Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local History topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Brentwood Historical Society proposes revival of Boston Post Cane to honor town's oldest residents
Summary
A Historical Society representative asked the Select Board to approve updated criteria and a nomination process to revive the Boston Post Cane program; the board approved the Society's proposed criteria and plan to publicize nominations and keep the original cane on display.
Dexter Swayze of the Brentwood Historical Society asked the Select Board Feb. 24 to approve an updated process to revive the town's Boston Post Cane recognition program, an honor created circa 1900 by the Boston Post newspaper and distributed to New England communities.
Swayze described a plan to solicit nominations via the Historical Society and town websites and newsletters, to document recipients with photos for a pictorial gallery at the Historical Society, and to maintain the original cane in a display case while presenting recipients with a certificate or replica. He said the Society had adjusted eligibility from 20 years of residency to 15 years to modernize the criteria and proposed that residents of the Rockingham County complex be eligible only if they were prior Brentwood residents.
Board members discussed replica cost and logistics; Swayze estimated a replica would cost about $150 and emphasized the Society's intention to keep the original cane in town custody. The Select Board voted to accept the updated criteria and encouraged the Society to proceed with outreach and nominations ahead of a recognition event.
