Michael Short received the C. Peter R. Gossels Good Government Award and Yauwu Tang got the Lydia Maria Child Award at Wayland’s Annual Town Meeting earlier this month.
Short’s decades of volunteer service provided accurate and timely information to Wayland citizens, exemplifying the attributes honored by the C. Peter R. Gossels Good Government Award, according to Werner, Elaine, and Bonnie Gossels.
Short was the founder and editor in chief of the Wayland Voters Network for over 20 years. The volunteer-run newsletter was launched in 2004 to provide residents with in-depth coverage of town government at a time when the Wayland Town Crier was struggling to meet community needs. Its writers chronicled everything from the heated debate over building a new high school to the intricacies of town finances and planning. The newsletter’s stated mission was to ensure that Wayland voters are informed about Town decisions that affect them and to encourage voter participation. They published more than 1,017 issues in more than two decades.
As the retired Boston Bureau Chief of the Associated Press, Short brought high journalistic standards and polished writing and editing skills to the newsletter. He successfully assembled a group of dedicated volunteers to make the Wayland Voters Network a valuable resource to Wayland’s citizens.
Upon retiring the newsletter in 2025, Short and his team made the Wayland Voters Network archives available to the Wayland Post as a continuing online reference archive. His goal is to ensure that these documents remain accessible to residents and researchers.
The C. Peter R. Gossels Good Government Award is an annual honor established by the town of Wayland, Massachusetts, to recognize long-time residents who have volunteered for 20+ years, embodying the late Peter Gossels’ commitment to fairness, civility, and public service.
Yauwu Tang was granted the 2026 Lydia Maria Child Award at Town Meeting for his leadership and contributions in bringing together residents from diverse backgrounds, ensuring that all voices are heard, valued, and included. Through his involvement with the Wayland Chinese American Association (WCAA), Wayland’s Human Rights, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (HRDEIC), and the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural community associations, Tang played a pivotal role in uniting residents of all backgrounds, according to the nominating committee.
Tang worked as a volunteer for WCAA’s town-wide celebrations, including Wayland’s Lunar New Year events and community festivals. In these roles, he collaborated with fellow volunteers, residents, and business networks to build both financial and cultural support for these initiatives. The Lunar New Year celebration has grown into a vibrant community event that brings together more than 500 residents from all cultures each year to celebrate peace, harmony, and unity. Tang also played an instrumental role in establishing the Boston Dragon Boat Festival, the oldest dragon boat festival in the United States, founded in 1979.
He is an inaugural member of the HRDEIC, which started in June, 2021. Tang utilized his organizational skills, cultural and business connections to create in 2023 the first Wayland Multicultural Festival, now the Wayland Festival, which welcomed 6,000 residents and friends in 2025.
