BEVERLY — As a longtime lover of LobsterFest, Ed Armstrong always showed up early for the annual event and grabbed a table in the corner under the big tent — “Ed’s Corner,” as Beverly Homecoming President Medley Long called it.
On Wednesday, Ed’s Corner was missing its namesake. But Long made sure that Armstrong, who died Sunday at the age of 86, was not forgotten.
Long stepped on stage during LobsterFest at Lynch Park to announce that Armstrong was the winner of the Beverly Homecoming Hometown Hero award.
Long said he literally came up with the idea for the award the night before, after reading Armstrong’s obituary and realizing he wouldn’t be sitting in his traditional spot with family and friends for this year’s LobsterFest, part of the 59th Beverly Homecoming.
Long emailed Homecoming’s board of directors about the idea late Tuesday night, then printed up a certificate.
“It just seemed like a perfect connection for everything Ed has done for Beverly and his love of Homecoming,” Long said. “It kind of embodies what Homecoming is all about — community coming together and celebrating each other.”
The creation of the award was so sudden that Armstrong’s family did not know about it until Long made the announcement at Lynch Park. Long knew family and friends would be at LobsterFest as usual, so he waited until they showed up to announce the award.
“That was so kind of Medley to do that,” said Amy McCay, one of Armstrong’s three children. “It’s such a great honor. This was my father’s favorite day. He loved Beverly and he did a lot for the community.”
Armstrong served on the Beverly School Committee in the 1980s and as the Beverly representative on the Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School Committee from 2017 to 2019. He volunteered at the Anchorage House, a home for youth in crisis in Beverly, and Project Rap, a drug rehabilitation program that was based in Beverly. In 1985, he was honored by the Massachusetts State Senate with the Van Braun Community Service Award.
Armstrong was also a U.S. Army veteran, served as a moderator, deacon, youth fellowship advisor and basketball coach at the First Baptist Church, and sang lead in a local band called The Four Notes.
When he was 14, Armstrong saved a 7-year-old boy from drowning in Breed’s Pond in Lynn and was recognized by the Boston Red Sox, who invited him to sit in the dugout for a game.
Armstrong is also the answer to the trivia question, Who hit the first homerun in Massachusetts Little League history? According to his obituary, Armstrong accomplished the feat in 1950 when he played in the first game of the new Beverly Little League, which was the first Little League in the state.
McCay said her father especially enjoyed having his eight grandchildren with him at LobsterFest and paying for their lobster, or corn on the cob for the one who was a vegetarian.
“He loved people,” she said. “That’s why he loved this day.”
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.