Dedham Civic Pride • News

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				Dedham Civic Pride 2011 Annual Spring Gala! Please join us on Friday, May 6th, for Dedham Civic Pride's 2011 Annual Spring Fundraiser Gala at MIT Endicott House, 80 Haven St in Dedham, from 6:30PM to 9:30PM. Tickets are $65 per person and include elegant hors d'oeuvres, a pasta bar and desserts. There will also be a live auction and a silent auction, a wine pull, and a full cash bar. Tickets may be purchased in advance until May 1st, 2011, by mailing a check for $65 per ticket, along with your name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address, if applicable, to. Print the form (below) and mail to: Jane Cheever 31 Court St Dedham MA 02026 Please make checks payable to Friends of Dedham Civic Pride. Your tickets will be held at the door. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors: Special Thanks to: Diamond Sponsor ($2,000) Norfolk & Dedham Group ▪ Grogan & Company Patron ($1,000) Dedham Institution for Savings ▪ Hyde Park Savings Bank ▪ Needham Bank Benefactor ($500) Dedham Health & Athletic Complex ▪ Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation ▪ Hope McDermott Real Estate ▪ KW Insurance Agency, LLC ▪ Newbridge on the Charles ▪ Roche Brothers ▪ Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., Inc. Friend ($250) Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage ▪ Dedham Gas- Bridge Street Autobody ▪ Discover Properties ▪ Donahue Real Estate Co. ▪ George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Homes ▪ Gibson Sotheby’s ▪ Dr. Louis J. Sawan/619 High St ▪ Keldara Salon & Day Spa ▪ Roger & Michelle Marino ▪ McDonough McCarthy Realtors, Inc. ▪ McKinney Bros. Tree Service ▪ National Amusements, Inc. ▪ RE/MAX Way ▪ Schortmann Insurance Agency ▪ US Representative Stephen F. Lynch ▪ Vogt Realty Group ▪ Walley Insurance ▪ Law Offices of Winbourne, Hampe & Sheenan In Kind Fine Estates From Spain ▪ Anne Francis Photography ▪ Charles D’Attilio Please and "like" us for a preview of some of our incredible auction items.


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				Come out and help us make Dedham shine! Dedham Civic Pride is getting ready for its annual town-wide spring cleanup. This rain-or-shine event kicks off on Monday, April 25 and will be coordinated by Abby and Amy Black and supported by Lloyd Cushman Tree Services. Through May 2, teams of volunteers will work in various neighborhoods cleaning the debris of a particularly devastating winter to make sure that Dedham is fit for spring. As always, we are seeking your help. We need you to help us identify problem areas or places that might go unnoticed. But above all, we need your hands and your civic pride. We are inviting you to sign up, select your favorite street, square or sidewalk, and spend a morning, an afternoon or an hour -- whatever time you can spare--side by side with your friends and neighbors. Get some sun, brighten your mood, brighten your town, and have a good time doing it! We'll provide gloves and refuse bags, as well as bottled water. Just bring your civic spirit! For more information call Amy Black at (781)727-9054.


				Dedham Civic Pride's Annual Gala Was a Great Success! Press Release: May 24, 2010 - A beautiful Friday evening and the MIT Endicott House provided the perfect setting for the Sixth Dedham Civic Pride Gala. Over two hundred guests enjoyed signature MIT Endicott House hors d'oeuvres, pasta bar and desserts. Guests also enjoyed a “taste” of Fine Estates from Spain wines. All neighborhoods in Dedham were represented at this event and everyone enjoyed seeing friends and meeting new ones while bidding for some fabulous silent auction items. Over a hundred bottles of wine, donated by Fine Estates from Spain, beautifully wrapped and adorned with flowers, were purchased by guests for a great “Wine Pull.” Proceeds from this event allow Civic Pride to continue its fine work in keeping Dedham beautiful. Civic Pride thanks the following Sponsors and Auction Donors for their generosity: SPONSORS Anne Francis Photography Citizens Bank Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Dedham Community Theatre Dedham Gas -Bridge Street Autobody Dedham Health and Athletic Complex Dedham Institution for Savings Delahunt for Congress Donahue Real Estate Company Dr. Louis J. Sawan/619 High Street Fine Estates from Spain George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Homes Grogan and Company Hope McDermott Real Estate Hyde Park Savings Bank K W Insurance Agency, LLC Keldara Salon and Day Spa Kings Law Offices of John P. Gibbons McKinney Brothers Tree Service Needham Bank Newbridge on the Charles Norfolk and Dedham Group Representative Paul McMurtry Roche Bros. Roger & Michele Marino Schortmann Insurance Agency Stephen F. Lynch for Congress Steve Davey Design Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, Inc. Vogt Realty Group Walley Insurance Whole Foods Market Winbourne, Hampe & Sheehan AUCTION DONORS Aquitaine BJ's Boston Marriot Copley City Sports Roger and Jane Cheever D'Angelo's Doggie Au Pair Fine Estates from Spain Gymboree Half Way Café Hartney Greymont Inc. Kristine Langdon lululemon Dan Mercer Derek and Alyssa Moulton nest Oop! Papa Gino's Carlo and Kara Saliba Stellabella Toys Still Studio Pictured: MaryAnne Hawkins and Jill DiVirgilio


				It's Time! Press Release: December 17, 2010 - On December 12, many stalwart Dedham citizens joined Dedham Civic Pride, town officials and Norfolk and Dedham at Dedham Crossing--the intersection of High and Harris Streets for the clock dedication. They warmed up with cookies and hot cocoa. Mocha Java supplied the cocoa. The new clock promises to be a landmark for Dedham Square and a testament to the patience of the many businesses in that area who endured the bridge construction for over four years. Dedham Civic Pride Committee coordinated the purchase of the clock and worked closely with the Town and Massachusetts Highway Department on the aesthetics and the layout of the area under the bridge. The 16 foot black and gold black and gold Howard Replica/Seth Thomas, four-faced street clock will be adorned with four bronze plaques with donor dedications on its base. American street clocks first appeared in the eastern United States about 1880 were adapted from clocks of Victorian England where they were used for advertisement. Dedham’s clock symbolizes Dedham’s civic pride. The Norfolk & Dedham Group, founded in Dedham in 1825 and long time “Friend” of Dedham Civic Pride has generously provided the funding for the paving and landscaping in the clock area.


