Committee is allowed to participate in fundraising.
Dave Pinsonneault has space in the Lexington Times set aside for him in each issue.
Possibly he could share some space with M&M Committee for related purposes.
Other
Due to absence of members Bebe Fallick and Liz Huttner, the Lex250 report and the
Mapping the Database report will be moved to a future meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m. Next meeting: May 2, 2024.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Dixon, Chair