Foxboro High Dedicates Sam Berns Community Field

On Thursday evening, Foxboro High held a dedication ceremony for its new turf field, which opened for use this past fall. Thanks to the work of a group of students, four of whom (Gus Herlihy, Megan Ennis, Varun Nambikrishnan, and Kyle Newcomb) presented the idea to the Foxboro School Committee, the field will now be known as the Sam Berns Community Field. 

Sam Berns was a junior at the school who had the rare genetic disorder progeria, which causes accelerated  aging in children, and passed away in January. On Thursday, family, friends, classmates, teachers, and administrators gathered to remember Sam and the inspiration that he provided to the entire school community.

“Today is really, really special,” said Foxboro superintendent Debra Spinelli. “The fact that his name is up on the field represents everything that is good about our community and everything that was so good about him — the coming together of people from all walks of life, the focus on our children, the willingness to do anything to make it happen — and that’s the way Sam was. He didn’t see any barriers to any challenges.”

Herlihy, one of Sam’s many friends from the high school band, added, “He was very witty, very funny. You always wanted to hang out with him because he always made you laugh. He was just such a nice kid…everyone that wanted to meet him, he welcomed with open arms.”

One of the speakers at the ceremony was New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft, who recalled his first meeting with Sam and watching him speak to the Patriots before the team traveled to Atlanta in September. 

Kraft became very emotional at the end of his remarks. He explained, “I was going to say how I loved him and I just…There was something about his persona that drew you to him and you just respected him. I felt deep affection for him and I really miss him.”

Ennis said, “He was always positive; always motivating people and he never let his situation get him down and that was really a motivation to everyone. He always was there to put a smile on everyone’s face.”

At the ceremony, it was announced that on Thursday morning the Spinney family had provided a $25,000 donation to build a scoreboard that should be ready by next fall. It was a surprise announcement, but no one was shocked that the community would reach out to support a project dedicated to Sam.

Spinelli said, “He always had a smile on his face. We never knew when he wasn’t feeling well or if he was tired…We never knew anything about how he really felt because he was always positive and always moving forward.”

Herlihy summed it up:  “It’s very fitting considering how much influence he’s had in all our lives. Teaching us by leading by example…We all learned by how great of a person he was.”