My name is Phil Richard. On this past Saturday (Oct. 5), I had the great pleasure of being part of Fall for Peabody Festival. I woke up the day after the event feeling truly blessed that I live in a community like Peabody. It lends proof to the idea that despite all the presumed negativity and divisiveness in our world, that one thing remains constant: bringing communities together can trump all negative situations, at least for a day.

What do I mean, you ask?  Well, let me tell you how the Fall for Peabody Festival came to be. Roughly two years ago, as the dredging of Crystal Lake — the brainchild of the late state Rep. Joyce Spiliotis — was underway, I had a vision.  

You see, I’ve been on the bike path (Independence Greenway) almost daily with my wife, or my dog, or both, either walking, running, or snowshoeing. I would see others doing the same but never thought the path had reached its potential as one of Peabody’s great, free, natural resources.  

I went to club adviser Leonard Brand at the high school and asked if DECA (the school business club) could create a Facebook page and help me market the health and wellness aspects and usage of the path to more folks, including the schools, for races and fundraising events.  

The students in DECA did just that. 

Shortly after that, a gentleman named Wally Booth, along with his buddy Dick Delorey, approached me by email. It turns out, these fine senior citizens (of which I am one now too) had the same vision and dreams for the bike path as I did.  

They had also created an organization called The Friends of the Independence Greenway (https://facebook.com/friendsofpeabodyindependencegreenway/) and already had a following. For years now, Dick and Wally have been bike riding for joy and exercise through the region. We met and agreed to collaborate under the name of The Friends of the Independence Greenway. 

Wally also had a dream to have a fall bike ride. “That’s great,” I told Wally, adding, “I know the Mayor would also love to share his Crystal Lake (re-dredging) project. We need to do something bigger. Something that involves not just our community but communities around us to help create and extend the trail system.”

 We met with Mayor Bettencourt, my friend and ardent supporter, and the vision was hatched. Three visions combined into one great idea. He instantly brought alongside us the support of Jen Davis (head of parks and recreation), Capt. Richards of the Peabody Police, his assistant Mary Bellavance, Chris Ryder (the Mayor’s right hand), Jacqui Richard (head of business development at Phil Richard Insurance/The Next Gen Network), and Julie Daigle (exec director of the Peabody Area Chamber).  

That was less than a year ago. By June, planning was full steam ahead. Our major goal was to provide a community, family-oriented day where the community comes together to experience what “community” really means and why it is so important today more than ever.  

These are difficult political times and were it not for events such as this, it simply might leave one with a sense of discouragement. I, for one, refuse to let that happen. Community is the glue that holds us all together. It puts the surrounding circumstances on hold and makes us feel like we’re part of something. It is something to savor and cherish when not-so-fun days overwhelm us. 

Here’s how it all came together.

First and foremost, we wanted to honor Spiliotis’ efforts to bring the Crystal Lake project to fruition and the support of former Councilor Barry Sinewitz, among others acknowledged during the lake dedication ceremony.  

We also decided to bring in John Blais of Hooked Guide Services of Andover to share his fishing expertise with the children and Kayak Learning Center of Beverly who donated kayaks and paddle boards to try out and enjoy on the lake.  Curious Creatures also attended to round out the activities at the lake.

How did we use the Independence Greenway? We offered an 11-mile bike ride guided by Wally Booth to further introduce riders to the seasonal beauty along the Greenway.

We also wanted to use Ross Park/CyTenney Park. With activities for the families, such as lawn games and Bouncy Bounces for the children, as well as pumpkin painting provided by Newhall Community Fields/Tillie’s Farm/Brooksby Farm and balloon creations.  

We brought in food vendors including Councilor at Large Tom Gould’s Treadwell’s Ice Cream, Bagel World, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Champion’s Pub’s Pizza Oven, The Vibe Food Truck and Anthony Salvaggio’s ice cream truck.

Beantown Blankets of Middleton was on hand selling their blankets for which they donate one blanket to any nonprofit with a purchase as well as Sew on and Sew Forth Embroidery of Middleton who provided tee shirts for sale representing the Greenway.  

Our local Lucky Dog Day Care was also present as well as Solid Roots Woodworking and other local crafters selling their wares. Miranda’s Hearth was there to raise awareness about their upcoming Tiny House Festival. Cub Scout Troop 621 sold popcorn and aided Wally and I in the cleanup of the bike path the week before.

We incorporated a pop-up pub into our planning with Essex Brewing, 52R Pulaski St., Peabody; Granite Brewery on Main Street and Far from the Tree Cider Company of Salem, plus plenty of happy patrons.

Of course, we planned for public safety and were aided by the Peabody Police under the supervision of Capt. Richards and the city DPW under the direction of Jen Davis.

Parking was donated by WS Development (Big Y Plaza) and our friends at West Church.

In summary, we estimated that we had more than 300 visitors in our pop-up pub and at least another 400 or more who came to enjoy all different aspects of the event.  

The day saw kids catching fish, people paddle boarding, creative kiddy bikes parading, many bike riders, children having a ball in bouncy bounces, and so much more. None of this would have been possible without our organizing team, the vendors, the food companies, local breweries and cider company.  

Most importantly, it was the community coming together who made the event. There are many cool stories for good deeds such as Bagel World donating all its sales to Cub Scout Pack 621. 

In addition, we’d like to thank my friends at DECA and Mr. Brand, students from Bishop Fenwick, our sponsor Phil Richard Insurance and Peabody City Hall led by the outstanding Mayor Ted Bettencourt, my good friend Wally Booth, and most importantly, Jen Davis, organizer extraordinaire.

Remember, our goal was to raise awareness of this great Greenway/Bike Path and Crystal Lake as an area where we can all go to appreciate a place that offers peace, solace, reflection, quiet, joy, family, and at the same time fosters happiness through a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. 

Through this event, I believe we achieved this.

The other very big goal is to build a walking bridge from Ross/Cy Tenney Park over Route 1 and behind the Hallmark Building where we can connect to the Rail Trail in Danvers which goes to Topsfield currently and get folks safely through this intersection.  

Now that Lynnfield has approved their rail trail and Middleton is starting to talk about theirs, we hope to no longer be an obstacle to that perpetual trail.

So, to all who came, supported, volunteered and enjoyed, we thank you.  

I speak on behalf of the Friends of the Independence Greenway, the mayor, the city of Peabody, and all who participated in organizing the event.  I personally have been so blessed to be part of this community for 28 years and look forward to seeing so many more folks on the Independence Greenway.

See you next year!

Phil Richard

Phil Richard Insurance and 

the Friends of the Independence Greenway