Patrick Giles was appointed to the Hopedale Historical Commission last week. It is the first time in many years all seven membership slots on the commission have been filled.
HOPEDALE – Retired educator Patrick Giles was appointed to the town’s Historical Commission last week, filling out the seven-member board for the first time in many years.
“With Pat’s appointment that would bring us to the full seven-member commission, which I don’t even know how long it's been, if ever, that the commission has been fortunate enough to have a membership of seven,” Historical Commission Co-Chairman Sue Ciaramicoli said at last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting.
Giles is no stranger to state and local history as he specialized in teaching and developing curriculum in those two areas during his nearly 40-year career in education. He also volunteers at the Little Red Shop Museum. Giles was aiming to do more for the community's history and applied for an open position on the commission. He was appointed by selectmen last week.
“I’ve always had an interest in history,” he said.
Ciaramicoli and selectmen called Giles, who also volunteers at the Bancroft Library, an ideal fit and a nice catch for the commission due to his extensive historical background and commitment to Hopedale.
“He’s very interested in helping to preserve the resources that are here to share the story about Hopedale,” said Ciaramicoli.
Giles has attended the commission’s last three meetings. He told board members a top priority will be increasing the presence of the Little Red Shop Museum in town and make it more of a community resource.
“That’s hard to do when you’re a purely volunteer organization,” he said.
He pledged to work with other community organizations to seek financial resources for historical programming to showcase the town’s rich history. Increasing the commission’s volunteer base also tops the list.
“It’s a volunteer operation, which means it’s important to seek out volunteers and learn about the museum and support it,” he said. "Resources are limited. It needs to be an organized effort."