Thomson Country Club Celebrates 50th Year in North Reading

Today marks the 50th anniversary of The Thompson Country Club. The century-old social club located on Elm Street moved to North Reading from Lynn in 1961.

According to their website, the Thomson Social Club was founded in the early 1900s to provide a social outlet for General Electric employees. It was named in honor of Dr. Elihu Thomson, who founded the Lynn Works arm of General Electric.

North Reading resident, Dick Gerardi, worked at GE as an Industrial Engineer for 26 years. He is a font of club history, which he shares enthusiastically, as he played a pivotal role in bringing the club here – although he insists that he’s “no hero.”

According to Gerardi, the club opened on October 4, 1910.

Membership grew and club owners felt they had to expand facilities. So they purchased the Nahant Tennis Club in 1945. In 1961, the club owners decided to sell the Nahant property and find a larger lot.

“A lot of the big shots played golf,” Gerardi said. “They needed more acreage.”

Gerardi said that his mother-in-law happened to read an announcement in the Lynn Article about the how the club was planning to move to Middleton. She brought this to his attention, and he happened to know about the 196-acres in North Reading.

Despite the published announcement, he contacted the owners, Huntington Reality Trust. They showed interest in selling, so Gerardi alerted the sitting club president, Rodger McVey and Warren Cashman, who was the next in line.

“They hadn’t signed on the Middleton property, when I showed the owners this property,” he said. “We hired three horses at Harold Parker and we rode horses over the 200 acres.”

According to a history that Gerardi supplied to the Middlesex East for publication, a couple named Arthur and Odelette Deschenes owned 15.8 acres of land that divided the property. The Deschenes agreed to sell a portion of it so that the club could build its 18-hole golf course. John Mitovitch, who served on the Board of Selectmen in North Reading, negotiated the agreement. 

On a Saturday morning at Town Hall, Gerardi and Warren Cushman met with about six lawyers for four hours. They put together an agreement, and that night Gerardi went into Boston and handed a $5,000 check to Jerry Angiullo from Huntington Reality Trust. 

After about four months of negotiating with club members and the town and securing financing, papers were signed on August 30, 1961.

Today the club provides an 18-hole golf course, three swimming pools, four clay tennis courts and a clubhouse with a formal dining room, a less formal Grille room and ballroom for private events.