Town Meeting applauds Bruce and Ellen Leicher as Citizens of Note

In a tradition residents look forward to every spring at Town Meeting, Moderator Victor Normand halted proceedings about halfway through the meeting to announce 2020’s Citizens of Note—Ellen and Bruce Leicher of Warren Avenue.

Select Board member Lucy Wallace (left) presents the Citizens of Note award to Bruce and Ellen Leicher. (Photo by Jen Manell)

Ellen Leicher later told the Press she and Bruce were just reaching for the Annual Report to see who the citizen of note would be when they heard their own names called. “It was a big surprise,” Bruce said.

Select Board member Lucy Wallace described how the Leichers had come to town in 1998, drawn by the chance to build a home on family land next to Bare Hill Pond. With a daughter in elementary school, Ellen quickly became involved in school activities. From being a classroom volunteer and field trip chaperone, she later moved on to recruiting people to judge the science fair or hear seniors’ presentations of their community service projects. In late 2016, Ellen became one of the founding members of Arm in Arm. As a member of the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee, Ellen recently enlisted the aid of Harvard’s state legislators to persuade National Grid to approve solar panels for the new Hildreth Elementary School. And she has also served on the Bromfield School Council and the Community Resiliency Working Group.

Living on the edge of the pond, Bruce Leicher soon became a member and leader of the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee. He has worked with the state Department of Environmental Protection and Harvard’s Conservation Commission to monitor the pond’s water quality and to find ways to limit the growth of invasive plants in the pond, especially through yearly drawdowns. Working with other committee members, Bruce helped get two $600,000 grants, one to build the pumping station and the other to make the rain gardens that protect the pond from runoff pollution.

Wallace said the common theme in the Leichers’ activities is stewardship, both for the natural environment and for the next generation. And she praised their dedication “in seeing projects through to completion.”

Bruce and Ellen both agreed they do their volunteer work because they enjoy it. “We like what we do … we meet a lot of great people,” Ellen said.