April 7, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
The Town of Hingham and the Hingham Recreation Department were recently awarded the 2023 Massachusetts Recreation and Park Association’s Regional Community Impact of the Year Award for the South Shore Region for providing “outstanding service and dedication to your community.”
The town and Hingham Rec — under the leadership of Director Mark Thorell — were nominated by Cohasset Recreation Department Director Ted Carroll, who is aware of Hingham Rec’s accomplishments from his attendance at regional Rec directors’ meetings. Thorell attended the awards dinner on March 28.
In his nomination letter, Carroll recognized the Town of Hingham and Hingham Recreation for its current field management reorganization plan. “The town was successfully able to overcome a few obstacles,” he said.
After successfully hiring the firm of Weston and Sampson to do a fields study and going through a complete audit of 18 properties under the jurisdiction of three different entities — Select Board, School Department, and Recreation Commission — with a total of 62 acres with 37 natural grass fields and one synthetic turf field along with 31 tennis courts, 11 basketball courts, and one inline hockey rink — “the recommendations were clear and a model for other communities. Centralized management — including permitting, scheduling, seasonal management crew, and policies — is under the Recreation Department,” Carroll said.
He also noted that while many towns spend thousands of dollars on studies, the recommendations aren’t always implemented — but that wasn’t the case in Hingham.
“Hingham made all of this happen with elected officials, department heads, and youth sports administrators working together for the common good,” he said.
Following the awards ceremony, Thorell commented to the Hingham Anchor, “On behalf of the Hingham Recreation Department and the Town of Hingham, it was a privilege to accept the Community Impact Award from the Mass Rec and Park Association.
This award recognizes the cooperation between several town departments in developing Hingham’s townwide turf maintenance program. It was a total team effort which has positively impacted the Hingham sports community.”
Recreation Commission Chair Vicki Donlan had this to say: “The understanding that fields and courts and recreation for all ages is as much a Hingham asset as are our wonderful schools, safe neighborhoods, and beautiful coastline was a breakthrough. It is a model for other communities.”
