20th Quarter Century Award Recipient for 2009
Lura Provost
The award will be presented on Tuesday, November 24th at 8:00pm
at the Fisher School, adjacent to the Thurston Middle School.
The Westwood Historical Society invites residents and friends to this very special event. Refreshments will be served. Please park along the Thurston Middle School drive.
The Quarter Century Award is the Historical Society's annual honorary award presented to a Westwood resident or couple of twenty-five years who has made an outstanding contribution to the community. His or her contribution to a better Westwood could be in any field, including education, religion, arts, civic or social service.
Lura and her husband Pierre moved to Westwood with their three sons Pierre, Tom and Paul in 1975. Lura's husband Pierre, who died in June 2009, practiced otolaryngology at ENT Specialists and was on the staff at the Norwood Hospital. Lura has been a lifelong professional volunteer. Feeling that she was blessed in many ways, Lura sought to give back to the community through her volunteer efforts.
Lura's many volunteer activities include serving on the vestry of Saint John's Episcopal Church and the Board at the Dedham Family Service, a counseling agency that provided free services to area towns, including Westwood. She served as Chairman of the Board and spearheaded Winter Feast, their major fundraising event. Lura was a member of the Westwood Beautification Panel sponsored by the High Rock Garden Club and took part in establishing the Land Trust Committee to develop open space in Westwood. She was one of the original participants in Westwood's Adopt an Island Program and helps maintain the Town Pound as part of the Westwood Historical Society's commitment to the program.
An avid gardener, Lura has been an active member of the Fox Hill Garden Club and served as its President for two years. She helped establish the Butterfly Garden at Hale Reservation and develop a program to teach campers about butterflies and ecology. She served on the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Committee for the NE Spring Flower Show and currently serves on the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Board as liaison to the Garden Club of America (GCA). In her current role as Vice President of the Boston Committee of the GCA, Lura helps to raise funds for projects in the Boston area, including the Greenway.
Lura has had a lifelong interest in history. She is a member of the Aaron Guild Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is also a member of the Westwood Historical Commission and the Westwood Historical Society. Lura is a long time Board member of the Historical Society and has served as both Sectary and President. She was instrumental in the fundraising and planning of the Fisher School move to its current location and later provided inspiration and direction for its restoration. The schoolhouse now serves as headquarters for the Historical Society and provides an important resource to the town and the Westwood schools.
Lura views the Quarter Century Award as an honor and recognition of the work that she has been doing for the past 34 years. "Since I have not worked outside of our home, my work has always been volunteering in the community and trying to make our world a better place to live."
When asked about her life philosophy, Lura responded, "I have always been compelled to be a contributor to our society andnot just a taker. Those who are able have a responsibility to take leadership roles. Being educated and not employed I have volunteered in various fields where there was a need and I could make a difference, such as serving Dedham Family Service, moving the Fisher School to have a headquarters for the Society, or for advocating for open space and historical preservation."
From her volunteer work, Lura has learned that with leadership mountains can be moved. "By building consensus and using gentle persuasion, the goal can usually be reached or certainly a compromise can be made that is far better than where you started. I have made wonderful friends along the way."
Westwood is very fortunate to have Lura Provost who has served the town so memorably and the Historical Society is privileged to present her with the Quarter Century Award.
Previous recipients of the honorary tribute are (chronologically beginning in 1990): Yetta and Alexander Fisher, Barbara and Allan Beale, Donald MacLellan, Allen Baker, Richard Youlden, Ellie and Roy London, Lillian Perkins, Robert Wood, Gordon Youlden, Tom Dunn, Joseph Weider, Emlen and Jim Wheeler, Duncan and Ellen McFarland, Shirley Howard, Joy & Joe Clancy and Ralph and Irene Buonopane, Barbara Friedman, Mike Beaumont, Joan Swann.
If you would like to nominate someone, please write a brief letter outlining how the nominee has contributed to the Westwood community and mail it to the Westwood Historical Society , 830 High Street, P.O. Box 2575, Westwood MA 02090 no later than October 18th, 2009.
