Writer, Landscape Historian, and Conservationist
By Ron Johnson at the Special Town Meeting, October 23, 2021
Several of us want to acknowledge the contributions to our town by the Emmet
family from the Parkerville part of town. With the recent passing of Alan Emmet
this past week it seems fitting to call to light at this meeting of their town the
contributions of Alan and her husband Richard who passed away in 2007. The
Emmet moved to Westford in 1951, some seventy years ago. (I had the privilege
of being a neighbor and friend for close to sixty of those years.) Over that time,
their efforts were instrumental in making Westford the great place we are now
proud to call home.
Alan was an accomplished landscaper and author. She wrote several acclaimed
books on landscaping and was a regular contributor to House and Garden
magazine. Her landscaping prowess is most evident on the grounds of their home
in Parkerville. She also wrote novels, one of which, The Mr. and Mrs. Club, told of
social life in a small town much like Westford. Many of us spent a lot of time
trying to attach the names of towns people we knew to the characters in the
book, especially the racy ones.
Her husband Richard, or Dick as he was known, served on countless town
committees, was a member of the School Committee, Board of Selectmen and
Conservation Commission. Dick’s passions were conservation and birds. Alan and
Dick gave over 500 acres of land in Westford to the Audubon Society, setting an
example that the town has built on. We now have over 2500 acres of open land
in permanent conservation. For this Dick had a conservation parcel owned by the
town named in his memory in recognition of the work he did as a Selectman to
acquire the Kennedy Pond parcel. He was also instrumental in keeping a
hazardous waste site out of town, something that if it happened would have had
a very negative impact on our town and our way of life.
Both Alan and Dick attended almost all of the town meetings that occurred during
their day, contributing their views and votes on how we could be a better town,
just as we are doing here today.
More here: https://prabook.com/web/alan.emmet/3741572