b'C H A P T E R E L E V E NMottur noted the selectmens presence and concluded: It is important to work closely with the Town and to solicit the Selectmens opinions. Ever since, with a few exceptions, its been basic doctrine for directors to consult Town officials on initiatives of common interest.That may be true, but you have to factor in the make-up of Friends board members. Early director Doug Rhodes had it just right in recalling, There were many powerful people in that group (of directors). These were individuals like Richard Batchelder, pro bono pile-driver behind having the Town buy the Old Mill Boat Yard; Judy Hoyt, vocally concerned about Stage Harbor pollution; Martha Stone, who led the charge on calling for septic system inspection when a house was being sold; and, of course, Joan Kimball, first president. There were (board) groups interested in this or that, recalls Rhodes. (Mrs. Kimball) emerged as the bonding force, pulling things together.Take it as a given, though, that at the start, cordial relations existed between the board and Town administrators. But when Batch Batchelder, Mrs. Stone and others briskly hoisted sail, local officials could have felt that these volunteers had as much muscle as the little old white-haired ladies in sneakers who, according to public broadcasting legend, raised the funds to revive the young WGBH-TV in Boston after a disastrous fire.Hardly neophytes, Friends directors of the Eighties pushed, if they had to, to get one or another initiative going. Inevitably, Town functionaries sometimes found the pressure off-putting.Territory was threatened. And departmental employees tended to stiffen up, to be less willing to accept a Friends concept. That certainly happened when the Friends had ideas about speeding up or improving waterways testing. Those memories still pulse in the minds of several directors.Resentments die slowly.Relations between FCW and Town Hall reached their nadir during the period (1998-2002) when FCW set out to amend the Zoning Bylaw to help manage growth. Mrs. Ecker and John Geiger,Early Friends director Doug Rhodes, here with wife Nancy, has never forgotten the men and women who served on the initial board.There were many powerful people, he remembers, but first president Joan Kimball pulled it all together.Rhodes Family Archives201'