Recent Events and Features: July 2023 - Weston Historical Society

Josiah Smith Tavern with beds of summer flowers (bee balm, coneflower) in the foreground.

The Weston Historical Society is planning to move this Fall to four rooms on the first floor of the restored Josiah Smith Tavern. As of July 2023, the Friends of the Josiah Smith Tavern, who will be managing the building, have not yet signed the Master Lease. The Friends has recently been reorganized, as described in this report taken from the Town of Weston website, which states: “With these changes and additions, the board is now poised to partner with the town to arrange long-term leases for the various Weston non-profits and find the optimal restauranteur to lease the newly renovated shell space.” View the original JST info page here.

Changes to the Board of the Friends of the Josiah Smith Tavern

The 2023 Annual Board Meeting of the Friends of the Josiah Smith Tavern was held in June. The Friends have been reorganized with the election of Henry Stone as President, Pam Swain as Treasurer and Con Chapman as Clerk. In addition, four new members (directors) were elected to round out the board. This influx of talent will bring a scope of expertise and experience to address the current needs of the Josiah Smith Tavern project.

New board members include:

Con Chapman, JD, a partner of the law firm of Burns & Levinson in Boston, who has served as pro bono lawyer for the Friends of the Josiah Smith Tavern for many years. Con has represented a number of non-profit institutions and foundations in education, healthcare, the arts, social services and historic preservation.

George Hanson, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Panera Bread. George is a digital & direct-to-consumer retail executive with extensive domestic and international leadership experience in both retail and restaurant industries.

John McDonald, CPA was on the initial Josiah Smith Tavern corporation board in 2009 and stepped down to serve on the Weston Financial Committee for 12 years, including four as chair. His deep commitment to Weston also includes past service as Trustee and Vice President for Weston Forest and Trails. He formerly worked at KPMG, Lotus Development and Textron.

Jay Valenta is Managing Director of Madison Marquette, a real estate investment and operating company. Jay has over thirty years of experience in real estate acquisitions, asset management and development project management. Jay served as co-chair of the Josiah Smith Tavern and Old Library Working Group, which led to the successful development of the Weston Arts and Innovation Center and the restoration of the Josiah Smith Tavern.

Volunteers Start the JST Garden Cleanup

After touring the JST with the new board members and walking the grounds, board members Pam Swain and Leslie Vensel were inspired to jump start the spring cleanup of the beautiful gardens. This resulted in the First Annual Garden Cleanup that came a few days in advance of the hired landscape company. The professional team was impressed with the work and shaved some charges off their bill which resulted in savings for the town.

Photos of before and after of the garden at the JST are available at the FoJST page on the Town of Weston site.

Follow us on our Socials

If you have not yet discovered the Weston Historical Society posts on Instagram and Facebook, we urge you to follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

These posts, now numbering more than 100, are the work of Weston Historical Society board member Kara Fleming, who has a gift for choosing engaging stories and keeping them short to suit today’s lifestyles. For people who are not on social media, the Facebook posts are embedded on the WHS website (see upper left corner of the home page or any Recent Events and Features page).

Among the most popular subjects is “Where is it Wednesday?” or sometimes “Where was it?” or “What is it?” Kara uses historical photographs of historic buildings to illuminate the history behind a building that is now used for a different purpose — the Foster estate mansion, now Pine Brook Country Club clubhouse, for example — or which has been demolished but has left traces — for example, a foundation on the north side of Boston Post Road in the Town Center.

Kara holds a journalism degree from the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and worked as Assistant to the Weston Town Manager and Public Information Officer from 2013 to 2021, managing the town’s communications and editing the Town Report. She enjoys sharing stories from Weston’s past and seeing people engage with the content. Said Kara, “The stories either bring up fond memories for folks or surprise them. It feels good reading comments from people who never knew the history or who have family ties to the story, as well as those who add to the story. Weston has an interesting history that has fortunately been preserved by great people and that work needs to be shared.” Suggestions welcome! Contact WHS at info@westonhistory.org.