By Julie McCay Turner
Several dozen family members, friends, current and former Recreation Commission members and public safety officers gathered at Springs Brook Park on Saturday afternoon to remember Bedford’s first Recreation Director, Frank Bauman, and honor him with a bench dedicated in his memory.
It was a generational event that drew many long-time Bedford residents, their children and grandchildren. Selectman Caroline Fedele was a legacy member of the Recreation Commission, following in the footsteps of her father, Lou Ennis, who served with Bauman. Former Planning Board member Sal DeVellis’s grandsons and Fire Chief David Grunes’s sons were among the third generation present. DeVellis noted that “this park wouldn’t be here without Frank.” Bedford’s Fire Chief David Grunes recalled that the Grunes and Bauman families have been neighbors since before the Chief was born; he played with the Bauman boys, two of whom now serve with him as lieutenants in the Bedford fire department.
Amy Hamilton, Bedford’s current Recreation Director, served under Bauman as a young woman growing up in Bedford. She spoke glowingly of her mentor’s support, and announced that there will soon be a Bedford basketball league named in Bauman’s honor.
Chairman of the Council on Aging Bobbie Ennis spoke of Bauman’s affection for the COA after his retirement, noting that because he loved to cook, he initiated the COA Men’s Breakfast. Ennis also brought messages from three of the Council’s Directors. Click here to read her comments.
Officer Kristen Dineen brought greetings from Chief Robert Bongiorno. Click here to read his comments.
Fedele and Selectman Mike Rosenberg spearheaded the campaign to secure the bench honoring Bauman, and Fedele read the list of donors: the Bedford Police Department, the Bedford Fire Department, Recreation Director Amy Hamilton, Glenn Robinson, Todd Ford, the Carroll family, the Ricker family, the Moll family, the Richter family, the Ennis family, the Fedele family, the Rosenberg family, the Ryan family, Ilsa and Lloyd Gottleib, Brian and Sal DeVellis, the Venuti family and Bedford Farms, and Bauman cousins Phil, Chris, Andy and Doug.
Rosenberg recalled his early friendship with Bauman, back in the day when Rosenberg edited the Bedford Minuteman, but had no office in town. “I’d hang out in the Rec Department office,” said Rosenberg who over the years has become known as one of the most enthusiastic partisans on behalf of team sports in Bedford.
Michael Bauman noted that Springs Brook Park was a perfect place for a bench in his father’s honor. He and his brothers would often accompany their father to the park after dinner, to be sure that it was “buttoned up for the night.”
The text on the plaque reads, Dedicated to Frank Bauman, Bedford’s First Recreation Director, who nurtured this park and loved our community.
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