CAPTION: Shortly after moving to Beacon Hill in the late 1960s, Gillian and Vivien Gattie planted a tree. Ever since, they haven't stopped trying to help the neighborhood grow.

Some call them perfect examples of ‘unsung heroes.’ Others say they are ‘models of grace and commitment.’ And, last night the neighborhood gave them the finest recognition of all.
Gillian and Vivien Gattie, both of Hancock Street, were awarded the 12th annual Beacon Award at the Beacon Hill Civic Association’s 86th Annual Meeting, held last night at the Union Club. The award is given annually to honor a person or group most deserving of particular recognition for significant and sustained contribution to the Beacon Hill community.
“The Gatties, who are identical twins, have quietly gone about their business of improving the neighborhood for decades without expecting any praise or any thanks,” said Jacqueline Freeman, another Hancock Street resident who benefits daily from the care they give to the street.
It all began in the late ‘60s, when first one and then the other came to Boston from their native England. “We came to Beacon Hill thinking we would find separate homes,” said Vivien. “But we found this house and pooled our resources. It was the only way we could afford it.” Although they initially planned to fix up the home and sell it, fortunately for the neighborhood they never left. Vivien occupies the top floors and Gillian the lower ones.
When they first arrived, Vivien said, there were very few trees on the street. So the first thing they did was to plant a tree in front of the house. When other new neighbors moved in, they quietly encouraged them to do the same. Together the neighbors planted flowers, had trees trimmed and tree guard installed and – long before the rest of the Hill caught on – decorated the gas lamps for the holidays. Because of their quiet leadership and hard word, Hancock Street was gradually transformed into the handsome tree-lined street it is today.
“They have been wonderful neighbors and members of the Beacon Hill community,” said another neighbor, Anne Sheetz. “They are devoted to the beautification of Hancock Street, assisting with the Suffolk University gardens, tree trimming and the many other responsibilities that make this such a delightful place to live.”
The Gatties began reaching out to the community in the early ‘70s, when they both donned the pink jackets worn in those days and pushed the library cart to patients at Massachusetts General Hospital. Shortly thereafter, they began serving the homeless, first at the former Old West Church soup kitchen and then at Neighborhood Action, Inc. on Bowdoin Street.
It was the beginning of a long and rich commitment that has lasted for 25 years. Every Thursday evening the pair can be found at the soup kitchen serving dinner to about 150 guests living on the edge of poverty.
“They are a tremendous team and have been a great gift to the program,” said Neighborhood Action Director Rev. Ron Tibbetts. “Gillian serves as the hostess who makes sure guests are seated and accommodations are made to serve them. She is the captain and the coordinator of the serving and makes sure all runs smoothly. Vivien is the faithful operator of the dishwasher. “Where one gives out the plate, the other takes it back,” Tibbetts added with a twinkle.
The Gatties are well known by the community they serve at the soup kitchen and frequently chat with them about what’s going on in their lives. Tibbetts said the twins’ whole aura is one of trust and calm, and the community there knows and respects them. Vivien now sits on Neighborhood Action’s board of directors.
The two never miss the Thursday commitment except for the few times they are away on vacation. After six years of crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean to meet her beau, last month Gillian married Englishman John Watson - on a Thursday. Sure enough, when the wedding festivities ended, the bride and groom abandoned their wedding attire and headed for the soup kitchen. Watson is now a regular volunteer there himself.
Over the years, the two have quietly served the community in many other ways as well, such as serving on boards and committees, volunteering in the offices for small organizations including the Beacon Hill Civic Association and the Esplanade Association, looking after the elderly, helping them with their finances, reading to the blind and more. “We get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from doing this,” they both said. “It’s the smaller organizations that need the help.”
And they accomplished all this while having long careers in their professional lives as well. A decade ago, Vivien retired after twenty years as president of The Bay Tower. She is married to attorney Jerry Facher and shares a home with him in Arlington as well. Gillian is nearing retirement after working for 40 years at Schochet Associates, a Boston-based real estate development company.
“The Gattie twins are wonderful gentle spirits that do what they believe in,” said Tibbetts. “They are a great gift to the community.” And that is why the BHCA chose to honor them with the annual Beacon Award.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” is a Chinese proverb that maybe applicable to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority’s (MCCA) decision to hire Tetra Tech Rizzo, a Framingham consulting engineering team to study the feasibility of expanding the MCCA-Boston Common Garage.
The process is expected to take about a year to complete.
The Boston Common Garage was built in the late 1950’s and has a capacity to hold 1,368 cars at one time. According to James Rooney, Chairman of the MCCA, when the garage was built, it was designed to be twice as large if a need existed to expand the facility. “My best guess is that we may be looking to add between 800 to 1,300 more spaces,” Rooney said.
If the garage is enlarged, the new addition would be extended toward Boylston Street underneath the present baseball fields. Presently the underground garage goes from Beacon Street, under the Parade Ground, to the main gate of the Common on Charles Street as you cross from the Public Garden.
If construction were to occur, this area would be completely excavated to a depth of two parking levels and the garage would be built. Then, the top area for public use would be replaced.
The current usage of the garage is as follows:
There are 694 full time monthly parkers – some of these are residents but many are also used by businesses.
There are 71 Monday thru Friday parkers – most likely all of these users are commuters.
There are 138 overnight/weekend parkers – most likely all of these users are residents.
There are 2,500-3,500 discount parking coupons that are sold on a monthly basis -- these coupons are purchased by local residents and businesses.
The garage is also used extensively by people going to the Theatre district as well as students from Suffolk University and Emerson. The trend of having the downtown turned more into residential condos may also factor into the need for more parking spaces.
If the study finds there is a need to expand the garage, according to Rooney, there would be meetings with different community stakeholders before the start of construction.
“We are not wedded to this change, it needs to be a good idea for everyone,” Rooney said.

