Adams Park Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Community volunteerism is alive and well in Manchester!  Thanks to the hard work and generosity of more than thirty Manchester residents, local businesses and the Town's Department of Public Works, the residents of Manchester now have a beautiful, newly-renovated Adams Park at the intersection of Center Hill Road and Main Street. 

There are still a couple of tasks to complete before the Park is ready for next spring. The fence posts will be finished (except painting, which will happen next spring) this coming week and double black powder coated chain will be strung between the posts; the path will be brought up to grade with the new sod and a few evergreens will be planted behind the new electric meter pedestal. Next spring two new all-weather picnic tables will be placed in the Park.

The project started with the design. Alan Benoit of Sustainable Living volunteered a tremendous amount of time designing the Park to be beautiful as well as functional. The Department of Public Works, including Director Jeff Williams, Parks Maintenance Supervisor Steve Casey and Shawn Towsley, Dave Forrest, "Fuzzy" Knight and Blaine Cullen provided the bulk of the effort constructing the Park, leading up to the volunteer day this past Saturday. The newly created DPW has once again proven its worth to the taxpayers. Special thanks to Steve Casey, who oversaw the project with great dedication.

Local businesses located right on the square graciously endured the construction: Southern Vermont Signworks, Wines By George, Nature's Market, Finn and Stone Insurance, Podium, Gringo Jack's, Brewster's Funeral Home, Brewster's Antiques and Flying Cow Sign Shop.

Joe Charbonneau (along with his son and cousin Bruce) from Matrix and Tim Madden from TurfLinks (both Lions Club members) provided a lot of expertise in laying down the sod. Kevin Collins from Home Turf provided two days worth of hard work and fertilizer application for the new turf. 

Manchester Rotary Club and Lions Club provide a lot of volunteers, including: Selectboard member Lisa Souls and her son Kevin, Dave Quesnel (also Parks and Recreation Committee Chair), John Conlon (from BBA Booster Club), Andy Shaw (also on the Parks and Recreation Committee), Norm Champine, Jon French (from Brewster's Funeral Home) and his son. 

Bob Johnston (Parks and Recreation Committee), Ray Ferrarin, Paul Bogossian from Seasons Restaurant and his son, Kim and Drika Kimball, John Watanabe, Frank Sutton, Scott Welsh (from the Aspen Motel), Doug Marsh, Kelt Alstrup, Jim Hand, Paula Quesnel, Nicole Henry (manager of the Manchester Farmers' Market), and Bill Drunsic, a long-time contributor to recreation in Manchester who also provided use of his tractor and York rake, all worked hard to build the Park. We apologize if we missed anyone who volunteered.

Berta Maginness, and her husband Scoop, as well as Beth Meachem from the Chamber of Commerce not only volunteered but organized the Manchester business community, which provided a tremendous amount of effort and labor in the finishing of the Park. Steve Burzon from Garden Arts and Manchester Fence Company donated a large maple tree on the Main Street side of the Park.

Jim Doherty, Jeremiah Kilburn and Marc Johnston from the Manchester Fire Department provided a massive dose of water to the Park after the installation of sod. Special thanks to our food sponsors, who donated food and beverages for all of our volunteers: The Works (sandwiches and bagels), The Spiral Press (snacks), Christo's Pizza and Maplefield's (coffee and hot chocolate). Without their generosity our volunteers would not have had the fortification to finish the job!

Ed Thompson from Dorr Septic and Dave Sheldon from the Town's Water Department provided a quick turnaround in installing water at the Park. Lastly, thank you to the Selectboard for having faith in the project, and to Lee Krohn for convincing us all that we should continue to invest in the downtown core and our collective quality of life, and for helping to build the stage in the center of the Park. 

For anyone that missed this opportunity and is interested in a one day work event, we are already planning future work parties including painting the Lions Barn at the Dana L. Thompson Memorial Park this coming spring. 

Even though the sod needs some time to root, we are going to put the new Park to use right away. Working with the Chamber of Commerce, this coming Holiday Season, we will be installing a lighted Holiday Tree in the middle of the Park. Thank you to everyone that helped out in the effort. This sort of community involvement is the reason we all live here in Manchester.

John O'Keefe, Town Manager

David Quesnel, Parks and Recreation Committee Chair