Celebration Bench for Needham Cyclist Parks Outside Starbucks

July 20, 2026
• Friends of a late Needham resident honored his legacy with a memorial bench in a familiar spot.

“If at second you don’t succeed, try first again.” This is the phrase that adorns the new celebration bench dedicated to the life of Needham resident Fred Kresse outside of the town’s Starbucks.

Kresse, who passed away on July 11, 2024 at 93 years old, was an avid outdoorsman and cyclist who pedaled with the Charles River Wheelers into his 80s. After rides, a small group would gather at the Needham Heights cafe to recap their expeditions but also talk big-picture. They nicknamed themselves “the Royal Order of the Knights of the Square Table,” a nod to King Arthur’s clan of peacemakers.

Just outside their old meeting grounds, his name and catchphrase mark a new metal bench, fueled by nearly $3,000 in community donations. The Needham Community Revitalization Trust Fund, the local arts initiative that works to bring more art into public spaces, acted as a vehicle for procuring donations and purchasing and installing the bench. The NCRTF installed the bench on July 10.

Rick Vincent, a friend of Kresse’s whom he met through First Parish in Needham Unitarian Universalist, remembers him as “a very passionate Renaissance man.”

“He just loved to engage with people as much as possible, talking all things political, environmental, philosophical,” said Vincent, who joined the Knights in 2017. “One of my fondest times being with him was sitting under a beautiful cherry tree in his front yard, a willow tree. We would just sit there and watched the people go by, and whenever anybody went by, we acknowledged their existence. And we would just sit there and talk and relax.”

People-watching slid into the Knights’ routine at Starbucks too — in a Patch story from 2011, Kresse said their weekend coffee runs post-ride would involve sitting on a bench outside to “look at women, cars and dogs.” It’s where they would “watch the world go by,” Vincent said.

Cycling brought Kresse joy and friendships, according to his obituaries. Up until age 83, Kresse participated in an annual bike ride around his birthday in which the distance he rode matched his age — 83 miles for 83 years of life. Their rides would take them through Medfield, Dover, Provincetown and sometimes all the way to Montreal, Vincent said.

“It was very much in their blood,” he said.

Kresse’s bench is one of almost 30 benches in Needham that NCRTF has funded over the past 26 years. Past benches have been dedicated to community members such as Postman Vincent Walsh, Coach Dan Warn and Lachlan McQuivey, to name a few.

Memorial benches serve as a gateway for Needham citizens to recognize and celebrate those who have contributed to the town, NCRTF Chair and Founder Paul Good said.

“When the program started, almost all the benches around town were non-decorative,” Good said. “[NCRTF] saw the benches as an opportunity… to bring art to the community, to celebrate people who meant a lot to the community and brought joy to the community.”

An older bench, facing Avery Square, previously occupied the sidewalk space where Kresse’s memorial bench now sits.

Each bench takes three to five months, rolling through different town departments and boards for approval, Good said. Benches typically cost between $3,000 and $4,000, although the price can vary by individual bench and where they are installed. For every bench funded, 10% of the cost of sponsorship goes back to the trust fund so that they can continue to run the program, Good said.

Kresse’s bench in particular solicited public interest, he added.

“We have had wonderful support from the community during this project,” Good said.

The Knights spearheaded the fundraising push, garnering $2,891 in donations from 26 people, Vincent said. That covered the cost of the bench, which totaled $2,686, according to Vincent.

Kresse moved to Needham in the ’60s and joined First Parish, where he helped pioneer its “Community School,” described as an “open-curriculum concept that hosted educational classes and events for the whole community, not just First Parish,” according to the church.

First Parish referred to Kresse as a “man of many facets and talents.” Philosophy, classical music, motorcycles, education, long bike rides and witty wordplay are among some of the things Kresse is most remembered for.

The quote on the bench plays into that playfulness — what Vincent referred to as “one of Fred’s laws.”

“It was just one of his many witticisms that we thought would kind of embrace exactly Fred’s profound wit, and just enjoy coming up with something that was playful yet very thought-provoking in a way,” he said. “I mean, it’s silly, but it kind of sends a message.”

A bench alone can’t tell the full story of an individual remembered by family, friends and community. Inscriptions and personalized messages help convey and preserve the personality of the person commemorated, Good said.

“The plaques on the benches have phrases that contain the essence of that person,” he said. “I get to learn all these stories about all these different people from all different slices of life.”

A dedication ceremony for Kresse’s bench will be held in September. As of now, a date has not been set.

Bee Eckels is a rising senior at Simmons University, where she is studying writing and journalism. Her work has also appeared in The Simmons Voice.