				History of Mother Brook Mother Brook has been part of Dedham’s history since its founding and has undergone many changes over the last four centuries. It affected the town and its people in many ways. All levels of society contributed to its rich history that includes agriculture, industry, and recreation activities. Today we value Mother Brook for its rich past and future potential. Dedham, originally called Contentment, was founded in 1635, when the General Court granted land south of the Charles River to twelve men. The fertile grassy meadows of the Charles River provided an ideal spot for the new settlement of Contentment, now Dedham. Within a year of settlement, on March 23, 1636, the original settlers of Dedham voted to grant 60 acres of land to Abraham Shaw if he built a water mill to grind corn. The Charles River near the current Dedham-Needham line was the proposed site for this mill. At that time, corn was ground on hand mills imported by Governor Winthrop. The town ordered every man to go to Watertown for millstones and bring them back to Dedham. Shaw died before the mill was built. Meanwhile, the townspeople surveyed the surrounding countryside to find a suitable site for a dam and watermill. They determined that the Charles River did not have a sufficient fall to power a mill so they looked for alternative sources. They decided to dig a ¾-mile canal between the Charles River and Easte Brook, behind the present day Brookdale cemetery. On March 25, 1639, Governor Winthrop and Company approved the digging of a canal. The townspeople dug the canal and then granted John Elderkin the right to build the mill plus 38 acres, ten of which included the meadow where the canal was dug. Elderkin later sold a half interest to Nathaniel Whiting, who later acquired the entire property. The Whiting family operated mills on Mother Brook for 174 years. The canal and Easte Brook, now known as Mother Brook, flows from the Charles River in the west to the Neponset River in the east, in effect making Boston an island. It is 3¾ miles long and lies in Dedham and in the Readville section of Boston. The canal at Mother Brook is believed to be the first interbasin transfer in the country and the first canal built for industrial purposes. It was an important as the source of power for the lower Neponset River, which without Mother Brook, would not have the mills that fueled the economy of its surrounding towns. Mother Brook, was the site of significant industrial activity since c.1641 through the early twentieth century. It had five privileges, four in Dedham, and one in present day Readville. Four of the five dams survive. In c.1641, Elderkin built the first mill on the first privilege near the present day Bussey Street. A stone marker commemorates the site of the first dam and mill on the east side of Bussey Street. The second privilege was located at the present intersection of High and Maverick Streets. This is where AliMed does business today. The third privilege was located at Sawmill Lane. The fourth privilege was on Milton Street, the present site of the Stone Mill Condominium complex that retains the 19th century Stone Mill at its center. The fifth privilege was in present day Readville. Over the years, there was additional digging and widening of Mother Brook and dams sites changed, as well as the uses of the mills. In 1767, 128 years after Mother Brook was dug, the town of Newton asked the Governor to stop the water from the Charles River from being diverted into Mother Brook. The dispute was finally settled in 1831, to provide that one third of the Charles River would flow into Mother Brook. Mother Brook’s right to one third of the flow of the Charles River was reaffirmed by the Commonwealth in 1955. The mills in Dedham contributed to the Commonwealth’s rise as an industrial center in the United States. Industrial activity on Mother Brook was varied, changing with the economy and industrial advances, and lasted to the early 20th century. It was the site of one of the earliest textile mills, as well as grist, saw, paper, wire, fulling, cotton, and woolen mills. Mother Brook was also an important recreational asset to the town of Dedham and had a boathouse on its banks as late as the mid-twentieth century. In 1905, Louis Brandeis advocated that the banks of Mother Brook become a park connection between the Charles and Neponset Rivers. He wrote to the Metropolitan Parks Commission noting “[t]hat little stretch of water seems to me unique in the metropolitan district. It is quite like the Maine woods…” In a recent report, DCR recognizes Mother Brook’s historical significance and its sites of charm and intrigue. Today Mother Brook and the land around it contain flood plains, meadows, millponds, four dams, manufacturing facilities, and residential units. It is surrounded by 75 acres of wetland. The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) owns the Centennial Dam in Dedham and Mill Pond Dam in Hyde Park. It is intersected by Turtle Pond and Neponset Valley Parkways and it abuts Stoney Brook Reservation. A portion of Mother Brook is part of Mother Brook Reservation, owned and managed by the DCR. Today Mother is a focal point of the neighborhood of East Dedham.


				Dedham Civic Pride's New Banner Honors Mother Brook - A Town Treasure Press Release: May 29, 2009 - In honor of Mother Brook’s 370th anniversary, Dedham Civic Pride commissioned bright blue banners to hang in Dedham’s Squares throughout the summer. The banners depict nature, industrial activity, and water power, all symbolic of Mother Brook’s significance. The design for the banner was supported in part by a grant from the Dedham Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. For a history of Mother Brook visit dedhamcivicpride.org/news/. Dedham Civic Pride’s banners now include the “Avery Oak”, “Dedham Pottery Bunny”, “Courthouse”, and Season’s Greetings”, all which brighten up Dedham’s squares throughout the seasons!