Group marks 5 years of climate activism outside Wellesley Town Hall

This past Friday, Feb. 7, marked the fifth year of activists congregating every Friday on the lawn in front of Wellesley Town Hall to hold signs and wave at passersby to call attention to climate change and encourage them to take action.

“Talk about a streak!” says Phyllis Theermann, a regular who is a board member with the all-volunteer Sustainable Wellesley group. (No individual has been there every Friday, but at least someone has been, with photos from over the years filling up the group’s Facebook page.)

The group got its inspiration to start from Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist who first started demonstrating for the climate outside the Swedish Parliament and who founded Fridays for Future, says organizer Ken Batts. “Thunberg inspired thousands of local groups including ours—some affiliated with FFF, some not—to start local weekly climate demonstrations all over the world. An informal network formed, of which we are a part.”

Batts says when he started going to the hill with his sign, he wasn’t sure if anyone would join him despite sending out email to friends. “[I]  honestly didn’t know if they’d be interested. Each year we’ve had more people, and not just my fellow retirees, but students from Dana Hall, Wellesley College, Wellesley High School, and Babson.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic’s start coinciding with the start of Fridays for Future, Batts says that “probably helped us gain supporters, as it was the only shared activity people dared to do in early 2020.”

They’ve been in front of Town Hall—a highly visible and central location—in pretty much every condition the climate can throw at them, including this past frigid Friday, when footing was slippery on the slope along Washington Street for about two dozen activists on hand. The group was formed for peaceful protest, and the signs mostly focus on possible actions, like adopting heat pumps and switching to a plant-based diet.

Initially called Fridays for Future, the group now goes by the Climate Coalition of Wellesley. There are lots of regulars, both from Wellesley and beyond, plus a changing cast of characters, including from the local schools and colleges as students arrive and graduate. Activists have even Zoomed in from Africa.

Making a difference

Has standing there made a difference I asked? Well, more people give thumbs ups than display a certain other digit these days, I was told. Also, it’s not just those whizzing by in electric vehicles that show or voice approval, Coalition members say.

Theermann adds: “The Friday demonstrations are more than calculating climate actions; it is the community that has been built along the way.” Those taking part share ideas, stories, and information on upcoming or past events, she says.

“I have heard people say that it is a meditative type of Friday afternoon activity since they are standing there holding a sign with both hands so they are off of their phones and just thinking, talking, watching for one hour, and doing something they are concerned about,” she says.

Coalition members have been encouraged by actions that the town of Wellesley has taken in recent years, including the recent electrification of the Town Hall building they stand in front of each Friday.

Also over the time during which the Coalition has been in existence, Wellesley has launched a Climate Action Plan, flipped the switch on a big battery energy storage system, introduced a no-cost energy coaches plan, built two net zero-ready schools, and hired personnel devoted to mobility and sustainability. Next up, during Town Meeting, is a proposed Skip the Stuff initiative aimed at encouraging restaurants to dole out less single-use utensils and packaged condiments with take-out orders.

Beyond Wellesley, Batts says “I’m encouraged that general knowledge and acceptance of the facts of climate change is growing, that it’s more and more accepted as not only real but urgent. Also, more and more people are making changes in their lifestyle in order to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Many of our members are working on issues of sustainability, fossil fuel legislation, etc.,” and use the demonstrations as an opportunity to network with one another.

Batts still wishes more people had the issues resulting from climate change on their radar. “Many people still aren’t adjusting their lifestyles significantly or at all, nor are they becoming active on the issue in other ways, nor are they considering it sufficiently when they support candidates vote,” he says. “It was discouraging to have to dig out my old sign that reads ‘Rejoin the Paris Agreement'” in light of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from that pact.

Thanks for the memories

Theermann recalls fond memories from past Fridays, including high schoolers doing cartwheels along the front lawn with the signs.

Then there was the Wellesley College student who brought her family over after graduation, decked out in her cap and gown.

Another memorable moment for Theermann: “A guy in a big SUV slowed down, parked and waved someone over from his drivers seat to ‘talk’ to us. We were not sure how this was going to go but in the end he just wanted to say that he drives by frequently and wanted to thank us for what we were doing. He gave us $50 to buy ourselves some pizza and drove off.”

While that guy may or may not join the group on the hill, Batts encourages more people to do so.

“For anyone thinking of joining us: Though we’re all serious about climate change, we are not ‘experts’ and you don’t have to be one either. We are informed laypersons who are aware of the overwhelming scientific consensus on the human-caused nature of climate change, and how serious the issue is.

“One of the topics we discuss is climate but we also discuss the weather, our families, books, movies, concerts, vacations, etc.,” he says. “People make announcements, read poems, sing songs, etc. We’re serious but we also have fun.”