Rockland community center renamed

http://bangordailynews.com/community/rockland-community-center-renamed/

L to R: Keenan Flanagan, Susan Ware Page, Heidi Vanorse Neal, Steve Durrell


Bangor Daily News
Posted June 29, 2017, at 3:59 p.m.

ROCKLAND, Maine — On January 1, 2017, the community of Rockland lost a great man who was influential in the lives of thousands of Rockland area students for more than 42 years. Edward “Dan the Man” Flanagan passed away at the age of 80. Dan was synonymous with the Rec Center, growing up there himself while his dad, James, was the recreation director.

A small group of local citizens  — Steve Durrell, Heidi Vanorse Neal and Susan Ware Page — teamed up in early spring and approached Mayor Will Clayton about the renaming of “The Rec” to Flanagan Community Center, in honor of the man that you could always find in the building. 

Flanagan grew up at the Rec while his dad worked, and when he returned to Rockland in the 1960s as an adult after living in Texas, he began his journey of teaching five decades of children how to play basketball, from pee-wee age up through the high school level. But Flanagan taught more than just the sport of basketball. “He taught us how to play hard, give it all we had, lose gracefully and how to be a good sport. He taught us how to be good humans,” stated Vanorse Neal, in a press release. 

The idea of renaming The Rec was to honor the legacy of Dan and his father Jim. “We wanted to change the name of building to center because a center is a gathering place,” Ware Page said in a press release. “It’s a place where Dan not only taught us about basketball, but he also taught us about life, and about respect and how to have fun. It is a real honor to do this because it’s incredible that one man could touch the lives of so many people. I think this is the least we can do to honor his memory.”

“We wanted something that would be no maintenance to the city,” she continued. “And we wanted to raise the money to pay for this ourselves. We don’t want it to be of any cost to the city.”

Councilors approved the change in March, and with the blessing of his five children, the threesome went into action to raise funds. Using both Facebook and GoFundMe, they raised over $2,500 for the sign production and installation, which was handled by Adventure Advertising in Rockport. 

The sign was installed in early June. The group still have some funds left and will be creating a plaque to hang in the Flanagan Community Center with a history of Dan’s incredible impact to the community, as well as exploring the cost to include Flanagan Community Center on the court. Any remaining funds after that will be donated to the Flanagan Scholarship Fund

Rockland to Honor Flanagan Family

https://knox.villagesoup.com/p/rockland-to-honor-flanagan-family-with-naming-of-recreation-center/1630830

ROCKLAND — Dan Flanagan and the Rockland recreation center were synonymous for generations of young people in the community.

And the Rockland City Council will honor Flanagan, who died on New Year's Day at age 80, by naming the community building the "Flanagan Community Center." Councilors voiced support for the naming at their Monday night, March 6, meeting, with a formal vote scheduled for March 13.

"He not only taught about basketball, but he taught about life," said Susan Ware Page, who is one of a group of local businesspeople who worked on the proposal and will raise money for the sign that will be affixed to the building.

She said it was incredible how many people he touched over three generations of Rockland-area children.

"He raised more than five children," she said of Flanagan, who had five children, but taught basketball to an untold number of youngsters.

The family found papers after Flanagan's death in which he wrote down his memories of the recreation center.

Flanagan's father -- James Flanagan Sr. -- was the recreation director at the building during the early 1940s and young Dan recalled as a child of 5 or 6 years old helping to lug coal from the coal bin to the furnace in the cellar.

The building was constructed in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration. People in need of jobs during the Great Depression were provided jobs that paid 15 cents per hour, which his research showed was a fair wage for those times.

He also recalled up to 400 people attending biweekly country and western shows at the community center.

His father coached the high school basketball team during World War II and Flanagan grew to love the sport.

"I can recall leaving a window unlocked on Saturdays, so I could sneak in on Sundays to shoot hoops by myself," he wrote in the paperwork found by his family.

During renovations to the building in the 1990s, Flanagan wrote that historical artifacts were found inside the walls, including matchbooks from the 1940s that encouraged people to buy World War II bonds. Coca-Cola bottles from the 1940s were also found inside the walls.

The supporters of renaming the community building have created a Facebook page, named Flanagan Community Appreciation. Page said the sign will not cost taxpayers anything. People interested can go to the Facebook page and contact the group.

Dan Flanagan remembered

https://knox.villagesoup.com/p/remembering-dan-the-man/1610761