Goodwill among men and women of Beacon Hill
Dear Citizens of and
Visitors to Beacon Hill,
This letter is addressed to the honest and kind person who found my wallet somewhere on Beacon Hill last Thursday evening. I had no idea where I had left it, despite my retracing my steps… my father’s tried and true technique, and my praying to St. Anthony… my mother’s pretty successful tactic. Neither yielded the wallet, but I did know I had lost it somewhere on Beacon Hill, left behind or dropped in my frenzied travels with kids, dog, groceries, parking search….the usual day-to-day, I should say day-into-evening, busy lives we all lead. When I realized the next day that it was truly gone, not in the coat pocket, nor under the car seat, nor dropped in the bottom of the grocery bag, a check online to my credit card and bank accounts noted no unexplained transactions, which gave me hope. The true miracle occurred when Peggy from the Lost and Found at South Station tracked me down at my office to tell me my wallet had been turned in to her office some time the previous evening. I dashed to retrieve it, and miraculously 100% of its contents…cash, uncashed checks, bank cards, credit cards, driver’s license, and more..aka my life…was there intact! I don’t think I will ever understand the evening’s journey of my wallet…from Beacon Hill to South Station.
The honest person left no name, no note, just an enormously large though unsung gesture, one to touch me, Peggy, and everyone in my circle of life who had been party to my anxiety over my loss during that day. In a time when our society is too well aware of the violence, greed, selfishness of so many, it is such a wonderful, hopeful, just plain grateful, feeling to know there was a Good Samaritan on Beacon Hill last Thursday night. More important, as we all cannot help but focus on the well publicized detractors to our society’s basic good mores, it is such a wonderful feeling to consider that my positive experience, my Good Samaritan being there for me, the goodwill of such unsung gestures, happens everyday, in Boston and elsewhere…I am thankful, hopeful, and just in time for the Holidays!
Alicia M. Cooney
A Thank You to Holiday Decorators
Dear Editor:
Beacon Hill magically transforms during the Holiday Season each year thanks to the hard work and donations of many Beacon Hill residents. We would like recognize those neighbors who endured the frigid rain and cold wind while balancing atop a wobbly ladder on an uneven brick sidewalk to decorate each of the 1,100 lamp posts on Beacon Hill this year.
None of this would be possible without the generosity of Tom Kershaw, who each year graciously hosts the Garlands & Green event and the Undecorating Brunch at the Hampshire House. The Garlands & Green event helps raise nearly half of the funds needed to decorate the Hill. Jim Borden continues to be our “point man” for acquiring our decorating supplies. Ivy Turner, who has been here since the start, helped gather and organize volunteers, reminding us all how to hang the garlands correctly: “the leaves point up and you wrap counter clockwise”. Jack Gurnon at Charles Street Supply lent out numerous ladders to volunteers across the Hill, while Chris Pedersen drove his UPS van up and down each street to make special garland deliveries.
Historic New England hosted a troop of nearly 50 volunteers at The Harrison Gray Otis House this year. This year’s cheerful volunteers included numerous students from Boston College and Suffolk University, as well as the Boston Cares group. Anna’s Taqueria donated delicious food to keep volunteers fueled and happy. MaryLee Halpin and Chase Mack from the Beacon Hill Civic Association were aided in their behind-the-scenes work by Board members including Joan Berndt, along with many members of the Events Committee. And then there are all of you, the wonderful neighbors who come out year after year and help by donating, decorating, and even undecorating. Without your help and support this magical tradition would not be possible.
Thank you from all of us .
The Beacon Hill Civic Association