Select Board Reclaims Little Park, Forms Memorial Committee After Months of Dispute

NORTH BROOKFIELD — December 30, 2025 — North Brookfield Select Board unanimously voted to remove the town's "little park" from Parks and Recreation Committee oversight and create a new North Brookfield Memorial Park Committee. Select Board member Jamie Gilman delivered a prepared statement acknowledging the board, Parks and Recreation Chair Brandon Avery, and donor John Trip had all mishandled a dispute over a memorial picnic table removed on safety grounds, saying two men he admired were "feeling unappreciated and disrespected." The board accepted the Trip family's donation of the table for reinstallation with a new memorial plaque, appointed John Trip as the committee's first member, and tabled Avery's resignation — effective January 1 — in hopes he will reconsider. The board also approved warrants totaling more than $1.1 million and accepted a $100 donation from the East Quabin Land Trust.