A great tradition - every 50 years.

Byline: Clive McFarlane

COLUMN: CLIVE MCFARLANE

Harvey A. Reed suffered a pretty severe heart attack last year, which understandably led him to reflect soberly on his life's work.

He is all right now, but he recalls that one of the things that troubled him the most during his illness was the thought that he would not be able fulfill, at least in person, a task that was assigned to him 50 years ago when he graduated from North Brookfield High School.

He was the class valedictorian that year as well as the class president.

"Marty Leach and Anne Murphy were our principal and assistant principal and both were great teachers and role models for all of us," he wrote recently to Robin Whitney, the school's current principal.

"Some of the other teachers were Mr. Severance, Mrs. Morin, Mr. Dahlquist and Mr. Honeycomb. All were excellent teachers."

Also in attendance at the school's 1959 graduation was a gentleman representing Raymond Dunphy, a valedictorian and a member of the class of 1909.

Mr. Dunphy had sent the gentleman with a gift of $100 to be presented to Mr. Reed.

Apparently, at Mr. Dunphy's graduation in 1909, one of North Brookfield's most distinguished residents, Theodore C. Bates, who had graduated from the high school 50 years earlier (1859), had given him a gift.

Yesterday Mr. Reed continued the 50-year tradition by presenting this year's valedictorian, Madison L. Hicks, with a $500 gift.

It is not known what prompted Mr. Bates to make that first valedictorian gift 100 years ago, but Robert Potvin, chairman of the North Brookfield Historical Commission and vice president of the North Brookfield Historical Society, noted that he was "munificent."

"He was incredible. He had a heart of gold."

Mr. Potvin said Mr. Bates had a hand in many of the initiatives that drove the North Brookfield economy in its heyday, such as the railroad and the North Brookfield water works. He was instrumental in getting the Haston family in 1893 to give more than $30,000 to build the Haston Free Public Library in town.

He served in both the Massachusetts House and Senate and is said to have given his salary from both to the Haston Free Public Library.

A member of the North Brookfield High School first graduating class, Mr. Bates went on to become a teacher and the principal at the school, according to Mr. Potvin.

Mr. Reed would like to believe that in presenting the 1909 valedictorian with a gift, Mr. Bates was acknowledging the importance of a solid high school education.

"Sometimes you need to get a little ways away to gain a better perspective of how important a foundation it is in your life," he said.

Mr. Reed, who now lives in Maine, attended Lowell Technology Institute after graduation for a year, then enlisted in Navy, serving until 1964, after which he pursued a successful career as a businessman.

His return yesterday to the North Brookfield High School graduation and his gift presentation to Ms. Hicks might seem a trifling thing to some, but in some way the moment must have captured in a profound way the regenerating power of our local schools on our communities.

For four years the North Brookfield High School provided Ms. Hicks with a range of opportunities to grow and learn.

She played the clarinet in the school's band. She was a striker on the school's soccer team. She was a member of the school's National Honor Society and a member of the student council.

She will be going off to Drew University in New Jersey in the fall, and another North Brookfield High School student will rise to claim the top academic honor for his or her class next year.

The valedictorian to whom Ms. Hicks will present a gift when she returns, as she hopes to, in 50 years will likely be born about 32 years from now.

Perhaps that is what Mr. Bates was acknowledging with that first valedictorian gift; that a community lifeline, its hopes and dreams and its past, present and future runs through its schools.

It is an important reminder, even if it only comes every 50 years.