Connecting with SOLF! Challenge
April 2026 – SOLF owns and cares for nearly 200 acres of open space in town, including the popular Beals Preserve, yet few have visited our other locations, all of which help us “preserve, protect, and enhance the natural resources” in town. This puzzles us! So, we challenge you to visit 9 other SOLF properties! Look for our signs with the red rooster!
Here’s what you do: Using clues below, visit the 9 properties listed below and, at each, find a treasure box. Once you do, leave a message in the small notebook and take one unique, 3D-printed, puzzle piece. After you’ve collected all 9 unique pieces, assemble them and tell us what you see! Email a photo of the puzzle (and a few selfies from your visits!) to info@solf.org, and for completing the challenge, we’ll send you $15 towards a meal at Southborough House of Pizza or ice cream at Uhlman’s Ice Cream. You choose. You earned it! The first six people to complete the challenge get an additional promo item/coin from Uhlman’s!
Need help finding SOLF open spaces? Check out the Our Properties section on our website. Have questions or need help? Email us at info@solf.org.
Here are the locations and clues!
Big Oak Woods: head toward the sign, take the path a short spell, then look back, behind the old rock wall where the huge tree fell!
Bigelow Wildlife Refuge: about 20 ft past the sign, you’ll find a prize in raspberries!
Clark Grove: as you climb the path, the box is at the top boulder!
Eastbrook Farmlands: go past the grapes, and take a path to the water!
Kallander Woods: take a walk past our Valley Rd rooster and look near the pond!
Lambert Corner: stop and look under the holly across from the stream!
Lynbrook Hollow: look behind the wall by the brook!
Nipmuc Trail Woods: walk the Nipmuc beaten path and find the boulder by the brook!
Templeman Woods: it’s back at the Watkins plaque!
Art on the Trails 2026
Art on the Trails, in collaboration with Southborough Open Land Foundation, announces its 2026 exhibition, marking the organization’s 10th anniversary with a compelling new theme: Time in the Landscape.
The annual outdoor exhibition will open its Call for Art on February 15, 2026, inviting artists to submit work that explores the evolving relationship between art, nature, and the passage of time.
For a decade, Art on the Trails has transformed the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve in Southborough, MA into an immersive outdoor gallery, showcasing temporary installations that respond directly to the landscape. The 2026 exhibition celebrates this milestone year by reflecting on time as both a natural force and a human construct—seasonal cycles, environmental change, memory, history, growth, erosion, and renewal.
“Reaching our 10th anniversary is both a celebration and a moment of reflection,” said Program Founder and Director Catherine Weber. “Time in the Landscape invites artists to consider how the land holds stories—of the past, present, and future—and how art can illuminate those narratives in powerful and unexpected ways.”
The 2026 exhibition will be juried by Lisa Barthelson, an accomplished arts leader and curator known for her thoughtful engagement with contemporary art and site-responsive practices. Barthelson brings extensive experience working with artists across disciplines and will guide the selection of works that respond creatively and conceptually to the theme.
Artists working in all media suitable for outdoor, site-specific installation are encouraged to apply. Selected works will be installed along the trails, creating an accessible and dynamic experience for visitors of all ages.
Call for Art Details:
Opens: February 15, 2026
Theme: Time in the Landscape
Submission Guidelines & Details: Available at artonthetrails.com
Juror Lisa Barthelson to Lead Selection Process
Art on the Trails continues its mission to make contemporary art accessible to broad audiences while fostering meaningful connections between artists, the environment, and the community. The 10th anniversary exhibition promises to be a landmark event celebrating creativity, reflection, and the enduring dialogue between art and nature.
For more information about the 2026 exhibition or to submit a proposal beginning February 15, visit www.artonthetrails.com.
Shaw’s Promotion in January
For the month of January, Shaw’s Grocery will donate $1 to SOLF for every $3 reusable bag sold.
Be Our Eyes
As you walk our properties, you can help us by being extra eyes. Email us at info@solf.org if you see something like a tree across a trail, or a broken signpost that needs repair. Thank you!
SOLF 2025 Annual Appeal is Underway
Look for our Annual Appeal in your mailbox! Show your commitment to the preservation of Southborough’s natural resources by supporting SOLF.
In conversations with people over the years, we have discovered that most people think that SOLF is a town government organization that receives funding from taxes. SOLF receives no funds from the town. SOLF is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to preserving open space and natural resources in Southborough for present and future generations.
A large number of people enjoy our properties, especially Beals Preserve, but relatively few actually donate to SOLF. Please help SOLF continue to be good stewards of the properties entrusted to our care.
Northeast Wildlife Team Online Presentation Series
The Northeast Wildlife Team, a dedicated team of wildlife ecologists, educators, and conservation practitioners based in the northeastern U.S, is offering a monthly Zoom presentation series on Wildlife of the Northeast. The presentations are from November 2025 through April 2026, from 7-8 pm on a weeknight. Don’t miss this chance to connect with nature and learn how to support wildlife year-round!
The presentations are free and open to all, featuring a different guest presenter and fascinating topic about the wonderful wildlife of the northeastern U.S. each month! Advance registration for each presentation is required.
https://www.northeastwildlifeteam.com/wildlife-presentation-series
- Light pollution & its impacts on wildlife
- Creating bird-friendly homes & yards
- White-tailed deer ecology & management
- Fisher ecology
- Bees of the Northeast
- Gardening for pollinators
Help SOLF in its mission – Volunteer, Steward
Volunteers and stewards help us fulfill our mission to preserve, protect, conserve, and enhance the natural resources in the Town of Southborough. Love the outdoors? Want a a way to combine your love of the outdoors with some community service?
SOLF proudly owns and cares for 15 properties comprising over 190 acres. Become a volunteer and work alongside board members and other volunteers to help with trail maintenance, invasive plant control, sprucing up entrances, and more. Become a steward for one of our properties, and you can be our eyes, walking trails if they exist, and making note of any problems in general.
Please contact us at info@solf.org if you are interested in joining our volunteer list and/or becoming a steward. Thank you!
SOLF Board Meetings
SOLF usually meets the second Wednesday of the month, from 7 – 9 pm, current location at Pilgrim Church. You are welcome to join us and hear about maintenance projects and programs we are planning. Contact us at info@solf.org for more information. Check our calendar for changes.