The re-construction on Cambridge Street is starting to wind down according to Rep. Marty Walz. Walz told the Beacon Hill Civic Association members that the state is preparing to sign off on the project and turn it back to the city. However, BHCA members wanted a check list completed before the state ends its involvement with the project. Some items that still need to be addressed are a large sink hole in front of Ma Soba, the decorative basis unit of a pole near Starbucks is unpainted and several bricks are missing in front of Walgreens and Grampy’s. The reconstruction was paid for primarily with state funds.

Very wrong perception

The Beacon Hill Business Association (BHCA) was mentioned in a recent issue of Boston Magazine’s article, “The 50 Most Powerful People in Town.” It was listed in the context of NIMBY Power. For the record, this sort of characterization does a great disservice to the BHAC. Are they involved in issues on Beacon Hill – definitely yes. Are they are outspoken – definitely yes. However, in the end the BHCA is a group that seeks to maintain a quality of life in an area that is probably some of the most congested in the city. Beacon Hill is an historic area and as such streets or residences cannot be enlarged with people literally living on top of each other. For example take Philips Street Park, it needs to serve a diverse community and the open area is a whooping 4,000 square feet. Having covered their meetings for more than six months, BHCA members are decent and just trying to make the right decisions to keep a quality of life that is fair for all and above all be as inclusive as possible. To try to have the outcome be the best decision for all parties is not wrong .

Ross fleet of foot

City Councilor Mike Ross was on hand to run and take part in the festivities of Hill House’s Back yard dash. In the mile race, he battled with Beacon Hill resident 11 year-old Ethan Winter who went on to edge out the City Councilor. Ross ran the mile course in about eight minutes and crossed the finish line strong. An eight minute mile, as the actor-comedian Adam Sandler would say, “Not too shabby.”

Boston a biker’s mecca

We are not referring to people who travel on Harleys but people who use the renewable energy of leg power. Boston has the reputation of being a walkable city. However, it is known as a biker’s nightmare. Mayor Thomas Menino is out to change that. Menino announced at the Back Bay Association annual meeting that he is going to install more bike racks as well as try to get bike paths on the roadways. Councilor Michael Ross has been biking all week to City Hall as part of the campaign for National Bike week. Now if we can get all of Boston’s drivers to respect riders of bicycles instead to trying to run them over, then maybe we’ll try out riding one ourselves.

Fundraiser event a success

The Esplanade Association (TEA) in conjunction with the Boston Design Center held an opening night gala on May 1 showcasing interior spaces decorated by some of Boston’s top designers. The party raised more than $25,000 for TEA.

