Acton Adult Softball League Logo

Acton Adult Softball League
Sponsored by: Recreation Department in Acton, Massachusetts 01720
 Hosted by: GoDaddy.com

Follow ActonASL on Twitter


Site maintained by
Matt Murphy
(matt@actonasl.com)
and Rich Gottesman
(rich@actonasl.com). 		red line

Nancy McShea moves on

Nancy McShea was Acton's Recreation Director for the past six years and worked with Rich Gottesman to get AASL running in 2000. This is Nancy McShea's letter published in The Beacon on Thursday, June 2, 2005.

Town, residents have all been wonderful

I wanted to thank all of the residents and employees in the town of Acton for all that they have done for me in the past 6.5 years. I came to Acton to develop a Recreation Program and to manage NARA Park. I walk away having gained so much more than that. The people that I have met and the relationships that I have formed will continue to shape the decisions I make and the perspective that I have on life for many years to come. The uniqueness of an Acton Town Meeting, working with the Recreation Commission, dealing with overrides and making a park from scratch have all been interesting valuable life experiences for me.

I wanted to send this thank you to all the people who took the time to participate in Acton Recreation sponsored events, who took classes, used the beach, took in a concert, went on a trip or enjoyed the July 4 fireworks. I have had the unique opportunity to work with residents ages 1 to 85 here in Acton. I also have had the pleasure of coaching some of the nicest, most skilled young field hockey athletes that I have ever met. Acton has been very good to me and for that I thank you. I will be taking a new job in the town of Wayland as director of parks and recreation and I hope that I have as positive an experience there as I have had here.

In closing, I have one request for everyone that lives in this town. I have received the kindest words and praise for the work that I have done, from well-wishers who know I am leaving. Please remember that all town employees work tirelessly for you the residents of Acton. We are not highly paid, we often work many hours beyond what would be a normal work week, with no additional pay, simply because we have pride in the work that we do. We spend many, many hours developing solutions to town problems in order to save the tax payer money; many times accomplishing solutions at no cost to taxpayers. So next time you are in Town Hall, find the time to say something positive about what is being done in town. There are many good, dedicated people here that work for you, a thank you or a kind word goes a long way in keeping these employees feeling appreciated and respected by the people that are working so hard to please. All too often we find the negative, we complain about this municipality, we target departments, we pass blame for shortcomings, and we treat town employees like they are our servants. Please remember that we are people first and foremost. We also pay taxes, some of us here, some in other towns. We have families, we are professionals, and we do care about the work that we do.

Very few of us work here to simply collect a paycheck, none of us is here to give you a hard time or to do you wrong. So next time give this some thought before you attack town employees, think about what you would be willing to do without, think about how your comments and grand standing may affect those that are working to better your community.

I wish you all the best successes and hope that Recreation will continue to thrive in the town of Acton. Many thanks to all of you, especially my fellow employees at the Acton Town Hall, I will miss you all.

Nancy McShea
Acton Recreation Director

Published on 6/5/2005 6:52:13 PM by Matt Murphy(murphy.matt@verizon.net)