Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Richard DeSorgher was elected to the Board of Selectmen on Monday.
Thirty years after he vacated his seat at the selectmen's table, he's back. On Monday, Richard DeSorgher was elected to the Board of Selectmen. "I'm getting my old seat back with a 30-year gap in between," DeSorgher said after the election. DeSorgher was first elected to the board in 1980. He served just one term, deciding not to run again because his children were young, he was in graduate school, and he didn't have the time to devote to the job. "Now that I'm retired, I have the time," he said. "I've always had the interest and now I also have the time." Interestingly, DeSorgher is taking the seat occupied by Ann Thompson for the last 30 years. When Thompson was elected in 1983, she took the seat that DeSorgher was vacating. Just …
Monday, March 18, 2013
After 37 years with the the Medfield Historical Society, Richard DeSorgher will step down because of his impending election to the Board of Selectmen.
After working with the Medfield Historical Society for 37 years, Richard DeSorgher has stepped down as a curator with the society. DeSorgher is running unopposed for a seat on the Medfield Board of Selectmen later this month. In an email to his fellow curators, DeSorgher said: Unless a massive write-in campaign surfaces, I will be elected Medfield's new selectman on March 25. Having been a selectman before, back when I was in my 20s, I know the time that the office will take. I do not want to be in a position of not being able to give 100% of my time and effort to a commitment. I am therefore resigning as a curator and as program director from the Historical Society, as I do not feel I can give the time needed to the time required as a…
Friday, March 8, 2013
Part of an occasional series on Patch that highlights places and things around town that raise curiosity.
Do you know what this is? Have you seen this abandoned well outside the house at 41 South Street? My curiosity was piqued so I posed the question to Medfield Town Historian Richard DeSorgher. "This actually is a very sad place," said DeSorgher, who captures the story of the abandoned well in his new book on Medfield History 1926-1955. According to town history, the abandoned well was filled in in 1936 after the body of six-year-old Lawrence Alger was found at the bottom. He had fallen through the wooden well cover while walking home from his grandmother's house. Except from DeSorgher's book... [Lawrence Alger] had been missing for over seven hours before the body was found. He had fallen through a wooden cover into the well on his way…
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
A tribute to Lord's written by Richard DeSorgher and delivered at the "Celebrate Lord's" community party on Feb. 15.
One of the highlights of the Celebration of Lord's Department Store Friday night, was Town Historian Richard DeSorgher's "Tribute to Lord's." Here it is in its entirety as found on DeSorgher's website. Enjoy! A "Tribute to Lords" as written by Richard DeSorgher and delivered during “Celebrate Lords” on Feb. 15, 2013. [to the tune of Cheers] Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same You wanna be where everybody knows Your name. You wanna go where people know, people are …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
On Monday, Richard DeSorgher turned in his application papers.
Richard DeSorgher made it official on Monday -- he's running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen. Selectman Ann Thompson will not run for re-election after serving 30 years on the board. This year she serves as Chairman of the Board. On Monday, DeSorgher turned in his nomination papers to Medfield Town Clerk Carol Mayer. The election will take place on March 25. While only 50 signatures are required, DeSorgher said more than 40 volunteers canvassed the town over the past month and a half to collect a total of 1,000 signatures to make DeSorgher an official candidate for selectman. In December, DeSorgher sent a letter to Patch readers explaining why he is running for office. He says: As a life-long resident of Medfield, I have been …
Friday, January 25, 2013
This week Medfield Town Historian Richard DeSorgher highlights many things that make Medfield a unique place.
For the past three years, and 156 articles later, I have written each week about things in Medfield that are truly unique, things that we in Medfield are proud of and that are indeed special to our community. Some are people, our most valuable resource; other things that are uniquely Medfield are our historic houses, our churches, Vine Lake Cemetery and the State Hospital Cemetery; others, perhaps not proud of, but still under the uniquely Medfield category, would include the town’s first murder and the KKK cross burning on Miller Street. As this will be my final Uniquely Medfield article, I thought I would give a summary and highlight some of my favorite articles. Medfield’s early history as the 43rd oldest community in Massachusetts …
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Here is a quick look at the week of Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, and what a week it was.
Last week was a chilly week in Medfield, in more ways than one. The last few days of December and the first few days of January brought snow to the ground (as we were finally able to use our sleds), and a chill to our hearts as we learned that Lord's Department Store will be closing its doors after 73 years in downtown Medfield. On Sunday, hundreds of Medfield folks hit Hospital Hill to take advantage of last weekend's snowfall. Monday was the last day of business for Fresh Catch Seafood & Butcher Shop which closed its doors on January 1. But the biggest news last week, bar none, was learning the town's beloved Lord's will be closing on Feb. 28. It was not an easy decision, said Lord's store owners Nancy Kelly-Lavin and Tom Kelly -- …
Friday, December 28, 2012
A weekly column by Medfield Town Historian Richard DeSorgher. This week discusses the impact of the 'For Sale' sign in front of the Clark Tavern.
Medfield is clearly at a crossroad of what the future character of the town is going to be. Sitting at 353-355 Main Street is the Clark Tavern. It dates to 1740. Many consider it the most historic house in Medfield. Certainly, it is on historic par with the Peak House and the Dwight-Derby House. Today, once again a “for sale” sign stands in front of the tavern. Many in town breathed a great sigh of relief five years ago when it was first up for sale and they saw the “sold” sign and learned that the property had been purchased by Medfield residents Stephen and Lynn Browne. Back then, behind the house was more than seven acres of woodland. Rumors talked of a developer wanting to tear down the Clark Tavern in order to develop the back …
Friday, December 14, 2012
A weekly column by Town Historian Richard DeSorgher.
Medfield High School was first established on March 24, 1870. The high school was then located in the Center School, later named the Ralph Wheelock School located on 25 Pleasant Street. That building burnt to the ground in 1940. In 1927, Medfield moved to its new home with the building of the Hannah Adams Pfaff High School on the corner of Dale and North Streets, today’s Pfaff Center. In 1942, the high school moved again, this time to the new Hannah Adams Pfaff High School, located on the corner of Dale and Adams Street, today’s Dale Street School. In 1961, Medfield High School moved across town with the building of the Amos Clark Kingsbury High School on 24 Pound Street. In 2005, Medfield High School moved into its current home when it …
Friday, December 7, 2012
A weekly column by Town Historian Richard DeSorgher.
He died 83 years ago this week, on Dec. 7, 1929, and the town greatly felt his loss. His portrait watches over those working in the reference room of Medfield’s Memorial Public Library and yet only a handful of people in town know it is him. His donations and gifts to the town still impacts Medfield’s character to this very day. Others in town actually named their children after him. He is Granville F. Dailey. Granville Dailey was born in New York City on March 20, 1848, and was educated in the public schools there. Dailey went on to become a very successful merchant, business partner with the Medfield hat factory and vice president of the Harlem Savings Bank in New York City. Starting in 1871, Dailey and brother-in-law Haskell Searle, …
Shravan Pargal
9:16 am on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Congratulations Richard. From your fans in Mn. more ›