For Stoneham's Bain, Patience, Persistence and a Path

STONEHAM – The interview had to happen in July and even that seemed a little late in the summer. After decades of applying equal parts patience and persistence to his goal of creating a bike path in Stoneham, Cameron Bain was going to be honored by his hometown. In August.

But August came and went, as did September and October. Why do these things take so long in Stoneham?

"Oh please, why did it take me 30 years to build the thing," said Bain. "It's a strange thing."

Strange enough to drive him crazy?

"Ya, it does. But I know them and I just keep plowing ahead. It doesn't do any good to do anything else."

Degrees of patience

His college degree stands out, but not because it's framed on some wall, prominently displayed for all to see. No, Bain's Salem State degree is stuck in some file cabinet in his Highland Avenue home of 60 years. And don't ask him which cabinet. Sitting at the Stoneham Library back in July, he wasn't exactly sure where it was.

The degree tells you a lot about the 82-year-old Bain, who will be honored Sunday afternoon for his work in making the Tri-Community Greenway a reality. It says Political Science, only because they don't hand out degrees in Patience.

Bain graduated from Woburn High School in 1957. He graduated from Salem State 36 years later in 1993, old enough then to be the father of his classmates. These days gap years are popular. But gap decades? Like his Greenway efforts, Bain was patient. Things like bike paths and college degrees take time.

In between degrees, Bain worked for John L. Fowle in Woburn, where he made wide-ban saws. He served in the Army National Guard for 20 years and retired in 1977 when he hurt his back in a freak accident while moving rifle racks across a floor. About that same time, the idea for a bike path in Stoneham was born.

The history

"In 1975 there was the Railroad Revitalization and Recovery Act. The railroad was abandoning property and whoever was around, they'd sell it to them," said Bain. "There was tens of thousands of miles of track that was lost. The congress said, this can't happen, we can never replace this land. So they came up with this idea that whenever a railroad was abandoned you had to notify the city, the state, and any interested parties, that they were abandoning it and they would encourage the use of it as a bikeway, greenway, and there would be money provided by the federal government."

In 1983 the MBTA sold the old Stoneham branch rail line to the town for alternate transportation and open space. By then Bain was a member of the Stoneham Planning Board and a long marathon that will conclude Sunday was off and running.

"We had several encroaches in Stoneham and I was on the Planning Board and I decided that we should protect ours. That was how I got involved. We worked for a total of 30 years to get where we are now."

Again the question, why did it take so long?

"There were those leases that were a dollar a year for 10 years. And sometime they didn't even pay the dollar. They were severing the properties, and under the law the town was supposed to protect that land by using it for transportation or other public purposes. So I said I'm just going to do that, I'm going to get the land back and build a bike way," said Bain. "It was really a fun project. I became involved in the state bicycle and pedestrian advisory board. I met a lot of people, attended a lot of conferences, and had a lot of fun doing it. And learned all the time. There wasn't a day that I didn't learn something."

In 1988, the first of several committees was formed to determine the use of the land and Bain first proposed a multi-use trail along the railroad right-of-way.

"In 1992 we had the land dedicated as open space and recreation land, to keep anybody else from encroaching. And little by little we moved the people who had the leases off. I didn't want to push that issue because they might have paid somebody off to get it. They had to do something to get it. It came as a shock to them that they had to get off. Most of them were good. I had one or two who were nasty."

As well documented on the Greenway website, the state became involved with a feasibility study in 1997. With Bain constantly pushing forward, initial design drawings were created in 2005, reviewed by the three towns (Stoneham, Winchester, and Woburn) in 2012 and finalized in 2016.

Midway through all this, Bain received his political science degree, a new tool in his Greenway belt.

"The para legal, and legal courses I had to take ... it did help. Sometimes you had to wait for the makeup of the board to change. The Planning Board when I was on it was 4-1 and I was the 1."

So you had some headwind?

"Sometimes I had to wait it out. Sometimes what I needed just wasn't there, and I had to wait, money, funding. It takes a lot to get around the money sometimes. I would wait two-three years to get a selectman off and get one on who was different. It was a strategy all the way. You didn't do anything without thinking about it. It took a lot."

Marathon finished ... sort of

Even Sunday's event took a lot of effort, with the original August opening pushed back to November. The Greenway is not 100 percent complete and not officially open, so the town had to get special permission from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to hold Sunday's ceremony. With permission granted, the Select Board earlier this month proclaimed Nov. 18 to be Cameron Bain Day in Stoneham.

"The Bikeway/Greenway Committee really wanted a permanent marker that would let everyone who uses the Greenway know about Cameron's contribution to creating such an amazing resource for our community," said Dolly Wilson, current chair of the town's Bike and Greenway Committee. “Thirty years of effort shows such incredible dedication, and there wouldn’t be a Greenway without him.”

"It's nice to have a thank you," said Bain. "Especially my kids can see it, grandchildren and all."

Bain will be joined by Connie, his wife of 60 years and a longtime "unofficial" partner of his bike path efforts. Others will join in the 2 p.m. ceremony, many of whom acknowledge that the 6.63 mile long path that starts in Stoneham next to Recreation Park and goes all the way to Ginn Field in Winchester, wouldn't have happened without him.

There will be a bicycle and pedestrian parade down the new Greenway toward Montvale Avenue. Families who want to join or watch the parade are welcome. People are encouraged to wear costumes or decorate their bikes, baby carriages, etc., to make the occasion more festive. Advance decoration is encouraged but there will some materials on hand as well. There will be a prize for the best decorated bicycle.

You might assume Bain had a fancy bike growing up but the truth is he couldn't afford one. Instead he'd pull two or three bikes from local rubbish and make his own, what he called "one good one." Sunday he and Connie will ride from the Stoneham Boys' and Girls' Club that he helped found in the 1960s, down the Greenway in a pedicab where a sign bearing his name will be unveiled.

The short trip could take a few minutes, but if nothing else, Bain is patient.

"Most people would think that," said Bain. "I don't mind a challenge. If you tell me I can't do something, I will get it done one way or another."

It's a path to success he knows well.

Photo by Bob Holmes