Select Board Discusses Town Seal, Fire Dept. Centennial
The Bourne Select Board this week took up two topics intimately intertwined with the town’s history: the centennial anniversary of the fire department and a possible reimagining of the town seal.
Both topics were discussed by the board during its meeting on Tuesday, February 20. The topic of revisions to the town seal, one of the last items on the meeting’s agenda, was raised by board member Peter J. Meier, who noted that it has been a topic of discussion of late among members of the Bourne Historical Society, on which he serves as a select board representative.
The historical society, Mr. Meier relayed, feels that because the seal is the town’s official one, the task should be undertaken by the Bourne Historical Commission, which is the town’s appointed body for topics related to the town’s historical assets. In turn, the commission has asked the select board what it would like the commission to do.
The official Town of Bourne seal has been under debate for some time and was discussed over a series of meetings in 2022 by the commission for its historic inaccuracies and offensive imagery of Indigenous people. Discussion, however, has since fizzled out; the Enterprise has tried in recent months to reach commission members via email for comment on this topic, but multiple attempts have been unsuccessful.
“I think it’s long overdue,” Mr. Meier said, “and I think we should give the historical commission a chance to see what they can come up with, because that’s the committee we appointed for historical significance and things of historical interest, so I think it would be great if they decide to take this forward and see what they can come up with.”
The current town seal was previously researched by historical commission secretary Deborah Burgess, whose report found that the Town of Bourne seal was created by Charles S. Raleigh, Bourne’s artist-in-residence at the time of its commissioning. The seal depicts two Indigenous people wearing headdresses, sitting in front of a typical native dwelling known as a tipi (teepee). To their left is a deer and to the right are two ships. The tipi, however, is not an accurate depiction of the type of native dwelling traditionally built in this region—a more accurate depiction would be a Wampanoag wetu.
Board members discussed town seal revisions in other towns across the commonwealth, including Mashpee and Natick. Nowadays, Mr. Meier said, imagery such as that on Bourne’s town seal is no longer used; towns tend to favor symbolic or otherwise significant imagery. Mr. Meier suggested the Cape Cod Canal or Cape Cod bridges as a potential image.
Melissa A. Ferretti, vice chairwoman of the select board, countered that while she agrees certain elements are “blatantly incorrect,” she does not think that the Indigenous perspective should be removed from the seal entirely.
“I think there has to be a lot of discussion and a lot of research done,” she said. Ms. Ferretti added that the main problem that Indigenous people have voiced about depictions similar to the one on Bourne’s town seal is with the human imagery and the way they stereotype native people. Instead, she suggested, the seal could depict something significant to the local tribes, such as a red-tailed hawk feather. Something like this could add visuals of local significance while removing the human imagery from the seal without entirely erasing the town’s native roots.
“I think [the commission] could talk about what elements are important to the seal and maybe do a combination of both, not necessarily with a native person in the imagery,” she said. “I think with the right people working on it and some dialogue and some respectful conversation as to why it’s historically inaccurate, why it might be time to change it… I think the commission would be the right people to be tasked with it, of course in consultation with the local tribes. That’s never a bad idea.”
In addition to the historical commission and local tribes, board members were in agreement that input from the community is another key piece of this puzzle. Member Ann-Marie Siroonian said that her hope is that the conversation promotes what Bourne truly “values historically in our community.”
“Where we’ve come from and where we’re going—I think those are important,” she said “I hope those conversations happen. And the opportunity, I think, is really important for the historical commission if that’s the route that we take—that they truly engage the community in this process and decision-making. That’s really important.”
Board member Jared MacDonald was adamant that the first step must be historical research and public education.
“There are a lot of elements of the Town of Bourne that could be incorporated,” Mr. MacDonald said, who also suggested that the iconic Buzzards Bay train station be considered for the seal. “I think the research right now is the key element. And I think that has to be done first and brought back and brought back with the ability of the public to have input and have understanding of a lot of the history and the research that is done.”
