The Exchange Club of Needham is pleased to announce the three Youths of the Month and the Youth of the Year for 2021.

The Youths of the Month are: Aanika Patel from Buckingham Browne and Nichols, and Aidan Schaffer and Lance Zhang from Needham High School.

The Youth of the Year award, which this year has been named to honor Myron Seiden, has been awarded to Jacqueline Rose Alford, an outstanding student and Executive President of the Student Council at Needham High School.

As usual, the Exchange Club's selection committee had a challenging time selecting the awardees amongst all the highly qualified applicants - congratulations to this years award recipients!

The Exchange Club is saddened by the loss of Myron Allan Seiden, who recently passed away at the age of 86. A Needham Exchange Club member for almost 20 years, Myron for many years was the Club’s official photographer, and was rarely at any Club event without slinging one or two cameras with which to capture the Club’s photographic record.

Growing up in Brooklyn and Jamaica NY, Myron was very proud of having graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and then having gone onto MIT, from where he graduated in mechanical engineering. He went on to start his first job at General Motors in Syracuse NY and to then finish his career as Asia-Pacific Director for Polaroid. He had many interests that intersected with his work: cars, photography and the cameras themselves to reading, travel and classical music. His love of Japanese history was fueled by his trips to Japan for work and pleasure as well as his family ties. He is survived by his wife Joanne and son Daniel, his wife Katsumi, and 16-year-old grandson Luka, his brother Stephen and his wife Rochelle and children of NJ. He will be dearly missed by family and friends!

The Needham Exchange Club is pleased to announce Celia Blaszkowsky as our 2020 Youth of the Year. A graduate of Needham High School, Celia is a compassionate volunteer and a fighter for human rights. Her empathy for people brought her to Camp Arrowhead, assisting in a wide variety of activities to provide a camping experience for children and adults with various disabilities. Her strong determination has enhanced her objectives and desire to assist others.

Celia will be attending the University of Chicago to begin her studies towards her goal of becoming a physician. Congratulations Celia, and best wishes from the Club for your future at the University of Chicago and beyond!

The Needham Exchange Club is pleased to announce that Peter Nydam is the 2020 recipient of the Needham Exchange Club scholarship. A life-long Needham resident, he has appreciated the nurturing community of our Town and at Needham High School. Peter has a wide range of academic interests, including a strong interest in math and psychology.

Peter has chosen to attend Vassar College in the fall. Congratulations Peter, and best wishes from the Cub for your future at Vassar and beyond!

The January 16, 2020, meeting of the Exchange Club of Needham was held at the new Field House at Memorial Park. Exchange was the first group to use the new building.

The Field House has for decades being instrumental for staging the annual Needham 4th of July events sponsored by the Exchange Club.

Use of the new Field House for the 2019 July 4th events was only possible due to the focused determination of the building project team, comprised of members of the Town's departments as well as the building construction contractor and architect.  Club President Joe Burns introduced and thanked the people who were responsible for the success of the Field House building project.

THE NEEDHAM EXCHANGE CLUB’S TRADITION OF SERVICE TO VETERANS continued with the Club’s annual hospitality project for participants in the Town of Needham’s Memorial Day observances at Memorial Park. Pictured at the Memorial Park Gazebo (a 1986 Club project) are volunteers: (back row, l to r) former State Rep. Lida Harkins, Gerry Rovner, President Mike Taggart, Sam Hart, Ed Cosgrove, George Macrina, Project Coordinator Steve Rosenstock and Don MacIntyre; (front row, l to r): Ann MacFate, Louise Miller, Tedi Eaton, Joan Tirrell, State Rep. Denise Garlick, Immediate Past President Ann Cosgrove and Dianne MacIntyre. 

The Needham Exchange Club is pleased to announce the recent dedication of a Freedom Shrine at the Mitchell School.

The Freedom Shrine is a collection of original historic American documents photographically reproduced and displayed in thousands of locations throughout the country. The Needham Exchange Club donated this Freedom Shrine to the Mitchell School, and speaking at the dedication were Needham Exchange Club President Michael Taggart, Select Board member and past president of the Exchange Club Moe Handel, Mitchell School principal Greg Bayse, and Needham School Superintendent Dr. Dan Gutekanst.  In attendance also were Exchange Club members Ann Cosgrove, Chris Kent and Cynthia Chaston, as well as several students from the Mitchell School.

Developed by the National Exchange Club, the Freedom Shrine originated from the Freedom Train that toured the nation in 1947 carrying an exhibit of historic documents.  The National Exchange Club Freedom Shrine includes nineteen of the original documents from Freedom Train exhibit, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address and the Nineteenth Amendment, just to name a few.

The Mayflower Compact and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech” have additionally been included in the Mitchell School Freedom Shrine, at the request of the school principal and teachers.  The Mitchell School plans to use the Freedom Shrine in its school curriculum.

The Needham Exchange Club is pleased to announce that Dave DiCicco is our 2019 Book of Golden Deeds Award Winner!  The Book of Golden Deeds is given to honor a Needham resident who has a demonstrated history of selfless contribution/dedication to the Needham community.

Dave is a long time resident of Needham, having moved here from Brighton with his wife and young family many years ago.  He owned and operated Newton Street Garage in Brighton for many years.  Dave organized the Brighton Golf Tournament raising money for cancer research from 2002 to 20007 and has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for many years.

Dave coached Little League baseball through Babe Ruth including summer travel teams, coached girls’ softball, coached St. Joe’s basketball and coached Pop Warner football. He served as President of the Pop Warner board, served as President of the Touch Down Club and served as treasurer of the Touch Down Club.  He helped to negotiate the switch for the Needham football program from Pop Warner to the American Youth Football League in 2005 to better serve the Needham kids and the metro west kids.  As a member of the Touch Down Club Dave helped to generate funds to offset cutbacks in the school budget to purchase much needed uniforms and training equipment for the football and cheerleading programs.  

Dave co-chaired the “Wall that Heals” committee, the group that coordinated the visit of a half scale Vietnam Memorial Wall to Memorial Park in 2008.  Dave served on the Needham Field Study Committee from 2003 to 2008 and served as a Trustee of Memorial Park from 2005 to 2009.  He helped create the Needham Sports Council, the group responsible for privately funding approximately $5.5 million of the $7 million needed to renovate the fields at DeFazio and Memorial Parks.  This “Field of Dreams” project renovated our playing fields, including the installation of artificial turf and lights.

Dave currently serves on the Park & Recreation Commission and was instrumental in the approval and construction of the Rosemary Recreation Complex.  He advocated for a spray deck, a slide, a recreation room, a dock and sailboats for that facility.

In 2018 Dave, along with Exchange Club member Matt Borrelli, created the Needham Flag Football program. Last year they had 370 youth participants, both girls and boys, play in their inaugural season and this year the program will be even larger.  This program was created for kids to learn about playing football and to have fun, regardless of abilities. 

The Needham Exchange Club congratulates Dave on this award and thanks him for his service to our community!