After months of working with the community task force on its institutional master plan, Suffolk University again came before the public to presents its 10 year vision for the future of the university that is a neighbor to so many residents in Beacon Hill and downtown.
At the heart of the presentation was Suffolk’s proposed enlargement of its current non-expansion pact. The enlargement, which is currently being negotiated with members of the task force and representatives of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, would extend a complete non-expansion zone to include the flat of the Hill, including the entire area of residential Beacon Hill from Charles Street west to the Charles River (zone 2 on the map show). The enlarged non-expansion zone is considered a concession to the neighborhood as Suffolk moves forward on its plans to renovate 20 Somerset Street to house the New England School of Art and Design.
“We’ve agreed to go even further [than in previous agreements],” said Suffolk Vice President John Nucci, saying the proposal amounted to an expression of Suffolk’s commitment to reducing its presence in residential Beacon Hill.
The increased non-expansion zone is currently being negotiated with members of the Suffolk task force and the Beacon Hill Civic Association.
Earlier this year, Suffolk reached an agreement on a limited non-expansion zone with the Upper Beacon Hill Civic Association, a separate group from the BHCA, that precludes Suffolk from building a dormitory in the area closest to the new proposed 20 r Somerset building. The agreement stipulates that any new academic building in the area would be accompanied by an equal removal of academic space from the Temple/Derne Street area.
Beacon Hill also has a non-expansion zone in the downtown ladder district agreed to as part of its plan to build the Modern Theater and the 10 West dormitory.
State Representative Marty Walz said that the non-expansion zones are good in theory, but she wanted to know what mechanism would be used to enforce the zones, while other residents wanted to know what would enforce Suffolk’s commitment to cap enrollment at 5,000 full-time equivalent students.
Gerald Autler of the Boston Redeveloment Authority said that, while the non-expansion zones are contractual agreements, the BRA had no authority to enforce Suffolk’s enrollment cap. Nucci, meanwhile, said that it would be unprecedented for any university to enter into a contractual agreement about enrollment.
Nucci did say that Suffolk has agreed to meet with a neighborhood committee that will oversee enrollment issues, and that any overenrollment in the coming years would be corrected in subsequent semester to ensure a 5000 average.
Suffolk filed its institutional master plan with the Boston Redevelopment Authority earlier this year. While the plan as a whole must undergo article 80 review, which allows for public comment, both the Modern Theater project downtown and the 20 Somerset Street building will undergo separate large project review processes in the future.

Senator Kennedy in our thoughts

News of Senator Ted Kennedy’s seizures over the weekend is a reminder to us all that illness can affect any of us, and that illness, in this instance, has stopped, for the moment, the tireless efforts of one of the Senate’s giants.
Senator Kennedy, one of the Hill’s most prominent former residents, will likely return to his active life once doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital have determined exactly what happened to him.
Whatever happened, this we know – Senator Kennedy has been keeping an active life far beyond that which the normal 76 year old tends to maintain. We have become so used to him setting the standard for the Democratic party all over the nation that, frankly, it is inconceivable that he has been derailed.
Senator Kennedy’s position as the second ranking member of the Senate is something he has earned after four decades of service.
He’s had his dark moments, and those who don’t care for him will never care for him.
However, he has been a steadfast friend of Massachusetts, of the workingman, of the working poor, of the dispossessed in our society and he has for the most part stood for what is right for so long that it is hard to imagine him in a hospital bed.
We wish him the best as he recovers and we hope he will take up the good fight as soon as possible.

Apathy can undermine all things

Let’s take the Esplande for example.
As a resident, between Hill House activities for my sons and using the Esplanade for just running as enjoyment or training for marathon, I take it for granted that the Esplanade will always be there as is – a haven of shaded open space, a glorious piece of heaven in the midst of a city.
However, that may not always be the case.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) that oversees the maintenance of the Esplanade and Storrow Drive recently proposed cutting down a number of trees and black topping the Esplanade to make a roadway while they repair the tunnel on Storrow Drive.
A handful of residents and groups banded together to stop this rape of the Esplanade. The outcome is still uncertain.
What brings this to mind is recently members of The Esplanade Association (TEA) are seeking to expand its membership base. TEA has formed a partnership with the DCR and other organizations that has been able to raise funds that has resulted in the construction of the playground on Fairfield Street and the new docks down by the Union Boat Club building.
They have conducted surveys on present use and what type of facilities are needed on the Esplanade.
They have also undertaken tree care and renewal along the Esplanade.
The list of accomplishments and the list of projects yet to be done could take up even more space.
In short, TEA needs our help. And the help is neither onerous nor costly. Just join. For more information on this painless task please call either 617-227-0365 or visit the website at www,esplanade association.org.