Marblehead parks boss Hammond hailed upon retirement after 39 years

MARBLEHEAD-R. Thomas “Tom” Hamond has spent 39 years and three months with the town, 38 years as director of recreation and parks and 19 as director of recreation, parks and forestry.He?s been an Eagle Scout, a certified arborist, a shellfish constable, a Red Cross volunteer, a Rotary Club president, a member of the board of the Marblehead Savings Bank and he helped to coordinate the parks for the USS Constitution?s visit to Marblehead in 1997, a proud day for many Marbleheaders – and those were just some of the career highlights that speakers listed.On hand were his mother, Miriam Hamond, a former Municipal Light Department worker, his wife, Sheila, his daughters, Tammy and Tara and his granddaughters, Julia and Jenna Keller.Everyone in Marblehead must have a story about him, and some of the best were heard Friday afternoon at Hamond?s retirement party at the Marblehead Community Center, which attracted 50 town employees and friends, including Brendan Egan, who will take over as director of recreation, parks and forestry when Hamond leaves.Rec and Park Commission Chairman Derek Norcross, the son of the Rec and Park Commission chairman who hired Hamond as director, offered a personal measurement of how long a time 39 years is.Norcross recalled that when he was a boy Hamond stopped by the Norcross home and asked him to get his father so his father could sign the payroll sheets for the department.Recently Hamond stopped by Norcross?s house on the same errand and Norcross?s 6-year-old son came downstairs to get him.Veteran?s Agent and Rec and Park Commissioner David Rodgers recalled working on the recreation crew when Hamond took over and hearing one of the veteran town employees say, “Well, we?ll give the kid a chance.”?You couldn?t have a better boss than Tom,” Rodgers said.Rec and Park Commissioner Charles “Chip” Osborne told the crowd he and Hamond are cousins. “Tom named me,” he said. “He was 3 years old when I was born and the only infant he knew at the time was named Chipper and he pointed at me in my crib and said, ?Chipper.” Osborne praised Hamond as someone who was on the job seven days a week.Rec and Park Commissioner Linda Rice Collins also recalled Hamond as “my first boss.” She explained that fellow commissioner Sam Ganglani was out of town on business.The proclamation of “Tom Hamond Day” read by Selectman Judy Jacobi also noted that Hamond?s grandfather tied for the most votes in a 1929 town election. Jacobi read a letter from the Marblehead Improvement Association too, promising to consider Hamond?s request that they plant more hollyhocks.Town Administrator Tony Sasso said Hamond has done “a phenomenal job” and called him “one of the sweetest men I?ve ever met, gentle and kind.”Hamond received a silver bowl, an American Flag from the USS Constitution and proclamations from the State House and the town.He pointed out Brendan Egan, his successor, and two longtime friends, retired Danvers Recreation Director Larry Crowley and Peabody Recreation Director Dick Walker. He credited Walker with inspiring him to seek a career in recreation when they were at Northeastern University together in the 1970s.Then he told the crowd modestly, “The Park Commissioners put up with a lot. I don?t know if I wore them out or they wore me out.”