During the 2013 flood that ravaged our Martin Acres Neighborhood many of us who had never formally met worked together for hours in a downpour, fighting deep water in an attempt to divert water away from the homes and elementary school that sit near Bear Creek. Although it was a frightening time for all of us it did have the positive impact of highlighting the importance of connection with our neighbors and a revitalization of community spirit.

The Martin Acres Neighborhood Association (MANA) would like to host an event to celebrate and continue to build on the revival of our neighborhood connections. We would aim for this to be the most well attended event in the history of Martin Acres.

We feel that integral to community spirit is the history of that place. Our idea is to feature a wonderful 45 minute film created by one of our residents about Martin Acres and its diverse and vibrant community. It’s called Home Stakers – Living the Dream of Martin Acres; it includes great stories told by some original owners and fascinating residents and even old neighborhood film footage from the fifties.

The film was produced in 2007, so an idea would be to have several video cameras at the event to capture more history. We could archive other memories from longtime residents, gather recent flood stories, and maybe find responses to a few things before they are lost to time; such as the lyrics to the official Martin Acres song, the story of Stephen King living in MA while writing the Shinning or a collection of retorts as to why our neighborhood is fondly referred to as Martian Acres. Once a team comes together we’ll consider other potential ideas to weave into the theme.

In an emergency our neighbors united, it would be awesome to gather again, this time to play, to promote continued healing and to celebrate!