You wake up knowing that it has been snowing all night. You glance out the window to see how big a job it will be, but to your surprise, your driveway is clean. It’s clean because your neighbor did it.

He also built a playhouse for the little girl next door and a stained glass window with her favorite action hero. He fixed his neighbor’s garage door when it would not open. For a friend, he installed windows that needed replacing as part of a leaking roof project.  

He is a master craftsman and creative artist. He has saved the town lots of money building the children’s ramp to the new Public Safety Building fire pole and a kids’ fight-the-fire simulator. He built mailboxes for Town Hall and the Public Safety Building, installed glass and vents in doors at the Community Center, replaced the men’s room door, installed a Dutch door for the Board of Health, and installed a vented door for the computer equipment room at the Town Hall — ALL PRO BONO.

He built a workbench and two lofts for the Town Forest shed, and kiosks for the Town Forest and Arboretum. When a tree falls on a forest trail, the committee calls on their member-version of Paul Bunyan, and the obstacle disappears in a matter of hours.

He was the visionary and chief activist behind the cleanup of the Cadillac Paint property and creation of the Ashland Arboretum park.

He has served on the Zoning Board of Appeals, wrote the pesticide manual for the Board of Health, and has been the non-financial voice of reason on the Finance Committee.  He is a polymath who can converse on a vast array of subjects.

He is the kind of person who stops his car to help turtles and other critters cross the road, or checks whether they are still alive if they have been hit by a car. He asks to pet every dog he sees and assures them they are a good dog.

He has a great sense of humor, and believes that kindness is the greatest virtue humans can have. He helped raise a nephew and has had an active role in the lives of other family members. He generously gives to charities that support children and animals, has donated blood during most of his life, and is a vegetarian because he doesn’t believe in eating animals.

His wife of over 50 years says, “He is truly the best thing that ever happened to me”.

He is Ed Hart — husband, friend, neighbor, community supporter, and now Ashland’s Citizen of the Year. Ashland is lucky to have him. Congratulations and a big thank you to Ed!