West Lynn neighborhood celebrates 65 years

LYNN – Veterans Village residents are not celebrating the neighborhood’s 65th birthday with a parade or block parties, but residents like Abigail Heaphy said they don’t need fanfare to appreciate where they live.Heaphy grew up in Veterans Village playing kickball with neighborhood kids on Farrell Road in front of the house where she currently lives with parents, James and Nadine Heaphy. The monument to Veterans Village is located a block down Farrell from the Heaphy home.Dedicated in 1950 and rededicated in 2009, it salutes Lynn’s veterans.Built on farmland, Veterans Village’s 110 lots, wedged between Boston and Holyoke Streets, were dedicated to World War II veterans returning home. In 1947, the city sold the 5,000 square foot lots for cut-rate prices – $10 a lot, according to a 1990 Item story – and most of the homes were built in the early 1950s.”You can see that the City of Lynn was really committed to giving returning veterans a helping hand to get well established as they eased into civilian life after their service during the war,” said Lynn resident Edward Calnan.Wayne King moved into the heart of Veterans Village at the corner of Thorpe Road and Curran Road 12 years ago. He said the neighborhood bond cemented by the founding residents has carried on in Veterans Village.The former truck driver said his neighbors rearranged landscaping appointment schedules to allow King to get enough sleep before he worked his night shift.”We had 850 kids here trick-or-treating last year and they were all well behaved,” he said. Heaphy said Veterans Village residents are friends as well as neighbors.”Everyone is so friendly: You can just go next door if you need something. I would raise my kids here,” she said.Ann Griffin has been raising her family in Veterans Village since 1999 and doesn’t plan to leave.She said her home previously belonged to original neighborhood resident Marion Walsh.”It’s by far one of the most wonderful places to live. I love the quiet,” Griffin said.Marine Corps veteran John Donoghue lives on Farrell Road and crosses the street on Memorial Day to lower the American flag flying next to the monument in memory of other veterans. He knows the streets crisscrossing the neighborhood are named for deceased veterans, including Frederick Purdon, John Curran, John Reynolds Thorpe and Matthew Farrell.Like Griffin and Heaphy, he plans to stay in Veterans Village.”I’m a West Lynn guy and that’s how I’m going to die,” Donoghue said.