A new natural stone bench and plaque overlooking the former gravel pit near Morses Pond in Wellesley pays tribute to two 12-year-old boys who died in a sand slide at the site on Nov. 15, 1959.
This tragedy claimed the lives of Chuckie Adams and Mark Ketchum, who were buried alive while playing with friends on the town Water Department property. This was a time when kids were freer to roam and fewer areas were formally fenced off.
The boys had been working on a small tunnel at the base of the pit when “30 tons of sand rumbled down with horrifying suddenness on the pair,” according to a front page Boston Globe article headlined “2 Wellesley Boys Die As Sand Pit Caves In.”
The reports didn’t hold back, with one subhead in the Globe reading: “6 Chums Watch in Horror As Youngsters Are Buried.” The Townsman ran a front page photo of the site later in November with a headline over it that read: “Where Boys Met Death.”
One of their friends moments before the sand slide had left the tunnel, where the face of the pit was much more vertical than it is today. His near-miss story was shared at the time as well.
Wellesley resident Suzy Littlefield last fall reached out to the Board of Public Works (the land owner of this property) about possibly honoring the boys after learning about the accident from another longtime resident. She had considered whether it could make sense to have a memorial of some kind at Hardy Elementary School, which the boys attended, but found that schools were no longer doing such remembrances.
photo courtesy of the Wellesley Historical Society)
At the scene back on Nov. 15, 1959, some of the boys’ friends ran for help, including to the police chief, who lived nearby. He called the accident in to the police department, then scrambled to the site with another man, both armed with shovels. Some of the boys’ other friends stayed on the scene and frantically tried to dig out their pals.
Despite the heroic efforts by police and fire personnel, and the friends, the Wellesley Junior High 7th graders could not be saved. The boys were uncovered after about 35 minutes of digging by the police and fire teams.
“There were three kids crying and clawing at the sand when we got there,” the police chief said, per the Globe article.
A double funeral was held for the boys, formally Harold Charles (Chuckie) Adams, Jr., and Mark Richard Ketchum, per a Wellesley Townsman article. The pair of Boy Scouts were described as kids who enjoyed activities such as camping, fishing, and sports.
“This story was front page news in the Townsman and the Boston Globe, yet it seems to have been erased from the memory of the Town almost completely,” Littlefield wrote to the Board of Public Works in raising the possibility of a memorial.
The BPW was immediately open to the idea, though discussion ensued about rules for installing memorials in natural areas in town. The natural stone bench in the boys’ honor was agreed upon as a fitting tribute that will allow those enjoying the area today to rest and take in the views, including the pine forest at the top of the hill.
Littlefield raised more than $1,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the bench placement, the plaque, and mounting the plaque.
“It took me less than 40 hours to fundraise the amount; folks in Town are very generous and supportive,” Littlefield said.
As if this tribute couldn’t be any more poignant, it turns out that there is a connection between the 1959 incident and Mike Balboni, one of the DPW employees who installed the stone bench. There was a boy at the accident scene named Ricky Balboni… who became Mike’s uncle.
“I’m very familiar with the story because my dad use to tell me about it when I was younger,” says Mike an 8-year DPW veteran. “When [Wellesley Park & Tree Superintendent Cricket Vlass] told us about the job I thought it was very rewarding to be part of it seeing how it affected my uncle when he was younger. I’m glad the town has not forgotten about this sad day in Wellesley history.”
When I stopped by on Thursday afternoon (April 10) to photograph the bench and plaque installed earlier in the day, I asked a man walking the trail whether he’d like to hear about this new memorial. After I shared a brief version of the story, he said, “amazing, amazing,” as we both looked at the marker and then at the pit below.
The plaque simply reads:
In Memory of
CHUCKIE ADAMS
MARK KETCHUM
November 15, 1959
(To access the memorial, from Turner Road heading toward Morses Pond, go past the yellow gate and the Crosstown Trail map house. Turn right to follow a purple woodland trail marker, walk five or so minutes in the woods through the pine forest, and you’ll reach the trail along the top of the old gravel pit. Proceed to the right until you reach the bench.)
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I remember that day very well. My father Clarendon (C.G.) Richert and I were taking a normal hike around Wellesley which we often did on Saturdays and Sundays by Morse’s Pond and Lake Waban from our home at 45 Summit Road. We were walking along the top of the sand and gravel pit looking down and I believe saw boys playing there and proceeded on around to Morse’s Pond and over the railroad track beyond to the Wellesley College campus and Lake Waban. We use to walk 5 to 8 miles every hike. I was 11 years old and a sixth grade student at Hardy School at the time.
When we heard about the tragedy we were shocked that we probably just past the area before the accident occurred. Since we had moved to Wellesley from Urbana, Illinois in July 1959 I had not gone to school with the victims.
Thank you for sharing this, Paul