President’s Message – June 1992
Summer Track

The Summer Track Meets will begin Wednesday, June l0th, at Walsh Middle School, off Brook Street, in Framingham. Registration will begin at 5:30 PM and races will start at 6:00. These meets are one of our best contributions to the community. They have introduced many youngsters to the pleasures of running, and the club has received considerable favorable publicity for sponsoring them. 

The success of the meets depends upon the active support of club members. 

We need volunteers to handle registration, assist the starters and to serve as ribbon judges. Please contact me at 881- 4883 if you are willing to volunteer. 

Don’t forget the annual club banquet will be held Sunday, June14th at Ebenezer’s in Framingham. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m. and dinner win be served at 7:00 p.m. The absolute final deadline for getting your reservation (form is else- where in Newsletter) into Cecile’s hands is Tuesday, June 9th. 

The running community lost one of its finest when Fred Brown passed away recently. Those who knew him well, and there are many such within the GFTC, had tremendous respect and boundless affection for Fred. With his passion for road racing at all distances, his firm belief in the primacy of running for one’s club, and his scorn for races with high entry fees and expensive merchandise awards, he embodied the ethos of amateur sports in an earlier era. 
Fred was an itinerant runner, organizer, official (AAU and later TAC) traveling the roads with a trunk full of trophies and a head full of anecdotes. To spend time with Fred was to be entertained by an endless stream of comical stories about runners and racing incidents, which in total made up a pretty fair oral history of New England running. 
Fred believed tee shirts were a needless frill that only served to drive up the cost of entry fees. This attitude toward prizes was best exemplified by his rules for the Hudson Boy’s Club Race. 

The first time I ran that, he carefully explained the entry fee was $1 if you just wanted to run, and $1.50 if you wanted a trophy. The trophy was worth every cent of the surcharge. 

Fred was a true “Elder of the Tribe” to all New England roadrunners. Finish lines will be sadder places without him. 

Art