Ms. Ferretti concurred, adding that it “really starts with educating people, doing the historical research to identify the layers or why it is what it is today, why it should be this tomorrow and what elements we should use.”
Jack MacDonald, a Bourne resident and local historian, spoke to the board members over Zoom at the end of the town seal discussion and said that he appreciates their undertaking of the topic that he has been so vocally supportive of in recent years.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he told the board. “A lot of research has been put into it, but so much time went by. They kind of lost track of what they were supposed to be doing, so I’m glad Peter is giving this a boot. I would suggest that we kick this back to the historic commission, who has already got a file cooking on this and perhaps they could create this subcommittee and move this ball forward.”
The ultimate question the board came to was whether or not the historical commission is up to the task of taking on the town seal and potential revisions.
“I think we should hear from the historic commission as to whether they’re interested,” said board chairwoman Mary Jane Mastrangelo, “but I do think that it’s not just research—it’s reaching out to the public, it’s some sort of survey, it’s getting public input.”
Mr. MacDonald concurred, emphasizing that the commission is “a great starting point” for historical research but added that public education must be involved to provide a communal understanding of the town’s history.
“If nothing else, they [the commission members] can provide a lot of the history research and offer that to the public to understand and make comment,” he said. “There is probably going to be folks in the public that have things that have happened here in Bourne that even the historical [commission] would go, ‘Oh gee, I forgot about that.’ So that’s the key: allow a lot of input.”
A motion was unanimously passed to refer the board’s discussion to the historical commission and to request a report back on the topic before the board on findings and process recommendations by June.
Volunteer Committee Will Spearhead Fire Dept. Centennial
The other historical endeavor undertaken Tuesday night was the board’s discussion on the Bourne Fire Department’s centennial anniversary. Retired fire chief Steven C. Philbrick went before the board to speak about efforts to organize a committee to commemorate the event. Mr. Philbrick told the board that he has so far recruited retired fire chief Martin Greene and Bourne Fire Call Lieutenant Philip Tura to join this committee and asked the board for direction on how best to move forward.
Bourne Town Administrator Marlene V. McCollem said that she would recommend that the committee be volunteer, as opposed to being commissioned by the town.
“We have other departments that are also turning 100, namely the library,” she said. “I would find it difficult to staff or devote resources to one department and not all of the departments.”
Ms. Mastrangelo and Mr. Meier concurred with the idea of the committee’s being voluntary, explaining that it gives the committee much more leeway when it comes to planning and flexibility.
“Having a town committee puts a lot of burden on the committee,” she said. “It becomes subject to the Open Meeting law. You have to get sworn in, you have to do minutes, it adds a layer of complexity that I’m not sure is necessary for this undertaking. I think this undertaking is a wonderful undertaking, I think it’s great. I personally think it would be best if a volunteer committee organizes itself to commemorate this event.”
Mr. Philbrick said that as long as the board is okay with a volunteer committee, he is ready to get the ball rolling on planning the celebration. A few ideas seem to already be percolating—Mr. Philbrick said he would like to look into organizing exhibits of equipment and department demonstrations throughout town, as well as coordinating a parade, possibly in partnership with the annual Bourne on the Fourth of July parade.
“I think where we already have an active Fourth of July committee—I obviously need to talk to them—but I think combining this with them would be a good time to do that type of thing, rather than do something totally separate,” Mr. Philbrick said, adding that once formed, the committee will also explore possible funding options for the undertaking. He hopes to arrange some kind of fundraiser this summer, he said, possibly a clambake or fireworks, and he has already been speaking to the Bourne Historical Society about working together and using its facilities.
“There is a lot we’re going to go through, and we’re going to try and make some sort of decent contribution to the town and have some fun with it over the year,” he said.
Mr. Philbrick said he hopes to gather with volunteer committee members sometime in March. He told the board that he will report back as things unfold.
“We just want to get this off the ground and get it moving, and I think we can have a lot of fun with it and it’ll look good for the town and the department to have this anniversary marked like this,” he said.