Allan Eyden Named the Winchester Chamber of Commerce
Outstanding Citizen of the Year
At a dinner ceremony on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 Winchester
Players’ Treasurer and long time member Allan Eyden was officially named the 27th
Outstanding Citizen of the Year. The
ceremony at the Montvale Plaza was led by John J. Sullivan and featured
speeches, testimonials, some video taped memories, some scary costumed
presenters, and an original short play with music (presented by members of the
Players). Unitarian Church Minister the Reverend Mary J. Harrington gave the
invocation and the evening was capped with the presentation of the honor and a
speech by the guest of honor.
Allan Eyden became a Winchester resident in 1957 when his parents, Bernard and Constance, moved here with Allan and his sister, Janice. He entered the Winchester school system at the former Wyman elementary school. Following a move to Bacon Street and the house that the rest of the family still occupies, he attended Mystic School, McCall Junior High, and Winchester High School.
While still in high school, he began
working at Bonnell Motors, part-time at first, then full-time after graduating
with a degree in management from Northeastern University in 1975, just as the
company moved to its current location on Cambridge Street. He held several
positions there over the years, starting as service clerk, creating and growing
the rental department (Remember the “FRAC” license plates?), and becoming the
fixed operations director in 1978.
Allan became involved with community
theater in 1972, working with the Winchester Players, the Parish Players, and
the Summer Community Theater before joining the Board of the Winchester Players
and becoming its Treasurer in 1979, a post he has held ever since. Switching
media in 1982, he became involved with the local community access station,
created when cable television came to Winchester in 1980. He produced a monthly
news magazine show, NEWS19, for several years, hosted a community talk
show, Focus on Winchester (produced by Sandy Rodgers) for several more.
He has covered the town elections on the local channel since 1983, and began
reporting on town meetings in the late 1980’s, both of which continue to this
day. When the town took over the station in 2000 and formed WinCAM, Allan
joined the board and became its treasurer.
As a member of the Winchester Jaycees in
the mid-seventies, he was involved as the chapter created and ran an event they
called “Town Day”, a concept for an affordable party for all Winchester
residents. It was held for three years. When he became the chapter president in
1982, he helped revive the concept and has been involved ever since. After the Jaycee chapter dissolved, the
Chamber of Commerce, then the Winchester Town Day Committee have made Town Day
a local tradition that is celebrating its 25th year in 2006. For the
last ten years or so, he has co-chaired the event.
In 1985, Allan decided to take the
“Pan-Massachusetts Challenge” and cycle the 192-mile event to raise money for
the Jimmy Fund. In 1987, he returned to the event as a volunteer, becoming more
involved every year, joining the volunteer Head Staff as Road Coordinator in
1993. He has seen the event grow from 400 riders in 1985 to over 4,000 in 2006.
He has also served on the Race Committee of the Head of the Charles Regatta
since 1997.
After helping to draft a Winchester sign
bylaw in the late eighties, Allan joined the Chamber of Commerce and became a
director in 1987. He served two terms as president and two as vice-president in
the early nineties.
Asked why he is involved in so many
events and activities, Allan said, “I’ve met so many great people and had such
fun along the way. Hopefully, I’ve had a small role in making my community a
better place to live and work.”
***Biography
of Allan Eyden is from the Citizen of the Year awards ceremony program, May 16,
2006