Marblehead native Dave Rodgers sat in an armchair in the house he grew up in, surrounded by old black-and-white photographs, and described growing up in Marblehead in the 1950s. He fondly remembers chasing pheasants down local train tracks with a bow and arrow, playing baseball at Seaside Park — just a quick bike ride from where he sat now — and spending afternoons fishing for flounder.
Born in 1949, Rodgers has been able to see Marblehead and its residents grow and change over the years. He grew up in a time before games of pick-up baseball, bike riding and fishing were replaced by video games and Instagram.
“We would hang down at Seaside all the time during the summers,” Rodgers said. “We’d be down playing basketball till the lights went out. In the afternoons, we would go down to the beach or to the wharf and swim. As I got older, a few of my friends got small rowboats, and we went flounder fishing. It was good, clean fun.”
He even bought a rowboat with the money he earned by scoring baseball games at Seaside.
Baseball was another favorite activity for Rodgers and the neighborhood kids. During the spring and summer they would often play pickup baseball at Seaside Park. They organized most of it themselves, something that in this era of organized sports many kids aren’t familiar with.
“We used to go to the park in the springtime and everybody was out there playing baseball,” Rodgers said. “Now you just don’t see that unless it’s organized.”
Rodgers thinks there isn’t a strong community in Marblehead anymore, and that people have become disconnected from each other.
“Everybody used to know everybody,” Rodgers said. “You could walk downtown and see lots of people you knew, but today I walk downtown and I don’t know anybody. It used to be very close-knit.”
He also thinks that life in Marblehead was better before smartphones and screens took over.
“The kids always entertained themselves,” Rodgers said. “There were no video games. We would all just get together to play ball instead. We had a lot more freedom, but people were always looking out for us. There was definitely a stronger sense of community back then.”
After graduating high school, Rodgers joined the Navy and went off to fight in Vietnam. After returning, he went into commercial fishing and lobstering. He still fishes to this day.
“There’s a lot of freedom out there,” Rodgers said. “It’s beautiful. It’s just peaceful, it’s not even like work.” He owns a fishing shanty down near Flat Rock (near Fort Beach), and inside it’s filled with equipment, buoys and a wood stove. Outside there are piles of lobster traps waiting for next summer.
Rodgers is perhaps best known around town as Marblehead’s veterans affairs agent for 25 years, and he said it was one of the most fulfilling experiences of his life. He retired last year.
“It was very rewarding,” Rodgers said. “I got to know a lot of older gentlemen who were in the Greatest Generation. It was quite rewarding to get to know quite a few of those guys.”
When the Seaside Park grandstand was in disrepair and almost needed to be demolished in the 1980s, Rodgers stepped up and spearheaded the effort to save one of his favorite places from his childhood. He helped raise money to repair it, and it was eventually protected as an historic landmark.
Rodgers advises young people to stay humble, chase their aspirations and respect others, because he believes it can get you quite far.
“Have time for people, and respect them,” Rodgers said. “Don’t judge too quickly and don’t ever give up. If you’ve got a dream or something you want to do, don’t give up on it. Be a good teammate and be a good person and don’t make fun of people or be a bully.”
