Day: May 28, 2026

Sports: Shirley Girl Plays Soccer With Revolution Unified Team

May 28, 2026 No Comments

By Jeanette Wade Brooke Wade has been playing soccer on teams since she was 5 years old: Shirley Recreation, Ayer/Shirley League, Middle School, High School, and New England Revolution Striker’s League. Last year and again this year, Brooke has made the New England Revolution’s Unified team, which has a long-standing partnership with Special Olympics of Massachusetts. The team brings together athletes with disabilities for soccer training and competition with non-disabled player partners to promote inclusion. They play in professional settings at Gillette Stadium and travel to play in matches. Built in partnership with Special Olympics Massachusetts and the Arbella Insurance Group, the Revolution Unified roster features athletes and Unified partners, selected through tryouts led by The New England Revolution Academy coaches and supported by New England Revolution first team players. The roster consists of between 16-19 members (athletes and partners) who compete against other Major League Soccer (MLS) Unified teams. Brooke credits her experience last year with developing leadership skills both on and off the field and the climate of inclusion and community in a professional soccer setting has inspired her to try out and she was selected to join the team again. Last Year Shirley recreation offered discounted passes to see a New England Revolution first team game that was followed by the Rev’s Unified team to witness even more incredible Revolution athletes take the pitch in the spirit of unity, inclusion, and community. The team hosts an annual “Bowl for a Goal” fundraiser each summer at Gilette Stadium where you can meet New England Revolution first team players and the Unified team in a night of fun. The fundraiser has raised over $700K to benefit the Unified team and SOMA programs. Check the New England Revolution’s website for more details. 

Shirley’s Hazel MacKaye Helped Win Vote for Women

May 28, 2026 No Comments

By Alison Tocci On August 18, 1920, just over a hundred years ago, Shirley women gathered to ring the bell at the Shirley Meeting House to mark passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Hazel MacKaye (second from right) was a Shirley resident, theater professional, and key player supporting the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Alice Paul, Quaker, Suffragist, and foremost leader and strategist of the campaign for women’s rights, called upon Hazel MacKaye to create a series of colorful pageants promoting the cause. In 1913, MacKaye’s “Allegory” was staged on the steps of the U.S. Treasury Building and praised as “one of the most impressively beautiful spectacles ever staged in this country” in The New York Times. The influential pageant attracted a massive turnout one day prior to Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Seven years later, the 19th Amendment was ratified after a 70-year campaign. Leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Alice Paul, millions of women serving in and supporting the war efforts during World War I, and the inspired pageantry of Hazel MacKaye all contributed to the ultimate passage of the bill. On August 1, 2020, in the midst of the COVID outbreak, the Shirley Historical Society gathered a group of Shirley women to ring the Meeting House bell to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. In the photo, Bull Run Innkeeper Alison Tocci holds an autographed photograph of Alice Paul inscribed to Hazel MacKaye. Hazel’s gravestone can be found in the historic Shirley Center Cemetery, next to the Meeting House. Alison Tocci grew up in Shirley overlooking the Common, with the Meeting House as her neighbor. Following in her family’s footsteps, Alison and her husband are now the Bull Run Innkeepers.

Make a Splash at Benjamin Hill Pool…

May 28, 2026 No Comments

By Rebecca A. Boucher Summer is fast approaching and the Benjamin Hill Park Committee has been busy getting the pool and grounds ready to open for the season on Memorial Day weekend. Our plan is to open the pool Saturday May 23, 2026. Beginning on that date the pool will be open weekends only; once the schools are out for the summer, the pool will be open daily. The pool is a busy place all summer. Many area summer camps and child care centers visit our pool. Weekday mornings are when most of our swimming lessons take place. Seven one-week sessions are available beginning on Monday, June 22. Swim lesson registration forms are available online and include class level descriptions so parents can choose the best fit for their child. Open swim hours for family, individual and senior memberships and daily users are 1 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. Membership applications are available online. Daily users are $12 per person per day. Please be sure to read through our 2026 Pool Operations and Rules as this document explains everything you need to know before you come to the pool. On weeknights, the pool is used for practice by the Penguins Swim Team. (Contact the Shirley Recreation Committee for more information about joining the team.) The pool facilities can be rented for parties on weekend mornings and Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. The party rental form is also available online. Party times fill up quickly so don’t delay if you’re planning to book the pool for a party. You can find all our forms and detailed information about the pool online at www.shirley-ma.gov/bhp.  We look forward to seeing you all make a splash this summer! Rebecca Boucher is a 16-year resident of Shirley. An active mother of three employed in the property valuation field, she is also a member of the Benjamin Hill Park Committee and the Shirley Meeting House Board of Directors.