When I began my 4th fourth grade at the Adams School in Lexington, Massachusetts, I knew nothing of my new town's history. My parents moved there from two previous towns in Connecticut, and from my first fourth grade in California. I consider Lexington to be my favorite town of all the places I've lived.
Many of us have ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, as well as ancestors who were born in Lexington. I've several who fought in the War and were born there, and even my "brick wall" person, John Adams was in Lexington at the time of the war.
During several of my school years, our local history played an important part in our learning. My early classes took field trips down the street to see and learn about what happened. My Girl Scout troop planted flowering bulbs in the fall at some of the historic homes, and the church we attended was the tall one at the Lexington green.
Every April 19th, my Girl Scout troop marched in the Lexington Patriot's Day parade, there were two parades, I marched in the one at 7 AM! Of course, being much younger, I didn't mind, but sometimes it was cold. My mother was ecstatic about one 2 PM parade, when Sen. John F. Kennedy marched. I remember her pointing him out, but I thought, "who is he." Both the 7 AM and 2 PM parades marched just two blocks from my house, and it was a very big deal. Many years after we moved, my mother always went back on that date to see it and visit with old friends. She even did that on the day she died, on her return trip home from Lexington. And whenever I returned for visits from Virginia, I always visited Lexington. Even now, it is about a 30 minute trip, so we go there frequently.
For eight years, I was in the Lexington school system, until my 11th grade, then we moved again. During my 8th grade, our class got to rename our junior high school, as there was another junior high being built. It had to have a patriotic name. I can't remember what I wrote about and why I chose the name, but the two winners were Diamond and Muzzy, so there were new names for each of the schools. Many years later, Muzzy Jr. High became condos. Always changing, but then, nothing looks changed. It is a beautiful town, see photos below.
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| The town, April 11, 2010 |
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| Lexington Green |
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| Cary Memorial Library |
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| Afternoon parade |
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| Years after we moved, I had to show a boyfriend where I lived! |
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| The house, photo taken three years ago. |
Post was originally posted April 18, 2010.
8 comments:
What a beautiful town and a home! It looks like a lovely place in which to grow up. My hometown has a parade every year on Labor Day. There's nothing quite like it, is there? :)
I had to laugh about the 7AM parade in Lexington. I remember going to the re-enactment at dawn, which meant that we didn't even bother going to bed. We would drive into town and get a front row seat for the battle at about 5:30AM. Then we would see the parade, etc. and go over to Concord to see the other battle at the bridge. Everyone is up early on Patriot's Day in Lexington!
We all remember the parades we've seen, always a good memory. Fortunately, I don't remember a thing abt. getting up early to march at 7 AM, I guess when you are young, that stuff doesn't bother you, but it would now!
Thanks for sharing Barbara. I have been to Lexington and Concord a couple of times....we lived in and outside Boston for a time and then visited with our two young sons. Lovely town.
Love, love, love Lexington. My first visits were as a young tourist, but later I spent more time there visiting a dear friend. You caught so much of the town.
Linda and Susan, you have both been there, how nice. I'm glad I was able to share some of it with you. It hasn't changed since I lived there, so you would be able to find your way around.
How exciting to have grown up in such a historic town. I love your old house. It looks very historic!
PS Your mom sounds like she was a fantastic person.
Michelle, Just a few years ago, the house made a "historic" list.
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