Holiday Wishes from Your Board

Greetings to all of our extended Castle Park family! On behalf of your Board of Trustees, I’m writing to wish you a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving, spent with those you love.

Last Saturday the Board spent the day in its annual. November meeting, this year complicated by early blizzard conditions in the region which kept us from the place we really wanted to be—in the warm and cozy Old Timers Room with a roaring fire in the fireplace. So, we met by Zoom as so many of us have grown accustomed to doing since early 2020, and I want to highlight a few of the matters we discussed and decided:

We welcomed new Castle Park members: Jim and Patti Bellis, and Ted Parker and Joe Towner.

We accepted, with heartfelt gratitude for their years of hard work, the resignations of four long-term Committee chairs: Steve Nobel, Architectural Guidelines; Susan Muzzy, Beautification; Ruth Allison, Library; and Kelly Stroberg,
Social. We’re in the process of finalizing successors and will keep you advised; in the meantime, when you see Steve, Susan, Ruth or Kelly, please be sure to thank them for their work on Castle Park’s behalf.

We approved a 2023 budget of $450,477, slightly higher than 2022’s $433,304, and 2023 dues will be $4,160, an increase of 8 per cent. Along with Rae, treasurer Doug Vahey invested many hours preparing the budget and we appreciate their work.

We approved a bid from DC Byers, a contractor Castle Park has worked well with in the past, to do the necessary repair to the windows at the Castle’s foundation level, and we are continuing to consider other work that will need to be done at the Castle.

We have received a request through the Beautification Committee that the basketball backboards and playing surface near the Barnswallow be removed and replaced with landscaping. Before deciding that, we would like to know the views of Castle Parkers on the proposal. Please let me, any other Board member, or a member of the Beautification Committee know if you have particular views on this.

You will hear more about this as we move through winter into spring (that WILL happen, won’t it?), but remember there is a clear cutoff date by which construction must stop in the Park, and be sure your contractors know and abide by it.

Finally, let me say that this Thanksgiving, among the multitude of things I am grateful for are these: the hard work, good will, good humor, patience and genuine commitment to Castle Park that’s represented in your Board of Trustees (Chip Allen, Suzanne Dixon, Joy Fossel, Lawrence Hedblom, Judy Kernahan, Mindy Nix and John Palmer), and in Rae and Mark Lawson whose value is immeasurable. We are tremendously fortunate to have them, so please give them a hearty thanks when you next see or talk with them.

Best wishes for Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season
Beverly, on behalf of the 2022 Board of Trustees