Concord's Neighborhoods Meet

It was a quiet, balmy Autumn evening, but the talk was of snow, ice, and utility outages as close to 100 residents from all over Concord met on November 9th. They were Concord Neighborhood Contacts who gathered with members of the Concord Police Department to talk about preparing neighborhoods for emergencies. The meeting was organized by Concord Citizens Y2K (CCY2K), the ad hoc, grassroots community group helping to strengthen Concord's neighborhoods and prepare them for emergencies.

"While possible disruptions due to the Y2K computer bug are on some people's minds now that the end of the year is near, it's far from our primary reason to come together," said Deborah Bier, a founding member of CCY2K. "We are meeting to develop both cohesive neighborhoods where people know and care about one another, and a citizen-based emergency response system. These are investments we make in our future."

Concord Police Chief Leonard Wetherbee and Sgt. Paul Macone spoke enthusiastically about what is developing in Concord's neighborhoods. "This is unprecedented," said Wetherbee. Plenty of communities have neighborhood watches or patrols, but none have a central thread which connects them like we are seeing here. There are endless possibilities of how this will help both police and residents alike."

A Voice From 60 Years Past by Deborah Bier Not long after the Neighborhood Contact meeting reported here, at home we were going through items in our basement which had been obtained about 20 years ago from an estate sale at the former Brooks residence near Lee's Bridge, previously Lee's farm. Or near where Lee's Bridge was until recently -- see here for more on that. We came across some of Edwin Brooks' papers about his work with the Red Cross. It seems Brooks was involved in the emergency preparedness for Concord during WWII. We have a hand-written report (probably a draft...written around 1940). It begins: Red Cross Disaster Relief Committee Town of Concord, Mass Report of Subcommittee on Communication The object of this report is to present a brief survey of the means of communication in the Town of Concord which would be available to the Red Cross at the present time in the event of a serious disaster or emergency. It is intended to cover communication from one part of the Town to another and communication with outside areas... It goes on to talk about short wave radio, telephone, amateur radio, availability of power for transmitters, and "gasoline driven power suppliers." What a haunting similarity to our present-day discussion! Our needs don't seem to have changed in 60 years. And we are still talking about using these same tools. The ghost of Edwin Brooks is even now on the move...

"When residents have an emergency, often emergency services can have one, too," said Wetherbee. "During the blizzard of 1978, the DPW could not keep up with the falling snow and around 2 AM we had to call in all police cruisers from the road. Even snowmobiles couldn't navigate the deep snow. We ended up stuck in the station house until some roads could be opened." Luckily, there were no tragedies as a result, but the story made it clear how conditions might develop where residents would have only their neighbors to depend upon.

Bier pointed out that one of the reasons it is necessary to create a new approach is that the old Civil Defense system of bomb shelters and air raid drills is outdated. The neighborhood system being developed is meant to bridge that gap. Central to it are the Neighborhood Contacts, who in times of emergencies, are additional communication links between their neighborhoods and police.

The emphasis of the meeting was on methods of communication: how can residents get and give help to each other and from the town's emergency services if communication goes down? Brainstorming from residents present about ways to keep in touch was a powerful compliment to the methods under development. "The ideas from the group were just astounding," said Di Clymer, another founder of CCY2K. "And it's exactly what we want to see happen. This initiative is meant to empower neighborhoods to take charge of their welfare. Finding creative solutions to our problems is just one of the many benefits we can expect."

Sargent Paul Macone discussed some of the possible ways to supplement the system using our local high school radio, WIQH, and short wave radios. Currently, he is working on a proposal to revitalize the station and bringing it back on the air at least for emergency purposes. He joined Chief Wetherbee in leading a training for the group based on emergency scenarios.

At the meeting, CCY2K also announced a name change for the organization to Concord Neighborhood Networks (CNN). "This name better reflects what has become the focus of the movement," said member Jimi Two Feathers. "It looks to the future and opens the door to find out what we want beyond Y2K."

A recent survey of the community's needs by the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest identified strengthening neighborhoods as a priority. Currently, meetings are being held all over town for neighbors to get to know one another and to discuss household and neighborhood preparedness. "The level of interest and excitement in these neighborhood meetings is very high and growing as time goes by," said Clymer, who has facilitated many of these gatherings. She thanks Crosby's Market for their contribution of refreshments for the meeting.

There are currently more than 90 Neighborhood Contacts, and 30 additional ones are needed for neighborhoods which have not yet become involved. If you have not heard anything about this for your neighborhood, contact Di Clymer at 369-7172 (or email dpwc@aol.com).

The next meeting is scheduled for January 25, 2000.

Text: ©1999 The Concord, MA Homepage
Images: Courtesy of ArtToday.