HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-13-TCC-min Town Celebrations Committee
Minutes of Meeting
March 13, 2019
Lexington Community Center
Members Present
Lorain Marquis, Chair; June Baer, Suzanne Caton, Kim Coburn, Linda Dixon, Karen Gaughan, Cerise
Jalelian, Paul Jenkins, Gresh Lattimore, Sondra Lucente, Julie Miller, Wayne Miller, Bill Mix, Geetha
Padaki, Sandy Podgorski, Sue Stering,
Guest: Gina Rada
Members Not Present
Glen Bassett, Wei Ding, Carol Flynn, Mary Hutton, Rita Pandey, Dave Taylor, Bob Tracey, Sam Zales
Business:
• The chair reported that a quorum was present and the meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.
• Minutes from the meeting of February 27, 2019 were approved.
• Lorain reported that she met with the Arlington and Concord Town Celebrations Committees.
She proposed that the Lexington TCC would distribute Patriots' Day event schedules from
Arlington and Concord if those towns would also distribute the Lexington schedule. The
committee approved her proposal and agreed that the Arlington and Concord TCCs each be
given 100 Lexington printed schedules to distribute. Lorain also noted that as a result of the
meeting, a reduced fee for one of the parade units was negotiated for the 3 towns since the unit
was going to appear in the Arlington and Concord parades in addition to the Lexington parade.
• Linda Dixon reported that Lex Media has offered to train anyone proposed by the TCC and the
Veterans Association in videography and to lend video equipment as needed to record TCC and
Vets events. Linda and Lorain encouraged the committee to recruit people to take advantage of
this offer since it will make it easier for the committee to ensure that events are covered.
• The next TCC meeting will be on March 20, 2019.
Patriots' Day, April 15, 2019:
• Lorain suggested that the committee invite the Hot Tamales Brass Band proposed by Golden
Bough Productions to submit an application to march in the parade. The committee approved
that suggestion and Lorain will follow up.
• Bill Mix will talk to Larry Conley about getting some antique cars to participate in the parade.
• Sondra offered to ask the Wells Fargo Stagecoach to apply to participate in the parade.
• Suzanne reported that the amount of credits to sponsors from last year totaled about$7500. She
also noted that sponsor applications have been slow in arriving this year.
• Linda Dixon noted that Norm Cohen will be the Grand Marshal of the parade this year. She
will meet with Norm and update the story submitted last year by Martha Wood to the
Lexington Minuteman.
• Wayne Miller confirmed that new parade unit numbers and covers used to organize the parade
will be needed this year.
• Lorain confirmed with the DPW that TCC members can park in the Library parking lot on
Patriots' Day.
Approval of Parade Applications
The Committee approved the applications of the following units involving no fees:
• Bhakti Center
• CALEX
• Embody Fitness
• Minis on Parade (mini horses)
• Spirit of'76
The Committee approved the applications of the following units involving fees:
• HM 1st Regiment of Foot
• Worcester Sound & Light
• Martin Cox military vehicles (2)
• McDermott Family Vehicle Collection (1)
• VFW Post 3007
• Uncle Sam stilt walker
Memorial Day 2019:
• Linda Dixon reported that Gina Johnson is creating a tribute portrait of Pat Flynn, a well-
known Lexington veteran of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The collage will be
presented to Pat at the Memorial Day celebrations. A videotape of his recollections has also
been made.
• Lorain and Linda suggested that the TCC ask Edith Flynn, Pat's wife, to be Grand Marshal of
the Memorial Day parade and be a keynote speaker during the ceremonies on the Green at the
end of the parade. It was noted that because of his age, Pat Flynn would not be able to take on
these roles.
• Gina Rada suggested that, since Memorial Day is traditionally dedicated to those who have
died defending our country, Edith be asked to address the meaning of Memorial Day in her
remarks.
• The committee discussed whether it was appropriate to honor Pat Flynn during Memorial Day
events or rather, wait until Veterans Day to do so. Since there was no consensus on the issue,
the committee was asked to think about it and a decision will be made at the next TCC meeting
on 3/20/19.
The meeting adjourned at 8:23 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Suzanne Caton, Co-Secretary