When Springs Brook Park formally opened in the summer of 1971. Michael Dukakis was a state legislator, Bedford Center was a destination for bowling and skating, you could take a train from Loomis Street to North Station, and no one had ever heard of Beyonce, Tom Brady, or David Ortiz, who were all waiting to be born.
The demographics, the culture, and the streetscape have changed, but Springs Brook Park continues to adapt and thrive.
The park staff and Recreation Department will host an afternoon of fun on Sunday, Aug. 7, to celebrate the park’s 50th anniversary—actually its 51st, allowing for a Covid-19 delay.
Click this link to view, download, or print the SBP celebration flyer
The gates open at noon, and after a 12:30 hula-hoop competition, the agenda features a relay race around the park. Later in the afternoon, a water-balloon toss will be followed by a cornhole tournament. Amateur builders can enter a sand-castle contest as soon as they arrive; judging is scheduled for 4 p.m. And from 4 until closing at 5, Elise and the Minorities will provide live music.
Admission to the park at $10 per resident (members are free) will cover not only the lineup of activities but also open swimming and access to raffles and food trucks.
The park has grown and changed since it opened in the summer of 1971, but the service club members, town employees, and volunteers who collaborated over several years to convert the donated federal land would recognize the spirit of the day.
“What I’ve learned in my short time in Bedford is that Springs Brook Park is a bit of a town treasure, which we are happy to celebrate,” said Recreation Director Josh Smith.
“We want to honor this community asset that has seen all kinds of transformations,” Raeann Gembis said, as well as the individuals and families that have “taken advantage of the park over the years.” The Aug. 7 showcase event is “an opportunity for the community,” she said.
Gembis, whose current title with the department is adult education/program coordinator, has been involved with the management of the park almost every summer since 1987. “Right out of college I started working for the Recreation Department as a youth coordinator, and Springs Brook Park was part of the job,” she said.
“I never lived in town, but I know the value of Springs Brook and what it has provided for the community — the swim lessons, the families together on the beach. One of the things we always have been striving for is that sense of community. It’s a unique place – not a pool, not a pond. We did big searches and found nothing to compare with it as a resource and how people make it work.”
Gembis said staff has been aware for a few years of the approaching half-century milestone. Two years ago the pandemic closed the park entirely, and in 2021 – the actual anniversary – “we were still trying to get back on our feet.”
So now it’s time to celebrate, albeit a year late. Gembis said as soon as Mary Gallant and Haley Portlock, this year’s co-directors, were hired, serious discussions began on the best way to mark the anniversary.
“Mary and Haley took the reins and put together the ideas,” Gembis related. “Josh and I and Haley and Mary talked about what is feasible in a five-hour time frame and be able to do it with the staff we have. The lineup is old-fashioned—what we used to do; fun things to bring the people together and have a great day.”
Gembis pointed out that besides users, the park has another sizable constituency: generations of employees. This year there are 12 lifeguards, most of them Bedford residents, and a crew of close to 20, kids aged 14-16. Many of the alumni stay connected, she said. Indeed, there was a recent “mini-reunion” hosted by Barry Dyment.
Dave Kennedy was there. A 1982 Bedford High School graduate who now is a mathematics professor at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, Kennedy learned to swim at Springs Brook Park, staffed the admissions table for $1.75 an hour, then worked as a lifeguard into his late 20s. “I always thought it was the best thing Bedford had,” he said in a telephone conversation Wednesday.
He still treasures that unmistakable sound of joy emanating from the pond encountered when approaching by foot.
Kennedy still has family in the area, so every year he’s back to visit—and make sure Springs Brook Park is on his itinerary. “I’ve never lived anywhere that had a place quite like it,” he commented. “I hope the town appreciates what it has.”
Phil Maglione learned to swim at Springs Brook Park when it was almost new. The 1976 BHS graduate, who now lives on Florida’s Gulf Coast, had a special relationship with the facility—his father Jim was a member of the Recreation Commission for two decades. The Recreation Department was created in 1972; during its first two years, the Springs Brook waterfront was managed by Bob Petrillo, the high school coach and physical education teacher.
The park “was my dad’s sanctuary,” Maglione related in a phone interview. “When he came home from work in the summer, that was his place to cool down, go for a swim, and hang out with his cronies—Joe O’Neill and Ed Shamon. Every Fourth of July, my brother would load the back of his pickup with all the cousins and take them all down for a swim.”
Maglione is impressed with the amenities added to the park over the decades. “It was a wonderful transformation, to take that raw resource and morph it into something the community can be proud of. It’s a testament to how well the Recreation Department in Bedford has always functioned.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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