Lynnfield Officials Name Recipients Of Townsend Excellence Award

LYNNFIELD, MA — Lynnfield officials announced this year's recipients of the Daniel Townsend Award for Excellence.

The Board of Selectmen on Sept. 21 voted to name Fred Santangelo and Betty Adelson this year's recipients.

Santangelo moved to Lynnfield in 1962, and he and his wife, Gloria, a well-known educator, raised their family here. Santangelo had been a standout football player and track-and-field performer at Lynn Classical High School, where he is a member of the Hall of Fame, and received an athletic scholarship to Wake Forest. He later served as a line coach at Lynn Classical and remains involved in his college alma mater as a member of the Demon Deacons club.

He has been tapped time and time again by town officials for important committees due to his dedication, wisdom and positive attitude. Santangelo served for more than a decade on the Council on Aging, where he worked closely with director Linda Naccara and his fellow board members to expand programs for local seniors. His work for the town’s senior population also included serving on the Board of Directors for LIFE. He has also served on the town’s Personnel Board and Public Works Support Committee.

Santangelo also excelled professionally, as a manager for AVCO – later Textron - working on defense systems such as the Minuteman missile.

He was a longtime fixture in the local youth sports community, as a youth football and baseball coach for several years, and served on the Lynnfield Junior Sports Board of Directors.

As a parishioner at St. Maria Goretti Church, he has served as a eucharistic minister and usher, and was a member of the Capital Improvements Committee. He is also a Past Grand Knight at the Lynn Valladolid Council #70 Knights of Columbus.

Adelson and her husband, Jack, moved to Lynnfield on New Year’s Eve in 1986 with their young family and both quickly became involved in the Lynnfield community.

Adelson was hired by the Conservation Commission as a clerk in 1988, for seven hours a week. She shared a desk, phone and typewriter with the Planning Board clerk. She quickly immersed herself in the field, and as the work of the Commission expanded, so did Adelson’s knowledge and commitment. She took courses at Salem State College and through the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions, and studied on her own as well. By the time she retired in 2018, she was a much-respected expert on wetlands and conservation issues and was an ambassador in the community for conservation and open space. You could often find Adelson in the field or at Town Hall working long after regular work hours.

Adelson was involved in numerous civic organizations, including the local PTO organizations, as president of the Lynnfield Flower Workshop, as a board member of Townscape, Inc., as a past president with Jack of the Lynnfield Couples Club, and as a member of the Lynnfield Historical Society, the Lynnfield Athletic Association, and the Tricentennial Committee.

She remains active in town government as a volunteer member of the Open Space Committee, where her knowledge, insight and enthusiasm is invaluable.