Town to honor longtime Rec. commissioner

Ada Goodrich has a very clear memory of herself as a 3-year-old child. She grew up in Dorchester, and on occasion her parents would drive through Canton. Every time this happened, Goodrich would look out the car windows and tell her parents that she was going to live there when she grew up.

Goodrich did move to Canton in 1955 with her husband, Bill, and she would go on to become a fixture in her new hometown, serving for three decades as a member of the Playground and Recreation Commission.

On Sunday, October 20, at 12:30 p.m., town officials will say thank you to Goodrich for her three decades of service with the formal dedication of a flagpole in her honor at the William Armando Recreation Center on Pleasant Street.

“Ada was great,” recalled Recreation Commission Chairman Larry Bogue. “She was one of the original ones. I used to call her the matriarch of the Rec. Commission. She was very interested in the youth. The Dolphins [swim] team was close to her heart.”

Appointed to the commission by Donald Podgurski, Goodrich said she took on the role because she wanted to be more involved with the town. She and her husband had eight children — Billy, Bobby, David, Eddy, Debbie, Scott, Jamie and Susan — and they grew up participating in sports programs offered by the town, which was important to Goodrich. Growing up in Boston, she used to played baseball and tackle football in her yard with her boy cousins and swam on a team at the YMCA.

Along with other members of the commission, Goodrich helped to plan the Fourth of July celebrations, the town block party, the Christmas dinner for senior citizens, and the summer concert series. She was chairperson of the Canton Bicentennial Festival Week Committee and worked with her son Bill as well as Paul and Marsha Gaudette.

“One of us would get an idea, and it would all fall into place,” she said of her time as a commission member. “We tried different things. If they didn’t work out, we dropped them. We had a lot of fun along the way.”

Goodrich has wonderful memories of working with the late Billy Armando, the longtime commission chairman. “He was a great man,” she said. Armando would often call Goodrich at home to discuss an idea for a town celebration or program. If Goodrich’s husband answered the call, he would turn to her and say, “The boss is on the phone.”

Goodrich volunteered with the Dolphins swim team at Bolivar Pool, filling in as a stroke and turn judge. She also served as president of the women’s auxiliary of Canton Little League and was selected as Citizen of the Year at the Ponkapoag Civic.

“She’s from the old school,” said Selectman John Connolly. “People like [Armando], Joe Uliano, Cab Devoll, Clyde Pushard — these are the people who never expected anything in return except to see the town improve.”

Goodrich brought the fact that there was no flagpole to the attention of Connolly, who in turn decided to have one installed and dedicated to her. When he called to tell her about it, she was embarrassed.

“I said, ‘You touched a lot of people’s lives. It’s a small thing to say thank you,’” said Connolly. “For all the hours and hours she gave — at Halloween, the Fourth of July, Christmas time — she was always, always there. I want to give her a big hug and a kiss. She deserves it. It’s a small thing for the town to say thank you. We wouldn’t be the town we are without these wonderful people.”

Bill Goodrich passed away five years ago and Ada is the matriarch of a family that now includes 27 grandchildren. She has two dogs, Belle and Minnie Moo. She knits hats for newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit at South Shore Hospital and prayer shawls for seriously ill adult patients.

Goodrich believes that every town building should have a flagpole, but admits that she is feeling a little embarrassed about the attention she is receiving.

“What I did, I liked to do,” she said. “I wouldn’t have done things if I didn’t like them and feel that I was helping. I always thought my kids had a good time in Canton. I just wanted to pay the town back. I always loved Canton.”

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Oct 10 2013. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.