Letters to the editor: First Parish Church purple lights and “Why can’t we have nice things?”

Why is First Parish Church illuminated in purple light?

Those passing First Parish Church on Boston Post Road in the evenings may have noticed the historic stone building awash in an unusual purple light. This is part of a local campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence here in Massachusetts and around the country, as part of the Domestic Violence Roundtable’s Purple Lights Campaign. First Parish Church in Weston is the first building in Weston to participate. It is inspired by the heart-breaking story of Lauren Dunne-Astley, a lifelong resident of Wayland and a graduate of Wayland High School, Class of 2011. Lauren died on July 3, 2011 at the hands of her former boyfriend, a victim of breakup violence. ( https://laurendunneastleymemorialfund.org/)

The color purple is often associated with courage, compassion, survival, honor, and hope. It is also the color recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which takes place each October. During this month, domestic violence service providers use the color purple to raise awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence and the women and girls who are murdered each day in the U.S. within intimate relationships, the 15 to 19 such victims a year in Massachusetts, and many more facing abuse of many kinds.

Some people in witness and protest wear purple clothing, attach a purple pin or tie a purple ribbon around a tree. Since 2017, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable, in collaboration with the Lauren Dunne-Astley Memorial Fund and First Parish in Wayland’s Lydia Maria Child Fund have lit several buildings in Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln and Framingham in purple. The dramatic display honors those lost to domestic violence and brings awareness to the community that domestic violence has no borders.

For more information on this program and to learn more about Lauren Dunne-Astley go to the foundation’s website:

Sara DeLong, parish administrator, The First Parish Church in Weston

Why Can’t We Have Nice Things?

Well, it only took five issues of the Observer to exist for the town’s saltiest, public curmudgeon to seagull all over Weston’s positive addition. Sadly, this invective, ridiculously excessive and unsubstantiated criticism was anticipated before the Observer even launched because that is the M.O. of this sourpuss.

The article regarding the select board expansion question in issue six, the deeper dive follow-up from the week prior, was balanced, describing both sides of the issue fairly, and was leveled with Town Counsel’s perspective. We also learned that the Town Governance Study Committee — the “hand-picked malfeasants of Select Board sycophants” — did one good thing by improving the language of the petitioned article so it could stand a chance of state approval and be actionable. *insert pearl clutch*

But back to our seagulling malcontent, who has a flock, or a squabble for the bird nerds out there. Very few in this colony have Weston municipal service experience, most especially within Weston’s executive governance, yet they all share a manufactured conspiracy of small town corruption.

Weston as a whole represents great means and extreme privilege, which begs the question: why is there so much misery and anger? Why the drastic discontent over a public body’s work and opinion, and a local news article reporting on a special election being called? Is it a vengeful axe to grind or is it a case of Veruca Salt?

An opinion is an opinion; but publicly belittling and vilifying Weston’s volunteers — the people who actually do the work for this town– that has to be called out for what it is: self-aggrandizing, supercilious, apathetic, gross, and pathetic.

Kara Fleming, Warren Lane