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North Andover’s
Perfect Ambassador:
Town Clerk Joyce Bradshaw
Ted Tripp
10/03/06
 Anyone who spends anytime in the
downtown area has probably noticed a maroon van parked in
the vicinity of town hall. The van is there during the
day, many evenings and it is not unusual to see it parked
nearby on a weekend. You might think it belongs to
somebody living in the neighborhood.
But the van belongs to Town Clerk Joyce Bradshaw and is a
symbol of all the extra hours that she devotes to town
business while performing her duties as keeper of the
town’s vital records and its Elections Officer.
A town clerk’s functions include recording
residents’ births, deaths and marriages, issuing
licenses for dogs, liquor and to those wishing to get
married, and swearing in public officials.
The clerk is also in charge of setting up annual and
special town meetings as well as establishing the
mechanics behind all local, state and federal elections -
not to mention certifying the results of vote totals.
Moreover, a clerk is by law one of four registrars
responsible for certifying names on ballot petitions and
candidate nomination papers. Some clerks also take on the
jobs of notary public and justice of the peace.
In these functions, the town clerk is generally the first
local government official a newly arrived resident –
or visitor - meets when seeking a town service or town
information. She thus becomes the unofficial ambassador
of the town as she performs her duties.
Joyce Bradshaw is the quintessential town clerk. Her hard
work and dedication are much appreciated by all those who
have come in contact with her. It is impossible to think
of a better ambassador to represent North Andover.
Back in the early 1990s, Joyce, a life-long resident of
the town, was the branch manager of the Community Savings
Bank on Main Street. She was also quite active on the old
Board of Trade, which represented downtown merchants. In
these positions she got to know a large portion of the
town’s residents.
In 1994, after the Community Savings Bank was sold, the
town clerk’s position opened up and Joyce decided to
apply for it as she was told by a friend that the  job was “easy.” Shortly
after being sworn in, however, she realized that there
was a lot she needed to know just to get started. She
made a call to Town Clerk Randy Hanson in Andover looking
for help and, like most town clerks, Ms. Hanson was happy
to teach Joyce the basics of the position. The two remain
good friends to this day.
On Joyce’s first day on the job, while actually
being sworn in by the Board of Selectmen, she wasn’t
prepared for the antics of then Selectman Don Stewart.
She had known Stewart from her dealings at the bank, but
was totally surprised when Stewart turned around, bent
over and dropped his … well, you get the idea. And
this was in front of the entire board!
Joyce quickly became proficient in her duties and then
decided this wasn’t enough and wanted to do more for
the residents of her town.
Then the stories started. You might hear that she brought
important papers to a resident’s home because the
resident was too sick to go down to Town Hall or was
perhaps disabled. Or you would hear that she would keep
the office open past closing time if a resident called
saying he will be a little late getting to her office.
She always went out of her way to make herself available.
Perhaps the best story is when a family was about to
embark on a vacation and was at Logan Airport on a Sunday
morning ready to leave. At the ticket counter, all of a
sudden the parents were told that one of the children
didn’t have the proper documentation to leave the
country. The parents put in a frantic call to the North
Andover police to see if there was anything they could
do. The police called Joyce who immediately went over to
town hall, got the paperwork, and then personally drove
it to the airport just in time for the family to catch
the plane. While it all worked out in the end, how many
town clerks do you think would be willing to perform this
service … on a Sunday morning no less!
In 2003, at the North Andover Democratic Town Committee
annual breakfast, Joyce Bradshaw was awarded the
distinction, “Democrat of the Year.” I attended
that breakfast and my immediate thoughts were mixed. I
was pleased to see her get the recognition she so richly
deserved, but thought that the party label was a stretch.
Anybody who knows Joyce realizes that she treats all
constituents the same regardless of their party
affiliation. You can be a Democrat, a Republican, a
Libertarian or even unaffiliated and you will get the
same great response from Joyce and her staff.
More recently, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status
of Women selected Joyce Bradshaw as one of
“Massachusetts’ 240 Community Unsung Heroines
of 2006,” as a tribute to her work as town clerk.
Of course, in such a wide-ranging job as town clerk,
everything does not always run smoothly, particularly
when outside forces intervene. Such was the day on
September 11, 2001, the day the World Trade Towers were
attacked by terrorists. That day was also an Election Day
for North Andover to fill a vacancy on the Board of
Selectmen. During the morning of the attack, Joyce called
the Secretary of State’s office to see if the
election should proceed. She was told that it would
probably be cancelled, according to Joe Smith, who was a
candidate at the time. Joyce persevered with the election
anyway since she didn’t have official notice for
cancellation and later on was vindicated when Governor
Jane Swift ruled the election should proceed.
Rosemary Smedile, former member of the Finance Committee
and member of the Board of Selectmen, has worked with
Joyce for many years on a wide variety of town issues.
She sums it all up when she says, “Joyce is always
there, and always there for anybody in need.”
Town Manager Mark Rees tells the story about when towns
were first given the option to provide passport services
to residents. At first he was hesitant that North Andover
should adopt this program because he was concerned that
Joyce and her staff didn’t have the time or
resources to offer it.
But Joyce felt it was an important service that should be
provided and convinced Rees to support the passport
program. Not surprisingly, implementation of the new
service has proceeded smoothly.
Mark Rees adds that Joyce is the “Perfect Ambassador
for the town of North Andover.”
Joyce Bradshaw is the same caring and helpful person
outside of the office as she is in it. Carrie Crouch, one
of Joyce’s dearest friends – and in speaking
for her entire family - says it simply, “I’m
very fortunate to have Joyce in our lives.”
Thank you Joyce Bradshaw for all that you do for the town
and its citizens.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The October, 2006
Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 9,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
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Beach, and Lowell.
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Valley Patriot Archive
Prior Columns by Ted Tripp
Methuen Candidate Interviews
Prior Columns by Councilor Rahme
Prior Lead Stories
Prior interviews by Hanna
Prior columns by Paula Porten
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