Go Boston 2024!

A family member who lives in Atlanta emailed me, “Hope Boston gets the Olympic nomination. I know it did a lot for Atlanta and it spurred lots of downtown revitalization.” Growing up, my parents took us to many Olympic and World’s Fair sites, it was a transformative experience for me, which is why I have a keen interest in the Olympics coming to Boston in 2024. I have fond memories as a kid of visiting the Lake Placid site, the Montreal Olympic site, the Los Angeles site, and the Innsbruck Olympic site. I was in kindergarten when I visited the Seattle World’s Fair, where I went up in Seattle’s internationally renown landmark, the Space Needle. I was in elementary school when I visited Montreal’s Expo 67, where I saw firsthand and learned about Habitat, a model community and housing complex designed by now Boston-based architect, Moshe Safdie. As a teenager, I had the opportunity to sleep in an alpine dorm room, on the idyllic slopes of the Innsbruck 1976 Winter Olympic site, which was an incredible experience for an impressionable high school student.

When I learned of Boston being selected as the US candidate for the 2024 Olympic summer games I immediately wanted to get involved. I was at the first Boston 2024 meeting at the Boston convention center in January, the first neighborhood meeting in Roxbury, and the first volunteer meeting in Newton. I’ve watched the 2024 Olympic committee in action and have been very impressed with their integrity, hard work, openness, concern for the community, and passion in bringing the 2024 Olympic games to Boston.

I didn’t know who John Fish was until I attended the community meeting last February and heard him speak. As I’ve learned more about him, I am even more impressed with the man. John Fish is a very smart, passionate, and obviously successful individual. He has helped the community of Roxbury in innumerable ways; his construction company, Suffolk Construction, has been based there for the last 25 years, and he started the Boston Scholars program to provide scholarships to disadvantaged local youths. He also started the Reggie Lewis Center at the Roxbury Community College, providing a sports center to youths in the neighborhood. What is amazing is that as a child he struggled because of severe dyslexia. It wasn’t until he got involved in sports in school that things changed for him. His challenging childhood is obviously motivating his involvement with disadvantaged local youths and with the 2024 Olympic bid.

Marty Walsh also impresses me as a politician who genuinely wants to improve government, improve people’s lives, and improve the city of Boston. When Mayor Walsh met with the No Boston Olympics group last month, the mayor repeated his promise that NO TAXPAYER MONEY would go to the operation of the games. He made the case to the group that being an Olympic city would give Boston a boost in tourism and international stature, let alone fix infrastructure issues that have been plaguing the city for years. Marty pointed out that it would be a HUGE OPPORTUNITY for Boston, and the goals of Boston 2024 align well with the goals of the upcoming 400th birthday celebration of Boston in 2030.

Richard Davey is another impressive individual, leading the charge as CEO of Boston 2024. I have seen Mr. Davey speak on a couple of occasions regarding the Boston 2024 Olympic plans, and he has impressed me as being honest, straightforward, intelligent, and thoughtful. He is also able to roll with the punches at these meetings, as various attendees have asked him tough, and sometimes hostile questions. I think he is doing a great job. As former MBTA director and the state’s secretary of transportation, he has the intimate knowledge to address many of the challenges of our ailing public transit system, which have been in the limelight recently, and which would need to be fixed in order for their smooth operation for the Olympics.

In addition to the amazing leadership on the Boston 2024 committee, there are also the incredible volunteers. I attended the first volunteer meeting last February in Newton. There were hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers at that first meeting. The caliber of the volunteers is unbelievable. There are a number of former Olympians in the group, ranging from recent athletes to older distinguished contestants, both Olympic and Paralympic. There are multitudes of energetic sports enthusiasts who know personally how life changing sports can be. There are many teachers and leaders of youth oriented sports who want to have the Olympics here for their kids. I also met several newly naturalized, patriotic citizens, who strongly believe that the Olympic games contribute to international peace. There are also many individuals like myself: life long residents who love Boston and want to see the city evolve, and fix things like public transportation and housing issues; people who want sustainable job growth, as well as cost efficient public-private partnerships around the Bay State.

It was just announced this week that several sports legends will be joining the Boston 2024 board of directors. They are incredible legends: Larry Bird - President of the Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics legend and Basketball Olympian, Meb Keflezighi - 2014 Boston Marathon winner and Olympian, Michelle Kwan - Figure Skating Olympian, State Department Senior Advisor for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports, Davis Ortiz - Boston Red Sox Three-Time World Series Champion, and Joseph Henry “JoJo” White - Director of Special Projects and Community Relations, Boston Celtics legend and Olympian. What an amazing dream team!

I hope as we get closer to the official bid next January, more people in Boston and the surrounding Massachusetts communities become just as excited and energized in wanting to bring the Olympics to Boston in 2024. This is a grassroots effort and we need your support for a successful Boston Olympic bid. If you are interested in learning more, or want to get involved, there will be Boston 2024 volunteers at the Andover town meeting May 4th. There will be handouts as well as sign-ups for new volunteers. You can also go to their website, 2024Boston.org, where you can find more information and sign up online to volunteer as well.

Go Boston 2024!

Sara Martin

Andover, MA