Although it was not made available to the public until more than a month after the annual town meeting, the massive 1972 annual town report provided a record 526 pages of statistics and reports, accompanied by an additional 54-page memento chronicling the town’s centennial year.
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According to Assistant Town Manager John J. McAuliffe, the total cost for printing 1,500 volumes reached $6,800—roughly $1,300 more than the previous year’s report. While widely regarded as the most attractive and comprehensive issue to date, its production faced hurdles: the first fifty advance copies delivered by the printer, Norwood Printing Co., were poorly bound and literally fell apart, forcing officials to return them before receiving properly bound replacements.
The report’s substantial size was largely driven by a special centennial layout featuring photographs and texts from opening interfaith services, the centennial banquet, and the dedications of Aaron Guild Park and the town square anniversary marker, compiled by a special committee consisting of Centennial Committee Chairman A. Franklin Swift Jr., Honorary Chairman Walter A. Blasenak, and Selectman Charles L. Rich. However, budget-minded town leaders moved quickly to address future printing costs. Town Manager John P. Mogan suggested economizing tremendously by cutting out extraneous material, pointing to extensive demographic records such as 1,498 births (noting that 1,137 were nonresidents born at Norwood Hospital), 349 marriages, and 609 deaths, remarking, I can’t see why the general public is interested in such statistics since they are readily available at the town hall.
To tackle the issue, a special study committee was formed at the suggestion of Selectman Charles L. Rich. The committee—comprising Charles L. Rich, town manager secretary Inez Galiazzi, Assistant Town Manager John J. McAuliffe, and Town Assessors Chairman James J. Drummey—held its initial meeting to review annual reports from other municipalities and determine how to reduce future page counts and overall costs while fulfilling statutory requirements to include departmental reports, board updates, and town meeting election records.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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First Election Under New Town Manager Government-This Day In Norwood History-January 18, 1915
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Norwood Will Change To Town Manager Government-This Day in Norwood History-October 11, 1914
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Norwood Voters To Vote on Proposed Change To Town Manager Government-This Day in Norwood History-September 26, 1914
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