The Roslindale Village Main Street (RVMS) hosted hundreds at the Substation last week to honor residents Glenn Williams and his late wife Janice.

The pair, married for 39 years before Janice passed away in 2023, have had an impact on the neighborhood and the city that is still rippling out every year. Both helped to form many traditions Roslindale celebrates every year, with more and more fanfare to boot. From Open Studios to Porch Fest, the Farmers Market to the Boston Neighborhood Network, the pair have put their stamp on the community by creating events and organizations that bring residents, volunteers, businesses, and families together.

Williams said he was honored to be there, and asked that the audience lift up their voices to share their love with his wife Janice as well.

“We’re going to send it up to Jan, and I want it as loud as you can,” he said. “Thank you very much, and I’m sure she’s here with us.”

Williams said as a songwriter, he would be constantly asking his wife Janice if she had before heard a song he’d play for her during his songwriting process (ostensibly to make sure he wasn’t recycling or copying someone else’s song).

“She would inevitably turn to me and say, “Yeah, it’s the only thing you’ve been playing for the last three weeks!!!” he said to laughter. “But I always had to bring things through her. She was my bride, for 40 years. It was great. But anyone talks about team efforts or people working together for cause, a solution or just plain fun, that was Janice. Believe me, she was the one taking notes, sitting at the computer and making many of the decisions. But also imprinting me with the knowledge and energy to get things done.”

Williams reminded the gathered crowd that the RVMS Farmers Market used to be held at the MBTA Commuter Rail parking lot. He said even then, Adams Park seemed like a better fit.

“A train pulled in, and Janice said, ‘We got to fix this, we’ve got to do something about it,’” he said. “So we got together with Charlie McCarthy, Steve Gag, Laura Gang, the great Barbara Lottero, Carter Wilkey, and Joseph Portalecki, and we said we’re going to move it down to Adams Park. Everyone raised their eyebrows and said, ‘They ain’t going to let you do that.’ So we called our good friend on the City Council, Thomas Menino.”

Williams said that also spurred the redesign of Adams Park to be what it is today.

Williams’ daughter, Rebecca Norville, said Glenn was always writing his music about Janice. She introduced a video of the song, ‘In My Room,’ he did with Tim Casey. Norville said the song was dedicated to her mother, their home, and Roslindale.

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“It’s always been very inspiring to me,” she said. “Our house is in there, and so is Tim’s. Tim and my dad have known each other since they were kids. They were neighbors, they raised their kids together, and been friends their whole lives. That’s what this community has always been to me: friends and families coming together to make it better.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she was honored to be there for the Williams’, and recognized their contributions throughout the room.

“It was especially meaningful for me to be here tonight recognizing a couple that has changed the course of this neighborhood, of course, but also the arts scene across Boston and the region, and that sense of community,” she said. “Janice was a creator. And there are some very special works here tonight as part of the auction, I hear. A physical piece of her love and of course, there’s also all of us, and how we carry forth her legacy.”

State Rep. Rob Consalvo said he first met the couple 30 years ago when he was a legislative aide to former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

“I’m so excited to be here as a friend to the Williams family,” he said. “I was a legislative aide when Glenn and Janice we’re telling my boss how they wanted him to vote over at the State House, even back then. And through that work, then my time at the City Council and then my time at the State House, we became more than friends, we became almost like family.”

Consalvo read out a proclamation from the Massachusetts State House honoring both Williams’.

To see Boston Neighborhood Network coverage of the event – of which Glenn Williams is the general manager – go to https://gvimes.link/bnnglenn