LUNENBURG — The Genevieve Nass Memorial Beach House was recently dedicated in town, a tribute to the woman who devoted her life and career to education and her community.
The ceremony held on Aug. 10 at the town beach on Whalom Lake drew many local people along with members of Nass’s family and a large number of current and previous town lifeguards, some who worked alongside Nass when she taught swim lessons and swim instructors during her tenure as the town beach director for many years.
Lunenburg Parks Commission member Marianne Mascari planned and emceed the meaningful dedication ceremony. She was following in the footsteps of fellow commission member Karin Menard, who had gotten the ball rolling renaming of the town’s beach house in memory of Nass.
“I’ll be honest with you — I came to Lunenburg after Genevieve had passed, so I never had the privilege of knowing her personally,” Mascari disclosed in her remarks at the event. “But in preparation for today, I’ve heard many stories from people in this crowd. And I can tell you this: the more I learned about Genevieve Nass, the more I understand why we are all standing here today.”
Nass was also a dance instructor for 40 years, a Lunenburg Public Schools physical education teacher for over 20 years, ran marathons including Boston more than once, loved all things Disney, and was a loving mom and grandmother who died in November 2022 at age 67 and is missed by many.
Mascari thanked Nass’s family who made the trip to be there for the special occasion and expressed that their presence “means everything, and we hope today brings you as much joy as it does us.”
Members of the Lunenburg Select Board were also in attendance as well as Nass’s close friends, former students, fellow runners, and “everyone who loved her,” the town resident of a decade relayed.
“You are exactly who she would have wanted in the crowd today,” Mascari said.
Menard and Nass’s dear friend Eileen Kennedy spoke about Nass’s remarkable contributions to the community, and her grandson Ethan Gengler shared some personal memories. Then the microphone was opened up to anyone who wanted to say a few words followed by Select Board Chair Renee Emkey offering remarks and presenting the family with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the Town of Lunenburg.
Mascari invited the family to come up for the official dedication of the Genevieve Nass Memorial Beach House at 265 Prospect St. and the symbolic unveiling of the sign, as the real sign is located by a busy road.
“She was on this very beach, summer after summer, teaching children to swim, training lifeguards, and serving as beach director,” Mascari shared of Nass. “She ran Genevieve’s School of Dance for more than 40 years — 40 years of recitals, nervous kids in costumes, parents in folding chairs, and Genevieve cheering every single one of them on. That is not just a résumé. That is a life lived in full service to others.”
“On behalf of the Lunenburg Parks Commission, the Select Board, and the entire community that Genevieve loved and served for her whole life, it is a great honor to dedicate this beach house to her name,” Mascari said.
There’s a painting at the beach house done by artist Peggy O’Neil that features a lifeguard chair, rescue ring, and the words ’23 4 EVER’ symbolizing Nass wanting to stay young at heart. The three initials also included — CK, CS and GN — are in honor of Nass and two other late lifeguards who made a big impact on the lives of the families and people in town, Catie Keefer and Cheryl Shaw.
Mascari shared that Nass was a dancer long before she was anything else, studying dance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and opening a dance studio in town, where she taught “generations of this town’s children to move with joy and confidence,” she noted.
They marked the moment with Nass’s favorite song, “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack, and everyone was given a personalized water bottle in Nass’s memory before Mascari everyone to raise a toast in Nass’s honor and celebrate her.
“I’d like to ask everyone to raise whatever you have in your hand,” she said to those gathered. “Genevieve Nass was a teacher, a coach, a lifeguard, a marathoner, a dancer and a devoted grandmother, mother, sister and friend. She spent her life in motion — and she brought everyone around her along for the ride.
“She encouraged the nervous swimmer. She cheered on the reluctant dancer. She showed up for her students, her family, and this town, year after year, decade after decade,” Mascari continued. “May her spirit of encouragement, involvement, and kindness be her legacy — here at this beach house, and throughout our town of Lunenburg.”
Following the ceremony, Mascari expressed that Nass’s amazing life and what she did for those in her community made it “easy to plan.”
“It was important to honor Genevieve, to show our town’s appreciation of her selfless character and so many community contributions, and it shows the difference that even one person can make in so many ways,” she said. “Her legacy is such an inspiration.”
Mascari also shared that during the dedication ceremony, an American eagle who is a known resident of the lake flew almost directly over the crowd.
“I thought of it as a nice sign from Genevieve.”
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