Thursday, February 7, 2008

By Michael Kane BANNER EDITOR

WEST BOYLSTON— West Boylston began amidst a web of church and political intrigue. History records its version of what the mood was on that day 200 years ago when church and politics mixed and created a new town. But it was all remembered amidst good humor last week, when the town’s bicentennial celebration officially kicked off with Ezra Beaman Day at the high school.

First speaker Kevin McCormick brought laughs when he noticed a few similarities between himself and the town’s founder. First, they were both chairmen of the Board of Selectmen. Second, they both owned an establishment called Beaman Tavern. And, finally: “He ran the town without a town hall,” McCormick said. “I find myself running a town without a town hall.” West Boylston recently closed its town hall, the Mixter Building, because of safety concerns.

Another similarity from the time of Ezra Beaman to modern days is that the area’s state representative is from West Boylston. Back then, it was Beaman himself. Today, the district is represented by James O’Day, of West Boylston. O’Day and State Senator Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) honored the town’s birthday by presenting McCormick with a joint resolution of the House and Senate.

On a serious note, McCormick noted, both he and Beaman “find ourselves looking for the brightest possible future the town can have.”

That future, he said, depends on the students becoming involved and sharing fresh ideas.

“Get out and get involved while you’re young,” McCormick said. “Don’t wait until you’re old, like us.”

The day’s laughter didn’t stop with McCormick.

Two “ages” of Ezra Beaman were represented in costume by student Jared Fancy and town historian Frank Brown. With humor, Brown talked about Beaman’s marriage to Persis Keyes, the daughter of prominent Shrewsbury citizen Deacon Cyprian Keyes, who Brown said “is probably turning over in his grave knowing they named a golf club after him.”

Later, when talking about Beaman’s second marriage to prominent Charleston resident Mary Boylston, Brown joked “now you know why I didn’t take Boylston out of the name” when naming his new community.

By holding Ezra Beaman Day at the high school, the idea was not only to celebrate the town’s birthday, but also a way to teach students about the town’s history. For that effort, the Bicentennial Committee also sponsored an essay contest which produced five winners: Freshman Kaleigh Ryder, junior Matthew Gomes, and sophomores John Welch, Nathan Bricault and Nicole Ellis.

Those essays discussed various aspects of the town’s history, from its beginnings through its dismantling to make way for the Wachusett Reservoir. Welch had the crowd laughing when he talked of moving the town’s cemeteries because “dead bodies in the water are nasty.”

Before joining Chandler and Fancy to cut the town’s official birthday cake, one of multiple sheet cakes donated by Gerardo’s for the students, Brown’s words closed the ceremony by reminding the students of their history, and by echoing McCormick’s call for more involvement.

“One hundred years ago they tried to drown us and didn’t succeed. The next 100 years are up to you,” Brown said. “Make (West Boylston) bigger and more profitable than ever.”