Beverly Mayor And Parks Director Kick Teenagers Out Of Pete Frates’ Park For Playing Basketball Too Loudly Without A Permit

 

In 2018 the town of Beverly opened Pete’s Park, in honor of Beverly native Pete Frates, a former Boston College baseball player and inspiration for the Ice Bucket Challenge who died a couple years later from ALS. The park received a $300K grant from the state to renovate the park for “all Beverly and north shore residents to enjoy.”

Recently a group of teenagers started their own unsanctioned 3 on 3 basketball games that required no fees. It wasn’t a formal league, games were never scheduled for any particular times, and they had no more right to the courts than anyone else did. These games became popular and kids from the neighborhood would stop by to watch.

This is obviously a good thing for the community, considering that too many teenagers these days would rather sit in their rooms eating pot gummies, vaping, and playing X-Box with strangers online than they would getting exercise outdoors. These same kids have had the last 2 years of their lives stolen from them by adults who put their own safety concerns over the well being of children.

Then this guy showed up on Saturday to swing his authority around because the adults in the community aren’t done robbing children of their childhoods.

Bruce Doig is the Director of Parks and Recreation in Beverly, and nobody in town has fun without getting his approval first.

Over the weekend he showed up during one of their games and told them they couldn’t play anymore because the neighbors complained that they were swearing and smoking pot! Except an adult with the kids said that never happened, and accused the neighbors of lying because they don’t like living next to a park that wasn’t there when they bought their house. Bruce had heard enough though and showed up on his unearned power trip to tell the kids that they could no longer play basketball there. However, he did say that he’d give them a permit for another park, which would seem to suggest that he doesn’t think they’re an actual problem and is simply doing this to appease the neighbors.

“This is not what it’s intended for.”

The basketball court was not intended for people to play basketball on. Got it.

“The issue here is noise, trash.”

There will be no noise from children at the park!

“You can’t play pickup here, this isn’t a pick up game.”

Six kids playing an informal game where the winner gets nothing but bragging rights isn’t pickup basketball. It’s basically the NBA.

“Why you guys playing on a small court, you too lazy?”

You’re a government bureaucrat who sits in a truck all day and prevents other people from exercising. Maybe don’t lecture people about being lazy if you can’t finish a 5K without being put on a ventilator.

“I’ll give you a permit to another park.”

Why would you give a park permit to if you believe them to be pot smoking vulgar litterbugs?

“You were here last week, you’re here this week, so you’re using it regularly.”

Everyone knows the rules of the park – you can only visit it once a month or else you’re a formal basketball league.

According to parents and teachers none of the kids were swearing or smoking pot, they brought their own trashbags, and the kids were well behaved AP students who just wanted to play some basketball on a Saturday.

But this guy wasn’t having it.

This was my favorite:

“One time in COVID we shut down the hoops and I was up on the ladder and a kid tried to hit the ladder out from under me.”

I don’t know who those kids are, but I’d like to treat them dinner. This is EXACTLY the kind of guy who took pride in tearing down basketball hoops to prevent children from exercising during a pandemic to protect them from a virus that preys on people who are out of shape.

The high that people like this got from their unlimited power during the pandemic hasn’t gone away.

According to this lifelong government hack, he was taking his marching orders from Mayor Michael Cahill.

There’s nothing Mayor Cahill hates to see more in his city than children getting fresh air and exercise. But he’s too busy saving Ukraine and virtue signaling about trans visibility (whatever that means) to go down himself and kick the kids out.

 

If you think those kids got it bad, just wait until Putin tries to show up and play 3 on 3. He’s in for a rude awakening from the Bruce Caboose and Mayor Baby Face!

I don’t feel out of line saying that I believe that Pete Frates would be devastated to know that kids are being kicked out of a park with his name on it because some loser neighbors don’t like living next to it. Tonight parents and students are speaking in front of the City Council about this issue. The mayor should be ashamed and embarrassed that it’s come to this, and he should issue an official apology and let the neighbors know that the park is open to everyone.