By Celeste Katz Marston — Celeste@theconcordbridge.org
As Middlesex Savings Bank officials mulled a major gift for Concord’s observance of the Revolution’s 250th anniversary, they got a slide deck laying out the celebration game plan.
Marked with the town-commissioned 250 logo and town copyrights, the deck promoted events honoring Ellen Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and “Native American contributions,” a Monument Square memorial, parades, and much more.
This spring, Middlesex donated $50,000, presenting the first half in a photo op with a sweepstakes-sized check.
The check, however, wasn’t made out to the town Executive Committee overseeing the planning.
It was to the Concord250 Corp., a freestanding non-profit over which the town has no control, but which has several members of the Executive Committee among its ranks.
As Concord has revved up preparations for the April 2025 anniversary, which could draw more than 150,000 visitors, the Executive Committee has strived to diversify.
“We’ve made some really important inclusive choices around how we want to honor the beginning of the Revolutionary period from the lens of voices that have not previously been heard,” said Vice-Chair Robert Munro.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of dollars raised and pledged to underwrite 250 festivities — from private gifts to the sale of commemorative coins — have landed in Concord250 Corp.’s account. The non-profit’s founder says its success is tied to a more “traditional” vision of 250 than the Executive Committee’s.
“It’s a matter [of] what the purpose is of the event and what does it celebrate? [It] just is not an event that celebrates conservation or sustainability,” said founder Henry Dane.
“If it does [recognize] those people who have not been recognized in the past because of their social or racial status, that is entirely appropriate. But that is not the dominant theme, and that is where they have gone astray,” Dane said.
“The tail is wagging the dog, as we used to say. The tail is perfectly legitimate — but it just should not be wagging the dog.”
Origin story
Dane filed articles of organization for Concord250 Corp. with the state in August 2022.
Concord250-Articles-of-OrganizationNo one else seemed in a hurry or prepared to do so, he said.
At the time, he was Select Board chair. Until last summer, he was also chair of the Executive Committee.
Now, he is neither.
But Dane is still president of Concord250 Corp., which he said leans toward “more historically relevant activities” than the committee.
“Much of the impetus for the corporation has been the fact that we have reservations about the direction in which the Executive Committee has been going, mostly in terms of the social and political issues,” he told The Concord Bridge.
Executive Committee member Diane Proctor, who oversees publicity, fears “essentially, there’s a shadow set of events going on as Henry imagines them under his aegis. And then there’s the Executive Committee’s events and planning under a broader aegis.”
Questions remain
The Select Board raised questions at its June 3 meeting while reviewing the role of the Executive Committee, which is overseeing a million-dollar event with major public safety costs.
The updated charge says the committee will look at “both town and private funding,” possibly creating a 501(c)3 or town gift account with monthly updates to the Select Board.
Concord250 Corp., whose officers are unpaid, is legally required to report only to the state attorney general’s charities division, Dane says.
He said it’s raised more than $80,000 so far, with another $100,000 in pledges, and detailed to the Bridge minimal spending on things like postage and coin orders.
The non-profit could grant funds for public programs at the Executive Committee’s request, he said.
Asked about Dane’s views, Executive Committee Chair — and Concord250 Corp. board member — Gary Clayton told the Bridge, “As a factual matter, Henry has not been involved at all with the work of the committee literally for ten months now…
“I just don’t know what the basis for this distinction is. [It’s] an inaccurate and incomplete description on his part.”
Clayton also noted the non-profit board has grown — it now includes several women — and will “review proposals for funding support…
“It’s not Henry’s decision alone.”
While it’s not unheard of for town bodies and nonprofits to work in tandem, Select Board member Terri Ackerman said there could be confusion.
For example, she bought the corporation’s coins at the Visitor Center: “If you go into [a] town building [and] you buy these coins to support the 250 celebration, I think that you are entitled to reports and transparency.”
At the same meeting, Proctor she wasn’t sure the bank knew its donation “was not going to be under the control of the Concord Executive Committee.” She called it vital to “be very clear about [those] kinds of donations because otherwise, I think we’re going to be misleading the broader population.”
Banking on a vision
In response to a detailed Bridge inquiry, a Middlesex spokesperson said the bank “was approached by the Concord250 organization to support a celebration of the American Revolution based on a proposal that included a diverse array of arts, events, history, education, and community outreach.
“As a mutual institution with roots in the Concord community, we trust that Concord250 will bring that vision to life.”
Rick Loughlin, finance chief of both Concord250 Corp. and the Executive Committee, said he worked directly with top Middlesex officials to land the gift. “I recruited the bank,” he said. “They wanted information” on events, “so I may have given them that particular PowerPoint.”
Concord-250-Honoring-Democracy-to-Share-4.12.23Loughlin said he wasn’t “getting into the politics of this stuff that’s going on… We’re trying to run Concord250 Corporation [to] help the ceremonies and the events and programs that will occur in the next ten months or so.”
He hesitated to provide details on the nonprofit’s accounting — “I just don’t know that it’s public information at this point” — but said Dane’s figures were generally accurate.
Dane, who also says he owns the domain names Concord250.org and Concord250.com, says the non-profit is not deliberately counterprogramming the town.
“We’re not going to fight the Battle of the Old North Bridge between the Corporation and the Executive Committee,” he said.
