Date: Fri 29-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Lee-Davenson-Hall-of-Fame

Full Text:

M. Lee Davenson - Hall of Fame 1997

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

What kind of a guy would dress up in a gorilla suit and walk into businesses

up and down South Main Street just to promote a screening of King Kong at the

Edmond Town Hall Theater?

What kind of guy would, as the marshall of the annual Newtown Labor Day

parade, dress himself up in a blue tuxedo and travel the entire parade route

on roller skates?

What kind of guy would dress up as a wild Indians and try to - well, pretend

to - scalp (then) town clerk Mae Schmidle?

Well, that kind of guy is M. Lee Davenson.

A fun-loving, high-spirited sort, M. Lee Davenson was the first full-time

Parks and Recreation Director Newtown ever had and many of the programs and

sports institutions that still exist in this town were formed under his

leadership and guidance.

In effect, the seeds for the enormous growth of the Newtown Parks and

Recreation Department were sown from his first days in office in 1972 to his

last in 1980.

"The overall concept of basic recreation in town was started by Lee," said

current Park & Rec Director Barbara Kasbarian, who worked with Mr Davenson as

a secretary. "He was every place in those days and worked long hours to get

programs started."

Before Mr Davenson arrived - having served as Parks and Recreation Director in

Clinton - the position in Newtown was held on a part-time basis and generally

just during the summer when the majority of the programs were run.

He instantly made an impact here.

It started with the day camps. Youth Softball. Senior citizen programs.

Charlie Brown baseball. Then it moved on to youth basketball, a program that

has more than quadrupled in size since the 1970s and now offers competitive

basketball to about 1,000 kids. And then there was the youth soccer program,

started under Mr Davenson, and since taken over by the Newtown Soccer Club,

boasting year-round competition on dozens of traveling and in-town teams.

"He was a lovable nut," said Mrs Kasbarian, who has served as Parks and

Recreation Director for the last 11 years. "He was a special person. And he

worked so hard. He would get in an eight in the morning and be out every night

and on weekends."

After resigning from his position in 1980, Mr Davenson became the executive

director of Midwestern Connecticut Girl Scouts, a post he held until 1983. He

served a year on the Parks and Recreation Commission, was a member of the

Newtown Lions Club, and served on the board of directors of Newtown Youth

Services. He was also an active member of the Newtown Jaycees and a member of

several professional financial societies.

Mr Davenson died in September of 1988. At the time of his death, he was a

financial planner with the H.L. Finance Group of Sandy Hook. His death at the

age of 40 sent shockwaves through the town.

"He was the most enthusiastic and unselfish man I have ever met," Jack

Rosenthal said at the time. "The loss of this man is a real tragedy. He was

always helping someone and could never say no to anyone who needed help."

For the last seven years, a scholarship has been presented to a graduating

Newtown High School senior, who is planning an education in sports or

recreation, in the memory of M. Lee Davenson. Also, the Funspace playground at

Dickinson Park was dedicated in his memory.

Newtown may have lost M. Lee Davenson, but the work he did for the Parks and

Recreation movement is still being felt by youngsters in town almost 20 years

later.