Hopkinton Comes Together for Summer Concert Series at HCA

Hot Acoustics headlines the concert series on Friday, June 30 at 6:30 PM

The Hopkinton Center for the Arts (HCA) is excited to celebrate the opening of our newly renovated Shakespeare Garden and fire pit as well as several namings from last summer’s Pave the Patio campaign. 

This week has truly been a wonderful example of Hopkinton coming together. Last year, the HCA received a $30,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism to renovate our Shakespeare Garden and install a new fire pit.  The garden’s original concept was designed by Ed Cornely, a former Hopkinton High School English and Drama teacher.  We wanted to upgrade the garden, make it bigger, add seating, and ensure it bloomed all year. 

Trevor Smith of Weston Nurseries and Meghan O’Brien donated the design and carefully curated flowers and plants that refer to Shakespearian text.  They created a wonderful meandering path and pergola where visitors can rest and enjoy the view.  There are only a handful of these gardens in the state and we are lucky to have one. 

The goal for this new garden is to attract visitors to Hopkinton from far and wide.  It is a place to sit and reflect, enjoy music, nature and each other.  We are so grateful to Weston Nurseries and their team who worked tirelessly to make sure the garden would be a beautiful respite for visitors. 

As the garden grows, we will be adding sculptures, a water fountain, and signs with QR codes linking visitors to a website that identifies each plant.  The talented young man who created the garden website and QR codes was Daniel Cambourelis-Haskins. We were all deeply saddened to lose Daniel earlier this year.  The bench in the garden was donated by his friends and neighbors and we will place a memorial sign later this summer in honor of him. 

In addition to the beautiful garden, we’re also excited to share our gorgeous firepit, designed and installed by Scott’s Landscaping.  Spencer Dryden went above and beyond to reconfigure our granite benches around the fire pit and garden, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Scott’s Landscaping is a longtime supporter of the HCA and we continue to be grateful for Scott’s time and talent.

Paul Elder, of Elder Plumbing, connected the natural gas to the pit and Dave Ciooppa from D.C. Electric brought in the electricity to give us a lot more power for our bands and our future fountain. 

But the big story is how everyone came together to make it happen.  Paul, Dave and their teams all worked together this week to ensure we would be ready for tonight’s event. Members of the Hopkinton Garden Club also came out to prepare the fairy garden for visitors who would like to search for fairies during the concert.  Simultaneously, Deiana Backhoe worked all week on a project funded by the town, which installed a new drainage system in the front lawn to fix our seasonal flooding problem. Even our own facilities manager, Paul DiBona, checked in every day from his vacation in Colorado to make sure the project was on track. It is just another amazing example of how Hopkinton Comes Together.  Everyone was determined to make it happen. 

Tonight – Friday, June 30^th – is the Barbara Corbett Memorial kick-off concert with Hot Acoustics, sponsored by longtime supporter Phipps Insurance and MAPFRE Insurance.  This first concert is a special nod to our Hopkinton patrons.  If you are from Hopkinton please let us know at the door and you will receive a free gift!  We will have Larry Joe’s food truck, gelato from Dulce De Leche, a cash bar and plenty of room to spread out your blanket and lawn chair with friends to enjoy the music.

We will also be celebrating all those who gave generously to our Patio and Paver campaign this past year.  All proceeds are helping to defer the costs incurred when we renovated the Terry farmhouse.  That project, as happens with many old buildings, cost the HCA double the projected budget. To date we have raised more than $35,000 for that campaign.  There are many naming opportunities still available and will continue to fundraise at our concerts through the summer.

We would like to thank all those who graciously donated to the Amphitheater/Garden project: Donors include:

• More than $11,000 from the Marathon Committee toward all the outdoor equipment.
• Namings of Pavers and Benches by Dawn and Alan Anderson, Mary Scarlata Rowe and Paul Champlin, James and Brenda Lawrence, Heidi and Kurt Fliegauf, Tom Garabedian and all the members of the Body Fit family who worked out in the amphitheater every week during the pandemic!
• Picnic Table and Rocking Chair namings were made by Sean and Natasha Clark, Joe Gammal, Robin and Mark Walkup, Platinum Physical Therapy and the Hopkinton Running Club.
• We also received donations for the HCA quilt which Jean Bertschmann sewed for us several years ago. Those donors include: Judith Weinthaler, Nancy Drawe, Sophia Vernovsky, Merylyn Mezitt, Andrew Carini, Bruce and Karen Lawrence and Margie Wiggin.

We invite the community to come out Friday night at 6:30 to the HCA amphitheater, as we kick off the summer together celebrating a community project and each other. 

Kelly Grill is the Executive Director of the Hopkinton Center for the Arts