Letter to the Editor: Vandalism at Condon Park

Dear Editor,

I am writing about the recent vandalism that has taken place in East Dedham at Condon Park. The new sign for the handicap accessible playground was destroyed and a barrel full of trash tipped over. This after the damage done to the fish monument at Mother Brook truly makes me sick to my stomach. Though we don’t always see eye to eye on other town projects I know that Town Administrator Bill Keegan has worked very hard to help improve East Dedham as well as the Board of Selectman, Bob Stanley and the Park and Recreation Committee, Joe Heisler, who worked very hard specifically on the Mother Brook Project and the great folks at DPW that put a lot of effort in all of the ball fields and worked very hard to get Condon into the excellent shape that it’s in.

Condon has really become the place to be almost year round. The Dedham High School Football team practices there in the Fall, Dedham Girls Softball uses it weeknights in the summer, Hub Softball is there during the week, Dedham Co-Ed Softball is there Sundays and Dedham Youth Soccer also uses it not to mention the increased use of the playground by these events being there. The town coupled with sponsorships from local merchants made this project happen.

This playground represents positive change. It gives all children the chance to come to a nice clean park and enjoy fresh air and have fun. I find it disturbing that almost every time the town tries to make East Dedham a little better there is someone who feels the need to ruin it. I’ve lived in East Dedham for over 30 years. I love living there, I love the area and it’s terrible that this stuff continues to go on. I can relate to a lot of these kids, my parents didn’t have a lot and we didn’t get everything we wanted growing up, but we always respected people and there property. I’d like to know what some of these parents are teaching there kids.

The Town can spend money almost everywhere else and usually do, but when it came to Mother Brook and it came to Condon and this Playground they chose us instead. When they needed to start building new elementary schools a case could have been made for Oakdale and Riverdale and yet they chose Avery, they chose East Dedham. We should be thankful for what the town has done and how respectful they’ve been to us by treating there efforts with respect. Not destroying stuff because it seems like a lot of fun and something to do.

If any of the people responsible read this I just want to personally say what a disappointment you are too the East Dedham community. I coached High School CYO Basketball for years, many of them from East Dedham and all of them are in College getting educated so they can help make this world better in there own way and I respect them and have nothing but admiration for them. You who are responsible for this simply make me sick. I think you should grow up before one day you end up in a jail cell. I know people who have gone down that road and it usually doesn’t end well. My hope is you really think about what you’ve done.

Thank you for your time as always,

Dan O’Neil