By Ed Karvoski Jr., Contributing Writer
Marlborough/Hudson – The painted rock at the Marlborough-Hudson border on Route 85 has been a venue to express grief, hope and celebration for several decades, long before social media began. Those paintings are now shared on a Facebook page created by Bruce Caissie, a 1982 graduate of Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School.
He spoke about the phenomenon with a slide presentation, offered Oct. 29 by the Marlborough Historical Society at the Marlborough Senior Center.
“The rock is very powerful to the people of Marlborough and Hudson,” he said. “There’s a story behind every rock painting.”
The first painting of which he’s aware was a political campaign message in 1965 when then-City Councilor George Hutch ran against then-Mayor Kuson Haddad.
“At the time, anybody who painted the rock was subject to prosecution,” Caissie explained. “It was done after nightfall.”
In 1990, equipped with miner’s lights, Caissie and his buddies painted the Boston Bruins logo to support the team during the Stanley Cup finals.
“A police cruiser showed up,” Caissie relayed. “When the policeman realized it was the Bruins symbol, all he said was, ‘They better win!’ We’ve never had a problem since.”
The rock has been painted repeatedly around the Thanksgiving Day football rivalry between Marlborough and Hudson. Caissie spoke about a 1982 battle of the rock paintings.
“The night before Thanksgiving, Hudson High students painted the rock and were so proud of themselves,” he said. “They didn’t know that on the other side of the road were kids from Marlborough High. They waited for it to dry, then they painted the rock.”
A photo was shown of the 2007 Marlborough High cross-country teammates painting a celebratory message for their league title win. Caissie noted that they were more environmentally conscious than yesteryear’s painters and wore masks to avoid fumes.
Several experienced rock painters were in attendance that evening including Bob Morel. When his family moved to Hudson in 1973, he joined the Hudson CYO Royal Jades, a marching band conducted by Professor Alfredo N. Yesue.
One of Morel’s paintings memorialized George “Gumper” Swanson, a longtime volunteer who ultimately became the band’s manager. A photo was shown picturing his widow, Irene, viewing the memorial rock message from the Royal Jades.
“This is one of the most powerful paintings in the whole presentation,” Caissie said.
After Prof. Yesue died in 1975, the band’s conductor was his son, Alfred D. Yesue.
“His famous line was ‘Again!’” Caissie relayed. “They got so good at doing it again that they brought back awards.”
When he died at age 65 in 2011, band members memorialized him with a rock painting. These painters devolved a new technique, Caissie noted.
“They brought a battery-pack leaf-blower to speed up the drying time,” he said.
Among others memorialized was Scott Ricciuti of Marlborough, a fixture in the Worcester music scene, who died in a vehicle accident at age 48 in 2012. That rock painting was done by Billy Claire, an art teacher at Fay School in Southborough. Claire returned to create another painting for the one-year anniversary of his death. A friend of Ricciuti left the musician’s guitar and shoes in front of the rock, which was captured in a photo.
The rock became even more personal to Caissie in 2010 when his sister Paula Caissie Babineau needed treatment for leukemia in Houston, Texas. His friend Rich Riley joined him and several relatives to paint a message promoting a fundraiser for her. When she passed away at age 44 in 2011, she was memorialized with a rock painting.
“Doing this helped us heal,” Caissie said.
Caissie began the page in February 2010. It now has over 3,500 followers and more than 400 photos. Find “The Rock (Marlboro Ma.)” on Facebook. The other page administrators are Jessica Eve Coppolino, David and Jim Caissie, Bridgette Brown Peterson, Carol Confrey Pusateri and Robert Zagwyn.
“If it’s important for someone to paint the rock, then it’s important for me to tell the history of it,” Caissie said.
Photos/submitted